Here are three email messages from Mr. Herring about how our China Delegation is doing as they travel. I'll put up more news as we hear.
Saturday, March 1
The flight from Chicago was long with multiple meals and several movies. The students were great: all slept part of the time. Lots of talking, reading, listening to music. Smooth flight that arrived on time.
Customs was very easy - not a single hitch/problem.
Baggage claim went well. However 2 students did not remember what their suitcase looked like so there were a few anxious moments until they checked the name tags on the suitcases stacked off to the side. All suitcases were accounted for.
On the flight I spoke with a teacher (native Australian) who is teaching in an international school in Shanghai. He was one of the chaperons for a group of 23 students (from all over the world - their parents work for companies in Shanghai) from the international school returning to Shanghai from 2 weeks in the US - having visited Disney World. He was quite impressed with our project with Long Cheng.
We were met at the airport by a rep. from the hotel / tour agency and escorted to our bus. It was about an hour's ride to the hotel. Our hotel is in downtown Shanghai - very nice. The tour guide took us right away to a restaurant for dinner. We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table to accommodate our crowd. It was worth the wait. A large variety of food we ate "family style" - no dog, cat that we know of. Just some chicken and pork. Everyone got plenty to eat.
It's 8:45 p.m. We are back at the hotel and we are all dead tired. We have a 4:30 a.m. wake up call in order to get to the airport in time for our flight to Liuzhou. All will sleep well tonight.
You would be proud of this delegation.
Sunday, March 2
We arrived in Liuzhou on time - smooth flight - good weather. Our students were a bit nervous getting of the plane in anticipation of meeting their host families. But that all evaporated when we first say them.The welcome at the airport was incredible. Each member of our delegation was presented with a huge bouquet of flowers - most of which were roses. There was a huge sign in both Chinese and English that welcomed us to Liuzhou. After the students met their host families, the principal of Long Cheng delivered some remarks followed by remarks from Bob Herring. After that there were multiple photos taken by many people.The newspapers and TV station were there to cover the arrival. Each student departed from the airport with his/her host family. It had been arranged ahead of time that several Chinese families would meet at the home (condo) of one of the host families where the American students would learn how to make Chinese dumplings filled with meet (pork) and with vegetables. The media were also present for this event. On this evening's news we will see American students making and sampling Chinese dumplings. It was very crowded with many teachers from Long Cheng attending. Not all of us (the Americans) were there.After making and eating the dumplings, we all departed with our host families to get settled in. No additional group events were planned that I am aware of for this evening. We will meet again tomorrow at school.My host family took me on a tour of the city and we stopped by Long Cheng. The school is massive - huge - educating 2000 students. It's unlike anything I've every seen. It sits on one of the main roads opposite the major park in the center of the city. There is a huge - I mean huge - banner across the front gate that says "Long Cheng School Welcomes Nativity Delegation from USA" (if I remember correctly) in both Chinese and English. Tomorrow will be a new experience for all of us.The plan for Monday is that we are introduced to the student body at the Chinese flag raising ceremony. The principal will say a few words and we will then have a tour of the campus. The major welcome is scheduled for Tuesday.The weather is great - warm sun, cool breeze. Liuzhou is in the middle of the mountains. I'm staying with a math teacher, her 14 year old daughter, and cardiac surgeon husband on the 7th (walk up) floor. They have a 2 story apartment with a view over the other buildings. Very nice - and they drive a Chevrolet that is made in China.I'm not sure what the students did this afternoon - will find that out tomorrow. My host family took me to the equivalent of Huston Woods, only in the mountains. It is the place where the math teachers from Long Cheng meet once a month for R and R. It was a wonderful afternoon talking about Chinese education, history and traditions.We joined a pick up volleyball game and they Chinese were quite amused with the "high 5s" after "the team with the American" scored a point.You may have received e-mail from your son/daughter filling you in on their activity of today. If you have any questions, you can send them to the Nativity School account which I can access form China an through which I am sending this e-mail.I can't overstate the warm welcome we received at the airport - the flowers, the huge sign, the words of welcome, the obvious enthusiasm with which they are supporting our visit to Liuzhou.
Monday, March 3, 2008
It's 6:46 p.m. on Monday and we have finished our first day at Long Cheng. It has been a good day.
Every Monday begins with the raining of the Chinese flag, their anthem and announcements. Imagine 2000 students standing outside in rows looking at the platform / raised stage for the raising of the flag!
After the anthem we were invited to the platform /stage and introduced to the student body. There were word of welcome from the Long Cheng principal. Bob Herring responded in kind. After the morning assembly we were given a tour of the school. It is an extensive campus - the classroom buildings are 6 floors with no elevator. There is a boys dorm and a girls dorm on campus each housing about 200 students. It's for kids from the rural areas that are too far away for them do commute daily - also for kids whose parents are absent (for reasons they did not elaborate on). The gym is huge and there is a soccer field. We saw the Museum of Long Cheng School which houses all the awards they have won.
