Anshan Bright Hotel

... for our return to Haicheng Senior High School. I taught English to two classes. One striking thing to me is that teachers teach bell to bell (or music to music) with no down time for student socializing at the end of the period. We gathered in the meeting period for a question and answer period with the Chinese students and teachers. Gabe answered a question about what it took to build a robot and Ms. Yakym was asked her adivce on how Chinese students could improve their ...

Today was a big day, but a tiring one. Each member of our group visited four classes; Math, Physics, PE and English. I made the mistake of participating in PE: calisthenics, shooting free throws, running laps, and tai chi. In the afternoon, we were invited to participate in gym time. The boys played basketball against the Chinese and lost by 16 points. The game was ugly! Mr ...

... comes from mining building stone and from pears. The mayor is a parent of a student in HSHS, and also is the host father for Chloe. The mayor requested that I assist in making contacts with our Indiana industries to establish economic relations. I don't think he understood that I'm not really that influential. The mayor gave all of us jade bracelets. We took many group pictures of various configurations. The computer I am using is not able upload pictures, so those will ...

... have been the most tasty yet. Then we convened at Haicheng Senior High School to meet the host families. Every student was introduced to the host, and enthusiasm and smiles filled the room. Both students and hosts were delighted by the meeting. Group picture ( of course) and then home. My host is quite gracious and her husband is a wonderful cook. I am writing this morning before I meet ...

... I didn't have to be up until 7:30....I was slightly less than thrilled to be getting a phone call telling me something I already knew in a language I barely spoke half an hour before my eyes were supposed to be open....but, how can you get upset with someone for not wanting you to freeze your face off? Especially when that person had already bought you long underwear, a hat, leg warmers and given you a coat? Not okay! And this brings me to my ...

... another home to go to besides my empty apartment. Monday the school took us to mount qianshan. It was stunning. climbing was exhausting but the views were absolutely breathtaking, and totally worth the trip. I love exploring in China, its much less safety coated than America. There were parts of the climb that were slightly scary, but the ascent was worth it. i felt like i was on top of the whole world.

... From the inside it can be tricky. In the center of the door there is a knob, which when raised locks the door from three or four separate points. Then there is another lock, by where the door handle should be, which must be turned all the way to the left to be locked and right to be unlocked. In order to open the door there is a little nub, which you use your finger to pull to the left and if all the locks are open the door pops open, very confusing ...

... photos of all of my 1000 students....yikes! Monday after class Anastasia and I went down to the city center for some shopping and just to check things out, I rewarded myself with a new pair of shoes....they were 150, which is about 20 u.s. dollars, but they are real leather and so very cute...but i need to get stockings for them as they tore up my feet after about 5 minutes...now i remember why i stopped wearing heels out, duh! Lulu and i had a ...

... happy. I ended up getting on the right bus in the wrong direction, and was forced to disembark somewhere on the outskirts of the city, with no clue what to do, using sign language and broken English and Chinese three people took pity on me and helped me get on the right bus and took me to exactly where i wanted to go. then using more hand signals i found a comforter and sheets and a few other necessities (including a mosquito zapper, there were no screens on my ...

... it's a very melodic language. I learned that if I say her name with incorrect tones, it means "fireworks." Good to know. I noticed that sometimes the driver showed a red passport through the toll both and sometimes he paid cash. The red passport is Lihua's party ID card and can be used as a pass through Anshan toll booths, because she is a local official. Outside Anshan, it doesn't apply. At Taian Senior Middle School, many students board; the rest arrive by car ...