(FINAL POST of 2013 Exchange) Aiya! My Last Blog Post!

(Deanna)

Today was our official first day in Beijing. I was woken up by a woman telling people to get up at 6 am and then proceeded to go back to sleep for a little while longer. We all finally woke up at around 7:30am when we realised we were approaching the station in Beijing. Me being on the top bunk of our section I had to throw things down with Veronica to Brandon and Patty and then organize ourselves to get off the train. In getting off the train, we met our tour guide Lily. We walked about ten minutes to get to the parking lot where our van was (in Beijing, vehicles cannot always park on the street due to the large population so there are many parking lots). We went to the hotel, took showers and ate breakfast.

"Might as well throw Platform 9&3/4 in there!"

(Brandon)

Hello from Ho Chi Minh! We got on the wrong train (no one explained "platform 2" was the first floor of the station), largely due to the tickets being in Chinese and the conductors being nonexistent. Well,
it looks like we're going to have to learn Vietnamese now.

Until Next Time, Hangzhou

(Patty)

Today was the last day of our last weekend with our host families, and so three of the four bears (plus Mifield) (Brandon was busy tea shopping) met up to go ice skating. I, for one was excited to get back on the ice and really enjoyed teaching some of the other kids how to skate (which also provided some comic relief). Afterwards, we got Korean BBQ and went to go see the new Oz Movie, which was.. Interesting. In the evening, I ate a final meal with the Ye family, and packed all my stuff for Beijing.

"Two Trains!"

(Deanna)

On this lovely Thursday, the Bears started out the day ready for Culture class. Zou Lao Shi asked us if we wanted to go to Prince Bay Garden near West Lake, we happily said yes. Before leaving, I presented the group gift to our teacher who was both happy and surprised.

"So we put our hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us..."

(Brandon)

Curse this alarm. Five more minutes of sleep and I'll get up. I promise. Half an hour later? Just getting up. Inhale breakfast and we're out the door. Upon arriving at the school, the gang convened at our den to start another school day.

Getting Ready to Say Goodbye...

(Patty)

Hi all!

Today was another characteristically busy day for everyone's favorite bears. The morning started off in Chinese painting, a class which we all enjoy but do struggle with a bit due to our artistic inabilities (I'm the weakest link in this case). About an hour into class I had a painting which I was fairly confident in, as I thought it looked like the subject matter I was trying to depict (flowers). However, when I went to go show the teacher, her response to my masterpiece was that it didn't look like a flower, but at least it had feeling! From that point, I fell back onto the refined art of splatter painting. Ah, looks like I won't be a Picasso any time soon.

Teaching in China

(Veronica)

My apologies for the absence of blog postings – I have been kept busy the last two weeks teaching Gao Er and Gao Yi classes, respectively (these are equivalent to our junior and sophomore classes). As noted in an earlier post, the class culture greatly differs from what I am used to. However, this time I wasn’t teaching a set curriculum. My presentation consisted of a virtual tour of Boston, a run through of the different colleges and universities in the area, my family and interests, a tour of DSMS, what I teach in 7th grade English, pictures of my classes (yes, kids, they loved the pictures we took before I left!), and a sample poetry lesson that incorporates music. When I have run out of time during my lesson with the Gao Yi (year one) classes, the students have closed the doors and windows, urging me to continue. Since some of the students are host siblings for the Bears, the feedback I have received is that they enjoyed how expressive and animated I can get.

"School Meeting"

(Michael)

I woke up this morning at 5:30 to attend one of the more misleading school sponsored events that I have attended on any continent. The event was given the generic title of “School Meeting” and it was just that. The attendance of every student, facility member,  was compulsory and attendance appeared to be organized and counted with military precision. The students organized themselves into lines divided by grade and class and organized by height while the faculty formed a separate block of people. Students in red sashes and armbands moved about the sea of people and counted and shifted their peers to better fit the lines of the group.

"That's For Babies!"

(Deanna)

The day started out in driving to school to meet up with the Bears at 8:30. With my quirky and lovely host mother who was dressed in bright pink pajamas, we finally arrived at the school. My host mum said “You didn’t eat breakfast, I’m going to get you a hamburger”, she runs out of the car past traffic and into KFC. Five minutes later, she comes back with coffee and a sandwich for me in which I thank her many times and tell her how sweet she is. She waved goodbye and went on her way while I met up with the Bears.

