Days 7 and 8 by Mr. White

Mr. White's update

The day really was another one that made quite an impression on the group. These school visits make the Pathways to China program so unique. We are representing our country at these Chinese schools, and making friends with other teachers and students. We left the school yesterday articulating the hope that as time moves forward, we hope these students, the future leaders of our countries, will remain friends and maintain peace in the world

When we arrived at the school, we were greeted formally and brought to a function room where the headmaster and principal welcomed us in Chinese; the English teacher at the school translated. Then, the students sang, showed us their artwork, and demonstrated the art of Chinese paper cutting. Some of our students sang for them, including Martha who is very talented! We were given free time, and as Martha and Emma indicated, we were pulled into classrooms. I was brought to a classroom in which there was no teacher, apparently he was on break. The students were left to sit for a period alone...and so they put me up on the platform in front of the room and asked me to speak. They hung on every word I said. They are so curious about Americans, and they love to hear the English language spoken. Even more, they love to hear us sing. So I sat there in the front of a room with about 40 students all pleading with me to sing. I don't sing. But, they would not take "no" for an answer, and soon I was singing round after round of "Happy Birthday," plugging in random names of the Chinese students. Frankly, I felt like an idiot, but they cheered as though I was a superstar. I don't think my classes in Reading would appreciate it nearly as much.

It was then time for lunch; they have an hour and a half. . .this is something we need to adopt in our school. There were over 2,000 students all eating at the same time. It was interesting to see how unstructured the time was. They were allowed to eat outside, in the classrooms, or other places on the campus. The free time is important because they have a very long day. Although their day is longer, they do have much more free time. They have an hour and a half for lunch, plus a physical ed. class, and recess time. When I consider how many students in Reading are involved in after school clubs and activities that extend beyond the school day, I do not think we are as behind the Chinese in terms of the time we put into education as I thought coming into this trip. Students are certainly dedicated to their work, but I saw more balance of down time and work time than I expected. A major difference I saw is that only a small population, which is made up of the most gifted, are afforded the opportunity for an education. I also saw a lot of lessons that involved workbooks requiring answers to be filled in. There is not the discussion or student centered process of constructing knowledge that I see in our school system. I am proud to be a part of a system that works with the entire population, and not just those considered smart enough. I have seen so many of my students come into their own late in their high school education. We are very fortunate to have the system we do. I think they students on this trip now realize how fortunate they are to have the opportunity to receive an education and pursue their dreams. I wish I could channel this understanding to some students back at home who do not see how fortunate they are.

Later in the day we visited a Muslim Mosque. I did not realize that there was a Muslim population here, but apparently some settled here during the thriving silk trade. The Muslim Market in Xi'An is a place I could walk through for hours. . .there is so much to see and eat!

Info on the Mosque: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/great_mosque.htm

We went to bed early Wednesday night because we were up at 4:30 Thursday morning. I thought teens were in rough shape first period; 4:30am took it to a whole new level. Zombies making their way through the airport.

We arrived in Shanghai and took the "bullet train" from the airport to the city. It took us only 7 minutes because the train goes 267 miles per hour. It is the fastest train in the world. We went to a demonstration on silk making, which was fascinating. And then more food and entertainment. We boarded our boat at 7pm for an evening river cruise. The view of the city captivated us all. The architecture here is stunning. The lights on the buildings were like fireworks splashed across the skyline. What a great way to end the night.

Days 7 and 8 by Martha and Emma

Matti's blog about Xi'An rural school visit:

