Zaijian Zhong Guo (Last post of 2009)

Friday March 20th

Oh my goodness - wow the past five days have been a roller coaster of emotion from pure joy to utter depression. Hangzhou High School is such a wonderful place and Hangzhou is such a beautiful city- leaving is so bitter sweet returning to the comforts of home..but leaving our new friends and this incredible country of China

Wednesday was our final day at Hangzhou High School. I had a bit of a rough start..I had all of these bags that I had to bring to school - gifts, movies that Derek had loaned me, my dress and shoes for the banquet I was running late and ran out of the apartment. As the door closed, I realized that I had left my keys on the table - .locked out and no key to unlock my bike. I starteded walking. To my surprise, William pulled up and offered me a ride!! We pulled into the school -he let me out by the English Office building...miraculously --Rose was standing right there. I told her that I had locked myself out, she told me not to worry and that Wang Huo could help me during first period (Rose had to teach).

William, Rose, Wang Huo and Bruce to the rescue a spare set of keys!! I ran home to get my keys and a few other things that I left behind.... Mark, Li, and Alex headed to the gym for Kung Fu. When I returned I headed towards the gymnasium - walking slowly through the impressive campus of Hangzhou High School. When I walked up the stairs..Bruce and Alex were battling it out on the badminton court Li and Mark were practicing Kung Fu poses and taking photos with Liu laoshi. At the end of class, we took some final group photos and headed to lunch.

After lunch, we had our last cooking class (so sad) with the chef, Wang loashi. This man is awesome! Every day he prepares these amazing lunches for us..and then comes in and checks in on us, He had decided to teach us how to make dumplings! So fun. After cooking, we returned to the English office to practice our speeches.

Helen came rushing up the stairs urging us to get ready for the farewell ceremony. Iit was 3:20 and the ceremony was starting at 3:30 - we had to put our traditional Chinese silk outfits on! We scrambled in different directions and somehow made it to the administraation building on time. We were joined by Madame Miao -- who had just returned from the Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China in Beijing. She went as a representative of the education department of Zhejiang province as well as the other administrators and a few of the English teachers. Madame Miao spoke about how impressed with this year's delegation (us!) and the importance of the relationship between Hanggao and DS. Then I expressed our gratitude for our wonderful stay in Hangzhou. Madame Miao presented us with some gifts and then we were off to the banquet.. It was so nice everyone who has been involved with our stay, host parents and siblings, our teachers, English teachers, administrators.all in the same room. Madame Miao and I walked around the room and toasted with everyone at each table Each of us had to give a speech in Chinese! I went first, followed by Li, then Mark, then Alex. A delicious meal was enjoyed - 1,000s of pictures were taken and then it was time to go home... so sad.

Thursday morning Bruce and Ms. Zhu came to my apartment to help me carry all of my things to school. Luckily, Ms. Zhu had a key to the back gate..so we were able to sneak through.

Packing the bus was quite a difficult task-- we have all accumulated so much stuff it is ridiculous between shopping and all of the giifts that we have received we are going to be quite a sight at the Shanghai airport on Saturday morning..

After a send off by the administration, some of our teachers, several English teachers, some students and their families -- full of hugs, some tears, expressions of gratitude and gift exchanges, we were off --heading to Shanghai with Mr. Chen behind the wheel --Derek and Bruce as co-pilots. Bruce is coming to Shanghai with us!! I cannot say it enough. Bruce is so wonderful. He has become such a good friend to us all It took us close to two hours to get into the city..battling the insane Shanghai traffic..

Bruce and I spent the afternoon exploring the city. Mmap in tow we walked to the old section of Shanghai or the Yuyuan section, which includes an antique shopping street full of shops selling silks, Chinese paintings, tea, Mao paraphernalia, abacuses, calligraphy sets. I bargained for some earrings..yet again - this section of Shanghai also includes a traditional Chinese snack area with some very interesting options, the beautiful Yu Garden, and the Old City God Temple. We headed towards the bay -- and walked down the beautiful Bund, the street that lies along one side of the Huangpo River -- it is lined with dozens of historic buildings-- built over time in various forms of architecture and by different countries including Britain, the Netherlands, and Portugal. We walked along the promenade admiring the modern skyline of the Shanghai financial district on the other side of the river which is dominated by the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Jin Mao building (two of China's tallest buildings) We walked back to the hotel to pick up Alex, Li and Mark then ventured on to the subway-- over towards the area of People's Square to attend a Shanghai Acrobatic show..amazing! Several different acts including juggling, plate spinning, Chinese yo-yo, balancing wine glasses, knife throwing and very impressive acrobatics back on the subway back to the hotel

This morning we slept in pretty late, then walked to a fantastic bakery called 85 C to get breakfast and milk tea! We hung around the hotel for awhile. Alex's former host brother Frank stopped by. He goes to college in Shanghai. Then, Bruce, Li, Mark and I decided to go exploring. We took the subway to the other side of the river..and walked around the financial center... we took a bunch of photos of the Oriental Pearl Tower... we then decided to go to the old section of Shanghai. We did a little bit of shopping..and then walked to the snack section. We went to this place called the Snack Kingdom for dinner. We enjoyed some noodles and dumplings for the last time here in China. We then walked back to the hotel stopping at 85 C for some coffee. Tomorrow we will leave the hotel at 9am to catch our flight at 12:45 to San Francisco, we will have a four hour delay and then a six hour flight to Boston... it is going to be very hard to adjust to waking up when I am used to going to bed and vice versa

Wow, we are leaving China tomorrow...it feels like we just got here..but at the same time as if we have been here forever The four of us have met so many wonderful people! We have been to so many different places. We have seen and done so many amazing things. Thank you to everyone involved with the exchange and for reading our blog!

Sunshine and Two Dinners

Allison

Monday, March 16th

I got very sad this morning as I was riding to work, it really hit me that this was one of our last days in Hangzhou. I am looking forwaard to returning home, to see my family and friends, and students, but I am very sad that we have to leave Hangzhou and all of our friends here. 

Publish Post

Our last calligraphy class..our teacher Yang Laoshi is wonderful! One of my favorite people (although I have many) here in Hangzhou, my friend Xu Dao, arrived to help out and provide his gentle encouragement. He is a 70 year old retired English teacher here at Hanggao.   He is a very talented calligrapher. He is always smiling!! He likes to play us songs on his cell phone.

Today, our assignment was to show off everything we had learned and create our Chinese calligraphy masterpieces!! We were each assigned four different characters to master and then had to paint them on some very nice paper. After class, we took a group photo with Yang Laoshii. Xu Dao was our photographer..he was having a little trouble figuriing the camera out and exclaimed "I am from the countryside!!" It was very funny.

Derek or Xu Chang arrived for Chinese class (it is his birthday!). Our assignment today was to write our speeches for the banquet on Wednesday night. All four of us have to give a speech in Chinese..yikes. The weather was so beautiful that we decided to sit outside to write when we were done..Derek and Bruce went to work translating away. 