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done..."

(Brandon)

This week flew by. It feels as if we just got off the train from Shanghai and met our second host families for the first time. Whatever the case, today started off on a normal note. Spring out of bed (well, more like a long groan followed by the untangling of sheets) and head out for school. Not before Mrs. Ye could hand me a delicious apple however while on my way out the front door.

Wei, Ni Men Hao!

(Patty)

Feeling quite refreshed after the two hour spa visit my host mom treated me to last night, I met the Bears this morning for our Chinese Culture class, in which we learn everything from simple Chinese phrases to Confucian sayings. Today, our teacher discussed with us the history of Chinese writing, and had us guessing at the meaning of old Chinese pictographs, most of which we interpreted quite inaccurately. After class, we met up with Ms. Moy, who couldn't make it to class because of her busy teaching schedule, and ventured off-campus for lunch. We made our way to a restaurant which specializes in Hong Kong cuisine, and was super delicious. Although we love Chef Bacon (the Chinese uncle we never had) and his awesome cooking, we all appreciated having some bear-time where we discussed everything from our new host families to the proper technique behind eating yogurt (and yes, there is a proper technique).

Bargaining: A New Skill to Learn

(Deanna)

Good day to those near and far!

My host sister Serenity and I headed off to school where I went to the usual room of 209. We had handiwork class where we made whistles out of bamboo with our names on it! I was excited because I had never made a whistle before and it was even cooler to be able to have my name engraved on the whistle via laser. While waiting for our whistles to be engraved, Apple showed us a song by Team H (Apple is a really big fan), which it was possible that we spotted Team H in Shanghai.

A Rainy Day in Hangzhou

(Deanna)

I was woken up by the sound of my rather calm alarm clock and looked out of my room window to see rain. After getting ready for school, I went downstairs to what seemed to be a very quiet house at 06:45. My host mum was in the kitchen warming up some milk and I made my morning coffee. I put my boots on and whilst our voyage to school, I noticed that it seemed like a rather sleepy morning, everyone yawning in the car; my host sister Rong Danqing and I fell asleep on the way to school. Waking up in time to get out of the car, the streets this morning were particularly less inhabited by cars but more occupied by us all trying to go to our classrooms.

Taxi, Metro (subway), or Trans-Shanghai Journey?

(Brandon)

After an eventful Saturday night (and that's an understatement), we elected to sleep in. Mike and I missed the memo and got up unnecessarily early. After meeting up with the gang, we took the Metro, the local subway system, to an extensive antique market on Dongtai Road. We saw a of lot intriguing items, from copies of Mao's Red Book to ancient film cameras. Mike purchased a black ushanka and proudly put it on. After finishing up in the antique market, we wandered around the area in hopes of finding the insect and bird market but were unsuccessful. We then took a cab over to Xintiandi and the French Concession.

Rooms on Sunday

(Michael)

Today, my bike and I lost a fight with a truck, I donned a hood reminiscent of Gitmo, got locked in a jail cell, was chained to a ceiling, almost escaped twice, and embarrassed America.

Thrown From the Sauna to the Icebox

(Brandon)

I awoke and stumbled to the bathroom to get ready for school. I emerged, now bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and sat down at the table. Mrs. Ye brings out breakfast. BOOM! It's a massive cheeseburger. Double everything. Lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and patties. Just to provide some backstory, a few nights ago Micky and I had fun cooking dinner together when Mr. And Mrs. Ye were out . Micky had never made a "proper" cheeseburger before, so I took this opportunity to show him. After we successfully engineered two delicious looking burgers, I took a picture of our masterpieces. I ended up showing Mrs. Ye, possibly inspiring her to give burger-making a shot. And man, did she nail it. The bike ride to school was rough but most-needed. 

Misadventures in Domo-Making

(Patty)

This weekend was a good one: Saturday spent exploring the beautiful Xixi wetlands, Sunday spent playing a human version of the game Escape, and so even though we wished our weekend could extend one more day, by Monday morning we were ready to be back in the swing of things. The Bears spent the first half of the day in one of our favorite classes: art. This day, our teacher showed us how to make Domos, famous characters in Japanese culture. Never one with a skill for art, my Do,o resembled, well--nothing. Lets call it abstract art. The rest of the group, however, had much more luck and emerged with finely-made final products.

