Last Day in China!

Saturday, April 25







We had a morning in the Yu Yuan Gardens -- a perfect end to a great trip!

Weston students with our tour guide, Li Jun -- he's a super star in our book!


Final thoughts: What a wonderful introduction to China for American students! This was a fabulous way to open their eyes to a much larger world outside of suburban America. We visited three of the most important cities -- Xian, which represents China's past, Beijing, which represents China's present, and Shanghai, which represents China's future. There were just some things they would not be able to replicate as tourists, such as the visits to the different schools in Beijing and Shanghai. The students are on the road to being leaders and active citizens of the United States, and to give them such an opportunity to experience and appreciate different cultures will shape them into the kind of global citizens we need for our future. Unfortuntely, this trip is limited to only 20 students a year. Pathways to China should be a trip that all students from our community take!

Last Day in Shanghai

Friday, April 24

We were on the move pretty much all day instead of sitting on the bus, so no students had a chance to blog about the day. Here are some final pictures!

Breakfast Soup Dumplings -- a Shanghainese specialty food

Shanghai Museum -- perfect for a morning visit on a rainy day

Afternoon down Nanjing Road -- Sivana has become a Communist Party Member!

Dinner and evening at Acrobatic Show

Kathleen Marvels at Shanghai

Kathleen Chen -- Thursday, April 23
The river cruise that we went on yesterday was definitely worth all of the wind and cold. The buildings and things were all lit up, and it was so beautiful. The TV tower had both spheres lit up with lights that were alternating in color, which was very nice to watch. A lot of the other towers had lights on as well, and the whole scene was very beautiful. There was definitely a contrast between the more modern side of the river, mainly the area with the TV tower, and the older area that was on the other side. Both had lights and were visible in the night, but it was mostly the architecture and such that were different. I really liked to see all of the buildings that were so different from those in the U.S., and I have never really seen anything like it before.
A lot of people were on the cruise last night, probably for the scenery as well as for the social aspect. Many people were taking pictures, or eating in the dining area while watching the lights go by. I was on the top level with Cassandra and Emelia, and we were mainly just looking at the buildings and towers as they went by. We saw some interesting boats go by as well, such as on with a large TV screen that was advertising some product that we did not understand. Most of the boats had lights and were nice to look at, but some of the cargo ships did not and so were almost invisible in the night, which seemed pretty dangerous. While on the top deck of the ship, we met a group of students from Needham high school that had been traveling also. Their trip was strangely similar to ours, since they were in China for ten days and went to the same cities that we did. Granted we had different agendas, but it was weird to see a group from an area somewhat close to our school in such a large country.

Molly Loves Pandas

Molly’s blog
Wednesday April 22, 2009
School and Pandas

Today, we took a long bus ride to visit a rural school in Xian. As we traveled on the bus, we passed the Qing Ling Mountains, which are huge and green, and passed by lots of fields and crops. Once we arrived at the school, it had already started raining a bit, and we lined up in two lines to greet and pair up with the students. My girl immediately grabbed my hand and we all went up 6 flights of stairs to a big room where there were tables with vegetables on them and a projector screen set up. We were led to our seats, and they had all sorts of welcoming songs and presentations for us. Groups of students performed songs and played guitar and recited poems for us. They unexpectedly called on a few of us to sing songs, so, even though no one had prepared, Hamish and Mike sang ‘Kiss the Girl’ from the little mermaid, and Cassandra and Matti sang ‘A Moment Like This’ by Kelly Clarkson, which they had sung at karaoke last night. After more introductions, etc, we were led downstairs on our own with each of our ‘friends’ to classrooms. In my classroom, the teacher spoke English, and asked his students to ask us questions, but they were too shy. He wanted to know some advice for how to learn English since it’s so difficult, but how do you answer something like that? For us, we just do it – there’s no real trick to it. Next, we had lunch. We lined up by some windows where we got bowls of rice and vegetables or some other kind of meat, etc, and then were led to classrooms to eat. The students’ teachers told the students to teach us how to use chopsticks – we thought we were doing it right, but apparently not! After lunch, we had free time to spend with the students – some were shy, and wouldn’t ask questions, others were pretty open, asking about hobbies and subjects in school. One girl even asked me “Explain your country”. What? I’m thinking, do you mean democracy, or how it looks? If I ever didn’t understand their questions, I would ask them a question back to clarify, and then they’d go “Oh ok”. Um, wait, what? I was able to give them my postcards about Massachusetts, and other kids had stickers or pencils or fun things to pass out, and they would give us little books, things they had written, candy or trinkets. We spent a while going between classes, getting introduced and just chatting, until finally we got back on the bus. Some of the students even got on the bus with us to say goodbye!
Once on the bus, Li Jin had a surprise for us – pandas! We stopped by a zoo, and even though it was raining, we walked outside along the paths to visit first pandas that were in dark rooms, and then peacocks, crested ibises, pheasants, and even some more pandas in open air enclosures. We even got a chance to see some pandas that were close up, as they were in little rooms about to be fed. By the end, everyone was pretty wet and miserable, but we were all in a good mood, and no one complained because we had gotten to see such cool animals. Back on the bus, wet but happy, we’re about to head off to the Wild Goose pagoda. What a morning!

