“No!”

(Lizzy)

The past two days have been very busy, and, I think we would all agree, yesterday was one of our best yet. We were picked up by Nancy, a woman of Bai nationality and our enthusiastic guide, and taken to see a market in a beautiful nearby village where the local people sell their fresh produce. Nancy explained to us that the Bai minority is a matriarchal society in which the women do most of the physical labor and the men do crafts, especially carving. The Bai men are called “carving men” because throughout history they have been carvers of everything from jade to silver to wood. The Bai people were given their name, which means “white,” because of their white buildings and the women’s white costumes, which many, including our guide, choose to still wear today.

Nancy explained to us that the Bai people are all very kind. We soon experienced their generosity ourselves when we were led into a stranger’s home unannounced. The family living in the beautiful, ancient courtyard-style home was happy to have us look around ...

Can you please pass the Toilet Paper?

(Colin)

This morning, we started at a comfortable 9:00 for breakfast in the hotel restaurant, which is not adjacent to the hotel, interestingly.  After consuming ungodly amounts of food, we meandered through the streets of Lijiang.  As we were wandering, Chris saw an old woman peeling potatoes on the street, and went to take a picture.  At the activation sound of his camera, the old woman screamed at him in some native dialect.  Needless to say, we continued walking.

After several minutes, we found ourselves on a market street, surrounded by various wares and curios.  Chris and Ryan bought ancient Chinese fake Ray Bans, Lizzy bought a nice pillowcase made in the Na Xi style, and I purchased a kind of flute thing.  We made our way up and down the street, and Lizzy realized that ...

Adventure Time

(Ryan Dougherty)

We woke up early yesterday morning vowing that we would have a Chinese breakfast.  No more sausage and egg for us!  We wanted fried noodles, hot soy milk, buns, and dumplings with mysterious black goo (which was delicious).  After breakfast, Julie met us in the lobby for our last day in Guilin.  We piled into the van for one last sight-seeing adventure.

Our first stop was Elephant Trunk Hill.  The reason for the hill's name is immediately apparent: the river nearby runs through the hill, carving out a large chunk that leaves a narrow strip to one side that looks like an elephant's trunk.  We walked around the nearby park, complete with a giant Chinese chess board, and piled back into the van for our next destination ...

The 1st rule of Chinese Driver's Education 101 - There are no rules ...

(Chris Estabrook, teacher)

Hello everybody. I'm sure that you've all been anxiously awaiting my first blog post. :) Our blog is blocked over here in China, so I haven't been able to read what Colin and Lizzy have posted. I'm sure their posts were very clever, witty and observant, so I'll do my best to match wits with those two -although I'm sure they'll have me beat. I'm sitting in the lobby of our hotel in Lijiang. There are 4 people hovering over my shoulder staring at my screen. The idea of personal space doesn't really exist here.
 
First, I just have to say that I couldn't ask for 3 better travel companions.  Lizzy, Colin and Ryan have been wonderful.  They're funny, patient, adventurous...yet appropriately cautious, and downright cool!  This has been one of the most amazing and eye-opening experiences of my life so far and I'm glad I have three great people to share it with.  I'm starting to understand that Colin is going to be the prankster of the group ...

Li River to Yangshuo

(Lizzy Briskin)

Ni Hao!

It’s only our fourth day here in China, but we have already seen so much that it feels like we have been here for weeks. Yesterday we took the Li River Boat Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo, a relatively small city.

The landscape in this part of China is amazing. The entire area was once an ocean, but what remains now is the thriving Li River surrounded by dramatic karst mountains that appear randomly, jutting straight out of the otherwise flat landscape. We had amazing views of the scenery on the four-hour boat cruise ...

Blogo Numero Uno

(Colin Braun)

Approximately 54 hours have elapsed since the Fantastic Four rose from their beds on Thursday, February 3^rd, 2011, at about 3:00 AM.  During this time, we have spent a good 22 hours on planes, and crossed twelve time zones.  Our initial flight departed Boston at 6:01 AM, and we arrived in Hong Kong 23 hours later, 17 years in the future.  There ARE flying cars.  Not much can be said about the flying, other than the crippling feeling of helplessness felt by at least myself, having for a majority of the flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong been absolutely clueless as to the remaining time.  Also, the food was terrible ...

