Sunday: Time to fly home!!! We were on our own this morning and just needed to be in the hotel by noon. I spent the morning with one last taxi ride around the city and a walk. The walk was by an area called the Bund. This was a waterfront area overlooking Pudong. Really beautiful section of the city. Sunday morning is just like any other day of the week in Shanghai. All the stores were open and the people were dancing and exercising in large open areas. I stayed and watched a large portion of people couples dancing like you would see on the TV show “Dancing with the Stars”. The music changed between ballroom style to country. When the country music played they all started Texas Two Stepping and it was sort of a weird moment. I am in Shanghai China watching a couple of hundred people two stepping to American Country music at an outside market place. Oh by the way, I did have a Starbucks coffee in my hand as I watched them dance. We got to the airport by 1:30 to catch a 3:55 flight. Boarded the plane and off to Chicago. This time the plane flew directly over Tokyo and back around the world south of Alaska. I looked out of the window at Midnight China time and it was bright sunshine of morning south of Alaska. We are to land in Chicago around 4:00 in the afternoon and will catch another flight into Cleveland. I should be at my home by 11:00pm on Sunday evening. I can;t wait to see my boys and other family members. That also means my Prospect School family as well. See you on Tuesday.
It really was a once in a lifetime trip. I had the opportunity to experience day to day life in China and was allowed to learn about their school system from the inside. I will be changed forever as far as becoming more open-minded about other cultures. People really are pretty similar with the only major barrier being different languages. I have met great new friends who would welcome any of us into their homes and treat us with more respect and caring than anyone would imagine. SEE YOU TUESDAY AT PROSPECT!!!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Saturday: Our last day in China. We began the morning with the group and a breakfast in our hotel. (American style breakfast) We boarded a tour bus and headed down to part of Shanghai which looked just like Italy. The part of Shanghai houses the Communist Party Museum. The Museum was not particularly interesting from the standpoint of artifacts, but from the significance to China it meant quite a bit to the Chinese people. Our next stop was the Shanghai Museum. This museum housed many different rooms dealing with Chinese history. Some sample room topics ranged from Calligraphy, currency, minorities of China and Jade artifacts. Lunch together at a local restaurant and the rest of the afternoon and evening was shopping at a local outside market and dinner on our own. I paired up with my roommate from Indiana. He was a superintendent from the Norwell School District and made the Beijing and Shanghai very enjoyable. We walked and bartered for some simple items in the market. Realize that you will probably pay less than half of the asking price at most of these stores in markets. Our evening ended with a taxi ride back to the hotel. Thoughts about Shanghai: It really is a growing city in China. They have built an unbelievable number of buildings on a built island called Pudong. Google Pudong and see what has been built in the last 20 years. I did take pictures and have posted to Photobucket so be sure to check them out. Home to America tomorrow and I am ready to be home.
Friday, April 22, 2011
April 22, 2010
Friday: A travel day to the last leg of our China trip. There is really no educational opportunities for is in Shanghai. All the administrators from Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania have come together to wait to fly back to America on Sunday. Shanghai is like the New York City of China. It looks very much like NYC with the high rise buildings and busy roads.
All the administrators met this afternoon and evening to debrief on our school visit experiences. All the administrators seemed to have similar experiences as I did. My time in China is becoming short and I am beginning to be ready to travel back to Ohio. I did not take any pictures today because they would have just been of a couple of airports and roads in Shanghai. I looked like any pictures I could have taken in NYC except some of the architecture is different. Maybe I am just getting used to the sights and did not see anything different that I thought might interest you in Ohio. I may post my activities for tomorrow and I may not. I think we are going to explore Shanghai on our own and get to do some shopping before we head home. You may hear from me tomorrow and you may not;) You probably will so check back in!!!
All the administrators met this afternoon and evening to debrief on our school visit experiences. All the administrators seemed to have similar experiences as I did. My time in China is becoming short and I am beginning to be ready to travel back to Ohio. I did not take any pictures today because they would have just been of a couple of airports and roads in Shanghai. I looked like any pictures I could have taken in NYC except some of the architecture is different. Maybe I am just getting used to the sights and did not see anything different that I thought might interest you in Ohio. I may post my activities for tomorrow and I may not. I think we are going to explore Shanghai on our own and get to do some shopping before we head home. You may hear from me tomorrow and you may not;) You probably will so check back in!!!
April 21, 2010
Thursday: My day to travel to Wuhan for our afternoon meeting and stay the night to leave for Shanghai on early Friday morning. We loaded the car after the typical breakfast stop and some noddles and dumplings. We had about an hour and ½ drive to Wuhan. Mr. Li wanted me to see a few famous sights in the city before our afternoon meeting. Wuhan is a medium sized city in China with the population of around 10,000,000. Xiaogan only had about 400,000 people (bigger than Cleveland).
Our first stop in Wuhan was a Buddhist temple named Guiyuan. “Covering an area of about 46,900 square meters (approx. 55,812 square yards), Guiyuan Buddhist Temple is situated in the west section of Hanyang district in Wuhan City. Being one of the four best temples in Wuhan, the temple, which was originally established in 1658 in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), was initially built on the site of Wuzhangpu Kuiyuan in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)”. Quoted from the travelchinaguide website. It was very beautiful and ornate as most buildings I have seen in China.
After the temple we went to see the Yellow Crane Tower. The Yellow Crane Tower has a very long and complicated history. It was first built in 223, during the Three Kingdoms Period (220 - 280). Due to the ideal location, it was built by Sun Quan (182 - 252, King of Wu) as a watchtower for his army. After hundreds of years, its military function was gradually forgotten and the tower was enjoyed mainly as a picturesque location.
During the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), many popular poems were written in praise of the Yellow Crane Tower. It was these poems that made the Tower so renowned and induced for people to visit. During the following centuries, it was destroyed and rebuilt several times. During the Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing (1644 - 1911) Dynasties alone the tower was destroyed seven times and rebuilt seven times. In 1854, it was completely destroyed in a fire and was not rebuilt until 1981”. Also quoted from travelchinaguide website. We walked up in the tower to get a magnificent view of Wuhan. Please look at the pics on Photo bucket.
Lunch was again at a western style restaurant as Mr. Li wanted to do everything he would to make me feel at home. I had a steak and something new I had not tried before (fried squid)! Really was pretty good, but what fried isn't?!?!
The afternoon/evening meeting was between all the Ohio administrators visiting the Hubei Province and the leaders of the Department of Education for the Province. The meeting was very formal and I was one of the three principals asked to speak about our experiences. My translator was very nervous, but she did great. The meeting ended with the Hubei Province hoping we continue our relationships with our new school friends. They want to expand and have students and staff come visit. They would also like to have staff and students come visit Prospect as well.
The evening ended with an formal dinner with many more foods we had not experienced yet. I did not take any photos of the food because I felt it was not the dinner to be a tourist. Up early tomorrow morning to board a plane for Shanghai. The last leg of our China trip. See you tomorrow.
Our first stop in Wuhan was a Buddhist temple named Guiyuan. “Covering an area of about 46,900 square meters (approx. 55,812 square yards), Guiyuan Buddhist Temple is situated in the west section of Hanyang district in Wuhan City. Being one of the four best temples in Wuhan, the temple, which was originally established in 1658 in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), was initially built on the site of Wuzhangpu Kuiyuan in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)”. Quoted from the travelchinaguide website. It was very beautiful and ornate as most buildings I have seen in China.
After the temple we went to see the Yellow Crane Tower. The Yellow Crane Tower has a very long and complicated history. It was first built in 223, during the Three Kingdoms Period (220 - 280). Due to the ideal location, it was built by Sun Quan (182 - 252, King of Wu) as a watchtower for his army. After hundreds of years, its military function was gradually forgotten and the tower was enjoyed mainly as a picturesque location.
During the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), many popular poems were written in praise of the Yellow Crane Tower. It was these poems that made the Tower so renowned and induced for people to visit. During the following centuries, it was destroyed and rebuilt several times. During the Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing (1644 - 1911) Dynasties alone the tower was destroyed seven times and rebuilt seven times. In 1854, it was completely destroyed in a fire and was not rebuilt until 1981”. Also quoted from travelchinaguide website. We walked up in the tower to get a magnificent view of Wuhan. Please look at the pics on Photo bucket.