Lunch and then Alex and I went to English corner. Li and Mark went to the astronomy club.

We met back at the English office and then Obama Lama went off with Helen to pick up our dresses and suits for the farewell banquet. Helen has been so kind to us during our stay here in Hangzhou..Thank you Helen!  After, Mark, Li, Helen, and I went to make some final purchases at the silk market. 

Somehow, the four of us had double-booked ourselves for dinner. Ivan's (one of the Hanggao students who came to DS last yeear) mother and father (he is a math teacher here at Hanggao) invited us to dinner but Derek had also invited us to dinner! So we had to eat twice.  Ivan's family took us to a fantastic restauraant very close to Hefang St. ( the lovely antique shopping street in Hangzhou). Wang Huo also joined us! We enjoyed some delicious dishes including dongpo pork, french fries, and some fried noodles. Ivan is such a sweet girl and her parents are just lovely. 

Then, we took taxis to a hotel to join Derek and his wife Susan, her mother, and uncle, her brother, and his girlfriend, and Derek's best friend and his girlfriend. Derek's dinner was so much fun. His friend, I forget his name, is a magician! He performed several tricks using some elastic bands and then moved on to coins. After dinner we sang Happy Birthday in English and Chinese and then ate some amazing cake!!

Last Wednesday, after our beloved cooking class (the chef taught us how to make rabbits out of eggs…) Rose’s sister Angela met me at the English Office to take me to her school. Angela teachers English at a middle school very close to Hanggao. Rose introduced us --we hopped on the bikes and we were off. Chatting and meandering along the road, we finally reached the school. After a quick tour, we walked up to her office – where I met two more English teachers – grabbed my computer and followed Angela quickly to her class.

I walked into the classroom and was greeted by an enthusiastic applause... Angela’s students are in their last year of middle school (a U.S. high school freshman). They are studying hard for their high school entrance exams. My visit gave them a nice break from their focused studies. The students were overwhelmingly enthusiastic and wonderful…asking me all sorts of questions.

I looked at the clock 3:58..oh no! I told Derek that I would speak to his English club about American food at 4:00… I had to wrap up my speech and head back to Hanggao. Angela and I ran down the stairs and rode quickly back to Hanggao…I thanked her very much for giving me the opportunity to spend time at her school.

I ran up the stairs of the classroom building and down to English club… Derek was showing them a clip of Iron Chef. I had a minute to catch my breath…before presenting again.

After English Club, I met Helen… and we went shopping on the famous Hangzhou Silk Street…the street I have to ride down …to and from school. Helen is a very good shopper – and is very good at bargaining.. After I had made some purchases, Helen asked if I wanted to go to the night market….more shopping?..why of course! We both ran home (her apartment is in the building next to mine)… grabbed something to eat…and then hopped on our br bikes and rode down to the night market. The night market was very cool! Helen bargained for a beautiful silver bracelet. I bought a bunch of earrings and some gifts…

Thursday we had Chinese and calligraphy in the morning but it was a little different because we were joined by the ten students visiting Hanggao from Georgia this week….. During calligraphy, my friend Xu Dao, the retired, 70 year old, English teacher who Lianna has blogged about…came to assist Yang lao shi. He taught at Hangzhou High School for over 40 years.. He is so kind and wonderful…and he is trying to help me with my Chinese pronunciation….

Wang Huo (an English teacher who came to DS a few years ago) invited me to have dinner with her and then to go to Hefang St. Bruce and all of the host siblings had taken us there our first Friday night here in Hangzhou. After enjoying our dinner at the school, we hopped on a bus….and headed down to Hefang St. – a fantastic antique street with all sorts of tea, traditional medicine, silk, fans and other souvenirs shops. Wang Huo is also a very good bargainer! We met one of her friends..and we walked down the traditional snack street.. They have all sorts of things even fried scorpions…I decided to play it a bit safe and selected some sort of fried shrimp patty thing.. It started to rain heavily…so we seeked refuge at a Chinese snack restaurant…We enjoyed some warm soy milk…and then headed home…

Friday morning we had Hangzhou history and culture, and were once again joined by the students and teacher from Georgia… We all had lunch together…after lunch and I said farewell to Beth and Robert and wished them safe travels... they were headed back to Georgia. Bruce took me across the street to buy a second suitcase! Bruce!! What would I do without Bruce?? I honestly do not know….he has been so wonderfful to us during our stay here in Hangzhou..

Friday night out with William!! Alex filled you in…Lou Wei Lou (excellent food) and the Impression West Lake (fantastic show)! I just want to reiterate what a nice time we had…so nice. Thank you William!

Saturday – Tea Museum! (see Alex’s description as well..hehehe)… Then we walked along the Yang Causeway….the west side of the west lake… so beautiful…the lake, the he weather…China!

The students went back to the school-- Rose and I decided to stay by the lake. We walked along the Bei Causeway…Rose asked me if I want to try a special Chinese dessert...powder of the lotus flower mixed with boiling water…and it turns into this delightful pink sticky substance… We sat on a bench and enjoyed our treat… We tried to get a taxi…but the city was so so busy….Rose realized that she had two cards that borrow the city bicycles (the city provides bikes to their citizens free of charge - similar to the programs they have started in the European cities…) We couldn't find any at first because the weather was so nice -- but then two people returned some right in front of us… We hopped on and headed home…

I decided to go back to the school to get my bike…(I had left it Friday afternoon…) and I ran into Derek at the gate! He had been looking for me…(remember I do not have a cell phone) and invited me to have pizza at his apartment with Susan…yeah!!

Sunday morning Helen took me to try on my silk dress...it came out great..but needed a few alterations...

After shopping with Helen, Susan met me and we rode back to her apartment to have lunch with Derek, his cousin, her boyfriend, and his parents. They were so nice.. His cousin and her boyfriend speak English very well.. Derek prepared quite an impressive spread...

Susan had to go back to work...she is teaching an open lesson this week...which means any teacher in the city is invited to come and observe her teach... she had to prepare her lesson and materials...

Derek and I decided to go to the Silk Museum... we could not get a taxi...so we took a bus... the Silk Museum is great. Then Derek remembered how I wanted to take a boat ride in the West Lake ... so we got off the bus on the south side of the lake - Nanshan Road ... a beautiful area of Hangzhou... the top art university in China is located along the road...there are many shops and nice restaurants ...We went out on the boat as the sun was setting! soooo nice! Then we walked along Nanshan Road...and traveled to one of Derek's favorite restaurants -- Mr. Chen's Noodle House..delicious... I was exhausted ...I went home and fell asleep right away...

Hangzhou Highlights

(Allison)

Last Wednesday, after our beloved cooking class (the chef taught us how to make rabbits out of eggs…) Rose’s sister Angela met me at the English Office to take me to her school. Angela teachers English at a middle school very close to Hanggao. Rose introduced us --we hopped on the bikes and we were off. Chatting and meandering along the road, we finally reached the school. After a quick tour, we walked up to her office – where I met two more English teachers – grabbed my computer and followed Angela quickly to her class.

