First Day and Excursion #1 Humble Administrator's Garden 花园

Our first morning began with class, Chinese 201 taught by Tao Laoshi, a Chinese professor from Suzhou University. He started the class by having us introduce ourselves in Chinese. He taught through English, provided much repetition so that the vocabulary and tones (4 major tones in the Mandarin language) were engrained in our heads, and supplied a structured class with detailed instructions. Tao Laoshi and our Chinese professor from NAU Liu Laoshi held a large banquet for us to celebrate our first lunch in China. Our first class excursion included a trip to the Humble Administrator's Garden, the largest garden in southern China and the most famous garden in Suzhou. It contained very traditional Chinese structures and a vast history dating back to the Tang dynasty.