Arrived in Hong Kong, safe and sound

(Andy)

The group has arrived safe and sound, and Chris has posted the first pictures (upper right).  Because the flight arrived an hour early, they were able to enjoy the fabulous New Year fireworks over Hong Kong Harbor, from the convenience of their strategically chosen room at the Kowloon YWCA!  The Year of the Rabbit has officially begun!

(FIRST POST of 2011 Exchange)The Fantastic Four's Adventure Begins ... finally!

(posted by Andy Vizulis)

After anticipating the most exciting adventure of your high school career for almost a year, wouldn't it stand to reason that a snowstorm would throw plans into disarray in the final 24 hours? But of course! This is New England after all. Though originally scheduled to depart Wednesday morning at 6:01am, the flight was already cancelled on Tuesday because of this year's "if it's Wednesday, it's a giant snowstorm" weather pattern.

But by Thursday morning, everyone had dug out, de-iced and made it safely from Dover and Sherborn to Logan Airport. 6:01am is not a pleasant departure time, especially having to be there a couple of hours early. The only positive is that getting through check-in should be a breeze, right?  Wrong! Due to the cancelled flights the day before, lines were the longest seen since the Exchange began.

With only a half hour left before departure, we all said our hasty (and tearful) goodbyes to this year's group, consisting of Ryan Dougherty, Colin Braun, Elizabeth Briskin (Lizzy), and middle-school Spanish teacher Christopher Estabrook as chaperone. If previous years are any indication, the Fantastic Four (self-dubbed!) will have indescribable experiences they will never forget.  Check back regularly to follow their exploits!

(FINAL POST of 2010 Exchange)Saying Goodbye to a Magnificent Adventure!

(Sandy)

April 10

The last few hours in China! What a strange day…I think we are all feeling a “healthy ambivalence” about getting on a jet to fly home. No doubt, of course we are all missing our families, friends, pets and yearning for normalcy, but it is also sad to say goodbye to a magnificent adventure. Each day brought new insight into the daily living and personalities of those we have met, daring attempts at consuming a pastiche of exotic foods, unbelievable ancient and contemporary sights that many only get to view in books, new sounds of the repetitive city noises and the rural quiet of the farmland, new friends and our homes away from home, and new customs of hospitality that sometime make very independent people a bit uncomfortable…like having someone always wanting to hold your backpack and packages, people always asking if you are tired and need a rest, always being led like a child or being told to “sit, sit!” It is all a bit surreal.

Completing the Beijing Trifecta

(Lauren)

Beijing Day 3

First on today's agenda was a trip to Beijing's famous Temple of Heaven. When we got to the temple, we were immediately besieged by vendors selling cheap children's toys. Surprisingly, the toys were very popular amongst thelocal Chinese. Many of the Chinese elders used the small park in front of the main temple as a local gathering place to socialize and exercise. On our way through the park, we were confronted with the spectacle of old Chinese people dancing to pop music. They were all very good and totally in-sync.

Yes ... I (h)ate scorpion!

(Alex)

Hello America, for the last time in China you will hear from me.

We arrived in Beijing this morning at 6:35 am. The train ride was very nice despite the insane amounts of luggage we all had. I am actually quite surprised we got off the train so easily and quickly, but all went smoothly from transferring to the hotel. We all had trouble letting go of our friends and families and Hangzhou, but it is nice to be travelling one last time before we return to America! At this point we are all craving some good old fashioned American food whether it be cheese or a nice diner burger. The food here has been great (I will get to more of this in a little bit), but I can't wait to have some teryaki turkey and apple pie (mom that's a request please).

Farewell Hangzhou Friends

(Cassie)

Hello everyone. Our last day in Hangzhou...and what a long and eventful day it was! Get comfortable, because this is going to be a long blog.

Today was a day of many lasts . I got up at my usual time to eat my last breakfast with Jiawen - delicious baozi, as usual. I seriously want to attempt to find them when I get home...they re pretty awesome. We were a bit more solemn at breakfast than usual, and Jiawen informed me that she d most likely cry at some point during the day. After breakfast, we wrestled my bags down to the car and loaded them in for my last trip to Hanggao. Once at school, we took my bags to the front building only to find that the bus that was supposed to be waiting for us was M.I.A. I had promised Sandy I would help her get her bags to the apartment, so I left my bags and headed to meet her. We ended up getting a good arm workout out of it because the key to the gate to the school near her apartment hadn t arrived yet. The two Westerners dragging bags down the middle of Silk Street got some pretty weird looks. Unfortunately the bus still hadn t arrived when we got there, but Wu Laoshi was nice enough to less us leave all of our stuff in her office until we could load it in.

