Haige International Hotel Beijing

... there are very limited resources for them in schools. Many children born with disabilities are put up for adoption. Certainly something that is very different from our own educational system.

Our second visit was to Xing Zhi Migrant Elementary School. These two schools could not have been more different. This one is located very far outside of Beijing in a rural area. The walk to the school was over a very old bridge, up a muddy hill, and down a muddy road ...

... hutong-l ike courtyard bedecked with hanging corn cobs, and a couple of Chinese red lanterns you find a sense of purpose, that this was this place to be, rather than the tourist-choked city. It was the eve of the Moon Festival, and the moon glowed an autumn yellow that threw a dramatic light that silhouetted the wall and the mountains. The crisp cold air, the warm mountain jasmine tea, the clanking of people haphazardly cooking, children running about,- the countryside was intoxicating ...

... Thomas, and I splurged on Coldstone after dinner, which cost 4x the price of our dinners but was worth it, in my opinion. After that we hit the markets themselves. Let's just say that I was lucky to have Ali, the master haggler, because I got things for half the asking price with her help. It was a pretty packed day, so it's not so surprising that I fell asleep so fast,,, which explains why I'm up now. Well, I'd better try to get some sleep before it gets light out. More later!

... were bare, the lake frozen, and we were freezing. We rushed through these sites faster because they were mostly outdoors. Even with the freezing weather there were tons of people there. What is most impressive about these places is their size. They're huge! It's easy to get lost trying to see everything. We definitely want to come back and spend more time here, esp in better weather. E: Definitely need to come back. With only three days there we saw as much as we could ...

... gold matches. On the way to waterpolo I scalped two men's waterpolo tickets for tomorrow (ranking games...China vs Canada, Italy vs Australia) from a pair of huge Hungarians. The women's bronze match featured Australia vs Hungary and the Aussies won after two overtimes and penalty shots...the last penalty shot!! Very exciting, Jordan responded well to the ladies game at the highest level. Next up, USA vs Netherlands for the Gold! The USA Team ...

... done in an open market and bargaining is the norm. The best food in China is found in tiny restaurants that wouldn't even come close to passing health inspection in the U.S. Chuar, or lamb on a stick that is grilled out in the streets, is one of the earth's most heavenly delights. Although dangerous and sometimes irrational, walking through an open construction site and seeing hordes of barefoot workers with no safety gear is simply exhilarating ...

... closed!The tour was organised at an appropriate time when they would all be closed. There was an lovely English girl with us who was cute enough to take the script off our 13year old guide and the script read for each temple "unforunately it is closed", sure the 3 of us were only laughing and the poor little guide just played along! But the tour was still worthwhile. She brought us to the local market where they sold everything, I mean ...

... has the opportunity to return the gesture. I haven't kept up with my Chinese studies, so my knowledge of the language is not as good as it could have been. But this is OK as Xiaojing speak excellent English. She has offered to escort us to our hotel, as well as giving us a tour of Tian'anmen Square later, before heading to her parents home for a traditional family meal. This sounds like a great first day, easing us into the way of things. So, first stop: the hotel...

Someone must have heard me -- courses at BNU took a turn for the better after my last posting. Since Tuesday we have had a number of professors who pay more attention to pedagogy and teacher-student interaction than the previous instructors. In addition to the ubiquitous PowerPoint presentations (they call it "PPT" all the time), a couple of younger professors finally realized that WE could contribute to the presentation. One week into the training ...

... So being the nerd that I am, I whip out my laptop and check for any free wireless service. Sweet! There are 2! So I check the ANA website and find out that her flight was re-directed to the Sapporo Airport for some reason. Bummer! I know this but does she know that I know this? Probably not..but she'll tell me all about it when we meet up in Shanghai's Pudong Airport...hopefully as expected. That means I'll have to keep myself ...