Paul's counterpart in the Beijing middle school.
The mascot for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
Cathy and her three student tour guides at the middle school.
Bikes, Bikes, Everywhere!
So sorry I didn’t blog yesterday. We have not stopped for even a minute since we arrived Sunday evening. As you know, I blogged Monday evening after we returned around 9:00 pm. I awoke Tuesday morning at 5:45 am and did not get back to the hotel until after 10:00 pm., so I decided to wait until Wednesday night to update you. (You should be getting this Wednesday morning.)
There are so many things I’ve learned since I arrived in China. One being that of course it’s shorter going from San Francisco to Hong Kong by traveling north and then across the Bering Sea and then South to Hong Kong. I had to be reminded of my geography lessons to realize that going from San Francisco to Hong Kong directly over the Pacific Ocean in a “straight line” is not a shorter way (stop laughing, Paul).
Other things I have learned – when eating noodles, never cut your noodles. Long noodles equal a long life. I learned that you must always be very careful when speaking Mandarin Chinese. For instance, the word “ma” can mean many things depending on the tone in which it is spoken. One “ma” can mean the universal word for mother. Another “ma” can mean a horse. Yet another “ma” can be a curse word. Lastly, another “ma” can mean you are feeling numb. You can only imagine the trouble you could get into if your tone is not quite right.
Another item I learned is that although cars are very plentiful in the big cities in China now, they still have not given up their dependence on the old bicycle.
On Tuesday we visited a middle school in the middle of Beijing. The school had almost 5,000 students. We spent the entire day at the school. For an hour during that time, I actually had my own private student tour guides. Three students, all age 14 and in the 9th grade, guided me through the school and answered all my questions as well as asked me a few also. Their English was quite good, although they did not think so.
Earlier that day, we attended a computer class where the students presented their Power Points about various aspects of the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympics, which will be held in Beijing. The entire city is already buzzing about the Olympics and signs of it are everywhere.
Today (Wednesday) we visited a high school on the outskirts of the city. This school was actually built as a university by American missionaries in the 1800’s. The first three principals were American, and they have only had 9 different principals in the entire history of the school. This school also has around 5,000 students, but all but 100 are boarding students.
In addition to talking with the students at both schools, we spent several hours in discussions with the teachers and administration at each school. We have been taken to several Chinese restaurants, where I have become quite adept at eating with chopsticks. (It’s amazing what you can do when you have to.) All I could think as I tried all this food is what Becky would possibly say about all of it. She would be worn out by saying “Mmmmm” to me each time I would put something in my mouth. We have been quite immersed in the Chinese culture.
As I said, there are so many more stories I could tell, but I’ll save those for later. We will be going to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square tomorrow. The Forbidden City also has Chairman Mao’s mausoleum. Chairman Mao is still much beloved in Beijing even 30 years after is death. Today we saw a line of Chinese at least a mile long waiting in line to pay their respects to him.
I’m writing this in my hotel room at 10:00 pm Wednesday night. I’m then going down to the 2nd floor lobby and connect to the wireless Internet and then copy and paste this in. (It's easier than connecting with ethernet in my room and it's free.) I’m actually anxious to get on the Internet and check my email to see if there is any news from home. I haven’t checked in since Monday night. I’m having email withdrawals. I hope everyone is well. I’ll check back with you tomorrow.
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