Today's school was a lot of fun. We got to talk to the kids and learn about them in a less formal setting than we did at the other school, which was nice. A lot of the kids kept asking me if I knew how to speak Chinese, even though I had told them a few times that I only know a few words. The first girl I talked to didn't know very much English, and we had a really hard time communicating. The second girl I talked to knew a little more English, and so did the three or four boys I talked to, but it seemed like the conversation went around in circles because they did not understand a lot of what I said and I didn't understand a lot of what they said. We also talked about where they live. The girls live in one building of dorms and the boys live in another building. They wondered when I was leaving, and if I was going to come back, and they were sad when I said I was leaving to go back to Boston on Saturday. They also seemed sad when we left the school. It rained, so we did not get to play any sports with them, but we had a performance in a room on the sixth floor of the school where a lot of kids performed songs, and there was a group that performed a poem. Hamish and Mike sang a song from Little Mermaid, and Cassandra and I sang Moment Like This by Kelly Clarkson, which we also sang at karaoke last night. A few of us thought we were being taken to the bathroom, but they took us to a classroom instead, where they made us sing the National Anthem, and finish putting verbs into sentences. One of the kids I talked to was having a hard time with a sentence from a worksheet, and we tried to answer it correctly, but there was only one answer out of the four choices that didn't make sense, so we had a really hard time. We ended up putting the worksheet away and talking instead because we could not figure it out. I think the kid answered it right, and the teacher told him the wrong answer, but I didn't want to tell him that his teacher was wrong. The other thing we talked about was QQ, and a couple of kids gave me their account numbers so that we can still talk. All in all, it was a really good day, and a really fun experience. Zaijian!

Emma's blog, same topic

Ni hao!
We're on our way back from the school near Xi'an. The school paired us up with a student and we spent time with them. First we went to their auditorium/meeting room. They had lots of kids play instruments, and one kid did kung fu. They had baskets of cucumbers and tomatoes on the table which tasted so good! These kids didn't speak English as well as the school in Beijing, so I had a harder time communicating, I used a lot of drawing and hand motions. She gave me a little blue notepad and I had her write her name in it. She also gave me her phone number and I gave her mine (so mom, if you get any calls from China, don't be surprised.=] ) We went into a classroom and some of the kids tried to talk to me. They all wrote notes in another little book and they gave it to me. One boy sang a song in the classroom, he was really good. Then we went to lunch where they gave me a bowl of three different vegetable/pork dishes, a bowl of rice, and a bowl of soup. There was so much food. Then they came around with a spicy roll. The girl kept telling me to eat. She showed me some of her drawings (which were AMAZING) She let me keep one of her anime drawing which also had a picture that she took. She took out a piece of string tied into a look and we played cat's cradle. Then she showed me two magic tricks she knew with the string. I learned one of them. I gave her the heart knot i learned to make at the Beijing school as well as the pens. When I left she kept telling me not to forget her. She followed me to the bus to say goodbye. This was one of my favorite days so far!
-Emma

Today we visited the terracotta army. As we were exiting the city we visited a factory that actually re-made terracotta soldiers. The process to make these replication soldiers included making clay and then molding it into the actual soldier. The soldiers then were fired in a oven. After stopping here we made our way to the sight to where the real soldiers were discovered. My expectations were overwhelmingly met. First of all, there were many many more soldier's then I expected, 1,000 were restored and there is believed to be around 8,000 in total. Also I really didn't realize how much work was put into making them, each soldier is slightly different and unique. I was unaware that the relics and weapons in the tomb were stolen and destroyed shortly after it's completion. Finally the archaeologists had found two bronze chariots that were preserved for over 2,000 years. The terracotta army was amazing and should definitely be considered a wonder of the world.
Peter Franchina

Days 5 and 6

We started Day 5 at the Temple of Heaven where we learned Tai Chi...I took some great video footage that you will be able to see at some point. We spent some down time in the Temple of Heaven watching the local Chinese people--senior citizens in particular--exercise. It is interesting to see how they exercise. The elderly dance in the park, play badminton, hackey sack, and, of course, perform Tai Chi. They were very welcoming and taught Peter some dance moves: I also have that on video. Blackmail.

Climbing the Great Wall was incredible. It is surreal to be standing on something built over 2,000 years ago. There was some smog, but most of the visibility was hindered by cloud cover; it was very humid. We would climb a section thinking we were going to the top level and then when we would reach that level, we could see more stairs leading into the clouds, and we realized we had more climbing ahead of us. Reaching the top was a challenge.

After a couple hours of climbing--and some very good ice cream, we were off to a Tea Tasting Ceremony.

