After our conversation with Renmin University students, we had the opportunity to explore the campus. Ryan and I walked around and decided to enter one of the buildings. We realized that a few classes were taking place at the time so we walked towards one of the classrooms. We were standing outside, peeking into the lecture room. While standing outside, a man (who appeared to be part of the staff and not a student) told us that we could go in if we wanted to. So we did.
The classroom was no different than a typical college lecture hall in the U.S. The professor was cheerful and made the classroom laugh a couple of times while we were there. I was trying to figure out what the class was about but a few slides later the acronym CPR appeared on the screen. Ryan, understanding a good amount of Mandarin told me that he believed the class was probably for students working as Resident Assistants in the dormitories of the University. It could also have been a class for younger students to learn basic information about health, handling emergencies, and/or first aid.
One interesting thing we saw was the students taking pictures on their cell phones of every slide that the professor reviewed. I assume that the presentations were not available to students and so this was done to retain information for studying at a later time. After leaving the classroom, we continued to explore the campus that possessed a friendly and welcoming atmosphere throughout.
-Luis
UM Ford School in China 