Emelia Makes some Xian Friends

Emelia Barron
April 22, 2009

Today we went to the school that is located 2 hours away from our hotel in Xi’an. Each Pathways student was paired up with a student from the school. The school had about 6 flights of stairs. We had to go to the top floor. They offered us pickles and tomatoes. They performed many songs and a dance. Gabby and I had to go to the bathroom so we asked our buddies to show us where it was. They brought us all over the school up and down many flights of stairs. We finally found the bathroom and the stalls had no doors. It was disgusting. Gabby held a jacket in front of the stall so no one could see and then we switched. Then our buddies brought us to a classroom on the bottom floor. There we sat in and listened to the teacher. The teacher asked us about the NBA and their players. Then they made us sing our national anthem. After, they sang their national anthem. Then we had lunch. For lunch we had rice, pork and a bun thing. I didn’t really like the lunch. The rice and the bun were good but I didn’t really like the pork. We ate lunch in a classroom. I sat with my buddy, Nicole and her buddy, and Alliyah. We gave them our pencils and stickers. There were a group of guys in the back of the classroom that wanted to meet me. My buddy brought me to them. I sat in between all of them. There, they gave me a tomato and drew me a picture. They asked me about where im from and they told me that I am very nice and pretty. It was kind of awkward because they tried talking to me but I couldn’t understand them so I asked Kathleen to help translate. After, I went to go and hang out with Nicole and her buddy. We gave them stickers and pencils. We showed them who Hannah Montana was but they didn’t know who she was. So we took out our ipods we let them listen. Then one of the boys gave me a notebook with lyrics to a love song in Chinese and a note that said, “please accept it. It’s our present. The best wishes for you”. I thanked them and said “dinguagua” but they laughed at me because I said it weird. Then we had to be back on the bus by 1:00. We said our goodbyes and we are now on the bus traveling to go to meet the Brookline students.

Liz's Xian Adventures

Today was our second day in Xi’an. As usual, we got up early, but today I got up extra early go on a hunt for “senior disco”. Since the retiring age is so young in China (from 50-60 depending on the job) many retirees enjoy working out to Chinese pop music in the local park, and since the park surrounds the mote and city wall of Xi’an, there were many types of early morning senior dancing and working-out to be seen. Instead of our costly gyms, the parks here actually have weather-proof, non-electrical work out equipment in the parks, and even at 6:30 am, it was bustling. There were also at least 10 ping pong tables, and lots of elderly men walking their birds. After breakfast, we got to see the terra cotta army, which was actually a series of 3 pits, with a total of 1,000 soldiers. To my surprise, the actual tomb of the emperor has not been unearthed. Our local guide explained that it’s because they do not want to destroy or ruin any of the tomb, and thus want to wait until they have better technology before excavation. I am not sure if that would happen in America, but it’s good to know that at least for the warriors, preserving history is important enough to wait. Later in the day we went to the mosque in the Muslim Market. It was great to see the mixture of cultures which had occurred because the beautiful mosque was clearly Islamic, but was very architecturally similar to many of the Chinese pagodas. At the end of our busy day, we even got to eat a “dumpling banquet” with 18 different types of dumplings ranging from cashew, to beef, to pumpkin, and while my table couldn’t finish it all, one student broke the previous record eating over 50 dumplings! After today, I’m really excited to see more of Xi’an.
Good night!
-Liz