I walked into the classroom and was greeted by an enthusiastic applause... Angela’s students are in their last year of middle school (a U.S. high school freshman). They are studying hard for their high school entrance exams. My visit gave them a nice break from their focused studies. The students were overwhelmingly enthusiastic and wonderful…asking me all sorts of questions.

I looked at the clock 3:58..oh no!  I told Derek that I would speak to his English club about American food at 4:00… I had to wrap up my speech and head back to Hanggao. Angela and I ran down the stairs and rode quickly back to Hanggao…I thanked her very much for giving me the opportunity to spend time at her school.

I ran up the stairs of the classroom building and down to English club… Derek was showing them a clip of Iron Chef. I had a minute to catch my breath…before presenting again.

After English Club, I met Helen… and we went shopping on the famous Hangzhou Silk Street…the street I have to ride down …to and from school. Helen is a very good shopper – and is very good at bargaining.. After I had made some purchases, Helen asked if I wanted to go to the night market….more shopping?..why of course! We both ran home (her apartment is in the building next to mine)… grabbed something to eat…and then hopped on our br bikes and rode down to the night market. The night market was very cool!  Helen bargained for a beautiful silver bracelet. I bought a bunch of earrings and some gifts…

Thursday we had Chinese and calligraphy in the morning but it was a little different because we were joined by the ten students visiting Hanggao from Georgia this week….. During calligraphy, my friend Xu Dao, the retired, 70 year old, English teacher who Lianna has blogged about…came to assist Yang lao shi. He taught at Hangzhou High School for over 40 years.. He is so kind and wonderful…and he is trying to help me with my Chinese pronunciation….

Wang Huo (an English teacher who came to DS a few years ago) invited me to have dinner with her and then to go to Hefang St.  Bruce and all of the host siblings had taken us there our first Friday night here in Hangzhou. After enjoying our dinner at the school, we hopped on a bus….and headed down to Hefang St. – a fantastic antique street with all sorts of tea, traditional medicine, silk, fans and other souvenirs shops. Wang Huo is also a very good bargainer! We met one of her friends..and we walked down the traditional snack street.. They have all sorts of things even fried scorpions…I decided to play it a bit safe and selected some sort of fried shrimp patty thing.. It started to rain heavily…so we seeked refuge at a Chinese snack restaurant…We enjoyed some warm soy milk…and then headed home…

Friday morning we had Hangzhou history and culture, and were once again joined by the students and teacher from Georgia… We all had lunch together…after lunch and I said farewell to Beth and Robert and wished them safe travels... they were headed back to Georgia. Bruce took me across the street to buy a second suitcase!  Bruce!! What would I do without Bruce?? I honestly do not know….he has been so wonderfful to us during our stay here in Hangzhou..

Friday night out with William!! Alex filled you in…Lou Wei Lou (excellent food) and the Impression West Lake (fantastic show)! I just want to reiterate what a nice time we had…so nice. Thank you William!

Saturday – Tea Museum! (see Alex’s description as well..hehehe)… Then we walked along the Yang Causeway….the west side of the west lake… so beautiful…the lake, the he weather…China!

The students went back to the school-- Rose and I decided to stay by the lake. We walked along the Bei Causeway…Rose asked me if I want to try a special Chinese dessert...powder of the lotus flower mixed with boiling water…and it turns into this delightful pink sticky substance… We sat on a bench and enjoyed our treat… We tried to get a taxi…but the city was so so busy….Rose realized that she had two cards that borrow the city bicycles (the city provides bikes to their citizens free of charge - similar to the programs they have started in the European cities…) We couldn't find any at first because the weather was so nice -- but then two people returned some right in front of us… We hopped on and headed home…

I decided to go back to the school to get my bike…(I had left it Friday afternoon…) and I ran into Derek at the gate! He had been looking for me…(remember I do not have a cell phone) and invited me to have pizza at his apartment with Susan…yeah!!

Sunday morning Helen took me to try on my silk dress...it came out great..but needed a few alterations...

After shopping with Helen, Susan met me and we rode back to her apartment to have lunch with Derek, his cousin, her boyfriend, and his parents. They were so nice.. His cousin and her boyfriend speak English very well.. Derek prepared quite an impressive spread...

Susan had to go back to work...she is teaching an open lesson this week...which means any teacher in the city is invited to come and observe her teach... she had to prepare her lesson and materials...

Derek and I decided to go to the Silk Museum... we could not get a taxi...so we took a bus... the Silk Museum is great. Then Derek remembered how I wanted to take a boat ride in the West Lake ... so we got off the bus on the south side of the lake - Nanshan Road ... a beautiful area of Hangzhou... the top art university in China is located along the road...there are many shops and nice restaurants ...We went out on the boat as the sun was setting! soooo nice! Then we walked along Nanshan Road...and traveled to one of Derek's favorite restaurants -- Mr. Chen's Noodle House..delicious... I was exhausted ...I went home and fell asleep right away... 

Sunday's with Shuang

(Alex)

