(Written by John, a high school student in China)

          One part of my high school experience here in China  has been very different from everything else, as we've been obliged to have a general orientation to life in the army.  During the training, we are required to follow orders of the officer in charge, and at the end we are graded on how well we performed.  Those who do well are ranked higher than the others.

          On the day we were to set out, we assembled at seven o'clock near the gate to our school.  Our schoolmaster appeared and gave a kind of mobilization speech.  He shouted, "The Ministry of Education has ordered that student learn how to defend our country.  We want to make ourselves strong.  Therefore, decision has been made to send all students classified as Senior 1 for seven day's training in the army.  During that time, you are not to communiate with anyone off the base.  You are not to create any refuse.  Your response to any order is to be "Yes, Sir".  Is all of that clear?"

          The schoolmaster would have been pleased if we had all shouted "Yes, Sir!" in response, but a lot of grumbling took place.

          It was cut off immediately with the shout, "There will be no discussion.  You have your orders.  Move out!"

          We were loaded into buses, and after two hours arrived at our destination.  No one was prepared for what we heard when we opened the doors and started to get out.  It was "Hurry up...you fools!"

          Our heads turned toward the man yelling at us, and I saw that he was in uniform.  "It's possible he's the company commander", I whispered to a classmate.

          I must have spoken too loudly for a I heard the man shout, That boy there..."  He was pointing at me.  "The one that's just coming out."

          "Bad luck", I thought to myself as I headed his direction.

          "Hurry!" he shouted, and I ran toward him.

          Putting his face close to mine, he barked, "Who told you to speak?"

          I didn't say a word.

          "Answer my question", he shrieked.

          He was getting through to me.  The situation was scary, but I squeaked out a "No one, sir."

          "Why did you speak?"  He wasn't about to give up.

          "I couldn't help myself, sir."

          "You'll soon learn how to help yourself, boy.  Get back in the ranks."  The man was relentless.

          I ran quickly back to the others and my head was in such a whirl that I couldn't focus on all the instructions he shouted before we were finally separated into six classes and told that an officer from the regular army would be in charge of each of them.  His last advice as we stood by the gate to the dormitories was that it was to be our home and that it must be treated with respect.

          I was in class 5, and when we got to our dormitory we were told that the officer in charge would be Zhao Zhigang.  Compared to the officer that had shouted at me back by the buses, he was a very kindly man.  We all felt that we were very lucky.

          Thirty minutes after we arrived - at 10:30 in the morning - we were told to form ranks outside the dormitory, and the officer announced that we'd have a little training before lunch.  It consisted of learning to stand erect in the proper posture for a soldier.  That seemed to be a very easy thing to do, but in fact, it was not only tiring but very boring   It was necessary to force our legs together and hold the pose for almost an hour.  The officer continually said to us, "Keep your eyes looking straight in front.  Don't move."

          I heard one of the officers yelling at a student, "Don't move!  Do you want to be punished?"  As the minutes slowly passed, I said to myself, "My God, how long are we going to be expected to go on doing this?"

          Twenty minutes later, I was worn out, but saw an officer staring at me so I continued to hold the position.  Somehow I managed to last for the entire hour.

          After lunch, we had a short rest, but that good time didn't last long; we were told it was time to continue training.  An officer led us out onto a sunny field where we sweltered for about an hour and then were taught how to squat.  That's one of the things that is done to punish those who don't conform.  It's a very tiring thing to do.  One has to stand with legs about a foot apart and then go down so that your bottom rests on your ankles.  The whole afternoon was used to learn that basic action.

          In late afternoon, the sky became dark, and we were led to the mess hall for our evening meal.  All of us were very hungry, and we ate quickly, but didn't care much for the taste of the food.

          The first day had passed.  We wondered what difficulties were in store for us over the next six days.