Aquene's Post

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Today is our 6th day in China and we are just beginning the day. This morning I walked with a group to the park and saw people exercising, it was like a fitness club but without electricity and the large membership charge. There were some older people dancing to modern music and we joined in, well I didn’t but it was funny to watch everyone. We are now on the bus going to see the Terracotta Warriors which I am very excited about. Having learned about the Terracotta Warriors I have to see all this intricate detail, thousands and thousands of individual, unique soldiers. I cannot fathom what that can be like so I have to see it. Tonight is the dumpling dinner, I’m really excited about that as well I love dumplings and I cannot wait to try all of the different types tonight. Well we’ll see how this day goes bye

Nicky and Jason Experience Xian

April 20, 2009





Nicky

Today we woke up at 430 in the morning to catch a flight from Beijing to Xi’an. We landed safely at Xi’an’s airport and drove into the gridlock traffic of the city. Xi’an is one of China’s ancient capitals and dates back thousands of years. The city is home to about 8 million people which is small compared to Beijing but still feels large compared to U.S. cities. After a long bus ride we finally arrived at the ancient wall of Xi’an that surrounds the center of the city. There, we all got to bike around the 14 kilometer wall. I rode around with a kid from Reading named Troy while many others, including Lauren and Mrs. Lee, had to pair up on tandem bikes. The ride took around an hour and gave us many fantastic views of the city. It is very interesting seeing the contrast between ancient and modern in the city for while the wall is 600 years but is surrounded by ever expanding modernization. After biking the wall we went to lunch which was more western than Chinese. The meal included chicken nuggets, spaghetti and French fries. The hotel rooms are very nice and have a perfect view of the ancient bell tower in the center of Xi’an. We are very excited for what is to come in Xi’an.

Jason

It is hard to believe that we have only now arrived in the second of the three cities we are visiting. There was so much to see and do in Beijing that it felt like the vacation could end there and we would all be satisfied. The first thing I noticed about Xi’an was that it was much clearer than Beijing. Here, we can actually see the sun, and there was a little bit of blue sky. This was really nice for the bike ride on the city wall, but it was also really dry and dusty. I was towards the end of the line, so I ended up taking a tandem bike with Kathleen instead of a single. The ride was fun, but we were all really thirsty and ready to eat by the end. Lunch was very American today… there was spaghetti and meatballs and “stir fried potatoes” (french fries). We came back to the hotel to wash up and get settled in. Our room has a really great view of the Bell Tower. Right now, Nicky and I are watching TV, and this commercial type thing came on that was just pictures of China and singing. It seemed kind of like a propaganda commercial, and I would be interested to find out the meaning of the lyrics. Now we are going to get massages… very exciting. We all can’t wait for the rest of the trip.
Goodbye from Xi’an

Lauren Bikes Through Xian

April 20, 2009

Today, we woke up early to board the plane to Xi’an. It was hard to get out of bed at 4:30. but it was really exciting at the same time to go to our second city! After the flight, we immediately went to the city wall. Xi’an is very different from what I expected. It’s very green and sunny, and the ancient style buildings contrast sharply with the huge buildings and the tiny neighborhoods. Our tour guide pointed out that all buildings near the city wall need to be built in the traditional Tang dynasty style, with elegant curved roofs and few floors. As we drove to the city wall (amidst the traffic and the huge groups of people), the preservation of this magnificent architecture absolutely amazed me.
At the wall, we rented bicycles. Some people chose one person bikes, while others rode tandems. Mrs. Lee and I got a tandem bike and we rode around the perimeter of the city. The wall was unbelievable; there were huge, ancient gates scattered throughout, and the area was not crowded. It gave us amazing views of the entire city. We were able to see the Tang style buildings and the shops and small houses dwarfed by skyscrapers. We got to talk a lot about Pathways as an experience, and about AP World back home. This afternoon, we are going to the Greater Wild Goose Pagoda and the Muslim Market. Then, later tonight, the group is getting massages. A great way to follow up hiking the Great Wall and biking the Xi’an city wall!