During the revolution that brought Mao to power there were students from Long Cheng who supported his cause. Their photos and short biographies are in the Museum. They are considered heroes for having helped end the former regime and bring to power Mao. Our students did not understand the significance of this display.
School breaks at noon for 2.5 hours as everyone goes home for lunch and a rest. Classes reconvene at 3:00 and go until 5:30 with supervised study until 6:00 p.m. Instead of attending the afternoon session, we toured the park across the street from Long Cheng. It is a beautiful urban park with a lake on which the students rode paddle boats. There were lots of men playing checkers and older musicians playing instruments. Several women were doing a type of rhythmic dance.
A note about traffic: the speed limit is 40 km per hour - that's incredibly slow by our standards. No one speeds. There are many cars from Japan, Germany, France, Korea as well as the USA - Buicks, Chevrolets, Fords, Jeeps, and a Cadillac - on the road as well as many motor bikes and bicycles. Everyone gets a long and shares the road.
Students are not reporting any homesickness. That said, some are having challenges communicating if the English speaker is not highly skilled. It feels like we are celebrities. Many host families have invited their extended family to come and "meet the American". In the park and on the street people will look - not stare - at the non-Asian kids speaking English.
English is the only language taught in the schools - no Russian, French, German, Spanish, etc. You have to wait until higher education to learn those languages. So, everyone wants to practice their English with the Americans. The students tend to be shy and do not know what to say after they say "Hello."
There is some discussion of a volleyball and/or basketball and/or soccer game between the Chinese and the Americans. Everyone (American and Chinese) is eager to play so I'm sure it will be scheduled.
Between classes the students have a 10 minute break. At one of those breaks all 2000 students line up in the school yard and do exercises together - 7th grade in one courtyard; 8th grade in the other. It is quite a sight to see 1000 students all exercising together. There is a routine that they know by hear and do it to music over the loudspeakers. Mr. Yost, Mr. Radtke and some of our students joined in which created quite a (positive) stir among the Chinese. They were delighted to have the Americans join them.
The weather has been great - today was warm with low humidity. The air is not so clear due to pollution but not severe and no one is complaining. Students are in high spirits and full of stories about the food and their host families.
Students are taking turns filming. Ed Radtke is pleased with what they are doing and we hope to have a first draft of the film before we leave on the 15th.
Tomorrow we begin our class presentations in the morning. During the afternoon session we will present our show for all 2000 students. Can Carnegie Hall hold that many?
No worries here. All seemed to have skipped the "Who signed me up for this trip?" stage. All is well.
The flight from Chicago was long with multiple meals and several movies. The students were great: all slept part of the time. Lots of talking, reading, listening to music. Smooth flight that arrived on time.
Customs was very easy - not a single hitch/problem.
Baggage claim went well. However 2 students did not remember what their suitcase looked like so there were a few anxious moments until they checked the name tags on the suitcases stacked off to the side. All suitcases were accounted for.
On the flight I spoke with a teacher (native Australian) who is teaching in an international school in Shanghai. He was one of the chaperons for a group of 23 students (from all over the world - their parents work for companies in Shanghai) from the international school returning to Shanghai from 2 weeks in the US - having visited Disney World. He was quite impressed with our project with Long Cheng.
We were met at the airport by a rep. from the hotel / tour agency and escorted to our bus. It was about an hour's ride to the hotel. Our hotel is in downtown Shanghai - very nice. The tour guide took us right away to a restaurant for dinner. We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table to accommodate our crowd. It was worth the wait. A large variety of food we ate "family style" - no dog, cat that we know of. Just some chicken and pork. Everyone got plenty to eat.
It's 8:45 p.m. We are back at the hotel and we are all dead tired. We have a 4:30 a.m. wake up call in order to get to the airport in time for our flight to Liuzhou. All will sleep well tonight.
You would be proud of this delegation.