Hi everybody, I know it has been really long since I last checked in, but it has been really hard either to find the time or the proper material to blog about. My time here at Hangzhou has seemed to fly by, as I am writing this I only have three (!) more days in this beautiful city. School has been quite an experience, and, while I have learned something new every minute of everyday, it has been one of those experience which has not really been conducive to a blog. Yeah, so since covering my behind is over with, let’s get to this weekend, which has been by far one of the best weekends of this trip. To start with, William took us out Friday night to Lo Wai Lo for some much needed and much loved, you guessed it Viz, Beggars Chicken. Quite honestly the best tasting and most tender chicken I have ever tried. Period. A serious competitor for my pick as best dish in China, second only to the delectable Dong Po Pork (Mao’s Pork). After a great meal, William led us for a beautiful night-time stroll along the edge of the West Lake, ultimately ending up at the place where the famous West Lake Impressions occurred, a daily event which is famous throughout China. The show was directed by the same guy who directed the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, so you can just imagine the scale and beauty of the show that we enjoyed for the greater part of an hour. I kid you not in saying that at one point, a huge metal construct literally rose magically out of the water and towered above the actors, all of whom were standing on submerged platforms in the middle of the lake, giving the decidedly ghostly appearance of “walking on water.” The beautiful lighting effects had Mark, our resident Light Guru at DS, mesmerized. It was simply one of the most beautiful and breathtaking shows that I have seen on this trip, or in my life for that matter. And before you guys reading at home think I am just given to hyperbole, please wait until you see some of the video clips Li got before you decide for yourself. After the show, we met back up with our host families who where saying their final goodbyes to the OTHER delegation from America (that’s right.) I’m not sure how much the others have spoken about the delegation from Athen’s Academy in Georgia, so I’ll give a quick overview. This week, another group of students came to Hanggao and have been taking classes with us. They are very cool, but a much larger group (twelve in all, including a teacher and the headmaster of their school), and have sort of ended up preoccupying the teachers time. It has been really cool, however, to give them our advice, what with us being such experienced foreigners at this school. Anyways, they were leaving the next day, and our host siblings, who had seen them a lot through us, wanted to say goodbye. The next day we all headed out with Rose to the Tea Museum. And once we got there, we met … Jin Shuang! For those of you who don’t know, I hosted Jin Shuang (Frank) in America my sophomore year, and became very close with him. He looked a little older, but had not changed much at all. He sends his love to everyone back home, and has great memories of everyone he met and everything he did. It was great to see him, and, an added bonus, it was a beautiful day, and the museum was really cool. It was nestled in amongst rows and rows of tea plants (??), and really exuded a sense of peace and serenity. Wandering the halls of the tea museum and learning about the different types of tea and about its preparation (apparently I have never had a real, correctly prepared cup of tea in America) really made me feel like I was experiencing something amazingly Chinese. After another great lunch, Rose took us for a walk around the West Lake, one of the first times we had been there while the sun was shining. The walk put any body of water in America to shame, the views so stunning they defy all description. I felt, at that moment, so very blessed to have been able to see this beautiful scene, hundreds of thousands of miles away from my home, surrounded by friends of the past and present. This, my last weekend in China, really reinforced my appreciation for this great experience, and has made it very hard to begin to let go. After saying goodbye to Rose and Shuang (more on him shortly), we made our way back to Star’s (Li’s host sister) house for a farewell party by our siblings. Bruce made dumplings and pork steaks, and we watched a lot of movies. It was just one of those moments where we felt so close to everybody in the room, so content and at peace, that it was with a heavy heart that we left. The next morning, Shuang met me at Sunny’s house bright and early and took me out on the town. We first went to a Chinese supermarket, where he proceeded to show me all the best things to buy for the lunch we would have later, reminiscing all the while about his stay with me. I can’t believe how much he remembered about his stay two years ago. After, I finally met his mother and father, and they made a great lunch for me. His house was amazing, and it was simply an amazing experience to come full circle and go from inviting him to my house to he inviting me into his. I was so overwhelmed by the huge overflow of kindness his parents gave me, showing me around the house and thanking me profusely in broken English for hosting their son. I could only respond “Mei guan xi” “It was no problem”, and I tried to convey the immense affection my family and I had for their son. After lunch, we went for a walk around Shuang’s neighborhood, where he pointed out various landmarks of his childhood along the way. Stopping in small little garden, we chatted for about an hour about how life was going for both of us. I felt as if this day had been two years in the making, and it was truly one of the most enjoyable experiences of my entire trip. Unfortunately, Shuang needed to head back to Shanghai at six, so it was very reluctantly that we left the garden and headed home. After making plans to meet up again in Shanghai, I said goodbye to his family, who repeatedly sent their best wishes to my family. And that’s how the best weekend of the trip ended. So that about finishes up one of my longest blogs. Sorry again that it took me so long. Miss you all, but I guess I’ll see you soon enough. I might be able to squeeze out one more blog before I’m done… but for now, Zai Jian!

Sunny Skies and Winding Down!

(Allison) 

Ok, so time is really starting to fly here in Hangzhou. Fortunately, this week – it stopped raining!! We had a few beautiful days! But then rain returned yesterday…oh well.

Last Friday was National Women’s Day here in China!

In the morning….we had Hangzhou history class – Our history teacher Zhao Yi Bin is a wonderful man.  I cannot remember if I have blogged about him already. He is very interested in ancient history – and also knowing more about how history teachers teach in the U.S. I really wish that I could speak Chinese so that we could chat.

Then off to the gym for Kung Fu class – Mark, Li and Alex are working on perfecting their series. Our teacher, Liu Laoshi, also attempted to teach us some Tai Chi. He told us to clear our minds and imagine that we were standing on a beach facing the ocean.  After our sorry attempt at Tai Chi…Li and Mark decided to play ping pong. Bruce, Alex, Liu Laoshi and I played an intense game of badminton. Our teacher taught me how to properly serve…between my serve and his skills we beat Alex and Bruce – twice!

Because it is National Women’s Day ….all of the women teachers at the school received the afternoon off to go to a tea house. Rose and I rode our bikes down Fengqi  Road (a very busy road that the school is located on.), towards the West Lake, and arrived at the tea house. The tea house was very large; we walked up to the second floor. In the middle of the second floor, there was a huge buffet of all sorts of Chinese food.  On each side there were little rooms with a big table and comfy chairs. We found some seats with some of the math teachers from Hanggao –we ordered tea – I had flower tea - Rose had green tea, and then went out to the buffet.  Once again, there was an insane amount of food. I tried some sort of famous Hangzhou snack – a flour cake with shallot and sauce.  We spent the afternoon drinking tea, snacking and relaxing. Then we rode back to the school…I met up with Lianna, Star (Li’s second host sister), Mark, Tao Tao, and Bruce…and we headed out to get something to eat and do some shopping..

On Saturday, we traveled out to Wu Zhen! It was fantastic. Derek, Ms. Zhu Wei., and Mr. Pan (both administrators at the school) accompanied us.. Wu Zhen is a well preserved historic town about an hour and a half outside of Hangzhou. Because it was Saturday, and not raining – there were a ton of people there... we meandered our way through the swarms…and explored. The town is absolutely picturesque…lined with canals, classic Chinese buildings, humpback bridges…Lianna described it as Lijiang meets Plymouth Plantation..  soo nice…. We took the bus back to the school…snacking, listening to music and napping...

Derek and I took a taxi over to the section of Hangzhou-- where he and Susan attended university. This area of Hangzhou reminded me so much of the strip of Com. Ave. near BU… college students everywhere, shops and all sorts of places to get food. We met Susan at the Curry Bistro. When we arrived she had milk tea waiting for us…mine had these little black pearls in the bottom that were made out of sticky rice!

Sunday

I do not have a cell phone here in China. It is nice…but it does cause me a little bit of anxiety … and it makes making plans rather challenging. People just say -- ok meet me here at this time¦and I just have to trust them.

Star (Li’s current host sister) called me in the morning, (I do have a phone in the apartment) and told me to meet Mark and Tao at the school gate at 1:30… I walked to the school – the sun was shining!! Tao Tao’s mom drove us over the Baishan Road – the road that runs along the north end of the West Lake… We were meeting Bruce, Star, Sue, Lianna, Harry, Alex and Sonny to hike up Bao Shu Shan pagoda. Once everyone arrived – we were off. We climbed up Bao Shi Hill and reached the pagoda.  There were people everywhere up there! (six million people live in the city and greater Hangzhou area) Just past the pagoda are all of these rocks that you can climb.…Bruce, Harry, Sonnny and Alex climbed up a very large rock..

