Collaborate with U.S. Consulate in Chengdu

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We finally arrived in Chengduo, the city of panda just in time when Kong Fu Panda was released in theaters. We came to Chengduo because we arranged with the U.S. consulate to participate in some public outreach programs as well as volunteer in various Chinese schools and communities. On our first day, we met with the Public Affair Office in the consulate. They gave us a briefing on their office responsibilities and various activities they carry out in Chengdu. Their jobs sounded so interesting! I not only felt lucky for my students to get into something like this in the future, also started thinking I might want to join the foreign office in China someday to take advantage of my bilingual background. You never know I might be the next consulate general in China and live the good life. Humm wouldn’t that be nice? When we came back the consulate next day, our students participated in Wednesday English Lecture Series. Their presentation was about California, diversity, melting pot culture and American high school life. Usually, many Chinese college students, young professionals and retirees come to listen to English lectures at the consulate to practice their English, learn more about American life or maybe just be entertained by American speakers. We first mingled with the audience in a small library before the presentation. The local people were really nice and eager to practice English. They came up to us and asked lots questions about the U.S., education and about our trip in China. I chatted with a retired college professor who was so energetic and full of life that he perked my up from my afternoon jet leg coma. The presentation went well and the kids really impressed the audience by their topics. Because social network such as Facebook is blocked in China, micro-blogging became very popular in China. It is similar to twitter. We got a first-hand experience how effective micro-blogging can be. Because our visit in Chengdu was strategically mentioned on various micro-blogging sites, 89 people showed up to the lecture which was a record high attendance. We were also interviewed by the local newspaper. Some micro-bloggers even posted comments, photos and quoted what we said when we went around the town. All of sudden, our every moved was watched by the bloggers and updated online continuously. For the first time, we got to experience what was like to be a celebrity and being watched and followed in Chengdu.

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