March 3, 2004; Day One
Journal Entry Written By Corben
March 3, 2004; Day One
Journal Entry Written By Corben
We just took off from Denver and are flying to San Francisco. Over all
the day has gone well. Denver had a nice airport. I still can’t believe
we’re doing this. We are flying on a 757. There is some in-flight
“entertainment.” When you sit on a plane do you ever begin to wonder about
the people you are sitting by? For instance I am sitting next to a man who looks
about fifty or sixty. He is sitting next to a woman who looks about his age; so
I assume that they are married. To play devils advocate, they haven’t spoken
to each other the entire flight (not that anything is to be assumed by that
especially if they are married.) In the end I’ll never know, but why not
observe your neighbor. I know I have nothing else to do.
Time
just keeps on tickin’. I’ve grown a new respect for teachers. How can they
stand us for hours during the day and I can’t even stand us for a few minutes,
and I am us?
“The
Northern lights have seen quire sights but the queerest they ever did see, was
the night on the barge of Lake Labarge where I cremated Sam McGee.” Well I
don’t know if I’ve seen ‘quire sights’ but I have seen the secret trails
of the land that captivates like secret spell. So far I’ve seen a bay frozen
by the cold, one of the many Alaskan volcanoes, and many snow topped peaks.
We
land in Shanghai, China!
Though I’ve only been in China for a few hours I have learned several things.
The Chinese seem pretty reserved. They find us loud, rude, and overall annoying.
Now I can neither confirm nor deny these accusations. I haven’t so much
learned this as haven’t gotten used to it, and that is all the soldiers.
It’s like something out of a movie because nothing can prepare you for that
big, red star.
March
4, 04
March 4, 2004; Arrival in Shanghai
Written By Jennifer
We
finally landed after our 15-hour plane ride.
I really hate flying but I am so glad that I got here.
This place is awesome. The
buildings in Shanghai are huge. I
have never seen skyscrapers like this before.
WOW!
Our
hotel did not look that great on the outside but the inside is wonderful.
It is one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in.
Sarah (my roommate) is great. We
are getting unpacked and having fun. At
first I couldn’t figure out how to use my calling card to call my mom but I
figured it out. She was glad to
hear from me.
I
am really tired from the time change. I
hope Sarah and I can go to sleep. We
are so excited!
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Journal: Sarah March 5, 2004
Hey, today early this morning we got up and went to Tai Chi. It was in a park by our hotel and was really cool!! We were taking so many pictures… Ha! Ha! Next we went back to the hotel and got ready for the day. I took my shower and while I was trying to blow dry my hair ( with my hair dryer), the power went out! I blew a fuse in our room!…oops Ha Ha! It was so funny. Me and Jen (my roommate) were cracking up Ha! Ha! But yeah, we finally got it back on! Then later we went to the TV tower. It was awesome! It was SO big too! We went up in it and it was really awesome! You could see practically the whole city and that was cool. We also went to the Shanghai Art Museum—it was really cool! We got to go to a zigzag garden thing too. That was cool! We also went to Old Town, that was cool! Lunch was good, it was on a river on a boat that looked like a dragon. That was fun. Later on that night we had dinner and it was okay—I didn’t really eat anything though. All the waiters and waitresses were on roller skates! Ha! Ha! That was fun to see! before the dinner, we went to the silk factory and watched how they made silk, it was cool to see. I bought a pillow there. After dinner we went to acrobatics show. That was awesome, even though all of us fell asleep at it!! Ha! Ha! But that was only because we were all very tired.
-------------------------------------------------
3-6-04 Julie
Today was Jennifer’s birthday. We went to Hard Rock Café. Yummm! American food! This is our last day in Shanghai and we got some letters from the people at school. Among them was some WOW words. We were supposed to go to our confluence point, but the rice patties were flooded, so we stopped at a school on the way. It was so funny because we disrupted class! Everyone there loved us! They kept on chanting my name and saying, “We love you Julie!” and “I miss you!” It was hilarious! They were the cutest things! The only thing was, I thought they were about 10-13 but instead, they were 16 years old!! We went to a silk factory, too. It was really neat and interesting! The workers there were showing us how the silk was made from the worms and all. First they put them in water and then, eventually, the worms pop up and the people can snatch the silk off of them. Then they dry it, stretch it and make stuff out of it. I bought a really soft comforter! I can’t wait to get it home and sleep on it! But that’s a long ways off so, I’m really tired so goodnight!