We strolled around and hung out at the top for awhile..and then walked down the hill along a path…there were various people selling things – some of them were selling stinky tofu…it is these small squares of fried tofu…but it smells soooo bad-horrible...we picked up the pace. At the bottom -- we walked along Beishan Road once again -- people everywhere along the lake…and walking on the Bai Causeway.. The students all decided to camp out at a Starbucks¦ I decided to walk along the east side of the lake for awhile. I discovered a statue of Marco Polo – in his writings he said that Hangzhou was the most beautiful and splendid city in the world! On the way back to the apartment, I decided to check out some of the Hangzhou clothing stores…

Monday

A beautiful, sun shining day! In the morning, we had calligraphy and Chinese…after lunch with Bruce, Tao, Star and Sunny –we went to broadcast club! One of my friends from English Corner..Brianna or Chen Yun…has been asking us to come to broadcast club for a few weeks now….we finally committed to a day! During the lunch break, a few students put on a radio show...they mostly play music, but some times they interview people. Brianna asked us various questions about our lives in the U.S. and our experiences in China.

After broadcast club we went to English corner... Joe one of the students coming to DSHS this year – showed up!

After having dinner at the school, I decided to ride my bike down to the Bai Causeway…there were too many people there on Sunday to walk it. I rode down the very scenic Beishan Road … and then back over the Bai Causeway… the West Lake is so pretty and relaxing at night...

This morning -we had Chinese painting class! I love this class. Our teacher is a very talented artist.  Today, we were joined by a delegation from Athens Academy – that is located in Athens, Georgia - 10 students, a high school history teacher - Beth, and their headmaster – Robert. They had traveled in Beijing for a few days and arrived in Hangzhou – Monday afternoon. There school is possibly going to set up an exchange similar to the DS one…

Our teacher presented the new students with some paper cutting, a Chinese folk craft.  Mark and Li attempted some advanced paper cuts... Alex and I decided to paint.  I painted a fish...and then something between a shrimp and a lobster -then I attempted to paint a duck...

The Georgian students went on a tour of the school…and our teacher took us up to her gallery/office to show us some of her work. She has traveled to Europe, and enjoys painting European buildings and landscape scenes.

Off to lunch...today, instead of our usual round table, the chef and his staff transformed the room into a buffet set-up… because they had to feed the DS exchange and the Athens exchange…

The last period of the day we were invited to Harry’s class for a class meeting/party. Alex went to Sonny’s class meeting/party. We played some English games, and they put on a performance of the Peking Opera and made us join in!

Arcades, Ice Cream and a Chinese Forest Gump

 

(Li)  2/26 and 2/27

Today is Sunny’s birthday! Sunny is Alex’s second host brother. All of our siblings are good friends now (although they didn’t know each other a month ago), so we all hang out all the time. We had Chinese and Calligraphy in the morning. We watched a movie in Chinese. Although the movie was really good, it was kind of disappointing that he showed us a movie. I wanted to actually learn a lot of Chinese while I was here, and I don’t think that has really happened. But anyway, the movie was called “tough guy” or “underdog warrior”… not really sure. It was basically the Chinese “Forest Gump.” In the movie a man is in the army, but he jumps in a body of water to save another soldier. He nearly drowns and ends up with brain damage, causing him to be much like Forest Gump (mentally). The main character is incredibly strong and a good fighter, so he fights in the name of good. He gets tricked by a bad guy and ends up in trouble with the law… but I won’t tell you any more because you should see it. Not much to report about calligraphy, other than that it was good.

After school the three of us, all six of our siblings, and Bruce went to Sunny’s house to celebrate his birthday. We ate pizza, played mahjong, and watched Valkyrie. O by the way, I am really good at mahjong. My host sister taught me how to play. But yea, Valkyrie was a really good movie, shocking that its based on truth and yet I had never heard about it. It was sad knowing the whole time what the ending was. During every scene I wanted the outcome to be different. Sunny’s birthday was really fun.

Friday we were supposed to have Kung Fu, but our teacher was feeling sick and had an injured elbow, so he just gave us free time. He taught Mark and I how to play Ping Pong and we have been practicing every class since then. We are actually getting pretty good, but not good enough to beat Nat. After lunch we went to get the fabrics for our silk dresses and jackets. Mark and Alex each got jackets and pants, while Allison and I each got dresses. I ended up getting 2 dresses because I couldn’t choose between two fabrics and the dresses are actually pretty cheap. We got our fabric and headed to the tailor to get fitted.

After school Mark and I, our current hosts, Sunny, and Bruce, went out for dinner at a Japanese noodle place (Alex and Allison both wanted to go home). Dinner was good and we went to an arcade after. Arcades here are lame, in the sense that everything requires WAY too many tickets to cash in. Where as in America, you can at least get candy regardless of how many tickets you win. So we were sad that we couldn’t get anything… and no, that is not a little kid mentality—almost everybody at the arcade was a teenager or adult. We got ice cream at the arcade and hung out in the ice cream store for a while before going home.

First Days in Hangzhou

(Li) 2/19

I met my host sisters yesterday. They are both really nice. They are in the same class, so I won’t have to get used to a different group of kids or teachers at all. I am living with my sister, Sue, her mom, dad, grandmother, and little cousin. The apartment is pretty nice, but they don’t use heat!... not something I am used to. Today was out first day of Chinese classes. First we had Chinese class. Our teacher, Derek, is an English teacher at the school and he will be coming to America this year. We were glad to find out he is coming, seeing as he is awesome. Derek is similar to William; cool, fun, nice, and young. I also have to talk about Bruce. Bruce is amazing. Bruce is a senior three student (aka our grade. Senior three is the hardest year of a Chinese student’s life). Bruce, however, applied to colleges in the US and has already received acceptance letters, thus escaping the dreaded college entrance exam. He also no longer has to attend classes (amazing, right?). Because he has a lot of free time and all his friends are still in class, he volunteered to be our translator, since most of the teachers don’t speak English. Bruce has become more than a translator, however, he has become a really good friend.

We had Chinese, in which Bruce and Derek taught us basic greetings and random words in Chinese. Not much more to say about that. After a short break, we had Calligraphy class. Calligraphy is really fun. Our teacher is very nice, and extremely helpful. He is a good instructor and can usually communicate with us through body language, although we have Bruce if needed. Our teacher knows how to say “okay” and “very good” in English, unfortunately he doesn’t know the difference between the two phrases (or so it seems). In calligraphy class we also met a 70 year old, former English teacher. He exercises at the school every morning and came to meet us. He is really nice and hilarious, so we enjoy his periodic visits.

We went to lunch, where we had an amazing meal in a small, heated room with our host siblings, cooked by our very own personal chef. Our chef is actually the head of the school cafeteria, so he doesn’t cook the school food, but he is an amazing chef and has been featured on Chinese cooking shows. Not only does he make great food, but he is such a sweet little man.

After lunch we went to classes with our host siblings. Most of the classes were really boring, seeing as they were in Chinese, so I did my own thing. Sue and Star had English though, so I got to participate in that class which was…. interesting. First we heard Ferddy the Frog sing a Beatles song. Then my English teacher, who has actually been to America, Ms. Wang, asked me to read the vocab words to the class for the students to repeat.