We finished our day at the the Silk Market. It is like a flea market of stalls with some knock off items. The group had a lot of fun negotiating prices. One of the teachers who has been a number of times taught the group how to go about it. It was like being a character cast in a play. There was a whole order of rejecting, walking away, making facial expressions, and using Chinese phrases--which I wrote on my hand to remember--and then finally settling on a price.

Our dinner involved traditional dancing and food that represented a regional people: I do not remember the name off hand.

Day 6 was our flight. Imagine organizing 61 teenagers to get through airport security. We are on our toes at all times keeping things moving smoothly, but this group is making it manageable because everyone is being very cooperative. Our bus has a great mix of kids from all six schools. When we arrived in Xi'An, we went to the City Wall where we rented bicycles and rode around the whole city. The view was amazing and the weather is really nice. It is in the mid 70s and smoggy, but we are lathered in sunblock because you still can burn easily...it is deceiving. From the wall we went to a buffet lunch, and then we checked into our hotel, which is very nice and has an amazing location in the heart of the city. We went to a hotel where most students got a 70 minute foot or body massage for $20! They put a group of people in a room and each person gets a massage chair. After all the walking and carrying luggage around, it was the perfect way to relax. After dinner, we walked in the area around the hotel, and then had curfew at 10:00.

Today, we are on our way to see the Terracotta Warriors. More to follow from Peter.

Student reflections from Monday 4/20

My first days in China were great. i really liked going to the school and seeing kids my age and how they act and play just like i do. i also like how China's culture is so vibrant and how they take pride in how they are. I did not really like being in the big city just because I don't really like big cities. One thing that does get me mad is how bad the pollution is here. There are just blankets of smog all over the beautiful buildings. i do really like the food. I cant wait to see what it is like here, in XiAn.
Troy Jones

Yesterday was really fun. We went to the Temple of Heaven , and learned some Tai Chi. But the favorite part of my day was the Great Wall. It was a very tedious climb all the way up. The view from the top was very constricted by the smog. The smog is very annoying, and it is everywhere. It made the trip down the Great wall seem endless, because you could never really see the bottom. I am having lots of fun here in China, and I can't wait to see Shanghai.
--Ben Webb

The Great Wall was really awesome. It was even cooler in person than I expected. Climbing all the way up was tiring, but very worth it. You couldn't see too much because of the smog, but it was still an amazing feeling to be on top of that mountain. The steps were very worn, and you really got a sense of the history from that. The silk market was also really fun. The bargaining was entertaining and rewarding once you got it down to a satisfactory price. It was all knockoffs, but a fun experience. The culture of China is also really amazing, and you could really see it at the temple of heaven, with all the people dancing, playing instruments, and doing Tai Chi. Yesterday was really amazing.
-Mike McGlathery

DAY FOUR

What a day. I think every ounce of energy is drained from us. We left the hotel this morning at 7:00 and just made it back tonight at 9:00. We learned Tai Chi, learned about the craft of making Chinese vases, climbed The Great Wall, went to a lesson/tasting of Chinese teas, shopped on the "Silk Road," and had another good dinner. I am going to have a couple more students update with details tomorrow. We have to get up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to catch our flight, so everyone is going to bed, including me.

Today has been the best so far, in my opinion;I think the students will have a lot to write about it tomorrow. I do not know what to expect for internet service in Xian, so if the blog does not get updated soon, it is because we have to wait until Shanghai.

Everyone is happy and doing well.
-John White

Day three continued

I am signing out for the evening. We just completed room checks and everyone safe and exhausted, except Charlie McRae who is safe, but has a lot of energy. Martha and Emma were in the room journaling...I am very impressed. Nick C. and Peter blogged tonight. Nick D. is watching a movie, Mike, Ben and Troy all turned in early. Troy ate more exotic food today--the head of a fish. You can see the picture of him kissing it before he ate it. Nick D. and Peter are buying cheap communist party hats from vendors who accost us. I am going to run interference tomorrow between them and the vendors. All are happy and learning and growing. They are all being very mature and responsible. I am proud of this Reading group. Below is the link for pictures. Flat Will made a couple appearances.
Signing off,
John White

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7421576@N02/sets/72157616979858756/