“Bueller? …Bueller?”

(Veronica)

Today marked my return to the classroom. Yesterday, LV, the head of the English department and the exchange program, invited me to teach his class of sophomores. Given an abridged version of Calvin Worthington’s “My Father’s Hands”, I sat down and prepared for the next day’s lesson.

The Category for Today is “Chances”

(Deanna)

We headed to school at the normal time and I arrived in room 209 (designated room) at around 07:15 and decided to take a nap before having to meet up with everyone at 08:30. Patty came into the room and later Brandon came in. They headed off to go read outside and read before we all had to be outside of the gate at 08:30. I accompanied them after about a 30 minute nap and we all met up with Veronica, Michael and our guide Peter (from our last Hangzhou tour) and headed off to Xixi Wetlands.

Wait, We Have Snow At Home?

(Brandon)

The past few days have been unusually warm and sunny. In other words, quite welcomed by the Bad Luck Bears (who might have to change the name if this weather persists). Today peaked in the mid-seventies, and the Bears made the most of it. We had another few things to check off on our to-do list.

Table Tennis: Leg Strength Required

(Patty)

It's already been a week that the Bears have been in Hangzhou, and time is absolutely flying by. This morning we were whisked off to the gym where we were given ping pong paddles, shown into a room of 10 tables, and were told to go at it. For the first twenty minutes or so, our gym teachers silently watched us playing and we thought we were doing reasonably well until one of the teachers came over and told us we were doing everything completely wrong. After that, we started learning how to really play table tennis (I for one never knew that it required both stamina and leg strength). After an hour, the slightly sweaty, slightly sore group of Bears made our way to our next task: dance lessons. The group walked into the room untalented and uncoordinated, but walked out an hour later masters of Gangam Style (we even have videos to prove it, ask for them later).

3 March 2013: That K-Pop Swag (Or Maybe Not...)

(Deanna)

The Bad Luck Bears and our host siblings all decided to voyage shopping today and spend time together. For me, my day started out meeting up with everyone and then we walked in a street full of shops and knickknacks. We went into a marketplace where kabobs of all sorts were sold such as assorted fruits, pork, chicken, squid, crab, shrimp and so on. You could see people eating noodles and kabobs throughout and it only made us want to try everything. We each tried different things that we enjoyed. After each getting our kabobs and pastries and such we continued browsing the street of shops that interested us.

Life in Hangzhou

(Patty)

It seems as if The Bears are finally getting settled into life here in Hangzhou. This morning, the five of us were sent to the head chef to learn some traditional Chinese cooking. We were accompanied by our two faithful interpreters, Apple and Tom, both of who are seniors in Hangzhou. The pair are able to spend time with us because of their senior status; Apple has already been admitted into her top choice university and no longer needs to attend high school classes, and Tom is in AP classes (not too different than the ones at DS) so his schedule is different than that of other students.

Protip: Bring Gloves (because this is going to be a DOOZY)

(Brandon)

And we're back! The Bad Luck Bears are settled into their various dens with lovely host siblings, families, and school faculty members that all exemplify the epitome of hospitality. Today we woke up at 7:00 for one of our first expeditions around Hangzhou and its many offerings. We snatched up the low hanging fruits today and visited several key attractions. We were led by our tour guide, Peter, who spoke remarkable English, and also accompanied by Charlotte, a teacher of the high school (who will also be this year's ambassador to Dover-Sherborn in the following months).

First Official Day of School

(Michael)

Today, was our first official day of school in China and it could not have got better for me. I woke up with legs sore from my pitiful attempt at Tai-Chi the night before, ate breakfast, and walked to school with my host brother with a spring in my step and that feeling you get just before your last game or you type the last sentence of a paper worth half of everything you have worked for. It felt like exhilaration, pure fun, and blunt, throbbing terror that forces what looks like a cocky smile to your lips, a tightening in the chest, and an acute awareness of the depth of the lungs. Its like handing in a test that might be perfect or a complete failure in the eyes of the grader. It was intense and I loved every second of it. 