-Julie
----------------------------------------
Day 5 3-7-04 p.9 Timmy
I woke up at 7:30 and started getting ready to leave. I took about 30 minutes packing then I went down to eat breakfast t had cereal, orange juice, tea, and some pastries. I liked the hotels breakfast. Then I actually brushed my teeth. I went down to change out a hundred dollars. We sat down for a minute waiting for everyone to be finished.
We got on the bus and started to go to the airport. I think we were all excited nervous and scared. We got off the bus that took us to the airport and unloaded our suitcases. We put them in the check in and I bought some gum and went 50/50 with Tyler for some Pringles. We went though security and I couldn’t find my emergency deposable camera that I bought so I either lost it or it got ruined in my backpack going through the metal detector. I got searched but so did everyone else. We went to the gateway after that.
In the gate room thing that you wait for your planes departure I just talked and got stared at by the Chinese. I ate about ¼ of the Pringles and waited. My ticket got separated accidentally at the perforated line, but they still took it. On the plane I originally sat 28b but I switched with a teacher so all the kids can sit close together. I sat between Julie and Corben. We had a pretty short taxi to the runway and we were in the air in no time. The time was 11:30 at take off.
In the plane I listened to music and talked while writing in here. I had pork for lunch it was excellent for airplane food! About right after the meal it hit me all the nervousness that I didn’t have about meeting my family. I got scared a little bit because I started thinking about what to say and nothing came to mind. Before I surmised that my family spoke perfect English and I would be able to talk English and I would be able to talk easily. But I then realized it probably wouldn’t be that way.
About 2 hours later we arrived in Beijing. I couldn’t wait to meet my family but at the same time I was scared. We got off the plane and had to take a shuttle to our arrival gate. Tyler gave me the rest of the Pringles to put in my backpack. They were about half way full. We went to the bathroom and then got our luggage. After that was over we met our Chinese family.
We went a little way outside the gate and waited for our family to find the right kid. My family found me right away. I think it was because I said I was tall in an email I sent them. They gave me a flower and we kind of talked until Mrs. Bradshaw came in and helped us come up with subjects to talk about. After taking some group photos we went into the parking lot. She didn’t have a car so the mom had a friend come with his car. The Dad was away on business so it was just Tong, the mom, and I.
We drove a ways to the apartment not saying much and not knowing what to say I sat in the back with the mom and tong, who was sitting in the front seat. The mom spoke very good English and so does Tong. When we got the apartment complex; then we took the elevator to the 12th floor. We stayed there for a while and I was encouraged to play “TV games” so I played them. At 4:30 we were supposed to go to a health club but I got to e-mail everyone, which didn’t go so well because I accidentally closed out of it right before I sent the e-mail. Well any ways by the time that was over it was 4:50 and we were late. We hurried up and I hope that I didn’t make them to late.
There tong and I went to go swimming (luckily I brought my bathing suit) and the mom went to ballet practice. Tong showed me around and I thought it was a pretty nice place. It was kind of like a YMCA. But it had different stuff like restaurants. Then a very uncomfortable spot for me, the changing rooms. I did not want to change in front of other guys so Tong showed me the showers, which were enclosed, so that I could change in there. Then we went to the pool. It was very clean. It was pretty big and it had a hot tub. We swam back and fourth. He was about 2 times faster than me and had 4 times the stamina. When we got tired we go into the hot tub and relaxed. Then we started swimming again. After about 1 hour and 15 minutes we got out and went back to the changing room.
When we were ready we went to a Japanese restaurant that was in the health club. It was good. I had sushi. It was my first time to have sushi and I thought it was ok. After that we went shopping at the Oriental Plaza but since it only had clothes and fast food we didn’t stay very long. Then we decided to go to a star bucks. There I had my first cappuccino.
We went back to the apartment via taxi. I got ready for bed and went to sleep.
Timmy Seitz
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Day
6
03/08/04
Today we went to Beijing # 15 Branch Middle School. The school is very
big. The people at the school are very nice. They gave us fruit and other
delicious foods. The children at the school wear blue jumpsuits. After A Chinese
lunch at the school we were taken by bus to the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of
Heaven is very large. We toured that site for a few hours. When we returned to
school it was let out one hour early for Women’s Day. This is like Mother’s
day in the United States. Tomorrow we will visit the great wall.= )
Day
7
03/09/04
The
great wall is about 3,000 miles long. It is very steep climb. Some of it was
almost strait uphill. A lot of the steps we’re uneven and very narrow. Despite
this we saw people in high heels and sandals! We didn’t walk very far along
the wall but we walked enough to make you sore. People say that your not a man
until you climb the Great Wall. After the Great Wall we went to the Ming Tombs.