Lunch was again at a western style restaurant as Mr. Li wanted to do everything he would to make me feel at home. I had a steak and something new I had not tried before (fried squid)! Really was pretty good, but what fried isn't?!?!
The afternoon/evening meeting was between all the Ohio administrators visiting the Hubei Province and the leaders of the Department of Education for the Province. The meeting was very formal and I was one of the three principals asked to speak about our experiences. My translator was very nervous, but she did great. The meeting ended with the Hubei Province hoping we continue our relationships with our new school friends. They want to expand and have students and staff come visit. They would also like to have staff and students come visit Prospect as well.
The evening ended with an formal dinner with many more foods we had not experienced yet. I did not take any photos of the food because I felt it was not the dinner to be a tourist. Up early tomorrow morning to board a plane for Shanghai. The last leg of our China trip. See you tomorrow.
April 20, 2010
Wednesday: My day started a little apprehensive due to the fact that I did not feel well yesterday. I slept in and did not get up an run. I met Mr. Li and his driver for breakfast at our usual restaurant across form the hotel. We had the same noodles and fried dumplings. They have been very nice to get me a couple of cups of coffee to start my day as well. (I look forward to having the coffee in my office very soon)! We arrived at school at 8:00 am to students sweeping up the playground, typical morning activities for the students, and a couple of students standing at the entrance of the school in their uniforms. As Mr. Li and I arrived at his office. There was a lady and a camera waiting for us. I quickly learned that she was from the Xiaogan newspaper and would be spending the entire day with us for a feature article in an upcoming edition. This meant we had two photographers taking pictures of every event of the day.
The first classroom I was invited into was a 2nd grade math class. There were 68 students sitting at their desks. Along with the 68 students there were 8 other teachers from the school observing the classroom teacher. This is a common practice and an effective form of professional development. Mr. Li let me know that it is common for many teachers to watch other teachers and it happens every lesson. The 2nd grade students were learning division. The teacher was instructing the students and they all sat quietly and listened. After she instructed the lesson the students were to get the workbooks out to practice division. She called on students to state their answers and they did. She had one student come up to the white board and show how to draw a picture to solve the problem. The lesson ended with the students being assigned homework for them to get started.
The second classroom I observed was a 3rd grade English class. There were only 48 students in this class. They told me that this was the smallest class they had in the school. This classroom had a LCD projector and the teacher was using the projector to put slides up with English dealing with fruits. The class recited the sentences and words together after the teacher. They were also working on the plural form of the fruits. Chinese words don't have plurals so it is a tough concept for them. The teacher had to students practice asking for fruit from other students in pairs. They just turned to the student next to them and asked “do you like watermelons”? Other student “Yes, I like watermelons”. “Would you like some watermelons”. After the questions between the students, the teacher asked the students to get out the fruit they brought for the lesson. They were very excited to get out the food. The students were to share the fruit by asking each other for a specific fruit. The teacher had some cut up apple and interacted with the students in the same exercise. I was very impressed with the creativity of the interaction part of the lesson. There were also about 10 teachers watching this lesson for professional development.
After the classes in the morning we went back to Mr. Li's office. The reporter who had been following us all day wanted to ask me some questions for the article she wanted to write. During the interview students kept sneaking by the office to see the American Principal. I invited each one of them in to talk to them and give them a little gift from America. Off to a farewell lunch at a very elegant restaurant in the city. We were accompanied by the key staff members and leaders of all departments of the school. They placed me at the most important spot at the table and treated by their impressions of western style food. (Steak, egg, noodle and french fries) It was a very nice gesture and I was truly honored to be with this staff.
The afternoon was filled with a tour of classrooms and the school. I was treated to the band performing a couple of songs for me in the courtyard followed by the P.E. Classes demonstrating their martial arts training. Next we moved to classrooms and observed many different classes: music, art, English, computer and many others. We ended the school student day with my visit to a 6th grade class to interact with them. The students began by singing traditional Chinese songs followed by three students playing a traditional string instrument. We then opened up the meeting to some question and answer with the students. They were all very nervous at first, but they warmed up and we had some great discussion about America and Prospect Elementary.
The school day ended with a staff meeting where Mr. Li presented a Power point to the staff the information he gathered while he was in Oberlin. After the presentation I had a chance to visit with the staff in a question and answer session. The staff was also curious about American education. I gave them many details about our class size and school day schedule as well much information about how much our teachers care about their students. Our small class sizes allows us to really know all of our students.
After the staff meeting we were off to Mr. Li's house for a final dinner in Xiaogan. We stopped at the tailor's shop where Mr. Li presented me with a handmade silk jacket in the Tang Dynasty style. It was stunning. I was flattered that the best tailor in Xiaogan made this for me in such short notice. She usually requires 2-3 weeks for her work and she made this for me in 4 days. Please look at the pictures to see the jacket.
Dinner at Mr. Li's house had a little larger crowd than usually. The journalist and her 4 year old daughter joined us as well as Mr. Li's 22 year old nephew who wanted to meet the American. He was so nice and stated that he was nervous just like the elementary kids. The Chinese admire Americans so much that it is hard for us to understand. More gifts from Mr. Li and I was taken back to the hotel for the evening. See you tomorrow and check out Photo bucket.
The first classroom I was invited into was a 2nd grade math class. There were 68 students sitting at their desks. Along with the 68 students there were 8 other teachers from the school observing the classroom teacher. This is a common practice and an effective form of professional development. Mr. Li let me know that it is common for many teachers to watch other teachers and it happens every lesson. The 2nd grade students were learning division. The teacher was instructing the students and they all sat quietly and listened. After she instructed the lesson the students were to get the workbooks out to practice division. She called on students to state their answers and they did. She had one student come up to the white board and show how to draw a picture to solve the problem. The lesson ended with the students being assigned homework for them to get started.
The second classroom I observed was a 3rd grade English class. There were only 48 students in this class. They told me that this was the smallest class they had in the school. This classroom had a LCD projector and the teacher was using the projector to put slides up with English dealing with fruits. The class recited the sentences and words together after the teacher. They were also working on the plural form of the fruits. Chinese words don't have plurals so it is a tough concept for them. The teacher had to students practice asking for fruit from other students in pairs. They just turned to the student next to them and asked “do you like watermelons”? Other student “Yes, I like watermelons”. “Would you like some watermelons”. After the questions between the students, the teacher asked the students to get out the fruit they brought for the lesson. They were very excited to get out the food. The students were to share the fruit by asking each other for a specific fruit. The teacher had some cut up apple and interacted with the students in the same exercise. I was very impressed with the creativity of the interaction part of the lesson. There were also about 10 teachers watching this lesson for professional development.
After the classes in the morning we went back to Mr. Li's office. The reporter who had been following us all day wanted to ask me some questions for the article she wanted to write. During the interview students kept sneaking by the office to see the American Principal. I invited each one of them in to talk to them and give them a little gift from America. Off to a farewell lunch at a very elegant restaurant in the city. We were accompanied by the key staff members and leaders of all departments of the school. They placed me at the most important spot at the table and treated by their impressions of western style food. (Steak, egg, noodle and french fries) It was a very nice gesture and I was truly honored to be with this staff.
The afternoon was filled with a tour of classrooms and the school. I was treated to the band performing a couple of songs for me in the courtyard followed by the P.E. Classes demonstrating their martial arts training. Next we moved to classrooms and observed many different classes: music, art, English, computer and many others. We ended the school student day with my visit to a 6th grade class to interact with them. The students began by singing traditional Chinese songs followed by three students playing a traditional string instrument. We then opened up the meeting to some question and answer with the students. They were all very nervous at first, but they warmed up and we had some great discussion about America and Prospect Elementary.
The school day ended with a staff meeting where Mr. Li presented a Power point to the staff the information he gathered while he was in Oberlin. After the presentation I had a chance to visit with the staff in a question and answer session. The staff was also curious about American education. I gave them many details about our class size and school day schedule as well much information about how much our teachers care about their students. Our small class sizes allows us to really know all of our students.
After the staff meeting we were off to Mr. Li's house for a final dinner in Xiaogan. We stopped at the tailor's shop where Mr. Li presented me with a handmade silk jacket in the Tang Dynasty style. It was stunning. I was flattered that the best tailor in Xiaogan made this for me in such short notice. She usually requires 2-3 weeks for her work and she made this for me in 4 days. Please look at the pictures to see the jacket.
