Day 10: Science Rules!

Today was another busy and fun day. We started our morning off with a delicious breakfast made by our host, which included homemade soy milk, hot cereal made of millet, an egg dish, plenty of vegetables, and meat. We even sampled sweet oranges and locally grown peaches.

At 9:30, we headed back to Genshi Elementary School to listen to a presentation by six Taiwanese students. These talented students plan to compete in a robotics competition in Seoul, South Korea, where they will need to present in English. Their project aims to provide a sustainable source of clean water to communities around the world. Their model includes a structure built with bamboo, which is a traditional building material for their people, as well as solar panels, a robotic sweeping arm, and light-sensitive shades. Water from Taiwan's rainy environment is collected and filtered, then stored for household use or gardening. Mushrooms were shown as an example of how this system can be used to irrigate crops. Despite their young age, the students coded and built robots for their project, as well as waterproofed the electronics and ensured their system could be used by communities worldwide. We were all very impressed!

When we finished listening to the presentation, we broke off into smaller groups to coach the students. Because we have several computer science and engineering students on our Dialogue, we were not only able to help the students with their English, but we also were able to provide recommendations for the project itself. It was a lot of fun to be able to interact with the kids one-on-one! To help the students I was working with, I recorded myself reading their presentation script aloud so that they could improve their English pronunciation. Additionally, I helped them prepare their answers to possible questions from the judges. I also chatted with two girls in the group who were funny and cute. It was a fun and rewarding final experience at the school!

After more practice runs of the presentation, we said goodbye to the students and headed to lunch. We again had several delicious locally sourced dishes and were even able to sample award-winning millet wine made by the restaurant owners. 

It was then time to check out of our hotel. We thanked our host, collected our bags, gave their pets some last pats, and boarded the bus. It was sad to say goodbye to Genshi, especially because it was such a beautiful and calming place.

We headed back to the Tsinghua campus in the afternoon, after which we rested and did homework for tomorrow's classes. Some of us went out to dinner, while others picked up snacks from the 7/11 on campus (which has much better food than American 7/11s). Overall, it was another great day!