After school we went to the grocery store. CRAZY experience, there were 9 of us and everyone was saying different things. The siblings were arguing and trying to figure out what we needed. They were trying to figure out what stuff was, such as loofahs. It was crazy. There was quite a large language barrier between us and our siblings back then. But they have all progressed SO much and they speak English really well now. It’s amazing. Then we went out for dinner… The end

Blog…. DONE

Hangzhou High School

 (Allison)

Thursday, March 5th

I cannot believe that it is Thursday already..our time here in the city of Hangzhou is flying by..

It is still raining…ho hum.. it has rained every day, except one, since we have been here…

Last week, I spoke to the twelve different classes (about two or three per day -- in the morning). They were all grade one (age equivalent of a U.S. sophomore in high school)  English classes here at Hangzhou High School.  The students were great -- they were so warm and welcoming!

I spoke to them about schools in the United States.  I shared some pictures of my family and friends, and then, if there was time…we discussed holidays that we celebrate in the U.S. The students seemed particularly interested in Easter and Thanksgiving… All of the grade one English classes are learning about festivals celebrated around the world.  The students were so enthusiastic.

Each class consists of about 54 students, yes 54.. The students stay in the same classroom, with the same students, all day long – and they will stay with the same students for all three years that they attend the school . In China, it is the teachers that come and go from the classrooms, not the students.  All of the teachers have a designated cubicle in their department's office.

The schedule here is much different than back at DSMS. The class periods are 45 minutes (about the same), but there is 10 to 15 minutes between classes. Everyone gets an hour and ten minutes for lunch. It is so nice..the students can eat at the school, or leave the campus and get food somewhere in the city. Some of the teachers even sneak in naps…so nice..  Although all the extra time makes the school day is a little bit longer (academic classes end at 3:50…and then students use 4:00-5:00 to attend clubs, extra-help, or self-study), it is such a nicer pace than my days at DSMS sprinting up and down the stairs. 

Another thing that I observed -- it is amazing… when the bell rings – the students do not grab their stuff and run for the door.. (It is ok Team Moon – we will just have to work on this when I get back..) The students actually stay in their seats and listen to the teacher finish the lesson before they pack up.

 This past Tuesday, I was able to observe Sue's history class! Bruce, our translator, came with me. He is the best! The topic of the class was European Exploration. It was such a wonderful experience to be able to observe someone doing your job..but in a different country! The teacher was fantastic, she was enthusiastic, and held her students attention by using a fantastic PowerPoint with lots of notes, photographs, maps and video clips!

Rose is going to try to schedule a time, next week, for me to go to the middle school where her sister teaches English! I am looking forward to this experience...

Tuesday night – Derek and his wife Susan took me to out for dinner to a Japanese noodle house! Then we went to the movies to see Red Cliff Part Two (with English subtitles) .. Derek had loaned me Red Cliff Part One – and I had watched it on Monday night..

Red Cliff Part One was the number one blockbuster last year (and actually of all time in China – it beat out Titanic – which he held the previous record..)  It is a fantastic movie! It takes place during the end of the Han Dynasty – it is about the wars between the emperor and some competing warlords..very similar to Troy or Gladiator – but a little more humor thrown in…  A shorter version will be released in the U.S – at some point this year..

Yesterday (Wednesday), was Helen's birthday. In the morning, Li and I enthusiastically headed out of the school gates in search of a cake! There are bakeries in Hangzhou everywhere…it is actually insane – Ganso, Dan Be, Sep, Free Muri, Rita's, Romantic Event, Christina's, Donghua – to name a few. Hangzhouians are cake crazy!  There are actually four bakeries within three minutes from the school gate.. We entered the closest – Ganso…the cakes were beautiful – but -- it hit us that we had no way of knowing what kind or flavor the cakes were¦.so we pressed on.  Romantic event…no luck, yet again…Dan Be was closed…so we turned the corner and went to Sep.  Slightly defeated by our lack of knowledge of the Chinese language, we opted to point to a bunch of different cake slices (we could see whether they were chocolate, green tea, or something else…) within a glass case, the baker put them into a lovely box, we even managed to communicate with her that we needed forks  = mission accomplished!

Off to P.E. for some kung fu, ping pong, badminton, then lunch, then English corner…after E.C.  we went back to the English office to look for Helen in order to celebrate, but she was not in the office…so we went off to cooking claass!

Our teacher is the manager of the school cafeteria, but – Brruce told us that he was previously a renowned Chinese chef - - and has been featured on a Chinese cooking show. He is very talented ¦he loves to make art out of food..he can cut a carrot into a rose, or a cactus out of a cucumber. Last week, he taught us how to create a butterfly – out of sliced mangos, banana, and tomatoes.  This week he showed us how to cut up a fish (it had already been gutted). He cut off the head, and then slit the fish in half…he then sliced the meaty part of the fish (but left the skin intact) into a grid. Then, he fried it. When you fry fish that has been sliced like this it comes out looking like flowers!  Beautiful and yummy!

Then, back to the English office to find Helen! We sang Happy Birthday to her in both English and Chinese and then enjoyed the cake!  Rose popped in and asked me if I wanted to go shopping -- and we were off!

Guitar Hero in Hangzhou

(Allison)

March 2nd

We had a fantastic weekend… Saturday we all met at the school.. I arrived at the school gate...and did not see anyone..A very nice guard came out and tried talking to me..but he only spoke Chinese...and I, for the most part, only speak English...he was being so nice, and trying so hard...

Luckily, Mark and his host brother Harry showed up and Harry was able to translate.. turns out he was trying to tell me that Lianna had already gone outside.. and that I could enter as well..

 

Two English teachers, Wang Huo and Michelle, a history teacher, Li Wang Ping ( I am going to observe her class this week), and Mr. Li who works in the Student Affairs Office.. accompanied us to a museum called-- An Exhibition of Southern Song Dynasty Guan Kiln Relics -- pottery of the Song Dynasty!!

 

The museum featured many pieces of my two favorite types of pottery - the beautiful Chinese celadon green pottery! and the classic Chinese blue and white pottery...

The celadon pieces in the museum were mostly discovered in Hangzhou near the West Lake. Hangzhou was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty.

 

At the end of the exhibit there were several stalls that featured an activity where you could try to piece together an ancient pot, like an archeologist.....the students enjoyed this!

 

Then -- it was time to make some pottery ourselves -- using a pottery wheel... A very talented man..who works at the museum-- came over and centered the clay for us..then we went to work..

It brought me back to art class in high school...

I attempted to make a tall narrow vase..but it did not come out that well...

 

After lunch, we attempted to go to the West Lake Museum—but it  was closed – so the kids decided that they wanted to go bowling..I tagged along with them because, I was invited to have dinner at Josh's apartment – and felt it would be easy if I just stayed with them. Unfortunately, China has not yet passed a non-smoking in public places law…and you can still smoke in bowling alleys = gross.

