Opening the door to their room, the girls stepped into the hallway and switched the lights on.

"Whoa, this place is pretty nice!  I call dibs on the window bed!"

Jia tossed her bag onto the bed and flopped down immediately.

"Yah, at least your shoes off first, silly!"  said Xiao Mi, lugging her bag inside and closing the door.  "We gotta unpack and be back downstairs in 20 minutes"

Groaning, Jia rolled over, pushed herself up onto her elbows and began unpacking, tugging things out of her bag and onto the bed.  Shaking her head with a wry grin on her face, Mi grabbed her washing bag and headed to the bathroom.

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"When teach said lunch I wasn't expecting slave labour" quipped Luhan an hour later.  Their class was now out in an open area, scattered around several barbecue pits surrounding a long trench table groaning under the mountain of uncooked food.  Luhan was holding a folded up newspaper, huffing and puffing as he tried to get the coals to burn brighter, fanning the fire with both arms.  Teacher had shuffled them all onto the air-conned bus at 12:10 and them promptly announced that they would be having lunch at a nearby village where the population was mostly elders who rarely left their community.  "This will be a great opportunity for us to make friends with all the grandmas and grandpas!  Think of it as doing your filial duty that you haven't been doing to your parents, you brats - be nice and polite and on best form with them, y'hear me?"  was what Ms. Jung had said during the journey to the village.  Upon arriving they had been greeted with 20 or so villagers, all tanned leathery skin and creased smiles and had been led down a winding path to the heart of the village, where several drums had been halved to make barbecue pits.  Ms. Jung had introduced the head villager to the class, and they had all greeted the villagers respectfully, before Ms Jung had said "Alright, boys, some of you head back with me to the bus to grab supplies while the rest of you and the girls help set up chairs and tables for the food we're going to get.  Be polite and make friends with the grandma and grandpas, I'm sure they'd love to talk to you or show you around the village!".

Most of the boys including Luhan and Yixing followed Ms. Jung back to their bus and helped to carry cartons of food back for barbecueing.  There were also utensils and plates, barbecue forks, napkins, rubbish bags "we have to be environmentally responsible, guys!" chirped Ms. Jung and soon the boys were groaning under the weight of all they were carrying.  

Meanwhile the girls had busily helped to carry out chairs and set the trench table ready to start barbecuing.  "Mi, I think they're almost done here, let's ask one of the grandma's to show us around!"  said Jia, turning to a tiny old woman nearby.  "Grandma, I'm Jia!  The weather's perfect for a barbeque today don't you think?  Thanks for having us, this village is so pretty!  I love that there's green all around, can we look around teh village?"  The grandma just smiled a toothless grin and nodded, motioning them to follow her.

"Yah, Jia, don't bombard Grandma! - Hello, I'm Xiao Mi, thank you for showing us around, Grandma" said Xiao Mi, smiling and bowing.  

"Heyy she was smiling! It's okay, isn't it, Grandma?  I knew I was right to bring my camera!  Wow, these houses are so quaint!  Wow- is that a waster well?!"  Jia continues walking forward, uncapping her camera lenses and starting to take photos.  Xiao Mi just smiled to see her friend engrossed in finding the perfect lighting and angles, muttering to herself as she worked the dials on her camera.  

"Hey Jia, be careful! You'll tri- aack!" Xiao Mi tripped on a loose stone and stumbled, her left foot landed awkwardly as she caught her balance.  "Oh. Mi, are you okay?  You really need to be more careful, you're such a klutz!" said Jia as she helped Mi up.  "No, no, I'm okay" said Mi as she gingerly tested her foot, rolling her ankle before trying to take a step forward.  The ankle twinged a little, but was still okay to walk on, going slowly.  "Wow, trust me to be the one who sprains her ankle on a flat surface while wearing sneakers", laughed Mi ruefully, walking slowly forward.  "You sure you don't need to sit down for a bit?" asks Jia with a small frown on her face.  "No, it's fine, let's just head back to the pits and start cooking lunch", insists Mi as they walk slowly back to the rest of the class, tiny smiling Grandma leading the way.  

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