Sunday, March 2
We arrived in Liuzhou on time - smooth flight - good weather. Our students were a bit nervous getting of the plane in anticipation of meeting their host families. But that all evaporated when we first say them.The welcome at the airport was incredible. Each member of our delegation was presented with a huge bouquet of flowers - most of which were roses. There was a huge sign in both Chinese and English that welcomed us to Liuzhou. After the students met their host families, the principal of Long Cheng delivered some remarks followed by remarks from Bob Herring. After that there were multiple photos taken by many people.The newspapers and TV station were there to cover the arrival. Each student departed from the airport with his/her host family. It had been arranged ahead of time that several Chinese families would meet at the home (condo) of one of the host families where the American students would learn how to make Chinese dumplings filled with meet (pork) and with vegetables. The media were also present for this event. On this evening's news we will see American students making and sampling Chinese dumplings. It was very crowded with many teachers from Long Cheng attending. Not all of us (the Americans) were there.After making and eating the dumplings, we all departed with our host families to get settled in. No additional group events were planned that I am aware of for this evening. We will meet again tomorrow at school.My host family took me on a tour of the city and we stopped by Long Cheng. The school is massive - huge - educating 2000 students. It's unlike anything I've every seen. It sits on one of the main roads opposite the major park in the center of the city. There is a huge - I mean huge - banner across the front gate that says "Long Cheng School Welcomes Nativity Delegation from USA" (if I remember correctly) in both Chinese and English. Tomorrow will be a new experience for all of us.The plan for Monday is that we are introduced to the student body at the Chinese flag raising ceremony. The principal will say a few words and we will then have a tour of the campus. The major welcome is scheduled for Tuesday.The weather is great - warm sun, cool breeze. Liuzhou is in the middle of the mountains. I'm staying with a math teacher, her 14 year old daughter, and cardiac surgeon husband on the 7th (walk up) floor. They have a 2 story apartment with a view over the other buildings. Very nice - and they drive a Chevrolet that is made in China.I'm not sure what the students did this afternoon - will find that out tomorrow. My host family took me to the equivalent of Huston Woods, only in the mountains. It is the place where the math teachers from Long Cheng meet once a month for R and R. It was a wonderful afternoon talking about Chinese education, history and traditions.We joined a pick up volleyball game and they Chinese were quite amused with the "high 5s" after "the team with the American" scored a point.You may have received e-mail from your son/daughter filling you in on their activity of today. If you have any questions, you can send them to the Nativity School account which I can access form China an through which I am sending this e-mail.I can't overstate the warm welcome we received at the airport - the flowers, the huge sign, the words of welcome, the obvious enthusiasm with which they are supporting our visit to Liuzhou.
Monday, March 3, 2008
It's 6:46 p.m. on Monday and we have finished our first day at Long Cheng. It has been a good day.
Every Monday begins with the raining of the Chinese flag, their anthem and announcements. Imagine 2000 students standing outside in rows looking at the platform / raised stage for the raising of the flag!
After the anthem we were invited to the platform /stage and introduced to the student body. There were word of welcome from the Long Cheng principal. Bob Herring responded in kind. After the morning assembly we were given a tour of the school. It is an extensive campus - the classroom buildings are 6 floors with no elevator. There is a boys dorm and a girls dorm on campus each housing about 200 students. It's for kids from the rural areas that are too far away for them do commute daily - also for kids whose parents are absent (for reasons they did not elaborate on). The gym is huge and there is a soccer field. We saw the Museum of Long Cheng School which houses all the awards they have won.
During the revolution that brought Mao to power there were students from Long Cheng who supported his cause. Their photos and short biographies are in the Museum. They are considered heroes for having helped end the former regime and bring to power Mao. Our students did not understand the significance of this display.
School breaks at noon for 2.5 hours as everyone goes home for lunch and a rest. Classes reconvene at 3:00 and go until 5:30 with supervised study until 6:00 p.m. Instead of attending the afternoon session, we toured the park across the street from Long Cheng. It is a beautiful urban park with a lake on which the students rode paddle boats. There were lots of men playing checkers and older musicians playing instruments. Several women were doing a type of rhythmic dance.
A note about traffic: the speed limit is 40 km per hour - that's incredibly slow by our standards. No one speeds. There are many cars from Japan, Germany, France, Korea as well as the USA - Buicks, Chevrolets, Fords, Jeeps, and a Cadillac - on the road as well as many motor bikes and bicycles. Everyone gets a long and shares the road.
Students are not reporting any homesickness. That said, some are having challenges communicating if the English speaker is not highly skilled. It feels like we are celebrities. Many host families have invited their extended family to come and "meet the American". In the park and on the street people will look - not stare - at the non-Asian kids speaking English.
English is the only language taught in the schools - no Russian, French, German, Spanish, etc. You have to wait until higher education to learn those languages. So, everyone wants to practice their English with the Americans. The students tend to be shy and do not know what to say after they say "Hello."
There is some discussion of a volleyball and/or basketball and/or soccer game between the Chinese and the Americans. Everyone (American and Chinese) is eager to play so I'm sure it will be scheduled.
Between classes the students have a 10 minute break. At one of those breaks all 2000 students line up in the school yard and do exercises together - 7th grade in one courtyard; 8th grade in the other. It is quite a sight to see 1000 students all exercising together. There is a routine that they know by hear and do it to music over the loudspeakers. Mr. Yost, Mr. Radtke and some of our students joined in which created quite a (positive) stir among the Chinese. They were delighted to have the Americans join them.
The weather has been great - today was warm with low humidity. The air is not so clear due to pollution but not severe and no one is complaining. Students are in high spirits and full of stories about the food and their host families.
Students are taking turns filming. Ed Radtke is pleased with what they are doing and we hope to have a first draft of the film before we leave on the 15th.
Tomorrow we begin our class presentations in the morning. During the afternoon session we will present our show for all 2000 students. Can Carnegie Hall hold that many?
No worries here. All seemed to have skipped the "Who signed me up for this trip?" stage. All is well.
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