Eight Days of Great - China

After spending the night in San Francisco on June 20 (and a nice dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf – dessert at Ghirardelli Square) we left for Beijing on Monday morning, June 21.

Eleven and a half hours later, 6000 miles, and across the International Date Line, we landed in China at about 5:30 PM Tuesday June 22. Long flight. Even Xanax didn’t do much to help as the sun was shining the entire time and those seats are not conducive to a comfortable sleeping position in any way, shape or form!

Wednesday, June 23, began with meetings and introductions. Following these meetings, we went on a tour bus to the Llama and Confucius Temples, the Hanban College Headquarters, and then the famous and immense Tianmen Square – originally built 600 years ago. We have a great group of people here and have made good friends with Darrell Jensen, Alan Parrish (Canyon), Geralinda Braumberger (Washington) Marsha Morgan and Janice Sterver (Canyon), Adam Taylor (Oakland) – among others. We have laughed a lot and enjoyed learning about the country through our guides (though sometimes hard to understand) – Alexandra, Alvin, Dora, and Jenny. Alex is our tour guide and the others are volunteers.

Thursday. June 24th, We began the day with a trip to the Great Wall and a hike to one of it’s top peaks. (millions of steps!) It is magnificent and humbling to stand on one of the seven wonders of the world and the history that accompanies it. It was so worth the buckets of sweat and aching thigh muscles to have this experience. In China it is said that everyone who even climbs one step of the Great Wall is considered a hero – so, now, if you want me to be the wind beneath YOUR wings, I am available. After the Great Wall we headed to the airport (again) to continue our journey to Heilongjiang and the city of Harbin. Heilongjiang is the northern most province in China and borders both Russia and Mongolia. We arrived here about 10:30 last night and after sitting in our Great Wall sweat on a bus and then on a plane for many hours most of us couldn’t wait to get to the shower and then to bed. We have changed from group 1B in Beijing to C here in Harbin. These groups are our lifeline to food, buses, instruction, everything. It was a fun, but a long day.

Friday, - the first day I could get on the internet (and only email, not any blogs sites or facebook) We began with meetings with the Deputy Minister of Education, Mary Carroll Scott (VP of Hanban Membership) and others (taking place while I am typing this). This afternoon, we will be visiting schools and finally be able to pass out the gifts (pencils, lanyards, pins, and T-shirts) we’ve been hauling around for days. According to the bio of these schools even the primary schools hold over 5000 students. I’m never going to complain about my mere 750 again.

Friday, June 25, 2010 PM: So after a sumptuous luncheon that included jumbo prawns, seaweed salad, chicken wings, duck, and, of course, deer tendons with sea something (which, by the way, was tasty despite the chewy ness) (note: also used chopsticks to pick up single kernels of corn – miraculous achievement!), we loaded back in the bus and headed over to the elementary school. At first we introduced ourselves to the teachers and they had some time to ask us questions about education in America. Afterward we went to an art class (about 40 kids) in progress and were able to participate in the paintings they were doing. So fun! Next we went to a music class (and I want this teacher to be my Chinese teacher in the immersion program!) and participated with some activities there. The students sang to us in Chinese, and then English about us being one world, one family. This was a stirring moment and captured- in my mind- what the immersion program is all about. One world, one family. I will remember this always. After the music class. the art class we visited met us at the front of the building to present us with the pictures they had painted while we were there and we took our pictures with them. They were darling, and the whole experience reminded me again why I love being the principal of an elementary school.

After the elementary school we went to Harbin #1 High School.. Here we were toured the building with some of the students and were able to visit a few classes for a minute or two. Betty was our guide and did an excellent job answering our questions in English. She wants to be a teacher when she is older. The highlight of our visit at this school, for me, was playing ping pong with their championship players. I would like to say I held my own, but it was obvious – I mean WAY obvious they were playing down for me to even have any type of a game. Cool though. They are very serious about this sport.