Alliyah's reflections

Today we went on the great wall, and it was slightly rain which always happens the day that pathways usually goes. When got to the great wall it was huge I didn’t realize how big it was until I was actually there, but before we got up there everyone had to make a decisions to go on the easy or hard course, and everyone chose the hard course. As I was walking up the great wall my quads were killing me because it was so steep and each stair was a different length. But it was all worth it because now I can actually say that I walked up the great wall, and I can get a massage tomorrow for 60 yuan Xian.

Grant's Great Wall adventure

Just a few minutes ago we all finished hiking a small section of the Great Wall. I did not know what to expect and could hardly contain my excitement as we started the climb up the wall (at a quick jog thanks to our enthusiasm). After a little while, I rested for a minute or so. The thin air and steep, somewhat crowded steps near the base were by far the most tiring. At least there were few other tour groups, after seeing countless hundreds of them at the Forbidden City and Summer Palace. After every small section of the wall there would be a guard tower where I would snap a few pictures and see some Chinese men smoking. Even on the higher sections of the wall there were vendors, an inescapable element of our trip so far in Beijing. Because of the clouds and fog obscuring the top, I actually did not know how high or far the wall would go, but after 45 minutes I reached the top, where the entire sky around the tower was obscured by fog/clouds/smog. At the top of the wall there were much fewer people; only the strong were able to survive at this height. The way down was actually a good deal easier and only took about 20 minutes. Many people bought T-shirts proclaiming “I climbed the Great Wall”. The Great Wall was definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far.

Early morning

Today Nicole, Emelia and I (Molly) woke up extremely early at 4 am to go out to Tiananmen Square to watch the flag raising. We went to Sivana and Lauren’s room to get them, but they weren’t ready yet so we headed downstairs to play cards while we waited. Once we were all there, Ms. Lee took the 5 of us out walking on the streets of Beijing. We walked in the dark, in the drizzling rain while we talked and finally had a chance to observe Beijing ‘at night’. Once we could see Tiananmen Square, we had to figure out how we would get over to the edge of the crowds. We walked all the way across the square, only to discover hundreds of people crowded around, waiting for it all to start. We tried to fight our way to the front of the crowd, but with little success. We eventually had to back up a bit until we could see most of the flag and the Tiananmen Gate with Mao’s picture on it. Then, the national anthem of China began playing, and the flag was slowly raised up the pole. After the flag reached to the top, we finally had a chance to push the front of the crowed, before we turned back around and headed back towards the other end of the square, where Mao’s body lay in his mausoleum. The line to see his body was huge – it almost stretched halfway around the building, and was getting longer by the minute. We then began walking back towards the hotel, but we soon stopped to have some breakfast. Ms. Lee took us first to a vendor selling egg-pancake-type breakfast burritos, which were amazing. Then she took us to a small street shop/restaurant, where we had pork buns (which looked sort of like dumplings) and hot soy milk. The food was delicious, and barely cost anything. We then had to head back to the hotel, walking all the way, to get ready for the rest of the day ahead. Later in the day, we’ll be doing tai chi with a master, visiting the Temple of Heaven, and finally climbing the Great Wall. We’re all so excited for the rest of the trip, and are off to Xi’an tomorrow morning.

