Christian at the Capitol

On Saturday, Christian sang with some other Chinese immersion first-graders at the Capitol. Utah is hosting the National Governors Conference, and several Chinese governors were here as well, so they invited the kids to perform.

Over the last few weeks, they had several practices. We met a few hours before the performance for the kids to practice again. It ended up being a very long day for a 4-minute performance.

The director asked Christian, at the end of the performance, to say, "Thank you Governor Herbert for giving us this opportunity to learn Chinese." We practiced it a bit, because every other time he said it, he said, "Gobernor Hervert." (He hasn't quite figured out how to use those new big front teeth he's got.)

The acoustics in the rotunda aren't the best, so it was a little hard to hear, but the Chinese visitors loved it. The kids did a great job--especially considering how long they had to wait to actually perform.

I cannot stop singing the Chinese New Year song--Gong Xi Ni. Christian cannot stop correcting my Chinese while I sing the song.

While they were performing, I kept looking around for "The Gobernor." I didn't see him anywhere. At the end, Christian gets up to say his part and the director hands him a piece of paper and he reads something different than what he practiced. Apparently, Gobernor Hervert didn't end up coming, so Christian had to say, "Thank you Utah State Legislators and Senators for giving us the opportunity to learn Chinese." He said it perfectly, although most people there would have no idea what he said because of the echo.

Our new superintendent, Dr. Patrice Johnson, came to the event. She was so great with the kids. I have high hopes for her. Christian's Mandarin teacher was also there--Mrs. McFarland is an amazing teacher.

Christian loved visiting the Capitol. I am excited that he is excited about learning Chinese. We are now off to enjoy the last week of summer break before the boys go back to school.