A Second Home

(Veronica)

After watching each of my cubs climb the threshold back to health, my body’s immune system finally succumbed to whatever sickness could grab the reins. Fortunately, this Mrs. Mallard allowed all of her “acks” to take care of her. Having been bedridden for two days, I was excited to explore Huangshan with what little time we had left. Thankfully, I was able to make the trek up to Mt. Huangshan, the highlight of this leg of the trip, with the group the other day.

Huangshan: Mountains, Coffee, Hearts, and Bakeries

(Deanna)

This morning we woke up at 07:15 and went to breakfast afterwards we all hopped into the van and went off to Huangshan Mountain an hour and a half ride away. We all seemed to fall asleep on the way but woke up as we neared the mountain. On the way up to the parking lot, we endured very windy, curvy roads with very little visibility which frightened us all. There was just fog, fog and more fog and we did not know what to expect that would come in our direction as we were in the van. In getting out of the van, I was slightly dizzy from all the fast twists and turns.

Almost like a Very Amped-Up 4th of July

(Patty)

We started our last day in Xi'an pretty early, so that we could do a bit more sight seeing before we had to board our plane to Huangshan. Although we were unenthused to be up so early, Richard made sure to make our last day in Xi'an a good one. He brought us to the remains of the Tang Dynasty palace, which was 6x as large as the Forbidden City in Beijing. We were all amazed to see how massive the palace was--only to learn that the mammoth structure we were seeing was only the foundation of what once used to be the biggest palace in China. Much of the palace has long since been destroyed, so the government uses the area that surrounds the remains as a park where locals get in their morning exercise, and attend performances by singers, dancers, comedians, etc.

Impact in 3,2,1...

(Brandon)

Today we woke up early to go on a bike ride along the city walls. Patty and Ms. Moy were feeling under the weather with some pretty nasty fevers so the Bad Luck Bears were down to three members. We met up with Cooio (pronounced as "Coolio" but we called him "Coo"), our local tour guide, in the hotel lobby after breakfast and walked a ways to the city's southern gate. We walked over and underground. The group had a minor scare when we had to cross one of the many busy roaderies (sp?). Mike braved the traffic and ran across. Coo, Deanna, and I played Frogger (and that's an understatement!) as we navigated our way across the endless flow of busses, taxis, vans, cars, mopeds, bicycles, and even pedicabs. Coo soon got us our bikes and off we went.

Big Changes in Pangliu Village

(Michael)

The ride to Pangliu followed the tend of most of our other travels in China, complete with picturesque fields and blood-churning traffic maneuvers, but with two exceptions; Patricia was not with us due to an unfortunate run-in with some rather suspect dumplings, and “Coo,” our most… unique guide thus far, was replaced temporarily by the infinitely more cordial and informative tour company owner, Richard. The remaining members of our group learned about the recent history of Pangliu, Richard’s life, and how the two were closely intertwined.

Reporting for Duty

(Brandon)

I apologize for missing my second blog post. I picked up a pretty bad bug while we were in Shaxi Village and I was bedridden for the next two days, missing most of our current trek in Lijiang. It got to the point where I had to go to a local hospital in Lijiang. Luckily, our tour guide, Evan, was there to help us out. He translated everything the doctors and nurses said, making sure I got what I needed, from treatment to an actual bed. Mike and Ms. Moy faithfully stuck by my side, braving the long night and providing much needed lightheartedness.

Southern Lake and Lantern Displays

(Deanna)

In our first official day in Xi’an, we ventured out into the Southern Lake, an artificial lake invested to beautify the already lovely Xi’an. The government decided to move residents to apartments and the residents were paid 500,000 Yuan equivalent to 80,000 US dollars. My initial thought was that the lake was artificial, how is it possible for it to be this beautiful? The lake is quite similar to Kunming’s lake which is peaceful, even featuring calm background music to add to the mood of the lake. In snapping photos of the lake, a little girl saw me strolling in the park and ran towards her grandmother.

Forget Two Chain, this is more like No Chain (Shaxi day two)

(Patty)

The guest house we stayed in last night (and tonight) is beautiful, however we were all discouraged to discover they were unheated. This, however was made better by the boys' discovery that our beds were heated. So, after a warm and refreshing sleep, the group embarked on the task. We left the courtyard where our rooms were set, and wandered to another courtyard(where we were told there would be food for us) and found our way into the middle of someone's home. Although we were very confused, we found the owner of the home, who also happened to work at the hotel, and he directed us into his dining room and treated us to a delicious breakfast. We are still quite unsure if we imposed ourselves on this man and his home, but he seemed happy to have us, so we plan to return again tomorrow morning.