Okay, to continue, we just got back and finished packing for our flight to Xian tomorrow, after a looooong day of walking and hiking and sightseeing. WOW. after tiananmen, we headed to the Temple of Heaven for tai chi, which was so amazing and relazing - the old women teaching us was so cute! then we milled around for while, playing hackeysack and then walked to look at the pagodas and temples of the Temple of Heaven - such amazing and colorful architecture! then we were off to the Ming tombs, where there were many chances to take fun candids with animal statues along the Sacred Way. Then, was lunch, which of course was great. After that, we had a really cool trip to the Cloissonne (?) factory, where we learned the whole process and could ecven purchase some real art. Next, was the highlight of the day - the Great Wall! It's absolutely huge - walking up all those stairs was exhuasting, but making it to the top made us all feel so good. We then walked back down (trust me, this took a loooong time - im only writing this so quickly because im sleepy...), to head back on the bus to the Silk Market. What an experience! Bargaining and haggling is quite interesting - learning to choose prices and find what you REALLY like definitely takes time and practice, but is so worth it in the end when you really get something you like, for a really cheap price. Our last part of the day was a late dinner, where we were all exhausted and sore from the whole day, but we had to save some energy to pack for our flight tomorrow to Xian, to begin the next leg of our amazing journey! I apologize for the skimpy details - I trust nicole did a better job of the stories from our long, tiring, exciting day ;]

love to all, molly.

Shopping High

I don’t even know where to begin… I guess I’ll start at 4:00am. Emelia, Molly and I got up to go see the flag raising at Tiananmen Square. We were awake and ready in like 20 minutes, so we just went to the lobby and played cards. Mrs. Lee came down to take us, and Sivana and Lauren were right behind her. We were a small group, but we had a really good time. -As of now I have been awake for 16hrs and 29 minutes- We walked to the square, and it was raining a little bit. Our feet got pretty wet, but it was no big deal. The flag raising itself was slightly anti-climactic, but just the experience was worth it. The best part was on our way home, Mrs. Lee treated us to some Beijing treats! First we stopped at a cart on the side of a road to get burrito like breakfast foods. It was flat pancake dough put on a hot griddle, and covered it in oil. then, they opened it and filled it with egg. They then would fold it and but bean paste in the middle. It wasnt my favorite, but i tried it. For me, thats something. We kept walking until we got to a little resturant, i guess you could call it. it was actually more of a dive, but we had some delishious pork buns! Then we got back to the hotel and emelia and i played some spit until everyone else was ready. Then we went to Temple of Heaven for some tai-chi. The lady that was leading it was soo cute!! she started with typical tai-chi, but then she pulled out a sword and started fighting immaginary people. the noises she made were adorable little grunts. We played our new favorite sport, Hacky Sack, in the park and toured the temple a little bit. The park we visited is a social hot spot! All these retired old people come and dance or play with eachother. It's great. After our morning fun, we headed to the mountains. We went to see the Ming Tombs there. There were some great statues for photo oppertunities. Then we went to lunch at a Cloissane (sp?) factory. The food was good, and there were some pretty cool trinkets, but im too cheep for full priced items. (just wait until you read about our shopping experience...) Then we finally got to the great wall. It was amazing. The part we climbed was soo so steep. It was exhausting, and we climbed all the way into the top. I was soo tired! My feet were screaming!! so were my legs. On the way down my legs were shaking, emelias too. We totally BOMBED it down. I did buy an overpriced t-shirt there, but im a tourist, cant help that. Then we went to a tea ceremony, it was interesting, but nothing that i could express over the blog. haha
MY FAVORITE PART OF THE NIGHT WAS THE SILK MARKET!!!
It was AMAZING!!!! i was really good at bartering.. the first thing we bought was jeans. We went to one place, and she wanted to charge me 200 rmb for a pair of jeans, but i got her down to 180 for two!! We all did that! Then emelia and molly moved on to a new jean store, and when sivana and i showed up, the ladies there were convinced sivana and i were twins. The lady at the second store was so funny. She kept telling us what jeans looked good with our butts. it was funny, and we laughed. i think thats what helped us get an amazing deal of two for 175rmb. i had a really good line, i would say, "i cant pay that much, i still need to eat dinner, and i dont have much money, im a poor student", i think that helped atleast. My trick is to get start low, and then see their reaction, and if i go up, i only go up by 5 or 10rmb. Always, always tell them it its too much 'tai guella (sp?), and emphasise that you are poor. walk away, and see how far they let you go. the farther you go, the better the deal. We didnt get an amazing deal on the jeans, but it was our first time out, and i was still pretty proud of myself. then we went down stairs. it was kinda scary down there. there were so many vendors, trying to sell so many things. we wanted longchamps, and i got into quite the bidding war with one guy. He wanted 200rmb for a bag, and i told him i would pay 70 for one. i told him that i wanted two, and he said he would give it to me for 160. i told him 120. he finally said yes, but i still thought was too high, so i said 100 max. he said no way, so i said, its ok, i will go somewhere else. I got all the way down the hall before he screamed "OK"! It felt soo goood!! i was on such a high for that night. i spent 262 on 3 pairs of jeans, then 1oo on two bags, so i bought 5 designer items, for 362rmb. Thats an equivilant to almost $50. HOW GREAT IS THAT?? im pumped.
ok, its late and i need to sleep because my feet are soo tired after this long, long day.
goodnight