Dinner at Mr. Li's house had a little larger crowd than usually. The journalist and her 4 year old daughter joined us as well as Mr. Li's 22 year old nephew who wanted to meet the American. He was so nice and stated that he was nervous just like the elementary kids. The Chinese admire Americans so much that it is hard for us to understand. More gifts from Mr. Li and I was taken back to the hotel for the evening. See you tomorrow and check out Photo bucket.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Arpil 19, 2011
Tuesday: I woke up not feeling so great so I thought I better take the morning off running. Sort of weak and stomach not so good. Mr. Li wanted to show me some of the beauty of his countryside and I told him that I would do whatever he wanted to that day. We went to breakfast at our usual restaurant across from the hotel. Same noodles and dumplings. We had the driver waiting for us and we also met the English teacher and Mr. Li's wife at breakfast. We were to go to the mountains to see the flowers and the beautiful scenery. I was informed that I would be about an hour and ½ drive from Xiaogan.
I sat in the back of the car because the important people with drivers in China always sit in the back and that is where Mr. Li insisted I travel. However, during the trip I began to feel kind of flu like in my stomach and light headed. It might have just been all the China experience catching up with me. I shook it off and continued to take pictures of China which I thought might be interesting to you. We stopped when we saw a field of green tea and many workers picking the tea. The fields were beautiful and it looked like a postcard. Make sure you check out the pictures on photo bucket. We then arrived in the mountains and paid at the gate to visit the museum of clay statues and walk to the top of the mountain. As we began to walk I continued to feel weak and not so good. We did make it to the top after about an hour walk and the views of the mountainside and the flowers was spectacular. After we stayed to enjoy the scenery for a while, we took a golf cart ride back down the mountain. I asked Mr. Li if we could just go back to the hotel and rest instead of eating lunch. He agreed and we headed off. Back at the hotel I slept for the rest of the afternoon trying to feel better. Mr. Li wanted to go to dinner around 6:00 so I got up to meet him in his room at the hotel. He thought he better try to feed me some food I was used to so we walked to a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. KFC is the most popular fast food in all of China. We ate and it was just like it is in America and I did enjoy the taste of home.
After dinner we walked back to the hotel for the rest of the evening so I could upload pictures and work on this blog. My Internet connection is very slow at night. Must be all the people using the web in China. See you tomorrow and continue to check out the pictures. Especially the squid on a stick outside the KFC in the street market and the history of Colonel Sanders in Chinese.
I sat in the back of the car because the important people with drivers in China always sit in the back and that is where Mr. Li insisted I travel. However, during the trip I began to feel kind of flu like in my stomach and light headed. It might have just been all the China experience catching up with me. I shook it off and continued to take pictures of China which I thought might be interesting to you. We stopped when we saw a field of green tea and many workers picking the tea. The fields were beautiful and it looked like a postcard. Make sure you check out the pictures on photo bucket. We then arrived in the mountains and paid at the gate to visit the museum of clay statues and walk to the top of the mountain. As we began to walk I continued to feel weak and not so good. We did make it to the top after about an hour walk and the views of the mountainside and the flowers was spectacular. After we stayed to enjoy the scenery for a while, we took a golf cart ride back down the mountain. I asked Mr. Li if we could just go back to the hotel and rest instead of eating lunch. He agreed and we headed off. Back at the hotel I slept for the rest of the afternoon trying to feel better. Mr. Li wanted to go to dinner around 6:00 so I got up to meet him in his room at the hotel. He thought he better try to feed me some food I was used to so we walked to a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. KFC is the most popular fast food in all of China. We ate and it was just like it is in America and I did enjoy the taste of home.
After dinner we walked back to the hotel for the rest of the evening so I could upload pictures and work on this blog. My Internet connection is very slow at night. Must be all the people using the web in China. See you tomorrow and continue to check out the pictures. Especially the squid on a stick outside the KFC in the street market and the history of Colonel Sanders in Chinese.
Monday, April 18, 2011
April 18, 2011
Monday: My first day with Mr. Li at his school the Xiaogan Exemplary Experimental Primary school. We left the hotel about 7:20 in the morning to walk to the restaurant across the street. Breakfast was noddles with a beef sauce in a bowl almost like very thin spaghetti sauce on top. Mr. Li was kind enough to find me a couple cups of coffee:). His driver and car were waiting for us at breakfast. After breakfast the driver took us to school where we entered the gates of a beautiful city building which was the school. It had about 4 or 5 floors and had a central courtyard with a large playground of basketball courts and open space. The morning started with a flag raising ceremony and all the students gathered by class to listen to the morning announcements. Mr. Li, a student announcer, some vice principals, a few other students presented me to the staff and students. I was to make a short speech to the students. Being greeted by the large group of students and staff as we spoke from a second floor balcony was very unique. The students were very excited and the occasion was hard to describe. The presented me with a red handkerchief that the students typically wear as part of their uniforms. I presented Mr. Li with the photo book about Prospect Elementary as he showed it to the mass of students. I also presented the school with the artwork that several Prospect students donated to send to their school. As the students held up the artwork from the balcony the mass of students all Ohhh'ed together showing their appreciation of the work.
After the morning ceremonies, Mr. Li wanted to show me to friends in his other schools he had associations with. First, I was driven downtown to meet with the commissioner of all of Xiaogan schools. That would be like the superintendent of a system of 300,000 plus students. Pretty much like Cleveland. We visited for about ½ an hour and talked about similarities and differences in our education systems. He agreed that their large size of schools makes it difficult to really know any of the students. I have been giving out the pins of the little red school houses donated by the Oberlin Heritage Center along with a postcard we made of our students at the little red school house. The cards explains little red schoolhouses and Oberlin's little red schoolhouse. As I give them the card and pin, I explain that this is the way education started in America and we remember it today. I also told them that my school still feels like a little red schoolhouse of 242 students compared to their huge schools of 4,000 to 5,000 people. We know and have relationships with all of our students just the way education was meant to be.
After the commissioner's meeting I went to the best high school in Xiaogan. I was greet by the Dean and an assistant principal. We took photos and toured the outside portion of the school. It was 10:00 am and all students were gathered outside for exercises. They have two classes and then exercises and then two more classes before lunch. See the photos to see want 6,000 students exercising together looks like! Then upstairs to the meeting room for another discussion of American education versus Chinese education with their assistant principals.
We next visited a middle school where Mr. Li had been principal for 7 years. All the staff knew him and it was like home to him. More photos and a tour. I did get to meet some students in a couple of classes before we left. A few of them had some conversational English which they were learning in school. It appeared to be a bid deal to the students to have an American principal in class. They were afraid to ask questions or talk much because they are very respectful of teachers and principals. They are really not to be expected to be heard from and it was difficult for them when I asked them if they had any questions.
Lunch in a western style restaurant across from Mr. Li's school. After lunch we were to go back to the hotel and take a nap. The Chinese have 2 hours to go home in the middle of the day to eat and rest before afternoon classes. The afternoon at Mr. Li's school was a Monday weekly principal meeting. He had all of his assistant principals and his secretary in attendance as well as the heads of the various teaching departments. The meeting lasted for at least 90 minutes and just like Americans, they were not through all their discussion topics before they ran out of time and had to stop. More photos with the meeting staff and I presented all of them with the little red schoolhouse pins and again explained the story.
After work they exercise at many different places. Mr. Li and a few of his staff members play badminton after school 3 times a week. They invited me to play and taught me the game. It is very fast and not at all like we play in America during our picnics. I worked up a sweat in a couple of games. Very much like tennis and very fun. They took many photos, but I did not with my camera. I will get copies of the badminton from the school photographer. I did get in a run after badminton as I wanted to run back to the hotel. Mr. Li and the driver really did not want me to run in the streets and after much convincing that I would be fine they let me go. I did notice the driver and the school car following me to see if I would be alright. The Chinese were really doing their best to protect me. Shower and off to Dinner at Mr. Li's house. More of the traditional Chinese food. The only food item that I had not eaten before was the duck eggs. They were cooked with some vegetables and were quite sour almost like they were pickled. Back to the hotel to skype with another three classes at 9:30 pm China time. My Internet connection at the hotel is not very good and after about 15 minutes we were disconnected and could not continue the conversation. I'm sorry to the three classes that got cut off. I promise we will finish the discussion after I get back to Prospect. See you tomorrow.