After bowling, Josh’s father picked Alex, Josh and I up! Josh’s parents are so nice.  We had a lovely meal – Alex practiced his Chinese with Josh's parents… Josh’s  father did not believe me when I told him (through Josh’s translation), that the fish we ate was the best fish that I had during my stay in China! 

I know that Mark is going to blog about this – but I just cannot help myself. Sunday -- we went over William's apartment (the teacher who came to DS last year)! He is the cutest man alive! He picked us up in his red Jetta (but it is called something else here in China-there are Volkswagons everywhere here). William and his wife Helen (not to be confused with Helen – one of the English teachers at Hangzhou High) just had an adorable baby, in November – Emma!!  In the U.S., he purchased PS3 – and he just purchased Guitar Hero World Tour – which is amazing… we spent the day admiring Emma and making music! Of course, William was a wonderful host and provided us with a delicious lunch (Li says the best dumplings she has had in China!) and lots of snacks, Pringles, banana chips, dove chocolate and fruit!

After William's house – we met up with Harry and Sue – and traveled to Wushan Square to meet Bruce and his parents for dinner!!  Bruce's parents are awesome! Just like him. I embarrassed Bruce by making him translate to tell them how much we love him – and cannot imagine our experiience here in China without him!

This morning we had Chinese calligraphy, and our Chinese language class. In calligraphy, we learned how to paint our numbers, as well as some basic beautiful characters such as fire, mountain, and forever.  During Chinese class, we watched the movie Nanking – about the devastating invasion in 1937 --by the Japannese.

After lunch, we had English corner (which has been moved indoors because of all the rain). The regulars (the sweet girls from Class 9) and some new faces showed up. Mark provided some chocolate.  After discussing some ancient history (they are very interested in Egypt), the girls told me some Chinese folk tales that took place around the West Lake!

 After English corner, we headed to the English office to warm up..  Helen whisked us away, and took us shopping (umbrellas in tow)  for the lining of our silk dress and suits! Li and I are getting traditional silk Chinese dresses made. Alex and Mark are getting silk suits made. Last Friday, Helen took us on a very fun shopping trip to purchase the silk.

I had dinner at school, prepared by the amazing chef!  --Now I am going to watch a movie that Derek loaned me-- Red Cliff Part One (more information regarding the movie below…).

Finally… HANGZHOU!!

(Alex)

Well, we finally made it. As I write this, I am sitting in my new room in my host brother Xu Taoyin’s house (his English name is Joshua). What a wild morning. Waking up in a moving train was quite an experience, although I did sleep surprisingly well. Our ridiculously cramped quarters made it hard to stretch out, and it was a struggle trying to get all of our bags organized before the train arrived in the station. 

Pulling into a drizzly Hangzhou station, we were almost immediately accosted by a group of some 20 odd people, all of our host families, and officials of the school. We met Derek, the teacher who has been selected to come to DS this year, Naichuan, the MAN (I totally did not know he was a he) who pretty much organized the trip on this end, and who very kindly had prepared some breakfast for us in bags, both my host brothers, Xu Taoyin and Sun Xuan, as well as the other host siblings of Mark and Li. 

We proceeded rather slowly outside, where a bus picked us up and took us straight to school. And if you thought we would draw attention traveling in China… you would have thought we had three heads traveling through the school to our meeting room. Everywhere we went students would pause and point, or, those more bold would snap a quick sketchy picture of the four new-comers to their school. However, this attention was certainly not of the negative sort, with everyone going out of their way to make us feel especially at home. After a brief meeting in what looked like a business meeting room, we were lead away from each other (marking the first day we would be completely by ourselves since this adventure began) by our new host siblings, and into their respective classes. 

My first host brother, Josh, is a shy but very intelligent guy who seems to be the envy of his entire class, by merit of his hosting one of the American’s. As we shuffled into class, the students all stared at me and just began to clap… which was extremely awkward, but an obviously very kind gesture. We settled down and the first teacher of the day, an English teacher who actually came to DS my freshman year (whose name escapes me at pres. time), and I was treated to the experience of a Chinese English lesson. It was pretty basic, but everyone in the class was extremely disciplined and studious, and made far more progress studying English than many of our students back home who studied other languages. It was fascinating and revealing to just sit back and witness the very different class dynamic and the behavior of the students. 

Although after English class, I didn’t really understand any of the lessons, I really did find my time spent in the class was interesting and informative. We took a break for one of the famous Hangzhou lunches made by The Chef, who has already become one of my favorite people in Hanggao (the slang name for the school we are staying at). The lunch was delicious, as hosts and exchange students alike were stunned by what the schools kitchens provided for us. 

After lunch we had more classes, and, although it was by no means a grind, I can’t say I wasn’t a little relieved to hear the bell at 4:30 sound the end of classes. We were then taken to the Headmistresses Office for a proper welcoming ceremony. On the way, who should show up but Kathleen (Ma Chaoren), one of the exchange students with Jin Shuang, a student I hosted my sophomore year. It was great to see her again, she looked a lot more grown up, and to hear how she was doing. She sends love to all those back home in the States, especially the Maddens, and Mrs. Viz! Madam Miao, select members of the administration, Naichuan, and almost the entire English department (including William!), were present at the ceremony to speak to us and welcome us very warmly to the school.  Allison also made a very nice speech and presented gifts to the school. Following the ceremony, we were taken to the school’s very own history museum to learn more about the prestigious schools long and storied past, including, of course, pictures of past exchanges!! Mrs. Viz will be happy to know that she is forever enshrined within the museum in both photographic and written form. 

Next, out to dinner with all the welcoming faculty, which was great but served much more seafood than I cared to try… Sorry Viz! Finally, after a really overwhelming day, we went home to our host families. My family is amazing, very kind and sweet, and although their English is not very good, has made every effort to make me feel at home. It looks like a great beginning to our much-anticipated Hangzhou experience. I don’t really know the next time I will blog, although I think the group consensus is that they will come less frequently now… I don’t know. Hope everything is well back home, and hope to finally upload some pictures! 

Beautiful Beijing

(Alex)

Getting up really early this morning in the Shaolin Temple was not the easiest thing to do … especially after such a strenuous couple of days. We shuffled out of the Temple at 5:30 sharp, in order to catch our early flight out of the airport, 2 hours away from Louyang. We were rather worried by the timing, and thought more than once that we would miss our flight. Our cool-headed guide, George, assured us everything would work out, and even managed to intimidate the airport manager enough to get us out of having to pay a fee for our overweight bags. One short plane ride later and we landed in the capital of China, Beijing, exhausted and ready to sleep. 

At 9 in the morning. Our new guide, Ashley, a very small and very young looking girl, met us and began to lead us to the car. Sensing our exhaustion, Ashley decided not to push us too hard. Allowing us about two hours to recuperate at the hotel, which was very much needed, she picked us up for lunch at around 12:30 and promised that we would have a short day. We had a delicious lunch in a secluded little restaurant, which gave off the ambiance of a truly traditional and local restaurant, although it was very smoky. Soon after, we headed to the Beijing Capitol Museum, an amazingly built and organized exhibition. Ashley informed us that it had been very recently rebuilt in lieu of the huge increase of tourism within Beijing for the Olympics. It had a total of seven floors, on which the exhibitions were built along the sides of the building, leaving the center in the open air, and allowing some of the braver tourists to view the formidable height and size of the building.  A huge imitation stone column dominated the entrance, within which were housed completely digital interactive screens of some of the more lavish artifacts on display. Many photos to be put up as soon as we get to Hangzhou. 