White-Knuckling It to Shaxi

(Michael)

Our journey to ShaXi was a lot like the first World War; it consisted of long periods of serenity punctured intermittently with brief moments of pure terror. We left DaLi right after a Chinese buffet style breakfast in a van with a driver who both spoke no English and did not know the word ‘fear’ in any language and ended up in ShaXi within a few hours.

Trains and Temples

(Veronica Moy - teacher at Dover-Sherborn Middle School)

Picking up where Deanna left off, we waited as patiently as possible for our train to board. This proved to be difficult since each new and exciting day has been so physically and mentally demanding - which is good, as it challenges us to reach beyond our comfort zone and learn about the culture we are immersed in. By 10p, we were all desperately looking forward to a good night’s sleep.

News from Kunming

[Ed. note - other posts arrived later than Randy posted this first one, but it appears here to preserve the sense of itinerary] 

(Randy Hoover - 2004 D-S China Exchange teacher currently on leave, living in Kunming)  

Hi all,

The group hasn’t been able to get internet access long enough to upload their blog posts yet, so I’m sending this quick update and a few photos from Kunming, where I just had the pleasure of spending a few hours with them before they had to catch their overnight sleeper train to Dali. Everyone is in good humor and enjoying their adventure!

Valentine's Day in Guilin

(Deanna Biddy - senior at Dover-Sherborn High School)

Hello all!

Today is Valentine’s Day and we all rose early from our beds at 06:45 to encounter an early breakfast accompanied with much food. Our food spanned from vanilla yogurt with Rice Krispies, Croissants to Fried Eggs with Sausage, generally the meals kept coming and we tried to aim to finish one whole plate but to no avail. Afterwards, we went back to our rooms to quickly pack our belongings to get into the van to go see Elephant Trunk Hill and Reed Flute Cave.

Yangshuo Impressions

(Brandon Wu - senior at Dover-Sherborn High School)

Hey ya'll,

This is our second day in Yangshuo. We had much of the day off today to relax and explore. Mike and I went for an early breakfast and then for a walk through a nearby park. It was fascinating to see all of the activities that people were doing. We saw people doing tai-chi, a lady practicing with a sword (or what appeared to be), many kids running around under the watchful eye of their parents, and groups of men sitting around stone tables playing checkers or cards.

Day 1 in Yangshuo

(Patty Williamson - senior at Dover-Sherborn High School)

Hi everyone!

After finally getting to our Guilin hotel at 130AM, it was quite difficult for the 5 of us to be excited about a 630 wake up call, but after an early breakfast in the hotel (an interesting western-eastern fusion--I'd recommend the watermelon juice) and some encouragement for, our guide, Lily, we got in the van and headed for Fubo hill. Let me tell you, this is the biggest hill, ever. Lily was in much better shape than the rest of us, and seemingly much less afraid of falling up or down the 325 steep steps to the top, so she made her way around the hill insanely quickly. From the top, we could see most of the city of Guilin, and the hundreds of peaks along the Li river which makes Guilin so famous.

Ants and Gods

(Michael Vaughan - senior at Dover-Sherborn High School)

The most empowering and humbling experiences of my life thus far happened simultaneously on our thirteen hour fight from Toronto to Beijing over Siberia. I was absent mindedly looking out of our plane window when the sun rose to me for the second time today and the land we were flying over crept into view through the dissolving canvas of the cloud layer.

(FIRST POST OF 2013 EXCHANGE) Great Timing, Don't You Think?

(Mr Viz - husband of Rebecca Vizulis and China Exchange tech support!)

For those of you who look forward to following the China Exchange Blog when it revs up around Chinese New Year each year, you must be wondering why nothing has appeared given that the departure date of February 8 (yesterday) has come and gone.  Well, wouldn't you know it, the 5th biggest snowstorm in Massachusetts history had to hit us at exactly the right (wrong) time, cancelling Friday 10am flight to Newark/Hong Kong.  Why it was cancelled, and so soon, is beyond me.  The forecast called for the storm to start in earnest around Friday noon, and in fact on Friday morning things weren't too bad.  But United had already cancelled all its flights on Thursday evening.  Are the airlines getting soft?