ps. up from 4am until past 11pm. i guess the jet lag wore off. haha
Nicole

Some pictures

Bus #1 -- At the Forbidden Palace

Hanging out where emperors of the past lived!

Team Weston at the Summer Palace

We met some women from the minority group of the Zhuang tribe from Guangxi Province who were visiting Beijing.

Kathleen's blog

Saturday, April 18
Since I am writing at around seven at night, I feel like our morning activities were done so long ago. We went to the Summer Palace of Dowager Empress Cixi, and I was impressed with all the power that she held in the government as well as in the country itself. Li Jun told us all about her history and role in China during that time period, and how she basically controlled everything behind a puppet emperor that she had appointed, usually one of her relatives. I can’t really help but wonder whether or not some people are doing that now in some countries of the world, and we just don’t see it.
The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square were probably the most tiring and yet the most interesting sites that we went to today though. I was amazed at the size of the Forbidden City. I had known that it was big, but I had never seen it up close or in person. I was very upset that my camera battery had died near the end of our trip through the Forbidden City, since there were definitely many things that were worth taking pictures of in both sites. At Tiananmen Square I was somewhat surprised at the size also, and I was somewhat disappointed that I could not get a picture of Mao’s portrait or of many other things around there. It was definitely an experience that was worth the walking and such, because I feel like these two sites are very important to Chinese culture and history.
Even though I am pretty tired from all of that walking and trekking though historical landmarks, it was definitely worth it in my opinion.

Victoria's blog

Saturday, April 18
It’s only the afternoon of day three and we have already seen so much. We woke up at 4 o’clock this morning to go to the flag raising at Tiananmen Square and it was unreal. First off, we were easily the only Americans in the entire place and everyone was either staring or taking pictures of us wherever we turned. Not only that, but seeing the patriotism of the people of China was amazing, they were all so excited about the ceremony and what it stood for. After the ceremony we walked back to the hotel and we took a really interesting detour through this village that we assumed was built for the Olympics, but is completely empty, there was not a single store on the entire street. As I was walking through it I kept thinking to myself ‘who do they think they’re kidding?’ because every couple of stores there were big screens blocking the ally ways. The screens were obviously trying to hide the poverty of the country and pretend like everywhere was as glamorous as the streets they built up for the Olympics, but it really just looked ridiculous. After we got back to the hotel and had breakfast we went to the Summer Palace which was beautiful. Li Jun gave us some back round on Sixi, who was the empress that built and lived in the Summer Palace. The place was absolutely enormous, with beautiful architecture, landscape, and panoramic views of the man-made lake Sixi had dug when she made the Palace. We are now on our way to lunch and then Tiananmen Square and I can’t wait to learn more about the square. It was amazing just seeing the outside of Tiananmen Square this morning so actually going into the square and learning about its history should be great.