Once our luggage was all squared away we went up to the English office to wait to go to our 10:30 farewell meeting. When we got there we realized that nobody d seen Lauren. Her host dad had dropped her bags off and they were with the other luggage but there was no sign of her. I went to her class to find her and she was there...taking a nap on her desk before class started. Apparently this is a regular occurrence. I wish I had her ability to sleep so easily and to to wake up so quickly. With everyone together we sat and chatted with Helen until our host siblings arrived and it was time to go. Everyone s host siblings had little presents for us, as did Liam. My favorite one was an adorable frame given to me by Yin - It looked like a cat. She knows I really like cats. After she gave it to me, she, Jiawen, and I took a picture together so I can fill it when I get home.

We again went to the meeting room where we d originally been welcomed and had met Madame Miao. This time the room was at its most full. We began by hearing a speech from the headmistress bidding us farewell and welcoming us back again (translated for us by Derek). Then, we each said a small piece about how we felt about our time in Hangzhou and what we loved about the experience. Afterwards, each of our host siblings spoke about what they d gained from living with us for two weeks. Each one was very heartwarming, but I was most moved (of course) by my own sisters. Jiawen cried, as promised, and Yin told me she loved me. At this point, it was all I could do not to keep from crying. After a couple more speeches by the administration we got into the bus to go to the restaurant in which we d be having our banquet lunch.

When we got to the restaurant Alaina, Lauren, and I all changed into our dresses and Sandy changed into her jacket. Alex had come prepared...he was already in his vest. We emerged to kind compliments and sat down to a complex and wonderful lunch. My favorites were some garlic mashed potatoes, baozi filled with meat and onions (of course), and congee made with rice and greens. About halfway through the meal we began our speeches. I was incredibly nervous - not only do I dislike speaking in front of large groups of people, but I was also worried I d utterly butcher my Chinese pronunciation. But we were met by laughter and applause at all of the right times, so I think we were pretty successful. I think Ning probably made the funniest comment...when Lauren asked her if she could understand the speech, Ning said Yes...now...may I please have a copy of the speech so that I can read it? . After our speeches we sat back down to dinner. Once we'd finished eating we proceeded to take what must have been hundreds of pictures...we all joked that it was like prom.

We changed again (ironically, it was raining and we didn t want to ruin the silk) and got back into the bus to go back to the school. We had some time to kill, so Alex hung out with Derek, while the girls and Liam went to grab some milk tea and talked about travel dreams of ours. Soon enough our time had run out and we made our way back through the rain to the school.

I ll be frank, the next half hour was pretty miserable. All of our host siblings met us at the first of building of the school. While everyone was attempting to avoid thinking about it, we all knew that final goodbyes were impending. Finally, Derek told us it was time to go and we all made our final goodbyes to all of our siblings. I promised to email both of my host sisters as soon as I got back to America, partook in many hugs, and waved goodbye through foggy bus windows.

We got to the train station a bit early, so we sat amid our many bags and talked with Liam, Derek, Tianle, and Charlie. They had all come to help us get onto the train. All too soon 17:44 rolled around and we made our way onto the train. It was a bit rushed and our goodbyes at the station were hurried, but that was probably for the better as the earlier farewells had been difficult.

The train was quite nice! Each room had four beds and a small table near the large window. We could barely hear the sound of the train as we sat on our beds. The four kids were in one room, while Sandy was next door. From 6 til about 10 (we went to bed early as we knew we had to get up early) we talked, did MadLibs, and ate the snacks we d brought with us. Then we said goodnight and went to bed. I stayed up for a little while to look at the Chinese landscape flying past the window, then fell asleep.

So that s all from me as far as blogs go... It s remarkable that we ll be heading back to the States soon. I ve had a wonderful and life-changing time here over the past eight weeks. Goodbye and see everyone soon!