After the morning ceremonies, Mr. Li wanted to show me to friends in his other schools he had associations with. First, I was driven downtown to meet with the commissioner of all of Xiaogan schools. That would be like the superintendent of a system of 300,000 plus students. Pretty much like Cleveland. We visited for about ½ an hour and talked about similarities and differences in our education systems. He agreed that their large size of schools makes it difficult to really know any of the students. I have been giving out the pins of the little red school houses donated by the Oberlin Heritage Center along with a postcard we made of our students at the little red school house. The cards explains little red schoolhouses and Oberlin's little red schoolhouse. As I give them the card and pin, I explain that this is the way education started in America and we remember it today. I also told them that my school still feels like a little red schoolhouse of 242 students compared to their huge schools of 4,000 to 5,000 people. We know and have relationships with all of our students just the way education was meant to be.
After the commissioner's meeting I went to the best high school in Xiaogan. I was greet by the Dean and an assistant principal. We took photos and toured the outside portion of the school. It was 10:00 am and all students were gathered outside for exercises. They have two classes and then exercises and then two more classes before lunch. See the photos to see want 6,000 students exercising together looks like! Then upstairs to the meeting room for another discussion of American education versus Chinese education with their assistant principals.
We next visited a middle school where Mr. Li had been principal for 7 years. All the staff knew him and it was like home to him. More photos and a tour. I did get to meet some students in a couple of classes before we left. A few of them had some conversational English which they were learning in school. It appeared to be a bid deal to the students to have an American principal in class. They were afraid to ask questions or talk much because they are very respectful of teachers and principals. They are really not to be expected to be heard from and it was difficult for them when I asked them if they had any questions.
Lunch in a western style restaurant across from Mr. Li's school. After lunch we were to go back to the hotel and take a nap. The Chinese have 2 hours to go home in the middle of the day to eat and rest before afternoon classes. The afternoon at Mr. Li's school was a Monday weekly principal meeting. He had all of his assistant principals and his secretary in attendance as well as the heads of the various teaching departments. The meeting lasted for at least 90 minutes and just like Americans, they were not through all their discussion topics before they ran out of time and had to stop. More photos with the meeting staff and I presented all of them with the little red schoolhouse pins and again explained the story.
After work they exercise at many different places. Mr. Li and a few of his staff members play badminton after school 3 times a week. They invited me to play and taught me the game. It is very fast and not at all like we play in America during our picnics. I worked up a sweat in a couple of games. Very much like tennis and very fun. They took many photos, but I did not with my camera. I will get copies of the badminton from the school photographer. I did get in a run after badminton as I wanted to run back to the hotel. Mr. Li and the driver really did not want me to run in the streets and after much convincing that I would be fine they let me go. I did notice the driver and the school car following me to see if I would be alright. The Chinese were really doing their best to protect me. Shower and off to Dinner at Mr. Li's house. More of the traditional Chinese food. The only food item that I had not eaten before was the duck eggs. They were cooked with some vegetables and were quite sour almost like they were pickled. Back to the hotel to skype with another three classes at 9:30 pm China time. My Internet connection at the hotel is not very good and after about 15 minutes we were disconnected and could not continue the conversation. I'm sorry to the three classes that got cut off. I promise we will finish the discussion after I get back to Prospect. See you tomorrow.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Sunday, April 17th
Sunday: A quiet day because I thought there would be no school activities. I explored by running for about 40 minutes at 6:00am. I cannot sleep very late because my body is still used to Ohio time. I'm sorry that I did not take any pictures of my sights while running. An American here is quite a rare thing and there always seems to be people staring at me so looking even more out of place by stopping to take pictures all the time is difficult. I will try to keep taking as many pictures as possible. I can give you a mental picture of Xiaogan; think of downtown Cleveland with all the storefronts open and filled with activity. Add to that activity with everybody on a bike or scooter and you have a pretty good picture of Xiaogan.
Mr. Li and one of his English teachers and his driver wanted to show me around their city and parks. The city, as with most in, China has a legend or story behind it. The story of Xiaogan deals with a man named Dong Yong and his dedication to his family. You will have to research the story for yourself if you are interested. Anyway, most of the parks are dedicated to Dong Yong and this story. I have included many pictures of the parks filled with people enjoying many different activities.
After the parks we ate at Mr. Li's house. I included pictures of a typical, if not upscale home, in an apartment building in Xiaogan. A principal is a respectable job and is rewarded as such. The lunch was delicious and was prepared by Mr. Li and his wife. The picture of Mr. Li holding the fish is because a boy caught the fish out of the pond at the park and gave it to Mr. Li for his aquarium at home. There were no unusual foods just the way they prepare the food. The fish was fried whole in the pan and presented that way. You just pick off the part you would like to eat of the fish.
After lunch we drove about an hour and ½ to a neighboring city to meet up with another visiting American principal from the same group. Mrs. Louise Mason is the principal of Girard Middle School in Girard, Ohio. I had the opportunity to meet some of this Chinese middle school students who were staying at school for the weekend (several of the students live at school in dorms). We traveled to another school on the way to a hot springs. Our guests thought we would like to relax in the famous hot springs of China. The hot springs are fed by volcanoes under the ground and have sulfur and other minerals the Chinese people find as healing. The hot springs were relaxing and very much an expensive resort. There were many different types of pools with massaging chairs. The most unique pool was called the fish pool. There were literally thousands of tiny fish like minnows in the hot spring and you were to sit in it and the fish would heal your aches and pains. I sat in the pool and the fish would come around you and nibble on you. It was a very gentle bite and their were several at a time. That was a first for me. Dinner was at a local restaurant and was very similar to most we have had. Probably the most unusual item I ate at this dinner was eel. It tasted ok, but the underside of it was kind of like the bottom of a starfish, pretty tough and sharp. Oh well, when in Rome...
See you tomorrow and enjoy the pictures.
Mr. Li and one of his English teachers and his driver wanted to show me around their city and parks. The city, as with most in, China has a legend or story behind it. The story of Xiaogan deals with a man named Dong Yong and his dedication to his family. You will have to research the story for yourself if you are interested. Anyway, most of the parks are dedicated to Dong Yong and this story. I have included many pictures of the parks filled with people enjoying many different activities.
After the parks we ate at Mr. Li's house. I included pictures of a typical, if not upscale home, in an apartment building in Xiaogan. A principal is a respectable job and is rewarded as such. The lunch was delicious and was prepared by Mr. Li and his wife. The picture of Mr. Li holding the fish is because a boy caught the fish out of the pond at the park and gave it to Mr. Li for his aquarium at home. There were no unusual foods just the way they prepare the food. The fish was fried whole in the pan and presented that way. You just pick off the part you would like to eat of the fish.
After lunch we drove about an hour and ½ to a neighboring city to meet up with another visiting American principal from the same group. Mrs. Louise Mason is the principal of Girard Middle School in Girard, Ohio. I had the opportunity to meet some of this Chinese middle school students who were staying at school for the weekend (several of the students live at school in dorms). We traveled to another school on the way to a hot springs. Our guests thought we would like to relax in the famous hot springs of China. The hot springs are fed by volcanoes under the ground and have sulfur and other minerals the Chinese people find as healing. The hot springs were relaxing and very much an expensive resort. There were many different types of pools with massaging chairs. The most unique pool was called the fish pool. There were literally thousands of tiny fish like minnows in the hot spring and you were to sit in it and the fish would heal your aches and pains. I sat in the pool and the fish would come around you and nibble on you. It was a very gentle bite and their were several at a time. That was a first for me. Dinner was at a local restaurant and was very similar to most we have had. Probably the most unusual item I ate at this dinner was eel. It tasted ok, but the underside of it was kind of like the bottom of a starfish, pretty tough and sharp. Oh well, when in Rome...
