This week, one of the teachers that we work with (Annie) asked us if we would be willing to help some of her friends make a promotional video on Saturday. We agreed that we would do it because we already missed out on an opportunity similar to this a while back. On Saturday, we met up with Annie and took a taxi to the main part of the city. We ended up at a dance studio. When we arrived, there were girls warming up to dance. Alastair and I shared a glance that pretty much said "Oh no, are we going to be in a music video?" Apparently, the owners of the dance studio also are a multimedia company. They explained that they were going to shoot a video at a nursing home to promote a non-profit organization that asks the youth of China to volunteer at nursing homes.
It was a good cause that I absolutely agree with (I took care of my grandparents) and so we were more that happy to help out. All we had to do was ask people questions about their experience in the nursing home and make up our own dialogue about taking the time to volunteer (and say "one day"). It was very simple and quite enjoyable. We also gave them caps as a gift. I found it funny that the women wanted red caps and the men preferred the camo caps. The most fascinating part is that all of them looked quite healthy for their age. They looked fit and they looked quite happy.
After we shot the video, we decided to treat Annie to dinner. Annie is really sweet and quirky and her English is really good, so it's really easy to talk to her. She lived in Holland for 7 years; going to school and working. Surprisingly, she is 28! After dinner, we walked around the plaza and we chatted while Alastair played football with some children.
Overall, it was a really good day and I'm glad we didn't pass up the opportunity to help out.
