Yuanyuan Hu is by all means a regular student except that this is her first year at an American high school. A native from China, “YooHoo”–as nicknamed by her peers–is a foreign exchange student finishing her senior year at FMHS. But while she’s only been here for half a year, YooHoo has moved fast in making new friends who eventually compelled her to establish a new club: Chinese Culture Club.

“I didn’t talk a lot back at my old high school,” YooHoo said. “I had friends, but when I came here I encouraged myself to talk a lot more and meet new people. A lot of my friends now told me that making a club about China would be cool and that they would come to it.”

Since its inception, there has been a healthy amount of interest in the club with over 20 members joining at its first meeting. YooHoo introduced herself to anyone who didn’t already know her and actively led the members in learning about what the club was about. YooHoo also took great pains to get input from the members to make the club more fun and interesting.

“My idea was to have a place where people could come and learn about what China is actually like,” YooHoo said.  “I always try to talk to the members and then plan the next meeting around what they want. It’s what they want to learn about that decides what the next meeting will be about.”

When I attended the club’s 2nd meeting, YooHoo taught the basics of the Chinese language and members were given the chance to choose Chinese names for themselves. Among the names’ translations were “Wave,” “Ox,” and for any Bruce Lee fans, “Dragon” (although it actually wasn’t his Chinese name).

While the club hasn’t been around long, membership attendance has been high for its meetings with about the same amount of people who attended the 1st meeting coming to the 2nd. The club welcomes anyone willing to come, socialize with the group, and learn about YooHoo’s native country.

“I want us to experience something authentically Chinese that at the same time is something fun and interesting,” YooHoo said.

The group’s next meeting will be on February 18, Wednesday at Mr. Failte’s room, 9115, in the freshman center.