See you tomorrow and enjoy the pictures.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Saturday, April 16th
Saturday and our day to split up the group and head off to our individual school experiences. We spent the morning at the Temple of Heaven of the Forbidden City Ming and Qing Dynasties. The entire 500 acres of the Temple is considered a park and requires a fee to enter. The most amazing activities were taking place inside the Temple grounds. The retirement age of people in China is relatively young. Women can retire at 55 and the men can retire at 60. Once they retire their children help support them and the retirees need to find ways to occupy themselves during the day. They have the most wonderful solution and that is that they spend a great deal of their day together in places like the Temple grounds. There are five such places which are considered treasured locations. In these treasured location, the retirees participate in activities to keep themselves fit both body and mind!!! There were many groups of people playing foot or paddle games, dancing, singing, playing cards, dominoes, knitting, gymnastics and just about anything you could imagine. Please look at today's pictures to see examples of their activities. I had a chance to participate in many some exercise with the gentlemen and a ball and paddle game. This was the best part of my day. It did not matter that we did not speak the same language, we appreciated each other's skill or strength without words.
The Temple of Heaven was the a place of worship to heaven built by the Ming Dynasty. The Temple Halls were similar in design and ornamentation to the entire Forbidden City. Again the of the grounds and halls were very large and ceremonial. I enjoyed visiting the buildings but not nearly as much as the interaction with the Chinese people while there. A group of students wanted their picture taken with me because they thought I looked a cool American. At least that is what the translator told me. They probably just wanted to post the weird looking bald guy picture on their websites;)
I boarded a China Southern Airlines plane at 4:00pm for the city of Wuhan. Landed in Wuhan at about 6:00pm and was greeted by Mr. Li, one of his English teachers Echo and a friend of Mr. Li's who had a larger car. We put the baggage in the car and were off. We had about a 40 minute drive to Xiaogan. It began to get dark by 7:00pm which was pretty early for me. It was hard to see the countryside in the dark. I am sure we will have much more time to see the country. In the rural areas like Wuhan, very few people speak any English. Echo, the English teacher, is pretty good at English, but I see it will be hard for us to communicate the rest of the week.
The driving on the roads is totally different. We drove pretty fast the entire way and the signs and painted lines on the road had little meaning and rules were not followed as severely as in America. Even though the road situation seemed like very busy and different than what I am used to, the Chinese people just use their horns a lot and never seem to get in accidents. We stopped for dinner once we reached Xiaogan. We were greeted by Mr. Li's wife and taken upstairs in the restaurant. Mr. Li ordered for the whole table and we waited for dinner. The dinner menu was donkey meat, cabbage and peanuts, beef and chicken dumplings and fish. After dinner we went to the Xiaogan hotel where I would be staying for the week.
Things are going to get very interesting in the countryside where they don't speak English. I am sure the English teachers will do a good job of translating when they are available. More to come.
You can have the night off from questions again because I am too tired to think of any at the moment.
The Temple of Heaven was the a place of worship to heaven built by the Ming Dynasty. The Temple Halls were similar in design and ornamentation to the entire Forbidden City. Again the of the grounds and halls were very large and ceremonial. I enjoyed visiting the buildings but not nearly as much as the interaction with the Chinese people while there. A group of students wanted their picture taken with me because they thought I looked a cool American. At least that is what the translator told me. They probably just wanted to post the weird looking bald guy picture on their websites;)
I boarded a China Southern Airlines plane at 4:00pm for the city of Wuhan. Landed in Wuhan at about 6:00pm and was greeted by Mr. Li, one of his English teachers Echo and a friend of Mr. Li's who had a larger car. We put the baggage in the car and were off. We had about a 40 minute drive to Xiaogan. It began to get dark by 7:00pm which was pretty early for me. It was hard to see the countryside in the dark. I am sure we will have much more time to see the country. In the rural areas like Wuhan, very few people speak any English. Echo, the English teacher, is pretty good at English, but I see it will be hard for us to communicate the rest of the week.
The driving on the roads is totally different. We drove pretty fast the entire way and the signs and painted lines on the road had little meaning and rules were not followed as severely as in America. Even though the road situation seemed like very busy and different than what I am used to, the Chinese people just use their horns a lot and never seem to get in accidents. We stopped for dinner once we reached Xiaogan. We were greeted by Mr. Li's wife and taken upstairs in the restaurant. Mr. Li ordered for the whole table and we waited for dinner. The dinner menu was donkey meat, cabbage and peanuts, beef and chicken dumplings and fish. After dinner we went to the Xiaogan hotel where I would be staying for the week.
Things are going to get very interesting in the countryside where they don't speak English. I am sure the English teachers will do a good job of translating when they are available. More to come.
You can have the night off from questions again because I am too tired to think of any at the moment.
Friday, April 15th
Friday April 15th)
I began my day with another morning jog and decided to run the Forbidden City loop which I had created earlier in the week. I again took my camera and tried to stop and get some photos to remind me of the sights I had encountered throughout these morning runs. As you look through the Photobucket pictures from today (day 5) the very first pictures are sights of the run. I had yet to see a fisherman catch a fish. I really had hoped to see the fish they were catching, but I must have not been patient enough. I took a picture of the school I ran by daily. It was too early for any students or parents to be entering as I said the traffic on the streets really did not start to pick up until closer to 7:00am. There were a couple of pictures I really wanted to stop and take, but felt uncomfortable. The military people that guarded the Forbidden City was always on maneuvers or their morning run. I passed a small platoon of soldiers practicing martial arts moves on command as part of this exercising. That would have made a great picture. The military always told us "no" when we tried to photograph them standing at attention during the day so I thought stopping to photograph them in the morning might be out of line. Besides, there were two or three soldiers standing guard the platoon as they were exercising. The second item I really wanted to photograph for memories was the older people exercising in the morning. They were practice their martial arts movements and stretch. Mostly men participated in this type of exercising. I felt it would be too rude to stop to photograph them during their morning routines. I really enjoyed my time to myself running in the morning. It was quiet and peaceful for Beijing and you can see from the photos I had part of the Forbidden City mostly to myself.
Our major focus of the day was a tour of The Great Wall of China!!! There is nothing I can put into words that would describe this accurately enough for you. All I can say is that everyone has to visit this at least once in their lifetime. Some highlights would include: The temperature was perfect at the mid 70's. There was not a cloud in the sky. The trees were blossoming beautiful white flowers which made for stunning views. Some unexpected realizations: The inclines and declines while walking on the wall were quite steep. There were several sections of steps which were almost like climbing a ladder to get into the guard tower areas. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, but you know that pictures don't accurately capture the feelings of actually walking on the wall. We spent a couple of hours walking on the wall and taking pictures. I hiked as far out as I could before I needed to turn around to get back to the group by our departure time. I hiked up the large mountain part of the wall as you look at the pictures. I was soaked from sweat by the time I had to turn around at the top. The wall continues as you know and I could have hiked all day and still would have felt like I want to see what is over the next mountain.
Our lunch was close to the wall with very similar food to what we have had all week. The food is becoming normal and I am acquiring a taste for the food. I am interested to know if the food will be the same in Xiaogan next week.
After lunch we went back to the hotel and I decided to tour the area close to the hotel by myself. I walked about 5 miles throughout the streets north of the hotel. The walk was my first experience I have had by myself in Beijing. I really enjoyed this as I explored the single room shops. These shops were not tourist shops like on the strip next to the hotel. These shops were where the typical citizens of Beijing shopped for their daily needs and food. I found a park during the end of my walk where many people were just socializing and playing. The men were playing a Chinese version of checkers as other men watched and commented on their play and seemed to be giving suggestions. There were other men using the square stone slabs we were standing on as canvases for their calligraphy. Calligraphy is an art form in China and these gentleman were artists! They were using a pointed shaped sponge on the end of a stick just like a massive paint brush. They would make a word or symbol and the other men would watch and comment on their work. Truly amazing and this required no money. I watched the older gentleman for over 30 minutes in the park. Again, please check out the photos.
For dinner, a group decided to celebrate our last night in Beijing with some American food. We went to one of the three restaurant style pizza places. We experienced great pizza and American music. It was great to have a taste of home. We all ate entirely too much pizza and it disappeared unbelievably fast!!! Another principal in our group from New Hampshire and I decided to walk the five miles back to the hotel through Beijing. See you tomorrow.
Questions: You will need to research to find these answers.
Why was The Great Wall of China built and who built it?
I walked 5 miles through Beijing. My average stride length(step) is 3 feet, How many steps did I take in that 5 mile walk?