After the Museum, Ashley brought us to the much anticipated Beijing Zoo, where we headed straight to the Panda exhibit to see the countries most famous citizens. The pandas, almost 20 in total, were definitely one of the many highlights of the trip. Watching them waddle about and play with one another completed for me what I wanted to get out of a Chinese travel experience. It turned out that we had arrived at the Zoo too late to wander around and look at the other animals, which was a bummer. I especially wanted to visit the section labeled as “American Animals”. I think it would have been cool to see what animals Chinese associate with us. 

So we left the zoo around five, calling off the Peking Duck Dinner until the night that we were heading to the Peking Opera (as per Ashley’s advice) and headed sleepily back to the hotel. Where we all are now. We all seem to be winding down lately and look forward to getting to Hangzhou… though I am sure this will not diminish our experiences to come in China’s capital. Sorry that this blog was so short… but there I think my exhausted stupor somewhat prevented me from being able to take in the full experiences of the day. Good thing I took a lot of pictures! Hope to blog soon, although this might be the last one I do during our travel portion

Jiaozi making in Hangzhou

  (Allison)

Monday – February 23rd…

I woke up today and looked out the window…rain..again… Hopped in the shower… and and quickly got ready for school. I am living in an apartment that is located just behind the school. Every morning, I get to walk or ride my bike (that the school has loaned me) to school! I love this – it is so different from my 35 minute drive to work in the morning at home. To get to school, I have to travel through the famous Hangzhou Silk Market (Hangzhou is most famous for silk, tea, and the West Lake).   As I was walking to school, I heard a car behind me honking..I just thought that it was someone trying to tell me to get out of the way (sometimes cars in China like to drive on sidewalks) ....but it was Mrs. Wu, a vice-principal, offering me a ride to school. Although I love to walk, I hopped in to escape the rain… I thanked Mrs. Wu for the ride, and then walked to the dining hall. Every morning the school cafeteria prepares breakfast for me. They leave it in a small room off of the main cafeteria that is heated (the majority of the buildings at the school are not heated). There is always a glass of hot coffee or tea, which makes me very happy!! I then ran up to the English office to check my email quickly…and then ran to our desiignated classroom. It appears to be one of the schools conference rooms. It has a very large table in the middle. Our first class of the day was Chinese calligraphy! Chinese calligraphy is a beautiful art… it is very difficult…our teacher is very talented. He does not speak English, but Bruce (our translator) does a wonderful job translating and helping us with our calligraphy…

I was scheduled to teach Class 7 at 10:05…it was 9:55…so I handed my brush to Bruce and ran upstairs..When I arrived the students started chatting very loudly (in Chinese of course..)and then they all started clapping…they seemed very excited for my arrival..!  Ms. Cui Hongxiang, otherwise known as Helen came running in...she had been looking for me!!

Lunch – everyday at 12::00 --Mark, Alex, Lianna, their host siblings, and either Rose (an English teacher) or Bruce and I - eat together. The chef does a fantastic job preparing our meals. There is always tea…but today there were little white dried flowers in my tea cup! Chrysanthemums! It was a tea made out of dried mums! It was the best tea I have had in China (..and I have had a lot of tea..), and absolutely the prettiest! Imagine a clear glass of hot water, with pretty little white (with a yellow center) flowers floating in it¦ I drank about five glasses.

After lunch, I headed back to the English office – It is nice and toasty warm there..they have setup a very nice desk for me…Helen asked if we would be available Weednesday afternoon to go shopping for silk in order to get our Chinese dresses, and suits made!

Yesterday (Sunday), I was invited to have lunch with Lianna and her host sister, mother, father, cousin, mom's best friend and her son. They took us to a very nice restaurant that specializes in traditional Hangzhou cuisine. They were so nice, and they ordered an outrageous amount of food (here I go blogging about food, yet again..)…four vegetable dishes, two pork dishes (one being dongpo pork..so yummy)…an entire chicken roasted in a pot, chicken wingss, a huge bowl of fish stew with an entire fish in it, some sort of beef dish, a shrimp dish (for Lianna), dumplings, green tea bean curd cakes, and noodles…it was insane. Sue and her mother are so enthusiastic and happy to have Lianna stay in their home..We were talking about how much Lianna and I like dumplings and noodles, and Sue's mom invited me over to make dumplings with her mother. Sue's mother's best friend's son…he's  very shy..but his mother wanted him to practice his English by speaking to me..throughout the meal he would randomly ask me a question such as what are your hobbies..and then look away…

 After lunch we met..Mark and Alex, all of the host siblings, along with Alice, Bob and Ivan ( the students who came to DS last year). We walked to a KTV…Chinese for karaoke…in China you can do do karaoke at any time of day…you go and rent out a private roomwith couches, a television and two microphones…this way.you only have to listen to the songs that you and your friends want to listen to – and not have to suffer through stranger's singing horrible songs…

 That was Sunday…back to Monday… after schooh, Sue's mother picked us up in her red Buick coop..she was very excited about having us as guests in her home -- and finally being able to serve Lianna dinner! (She has gone out for dinner every night since last Wednesday…!)

After getting stuck in some crazy Chinese traffic… We arrived at the apartment…Sue's grandmother had prepared the dough and was ready to teach us how to make dumplings!! They had strawberries and a very small orange like fruit waiting for us…Sue must have told her mother how much I enjooyed the tea during lunch because she had some waiting for me.. She gave me a huge box full of it and a plastic bag – which I think was grown by Sue's father's mother… ! 

After eating some fruit..and drinking some tea… Sue's grandmother began teaching us how too make dumplings..she rolled out the dough into small circles…Then she began demonstrating..she picked up one of the small dough circles and placed a small ball of a ground pork mixture (that included green onions and garlic) into the middle of the small circle..then she pinched two sides of the circle together… and then very skillfully folded the rest of the dough up to form the dumpling!!

Li and I went right to work.  At first, our dumplings looked nothing like Sue's grandmother…but towards the end they were coming out pretty good. We had a lovely meal (our dumplings were very good) and we were once again joined by Sue's cousin, and mom's best friend's son..

After dinner, Sue's father drove me and Sue's mom's best friend's son home (I keep saying that because I do not know his name…) Back to the apartment – I am staying in an apartment just behind the school. It is very nice…There is a huge television, but I only get one Englishh channel.

Knowing my love for movies, Derek called to let me know that the Oscars would be broadcasted on CCTV tonight at 10:30…I do not know if I will be able to stay awake to watch them.. (even though I already know the results…) >