The tombs were underground, but above the ground was very scenic and pretty .The
flowers and trees had just started to bloom. After the tombs we went strait to
the Peking Duck. This duck if famous all over Beijing. It was very tasty. The
served us so much food I was about to burst, but it was so good. =)
3-9-04
____________
Dear
Journal, Molly
3-11-04
Today we went to the Bama Pie Factory. It was
pretty nice. The manager said that he had been living in China for almost 15
years! Anyway, to get into the factory we had to put on two hairnets and a big
lab coat sorta thing that said BAMA across the front in big letters. Then they
put us in this really bad smelling wind tunnel to blow off all the dirt or hair
that might be on us and would get into the pies. That was weird! After that they
lent rolled us and made us thoroughly wash our hands. Then we saw them make the
pies. Today they were making taro root pies. They are purple. We got to taste
them and they were OK enough to finish, but not good enough to have seconds.
Then they took us back up to the meeting room where they gave us tons of Bama
food and then made us go down to the a cafeteria to eat another meal of Chinese
food. They give you so much to eat here!! Our morning was a little tedious, but
otherwise pretty good. After the factory we went back to the school and did our
Math homework and hung around outside. After our impromptu Math class we went to
the Natural History Museum. Then we cane back to the school and most of us kids
went out to dinner at McDonalds. We sat near the playplace and these little boys
were yelling at Julie and I in Chinese, so we had Romeo translate what they were
saying. The loudest little boy was the king, Romeo said and he didn’t want one
particular boy on his castle. As we left, Julie and I said ni hao (hello) to
them and they gave us these weird looks. I guess our Chinese isn’t as good as
we thought it was!
----------------------------------------------------
3-12-04 (2004.03.12)
That’s how the Chinese write their date! Today was a great learning
experience. We had a math class with Prof. Wang. I thought at first that it was
going to be boring and way over my head, but really, it was very interesting and
fun! He had us do a lot of hands-on things. After that we had a Chinese lesson.
At first it was sort of boring, but then it got interesting and fun when we
started writing characters and speaking the language. We had lunch at school.
Then we joined a biology class that was going to a park to see the specific
bacteria growing in the water. I like that sort of stuff. I wouldn’t do it for
a living, but science has always been one of my likings. We also saw this really
big slide that looked like a snow covered mountain. We got to slide on it after
our experiment! It was so much fun!! All of the little kids were looking at us
like we were a bunch of fools! When we got back we hung out for a while in the
meeting room and then went to watch some great presentations! My favorite was
the first song with the flute soloist. It was beautiful! Then we made some
sumptuous and scrumptious dumplings!! I LOVE dumplings! I think they are my
favorite food now! I am so full! We played basketball and then Mrs. Wu got mad
at our host kids because some of them took their students home in a taxi and she
basically said that she didn’t think they were responsible or something like
that. She made everyone cry. Even a boy! (Wang Jun- Tyler’s kid). It was so
sad! Well, I don’t know what we are doing tomorrow because tomorrow is
Saturday!! So goodnight!
-Julie
Tyler
Day 10 March 13, 2004
Today we could do whatever the family wanted or what we wanted. I woke up
at 8:30 and went to Bei Hei Park, and that was fun. I met up with Sarah, Jen,
Molly, and Julie. We then left them and went to ride on a paddleboat, and do
other activities. The paddleboat was pretty fun and yet tiring. It was cold that
day, and I was wearing shorts. After that we went and ate at the Million Lands
House. It was good and I had pizza, and some other Chinese food. They had all
kinds of different foods there from all around the world. It was pretty good and
I enjoyed going there. While I was there I noticed a plaque, and wanted to write
down what it said because I thought the saying had applied to me in my everyday
life.
“Lord help me live each day so that at the end of it there is nothing I
cannot share with you, nothing for which I cannot give thanks”.
Anyways I thought that was pretty cool to see in china. I wanted to buy
it but found out that the mantle had been glued to the wall.
Later we went shopping, and I never knew if the stuff I was buying was
real jade or silk. You might be buying spurious gifts, you never know, and Hank
my Chinese pal made sure not to go to a sumptuous store. He told me that to
reinsure me. Then later on we went to fly a kite, and it was cold and was not
windy so the kite would not fly, and then we came home took a shower and I went
to bed.