I began my day with another morning jog and decided to run the Forbidden City loop which I had created earlier in the week. I again took my camera and tried to stop and get some photos to remind me of the sights I had encountered throughout these morning runs. As you look through the Photobucket pictures from today (day 5) the very first pictures are sights of the run. I had yet to see a fisherman catch a fish. I really had hoped to see the fish they were catching, but I must have not been patient enough. I took a picture of the school I ran by daily. It was too early for any students or parents to be entering as I said the traffic on the streets really did not start to pick up until closer to 7:00am. There were a couple of pictures I really wanted to stop and take, but felt uncomfortable. The military people that guarded the Forbidden City was always on maneuvers or their morning run. I passed a small platoon of soldiers practicing martial arts moves on command as part of this exercising. That would have made a great picture. The military always told us "no" when we tried to photograph them standing at attention during the day so I thought stopping to photograph them in the morning might be out of line. Besides, there were two or three soldiers standing guard the platoon as they were exercising. The second item I really wanted to photograph for memories was the older people exercising in the morning. They were practice their martial arts movements and stretch. Mostly men participated in this type of exercising. I felt it would be too rude to stop to photograph them during their morning routines. I really enjoyed my time to myself running in the morning. It was quiet and peaceful for Beijing and you can see from the photos I had part of the Forbidden City mostly to myself.
Our major focus of the day was a tour of The Great Wall of China!!! There is nothing I can put into words that would describe this accurately enough for you. All I can say is that everyone has to visit this at least once in their lifetime. Some highlights would include: The temperature was perfect at the mid 70's. There was not a cloud in the sky. The trees were blossoming beautiful white flowers which made for stunning views. Some unexpected realizations: The inclines and declines while walking on the wall were quite steep. There were several sections of steps which were almost like climbing a ladder to get into the guard tower areas. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, but you know that pictures don't accurately capture the feelings of actually walking on the wall. We spent a couple of hours walking on the wall and taking pictures. I hiked as far out as I could before I needed to turn around to get back to the group by our departure time. I hiked up the large mountain part of the wall as you look at the pictures. I was soaked from sweat by the time I had to turn around at the top. The wall continues as you know and I could have hiked all day and still would have felt like I want to see what is over the next mountain.
Our lunch was close to the wall with very similar food to what we have had all week. The food is becoming normal and I am acquiring a taste for the food. I am interested to know if the food will be the same in Xiaogan next week.
After lunch we went back to the hotel and I decided to tour the area close to the hotel by myself. I walked about 5 miles throughout the streets north of the hotel. The walk was my first experience I have had by myself in Beijing. I really enjoyed this as I explored the single room shops. These shops were not tourist shops like on the strip next to the hotel. These shops were where the typical citizens of Beijing shopped for their daily needs and food. I found a park during the end of my walk where many people were just socializing and playing. The men were playing a Chinese version of checkers as other men watched and commented on their play and seemed to be giving suggestions. There were other men using the square stone slabs we were standing on as canvases for their calligraphy. Calligraphy is an art form in China and these gentleman were artists! They were using a pointed shaped sponge on the end of a stick just like a massive paint brush. They would make a word or symbol and the other men would watch and comment on their work. Truly amazing and this required no money. I watched the older gentleman for over 30 minutes in the park. Again, please check out the photos.
For dinner, a group decided to celebrate our last night in Beijing with some American food. We went to one of the three restaurant style pizza places. We experienced great pizza and American music. It was great to have a taste of home. We all ate entirely too much pizza and it disappeared unbelievably fast!!! Another principal in our group from New Hampshire and I decided to walk the five miles back to the hotel through Beijing. See you tomorrow.
Questions: You will need to research to find these answers.
Why was The Great Wall of China built and who built it?
I walked 5 miles through Beijing. My average stride length(step) is 3 feet, How many steps did I take in that 5 mile walk?
Thursday, April 14, 2011
April 14, 2011
Today we attended a lecture at the Beijing Normal University on social and educational changes in China over the last 30 years. It was interesting to learn that China is having many of the same problems in educating their children as the United States. More students are going to college or universities and the universities are struggling to handle the huge increase in numbers. Beijing Normal University enrollment has grown from 8,000 students in 1999 to 20,000 this year. Along with those 20,000 students which attend on campus there are also 20,000 Internet students, and 20,000 correspondence students in night or weekend classes.
China is facing society problems as well which comes with a developing country. The young people are becoming more materialistic instead of embracing the hardworking and thrifty beliefs of their previous generations. The Internet is making the Chinese young people want to embrace the American culture they see in Hollywood movies/ Pop singers and video games. The number of Internet users in China has risen from 33.7 million in 2001 to 384 million in 2009!!! Coca-Cola is the most popular drink and the American food chains is growing very fast. Chinese children want to have their birthday parties at a MacDonald's restaurant. Chinese people also have much more disposal income which they never had before. The disposal income for people living in a city has increased from 1,374 yuan in 1989 to 15,781 yuan in 2008. And in the country, the disposal income has risen from 602 yuan in 1989 to 4,761 yuan in 2008. To translate the Chinese Yuan in to USA dollars you need to divide the Yuan by 6 and that will let you know about how many dollars that would be. Disposal income means money to spend on fun things like movies, games or more motorcycles;).
The afternoon was filled with a trip to the famous pearl market. They had many stores of genuine pearls ranging from all prices. The pearl market was not very interesting to me maybe because I just don't have an appreciation for their worth. I will say the number of pearls was impressive and they were very beautiful.
Our evening activities involved traveling to the Hutongs of Beijing. 20 or 30 years ago Beijing was filled with many of these Hutongs which were single story homes all connected together in very close proximity. Most have been torn down to make way for modern high rise apartment buildings. The Hutongs we visited were very interesting. We took a rickshaw ride around the area and even had dinner in one of the homes. Yes we had a family invite us into their home through our guide company. We sat down to an authentic Chinese meal in their home. The wife/mother cooked and the father served. The father was a Kung Fu master instructor and demonstrated a few moves for us. He has two sons and one is currently living in Houston, Texas as a martial arts instructor. The dinner was wonderful and they were so welcoming. After dinner the mother treated us to some Chinese opera on her karaoke machine. The father played a traditional string instrument as well. The highlight of the evening was when we saw on the Karaoke machine a popular American song “Take Me Home Country Roads”. I suggested we all sing that one and enough people agreed that we cued up the song and sang it together. 20 plus Americans singing about country roads in West Virginia on a Karaoke machine in a Hutong in Beijing, China. I don't know what else to say, but it was hard to describe. Another wonderful day. Tomorrow we tour the Great Wall so I am going to go to bed. Thanks for following my blog. Make sure you check out the photos today on my Photo bucket account. http://s1179.photobucket.com/albums/x391/jeibel/China%20trip%20day%204/
P.S. You get the night off from answering questions;)
China is facing society problems as well which comes with a developing country. The young people are becoming more materialistic instead of embracing the hardworking and thrifty beliefs of their previous generations. The Internet is making the Chinese young people want to embrace the American culture they see in Hollywood movies/ Pop singers and video games. The number of Internet users in China has risen from 33.7 million in 2001 to 384 million in 2009!!! Coca-Cola is the most popular drink and the American food chains is growing very fast. Chinese children want to have their birthday parties at a MacDonald's restaurant. Chinese people also have much more disposal income which they never had before. The disposal income for people living in a city has increased from 1,374 yuan in 1989 to 15,781 yuan in 2008. And in the country, the disposal income has risen from 602 yuan in 1989 to 4,761 yuan in 2008. To translate the Chinese Yuan in to USA dollars you need to divide the Yuan by 6 and that will let you know about how many dollars that would be. Disposal income means money to spend on fun things like movies, games or more motorcycles;).
The afternoon was filled with a trip to the famous pearl market. They had many stores of genuine pearls ranging from all prices. The pearl market was not very interesting to me maybe because I just don't have an appreciation for their worth. I will say the number of pearls was impressive and they were very beautiful.