Dinner tonight was at a Russian restaurant and the food was fabulous….all eight courses. It seems like all we do is eat! There was a pianist/singer as our background music who could sing in perfect English but couldn’t speak a stitch. She had obviously listened to Karen Carpenter ad nausea m.

Saturday, June 26, and we began the day at a private middle school. The whole school did a “PE” activity for us – sort of an exercise routine in unison and then each class marched for us chanting their own class motto or theme (such as, “We must work hard to help one another.” etc.). We had a chance to listen to their incredible orchestra, and view their artwork and calligraphy projects (which they then gave us as gifts). We finished our visit by watching a bilingual health class. The students are impressive with their mastery of the English language.

After the school visit we ate AGAIN and then headed to the Siberian Tiger refuge. This free roaming refuge began as a population of 50 tigers fourteen years ago and now holds over 900 of these fabulous felines.. They are huge and magnificent and in our little caged van we were being watched by them, as they languished in the shade (it was a record 104 degrees today) or roamed around the water holes, every bit as much as we were watching them.. However, the best part, by far was being able to hold a 35 day old tiger cub in my own hands. I’ll bet I never get to do that again!

Again with the eating and then to a performance by the students at Harbin Normal University. We were greeted into their auditorium with an ovation of clapping. We felt like royalty as they ushered us into the reserved seats. These students were talented and the show was well done. Another full day, but a fun one. My feet feel like they are going to pop!

Sunday, June 27th. This morning we took a quick trip (and by this I mean we sat on the bus for 20 minutes, drove in the bus for 30 minutes, leaving about 15 minutes of view time) to St. Sophia’s Church – the oldest Russion church within the Chinese borders. Lunch finally offered the opportunity of a SALAD and believe me when I say crisp lettuce and vegetables never tasted so good! We arrived back in Beijing tonight having just enough time to go out and explore the neighborhood markets before heading to bed. It was very crowded and the sellers are VERY persistent. I actually felt someone trying to pickpocket me there! Alan Parrish was walking behind me and he said it was a man and a little boy… A LITTLE BOY…working in tandem. Good thing for me nothing was in my pockets. (We had been warned). We did stop by the local McDonalds on the way back to the hotel and the happy meals were foodgasmic. After a week of Chinese food for every meal of the day – a hamburger was the most delicious thing on earth.

Monday, 28th. I can’t believe we leave tomorrow! Today we had breakout session meetings, which I was dreading, but they actually turned out to be awesome. I got a lot of valuable information about starting an immersion program and finding a good/qualified teacher. Big buffet for lunch and then we loaded up into our favorite bus (funny how everyone always sits in exactly the same place) and headed over to The Forbidden City (Last Emperor)

and then to the Silk Market – bargaining paradise….or hell after a couple of hours of it. Got some good stuff to take home though! After a dinner of Peking Duck and every other kind of duck you can imagine, we walked back to the hotel and then headed back out to the neighborhood market so I could eat a scorpion for Stetson…..and I DID IT! I ate THREE! Oh yum. After that there was nothing left but to buy my diet coke for the morning, which we did, and then head to bed – which I am.

Tuesday June 29th – the only day I get to live twice and I got to do it in an airplane. However, we did have the greatest seats on the plane. Right at the entrance – leg room to spare…first ones off at landing. After an 11 hour flight from Beijing to San Francisco we are now sitting at our gate waiting for our next plane to leave (three hours from now). I already miss the Chinese version of ice-cream, the abundance of mango products, the people we met and hung out with, and the royal treatment we got everywhere we went. However, it is great to see blue skies, have cold beverages, a cooled airport and know that tonight I will be sleeping in my own bed.

Having this experience in China was incredible in every respect. I learned a lot, I saw a lot, I ate a lot. I am more convinced than ever that we need to create an atmosphere of a global community within our schools – beginning with language immersion programs, and thereby show by example the importance of making this a priority in the lives of all American people for the benefit for all of those that are in our world. I don’t know that I would ever go back to Beijing – the smog kind of ruins it, but I would love to go back and see Hong Kong someday, - I’ve loved my visit to all of the Asian countries but in all honesty – it is great to be home..