Anshan Jia Long Hotel

... The high point was when Mr. Wilson was asked what he had learned in China and he gave a detailed descripton of how to make Chinese dumplings. When we had our farewell ceremony Wednesday afternoon, both sets of students were quite emotional. Everyone was moved deeply and pledged to meet again. Our students were overwhelmed by the gifts they received both large and small. We each received a Haicheng Senior High School uniform. The Chinese seemed to appreciate our gifts: a ...

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 ...

... students were exposed to their first round of toasts. The adults toasted to friendship and hospitality, paying honor to each other for bringing and allowing the students to come to China. In the afternoon, we toured the Jade Buddha garden in Anshan. It holds the largest Jade Buddha in the world, carved out of one piece of jade. Students enjoyed this tour, and we coincidentally ran into the Discovery group. The younger students were excited to see their American co-travelers, but ...

... 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 ...

... our dictionary usage. The food is wonderful and it's nice to have a surrogate family. This routine is repeated on Saturdays and Sundays, except I get to be lazy in the morning/afternoon and do whatever I want, then head over for dinner. Plus conversation is a lot easier because Shuang Shuang is there to translate, which is a big help, believe you me. On Saturdays I bring my computer over to their house, and my Chinese family gets to talk to my ...

Well, I know i've been bad about keeping up with the blog, but I've been pretty busy this week. I finally started back with all my classes after almost two weeks of no middle school. With the national day holiday starting up, I had to work over the weekend, which was sort of a surprise, it was fun, but tiring. I've been adopted by a Chinese family, which is great but means that i've been busy not ...

... to remove anything crusty with no hot water! I pick out my clothes, which are not in my bedroom as I have no dresser and must keep my clothes in the cupboard i believe was intended for food storage, oh well. If its a stormy day and I need the lights, I must flick on the light switches, which are upside down by American standards. Very often in my first few days here would I sit there flipping lights accidentally turning some on and some off....very ...

... up to go see my babies. I do not think it will get old teaching kindergarten. My middle school classes are not bad, but there are so many students and I feel so terrible boring them to death with my lectures. I remember what it is like to have to sit and learn for endless hours every day. I want to make class fun for them, but I have to teach them as well. I am dreadfully sick of the lesson I am teaching all of my middle school classes, grades 1 ...

... that my apartment was filthy, on top of being tiny and ill equipped, great. I burst into tears, exhausted sleep deprived and grossed out and forced myself to lay down and try to sleep some more. Around 1230 some of the coordinators from the school arrived and showed me how to work everything in the apartment, including the water heater, which would have helped to have known before i took my freezing cold shower that morning....didn't help stop the tears. The ...

... home for lunch, work with teachers for special help, eat in the dining hall, or go to their dormitory room if they board. Classes resume about 2:00 until 5:00. The Chinese educators were surprised that our students go straight through with only a 30 minute lunch break. Lunch was the traditional "hot pot." Each person has a pot of boiling broth in a pot heated by a flame, and then selects food to boil in the broth. I have to admit I was a little squeamish when the live ...