Our evening activities involved traveling to the Hutongs of Beijing. 20 or 30 years ago Beijing was filled with many of these Hutongs which were single story homes all connected together in very close proximity. Most have been torn down to make way for modern high rise apartment buildings. The Hutongs we visited were very interesting. We took a rickshaw ride around the area and even had dinner in one of the homes. Yes we had a family invite us into their home through our guide company. We sat down to an authentic Chinese meal in their home. The wife/mother cooked and the father served. The father was a Kung Fu master instructor and demonstrated a few moves for us. He has two sons and one is currently living in Houston, Texas as a martial arts instructor. The dinner was wonderful and they were so welcoming. After dinner the mother treated us to some Chinese opera on her karaoke machine. The father played a traditional string instrument as well. The highlight of the evening was when we saw on the Karaoke machine a popular American song “Take Me Home Country Roads”. I suggested we all sing that one and enough people agreed that we cued up the song and sang it together. 20 plus Americans singing about country roads in West Virginia on a Karaoke machine in a Hutong in Beijing, China. I don't know what else to say, but it was hard to describe. Another wonderful day. Tomorrow we tour the Great Wall so I am going to go to bed. Thanks for following my blog. Make sure you check out the photos today on my Photo bucket account. http://s1179.photobucket.com/albums/x391/jeibel/China%20trip%20day%204/
P.S. You get the night off from answering questions;)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
4/13/11
I hope the classes I skyped with yesterday morning enjoyed our time together. I am pleased that the students took the time to find the answers to my questions:). I miss all of you and it made me feel at home to see everyone. Maybe our connection will be better this evening (10:00 pm Beijing Time)
My Wednesday started at 5:45 am with another jog around the Forbidden City. I stayed up until 1:30 am last evening to force me to sleep through the night. It must have worked because I was awoken by my alarm. I did take my camera to post photos of sights during my morning jog. I have uploaded todays photos to photo bucket and you should see many sights I encountered today. The first photo is of a few Chinese people exercising their dogs on a small grass area next to the Forbidden City. There were the same men fishing in the moat of the Forbidden city although I have not seen them pull out any fish.
The local people clean their sidewalks and tidy up their small areas outside their residence or stores. The number of bicycles continues to amaze me. The Chinese use the bicycles for everything you can imagine from the family car (with three people on the bike) to a pick up truck loading trash from the streets.
Our agenda today was to visit two schools in Beijing. The first was one of the best public schools in the city (Beijing National Day School). The second was a migrant worker school not even funded by the Chinese government. We had to drive about an hour to each school and they were probably not more than 20 miles away. The traffic is very heavy and moves pretty slow. The schools could not have been any more different in the resources the students were exposed to, but both schools had great staff and wonderful children.
The National Day School had about 4000 students in grades 7-12 and students who attended needed to achieve great scores on the state exams. Attending this school probably ensured that the students would be accepted into a very good university. The facilities were very nice as you will see in the photos. They had everything from an Astroturf stadium to a swimming pool. We were greeted by a wonderful reception by the principal and a group of ambassador students who spoke English very well. The principal presented his vision of education for his students based on his 8 trips to the United States. This school had over 400 clubs students could join and over 33 different career focuses students could study. My ambassador was a junior and she started a giving charity club. She felt that people need to give back to others and help where they could. The school was celebrating American Day next week which meant they would participate in American customs and embrace the American culture for the day. You will see many American flags in the photos. The students were very happy to be attending this school. Many students lived in dorms and only left the school grounds to travel home when school was not in session. It was a truly amazing school.
We then traveled out of the center of Beijing to the edge of town where new construction was taking place over old portions of town. This is where the migrants from the countryside have moved to work jobs in Beijing. The living conditions were very difficult as you can see from the photos and the families and community had next to nothing. The migrant workers' children had no schools to attend so a retired business man and retired principal started their own private school. This is common in these communities. The school was very welcoming as well, but the conditions were completely opposite from the beautiful National Day School. This school received no money from the Chinese government and it was funded completely by the community and donations. The students loved to see us and speak a little English for us. They presented me with the red scarf just like they wore as part of their uniforms. You will see from the photos the poor conditions of the buildings, but see the smiles on the students faces. The children were wonderful and anxious to learn. When you see the photos realize that the school was built in 2003. I took many of my colorful office pencils and the students were very happy to receive them. Overall, another very educational day. See you tomorrow.
Questions.
Why is it important for Chinese students to do well in school and why is it so important for them to try their best in elementary school?
What is the capital city of China?
What year was the game of ping pong invented and by whom?
My Wednesday started at 5:45 am with another jog around the Forbidden City. I stayed up until 1:30 am last evening to force me to sleep through the night. It must have worked because I was awoken by my alarm. I did take my camera to post photos of sights during my morning jog. I have uploaded todays photos to photo bucket and you should see many sights I encountered today. The first photo is of a few Chinese people exercising their dogs on a small grass area next to the Forbidden City. There were the same men fishing in the moat of the Forbidden city although I have not seen them pull out any fish.
The local people clean their sidewalks and tidy up their small areas outside their residence or stores. The number of bicycles continues to amaze me. The Chinese use the bicycles for everything you can imagine from the family car (with three people on the bike) to a pick up truck loading trash from the streets.
Our agenda today was to visit two schools in Beijing. The first was one of the best public schools in the city (Beijing National Day School). The second was a migrant worker school not even funded by the Chinese government. We had to drive about an hour to each school and they were probably not more than 20 miles away. The traffic is very heavy and moves pretty slow. The schools could not have been any more different in the resources the students were exposed to, but both schools had great staff and wonderful children.
The National Day School had about 4000 students in grades 7-12 and students who attended needed to achieve great scores on the state exams. Attending this school probably ensured that the students would be accepted into a very good university. The facilities were very nice as you will see in the photos. They had everything from an Astroturf stadium to a swimming pool. We were greeted by a wonderful reception by the principal and a group of ambassador students who spoke English very well. The principal presented his vision of education for his students based on his 8 trips to the United States. This school had over 400 clubs students could join and over 33 different career focuses students could study. My ambassador was a junior and she started a giving charity club. She felt that people need to give back to others and help where they could. The school was celebrating American Day next week which meant they would participate in American customs and embrace the American culture for the day. You will see many American flags in the photos. The students were very happy to be attending this school. Many students lived in dorms and only left the school grounds to travel home when school was not in session. It was a truly amazing school.
We then traveled out of the center of Beijing to the edge of town where new construction was taking place over old portions of town. This is where the migrants from the countryside have moved to work jobs in Beijing. The living conditions were very difficult as you can see from the photos and the families and community had next to nothing. The migrant workers' children had no schools to attend so a retired business man and retired principal started their own private school. This is common in these communities. The school was very welcoming as well, but the conditions were completely opposite from the beautiful National Day School. This school received no money from the Chinese government and it was funded completely by the community and donations. The students loved to see us and speak a little English for us. They presented me with the red scarf just like they wore as part of their uniforms. You will see from the photos the poor conditions of the buildings, but see the smiles on the students faces. The children were wonderful and anxious to learn. When you see the photos realize that the school was built in 2003. I took many of my colorful office pencils and the students were very happy to receive them. Overall, another very educational day. See you tomorrow.
Questions.
Why is it important for Chinese students to do well in school and why is it so important for them to try their best in elementary school?
What is the capital city of China?
What year was the game of ping pong invented and by whom?
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Mr. Eibel 4/12/11
The 12 hour time difference has my internal clock in a mess. I went to bed last night at 8:30 pm after dinner and woke up at 10:30 pm just two hours later feeling like I had the flu and had slept for 8 hours. Looked at the clock and realized that I had only been asleep for 2 hours and I had better try to sleep again. Fell asleep to wake again at 1:30 am feeling like it had to be morning by now. Wide awake I decided to check email and work on my blog and photos to upload for Prospect. Worked for until about 4:00 in the morning and decided I had better try to get more sleep! Slept until 6:30 am and decided to go for a run. I ran about 4.5 miles outside the Hotel in the city of Beijing.
I jogged on the sidewalks past the Forbidden City and a school which was just starting for the day. Parents were dropping off students on the back of their bicycles, in cars, and some students were taking the public buses or walking. There were also many citizens walking small dogs and going to work. Very few citizens were exercising at that time. Some men were fishing in the moat of the Forbidden City with extremely long poles which almost touched the water.
Our main portion of the day was centered around meeting with the China Ministry of Education. They are the Chinese equivalent to the U.S. Department of Education. They presented to the group on the Chinese Education reform movement and the state of affairs on educating the children of China. After the morning meeting we ate lunch as a group at a nearby restaurant. The food is all so different that we are used to in America and even much different than our Chinese restaurants. The food is very spicy or plain tasting. Many, many vegetables and meats I cannot recognize. We eat duck almost every meal and for desert we have fruit which is very nice.