---------------------------------------------------------
Dear
Journal, Molly
3-14-04
Today was a good day. Early this morning Anna and I
arrived at school (on time) because we were going to the Summer Palace. Once
everyone was gathered inside Mrs. Wu’s office we went outside to load up onto
the bus. All seventeen kids and three to four teachers had to fit into this
teeny-tiny little van. NOT comfortable! It was then about a forty-minute drive
out to the countryside surrounding Beijing. When we were planning this trip, I
thought that I would be enthralled by the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace,
but now that I have seen them, I think that they are sorta old-fashioned. They
haven’t been kept up very well, I think. Anyway, I have noticed lately that
Anna and Romeo are pretty good friends even though they are in different
classes. So we hung around with each other all day. For lunch we went to the
Imperial Restaurant where the Dowager Empress Cixi use to eat her meals. And, as
if they need to substantiate that fact, there are pictures of her everywhere.
The meal was pretty good. After lunch we took a boat ride across the lake to the
17 arch bridge, that is named for its, guess what . . . seventeen arches. We
came back to the school at about 2:15 after visiting a small pearl factory. When
my family took me home, I finished reading my book, The LBD: It’s a Girl
Thing. It was really funny. Because it was based in London and written by an
English author it had really funny words in it. They call kissing snogging. Her
classmate then came over to work on homework and he stayed for dinner. It was a
good dinner. It was like angelhair pasta with a beef broth on top of pot roast
in a soup bowl. I’m getting pretty good at chopsticks.
-------------------------------------------------
Day 13 Mon. 3-15-04 p. 27 Timmy
8 months till my birthday! Woke up early went back to sleep. Woke up just before alarm went off. Ate went to school without my wallet. Talked, did some work, and then got on the bus. I checked the space between the seats for my wallet that I lost the day before. I didn’t find right away. Then after a while I checked again as far as my hand could reach and there was my wallet. (I also forgot to bring my id tags and my camera to school.) We went to the zoo. I was scared to go in because I heard some bad stories about their zoos. The panda exhibit was very nice and I enjoyed it a lot. Then we went to my favorite animals inhabitation room, the tiger. Everyone except the Chinese teachers cried. (It was the American students, teachers and the Chinese teachers who came.)
We had lunch then took a skill class. We made cool patterns with dye on cloth. It was really cool. I made four different kinds. Then I went to Tong’s class meeting, it was kind of like our home base except since I was there they put on performances. It was really fun for me. There were musical instruments, and singing. There was arm wrestling between me and a Chinese kid, which I won. They each took turns giving their performance. They were having fun. I joined in some of the stuff too.
We all (Chinese & American students) hoped on the bus and went to the restaurant that was by the opera place. It was pretty good. Then we went to the opera’s museum, then to the opera. It showed two plays. One was about a guy that fell in love with a girl and one about the monkey king trying to put out a fire on a mountain. It only showed part of each story. The first was pretty lame but the second was real cool. The monkey went to get a fan from a princess to put out the fire. He did all these cool tricks that was like twirling a baton. It was like a fight scene. After that I went home, cleaned my room if that’s what you would call it and organized all my gifts that I had to give to my host family. When I tried to find my camera I couldn’t.
I got ready for bed and went to sleep.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday
March 16, 2004
Today
I went to Tianamen Square! The one thing I wanted to do in China was go to
Tianamen Square. So many of the places in China are steeped in history but none
have the same respect from me. Someday I believe I be watching the news and
I’ll say, “I have been there, in Tianamen Square.” An interesting aspect
was when we visited Mao’s tomb. Many people really worship the guy. No one,
ever, in American history gets that much respect. But we also don’t brainwash
people.
The
not so underlying theme in Tianamen is Mao. How could it not be? There’s a
gigantic picture of the man that you can’t miss. I stood in the spot where Mao
gave many of his important speeches. I may not like the guy, but it’s pretty
cool.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
March
16
Jennifer
Our
time in Beijing in almost over!
That is hard to believe.
We spent the first half of the day at school.
We finally danced our country western line dance for the music class.
We did pretty well and they seemed to like it.
After we danced, the music teacher showed us how to play some pretty
spiffy instruments.
The music teacher was really nice and we had fun.
After
we left school, we visited a Buddhist temple.
The temple was very interesting but it was kind of weird seeing people
bow to a statue.
As a Christian, it was strange seeing Buddhists worship.
I am glad we visited but I am not sure I would visit there again.
We have visited so many great places.
They have done a great job showing us Beijing but I am so tired.