Our afternoon and evening was filled with touring of the Forbidden City, which was the home of the Ming Dynasty and then the Qing Dynasty. It was built from 1406-1420 and was amazing. Please go to my Photobucket account and view the pictures from today. We also toured Tiananmen Square which is the home of the Communist Party of China. The square was unbelievably large and can fit 500,000 people inside. I have posted pictures of the stone squares on the ground and they placed figured 2 people in each square for the size. The Square was protected by many military guards as well. I have taken pictures of the Communist party headquarters which all the world leaders will visit and have meetings while in China. I am sure President Obama and many presidents before him have talked about important issues with America and China in that very building.
After the tour of the Square and the Dynasty's Forbidden City we went to dinner at the Peking Duck Restaurant. Of course the specialty was duck. We have had duck in a variety of ways so far in China, But this time it came cooked with the head and feet still on the bird. The skillful chef carved the duck right in front of us and we all enjoyed the meal very much. Again, Please see the photos for a better understanding of the meal. The restaurant is very famous in China was established in 1416!!! I guess they must be very good to still be a restaurant XXXX years later. All the food is brought out on plates and placed in the center of the table. The center of the table has a spinning glass fixture which you can spin to get the dish you would like to try in front of you. You then must take the food off the center dish and get to your plate without dropping it on the tablecloth!!!. A very difficult task when you only have chopsticks and most of the food is very slippery:) I am managing to feed myself without ruining too many shirts or tablecloths. Please check out the photos of our lunch restaurant which had the aquariums full of fish and other animals you could purchase for lunch! See you tomorrow.
Questions:
1) If 500,000 people fit in Tiananmen Square and 2 people can fit on each stone square on the ground, How many stone squares are on the ground in Tiananmen Square?
2) How many years did it take to build the Forbidden City? Started in 1406 and finished in 1420.
3) How long has the Peking Duck restaurant been in business. It opened in 1416.
I jogged on the sidewalks past the Forbidden City and a school which was just starting for the day. Parents were dropping off students on the back of their bicycles, in cars, and some students were taking the public buses or walking. There were also many citizens walking small dogs and going to work. Very few citizens were exercising at that time. Some men were fishing in the moat of the Forbidden City with extremely long poles which almost touched the water.
Our main portion of the day was centered around meeting with the China Ministry of Education. They are the Chinese equivalent to the U.S. Department of Education. They presented to the group on the Chinese Education reform movement and the state of affairs on educating the children of China. After the morning meeting we ate lunch as a group at a nearby restaurant. The food is all so different that we are used to in America and even much different than our Chinese restaurants. The food is very spicy or plain tasting. Many, many vegetables and meats I cannot recognize. We eat duck almost every meal and for desert we have fruit which is very nice.
Our afternoon and evening was filled with touring of the Forbidden City, which was the home of the Ming Dynasty and then the Qing Dynasty. It was built from 1406-1420 and was amazing. Please go to my Photobucket account and view the pictures from today. We also toured Tiananmen Square which is the home of the Communist Party of China. The square was unbelievably large and can fit 500,000 people inside. I have posted pictures of the stone squares on the ground and they placed figured 2 people in each square for the size. The Square was protected by many military guards as well. I have taken pictures of the Communist party headquarters which all the world leaders will visit and have meetings while in China. I am sure President Obama and many presidents before him have talked about important issues with America and China in that very building.
After the tour of the Square and the Dynasty's Forbidden City we went to dinner at the Peking Duck Restaurant. Of course the specialty was duck. We have had duck in a variety of ways so far in China, But this time it came cooked with the head and feet still on the bird. The skillful chef carved the duck right in front of us and we all enjoyed the meal very much. Again, Please see the photos for a better understanding of the meal. The restaurant is very famous in China was established in 1416!!! I guess they must be very good to still be a restaurant XXXX years later. All the food is brought out on plates and placed in the center of the table. The center of the table has a spinning glass fixture which you can spin to get the dish you would like to try in front of you. You then must take the food off the center dish and get to your plate without dropping it on the tablecloth!!!. A very difficult task when you only have chopsticks and most of the food is very slippery:) I am managing to feed myself without ruining too many shirts or tablecloths. Please check out the photos of our lunch restaurant which had the aquariums full of fish and other animals you could purchase for lunch! See you tomorrow.
Questions:
1) If 500,000 people fit in Tiananmen Square and 2 people can fit on each stone square on the ground, How many stone squares are on the ground in Tiananmen Square?
2) How many years did it take to build the Forbidden City? Started in 1406 and finished in 1420.
3) How long has the Peking Duck restaurant been in business. It opened in 1416.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Mr. Eibel 4/10/11
I left for the Cleveland airport this morning at 5:30 am to catch a 8:30 flight to Chicago. My wife, older son and my father all rode along to drop me off. I made it to the airport to check my bags and get to the gate. The flight out of Cleveland was on time and I made it to Chicago O'Hara International Airport to meet the rest of the administrators from Ohio, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Pennsylvania. I took some photos of O'Hara I will post later. We boarded United flight UA851 bound for Beijing. We flew directly over the Arctic Circle and I hope my pictures turn out of the ocean of ice!!!. Crossed the international date line and covered over 7,000 miles. We flew about ??? mph at typically 36,000 feet. Glad we didn't have any windows open on the plane because the air temperature was -71 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. 13.5 hours on a plane is a long time, but I used that time to watch a couple of movies (tv screens in the back of the seat in front of me), catch up on some school work that needed finishing and had a chance to read for pleasure:). I am missing my family already, both my work family and my wife and kids. The adventure which is before me in China will be worth it and I hope my blog followers enjoy my posts. When I post photos, there will be a link on this blog.
Questions for my Prospect students:
Mr. Eibel flew 7,100 miles on a plane and the trip took 13.5 hours. About how fast was the plane traveling in miles per hour (mph)?
It was bright day light the entire flight, even at midnight Ohio time, Why was that?
I left Ohio on Sunday morning April 10 at 12:15pm and arrived in Beijing, China at 2:15 pm Monday, April 11. How could that be when I only spent 13.5 hours on the flight????
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Final trip preparations. Skype test.
Three days until I leave!!!(Sunday morning at 8:30am) I am both excited and nervous. Excited for the chance to learn about China's educational system. Nervous about the LONG airplane ride and being away from Prospect School and my family for two weeks.
I would like to try out Video Skype tomorrow afternoon. I will get with Mrs. Koos to plan a test time with her webcam. I will have keep my laptop on during the afternoon if anyone would like to test out the Skype video conference feature I hope to use during my trip.
Thank you for the digital photos which were submitted. The photo book "A Day at Prospect School" turned out beautifully!!! Mrs. Enos deserves a big thanks for the project. I am sure Mr. Li's school will treasure the book. I picked up some wonderful Oberlin historical items from the Oberlin Heritage Center for gifts to my new Chinese friends. Many Oberlin items will be taken and distributed to the Chinese students as well. I would like to thank the Oberlin Heritage Center for the donation of some of the items I will be giving away on my trip.
It should be noted that the third grade students of Prospect participate in a school day at The Little Red Schoolhouse in May. The Little Red Schoolhouse is maintained by the Oberlin Heritage Center and provides a wonderful look into early education in Oberlin. Please consider becoming a member of the Heritage Center to help preserve Oberlin's amazing history.
I would like to try out Video Skype tomorrow afternoon. I will get with Mrs. Koos to plan a test time with her webcam. I will have keep my laptop on during the afternoon if anyone would like to test out the Skype video conference feature I hope to use during my trip.
Thank you for the digital photos which were submitted. The photo book "A Day at Prospect School" turned out beautifully!!! Mrs. Enos deserves a big thanks for the project. I am sure Mr. Li's school will treasure the book. I picked up some wonderful Oberlin historical items from the Oberlin Heritage Center for gifts to my new Chinese friends. Many Oberlin items will be taken and distributed to the Chinese students as well. I would like to thank the Oberlin Heritage Center for the donation of some of the items I will be giving away on my trip.
It should be noted that the third grade students of Prospect participate in a school day at The Little Red Schoolhouse in May. The Little Red Schoolhouse is maintained by the Oberlin Heritage Center and provides a wonderful look into early education in Oberlin. Please consider becoming a member of the Heritage Center to help preserve Oberlin's amazing history.
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