------------------------------------------------------
Tyler
Day 14 March 17, 2004
Today we got up at a normal time for a school day, but for some reason I
was a little late to school. Today we went to our confluence point and that was
about an hour and a half drive. But when we got there the walk was not too far.
Then we left and right outside of the urban area, we had lunch at 11:30. It was
pretty good. Then we came back to the school, and had a calligraphy class and
received a few gifts. That was really exciting. Then we sat in the first meeting
room for about 30 minutes while all the parents had a meeting, and then I came
home and went to bed at about 9:30 because I had quite a bit of homework to do.
ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT IN BEIJING.
Tyler Devereux
----------------------------------------------------
March 18, 2004 Bradshaw
This was our first shopping trip. We spent the whole afternoon shopping in what looked like a huge American department store from the outside. But was very different when we went inside. Hundred of individual vendors had their own little booths. The vendors called to us inviting us to come look at their wares. It was so tempting with all the beautiful silk scarves, jewelry, porcelain and unusual artifacts.
This huge market place was different from our stores in another way. There were no prices on any of the merchandise. If you stopped to look at an item, and asked, “Duoshao?” (How much?) the vendor would grab his or her large calculator and show you a price. Then he would hand you the calculator and indicate that it was your turn to put in the price you wanted to pay. You were expected to bargain for what you wanted. We had learned about this last summer so we were ready. We were armed with some good tips. We were advised to offer about half of the first price. Then the vendor would put in a price about half way between the different prices. Then the game began. It was a test of wills. Some times if you gave up and walked away the vendor would follow you offering to sell at your price. Some times he wouldn’t and you would have to go back if you really wanted the item. It was really fun. Tyler was probably the best at bargaining.
There was a floor for electronics, silk clothing, shoes, jewelry, and a whole floor of purses. We had never seen so many purses. Almost all of the girls and teachers purchased new handbags. There were Gucci, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade, Channel, and all the leading designer names. The girls were great shoppers. They found some great bags at low prices. There were so many floors we didn’t have time to visit. I am still curious about what was sold on all those floors.
The next stop was the floor for the pearl market. Wow! We couldn’t believe all the different colors and shapes of pearls. We all got involved in pearl shopping. There were also many other types of beads available. Mrs. Murray purchased some beautiful beads to use in designing her own jewelry. One of the sales ladies in the market remembered Mrs. Lasker from her previous trip. She gave Mrs. Lasker special VIP treatment. I will confess I lost my head and went a little over my budget, but I am really glad I did. I enjoy wearing my new pearls to school every day. By next month, I will have them totally paid off!
The boys also found some interesting souvenirs. However, they were ready to go before the girls. I think that is a typical gender difference thing. By now you may be wondering how we carried all our bags. No problem. Most of us purchased new luggage with wheels for about $10.00 while we were on the luggage floor.
After a rest we were off for an unforgettable evening. We were taken to the Beijing Opera at Hu Guang Hall. We had a delicious meal in a beautiful private dinning room. After posing for pictures, we toured the Opera Museum. Then we were escorted across the courtyard to the Opera Hall and seated right in front of the stage. The theater is opulent with color and decoration. We sipped jasmine tea while we enjoyed the delightful presentation of the story of the Monkey King. The costumes were spectacular in brilliant colors of red and yellow. The movements of the actors, the drama, the music, and the beautiful costumes made the performance fascinating.
A few days later the star of the Opera, the Monkey King came to our school to give our Byrd students opera lessons. He taught us about the movements of the actors and showed us how to walk like a female and male performer. He even showed us how to twirl a long baton. He asked for volunteers to try twirling. Several students tried then urged me to try. They were very surprised that I could twirl the long baton. They didn’t know I was a baton twirler in high school. I think even the Monkey King was surprised.
Mrs. Bradshaw
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Journal: Sarah March 19, 2004
Wow! Today has been long!! We left Beijing and now we are in Xi’An! It is very cool. I was so sad to leave though—it was hard leaving Xie Lin and her family along with the rest of the Chinese students and faculty. I will miss them very much, and I am looking forward for them to come to my home. We had to leave our big luggage in Beijing and will get it Sunday when we fly back to Beijing on our way back to the US. So now we are living out of our backpacks! Ha! Ha! Today after the plane ride, we went to a dinner/show. It was very interesting. They had singing, dancing, and other kinds of traditional, yet modern, Chinese entertainment. Well I am gonna go get some rest.
Talk to you later!
Xoxo Sarah