Nicole and Emelia's Blog

Emelia’s Blog
April 18, 2009

Today I woke up at 6 am. I was the only one awake. Jason and Nicky went to the flag raising and they woke up at 4 am. We went to breakfast and we ate rice, fruit, noodles, toast/jam and kiwi juice. Today we went to the Summer Palace. Nicole and I sang Fergalicious on the bus ride. When we got to the summer palace, it was very crowded. We learned about Empress Cixi (Su Shi). While we were in the palace, we played hacky sack. The guy who was performing for us had really tight pants. We all attempted and I was really bad at it. I hit some girl in the face. Then we went to go see the marble boat that doesn’t sink because its not a real boat. We then went to go any buy ice cream. Its called Magnum and it was AMAZING!!!! Our pathways group was being circled by these pick pocketers. It was kind of scary. Then we went to go in line for the dragon boats. While we were waiting, people went up to Nicole to take pictures with her. Then we went on the boat. There were a lot of paddle boats and the people on them who waved at us. On the dragon boat I sat across from this little cute girl. She had pig tails and wore a little hat. Then we went to the pearl market. A women named Yoyo showed us how to open a pearl. I learned that there are about 20 pearls in each oyster. Nicole, Sivana and I all bought a black pearl necklace. Then we went out to lunch at a place called China Town –we just saw a wicked cool red dresss!!!!!!-anyways I saw next to Charlie and Maddie. For lunch we ate fish, tofu, duck. Charlie and Peter ate the fish eye. It was disguting but im eating one next time. Now we are on the bus and Nicole and I are listening to brad paisley and we see a lot of underwear stores. We are now on our way to the summer palace!!!!!!!! Soooooooo excited!!!!!!

Nicole Blog

Well Emelia has gone over pretty much everything so far about today, so im just going to give some general reactions to Beijing. Everything here is so, so big. All the buildings are Massive! This city is nothing like what I expected. One minute, you can be surrounded by skyscrapers, and the next minute you’ll be in a hutong area. The people aren’t as pushy as I thought they would be, but I either haven’t experienced the true crowds or I set my expectations too high, both are likely. Also, everybody here rides bikes; through cars, on highways, sideways, you name it. –cute dog out the window, I cant see it, but that’s what everyone is saying, just kidding- The drivers here are all super aggressive, I would be scared driving. They weave in and out, and there is a lot of horn honking.
Today at the Summer Palace, all these tourists kept taking pictures of our group, it was pretty funny. They would inch their way over to you and just smile. The group got pretty into posing for them. They loved it.
We just drove my a minority bus, and they waved to us, it was great. Now we are getting a lesson on unichs, so im going to turn my attention there. Haha


Nicole

Nicky's and Jason's blog

From Friday, April 16

Nicky's story: On our first full day in China we went to a very nice middle school in Beijing. We were allowed to view an English class and help the Chinese students learning the language for the first time. We also got to play with the kids and got schooled in basketball and badminton by the Chinese kids. Most fun of all is when Jason told a girl in Chinese that I loved her and than gave her a heart he had made and said it was from me. We took a picture together and then I gave her my email. It was a bit awkward and embarrassing for me to try to talk to her.

Jason's story: Today was the first day that we were not exhausted, so we got right down to business. Nicky and I actually woke up around 5 a.m. and walked around a little bit before heading down to breakfast. The food was more western than it had been before; there were sausages, eggs, bacon, and toast, but there was also rice, noodles, and some kind of fried vegetable. After breakfast, we all piled onto the bus and took a ride to the school we were visiting. We went into a classroom and learned how to do some Chinese weaving. We sat in on an English class (and some of us actually had some trouble with the answers), and the students did not seem very excited to see us until we got outside. While some of us got killed in basketball, I actually beat the kids in ping pong. They kept sending over better and better kids, and they seemed really surprised that I could actually play. According to Mrs. Lee, they were shouting “you’re Chinese and you can’t even play ping pong!” to the kids that I were playing. After the success in ping pong, however, Nicky and I were embarrassed in badminton. I got to use some of my limited Mandarin to speak with the kids, and they actually understood me. We went in for lunch and ate the massive amounts of food that were served to us in the teachers lounge. The cafeteria food in China was far superior to the food at Weston High. After lunch we played outside with the kids for a little longer. I met two girls that had been taking pictures of Nicky before lunch, and I decided to have some fun with my Chinese. I was able to tell them that Nicky did not understand Chinese, but that he liked them very much. They started giggling and followed us around for a while. Ms. Young offered up the heart she had woven in the classroom, and I gave it to Liu (the girl) and told her that Nicky made it for her. She and her friends were laughing, Nicky, was bright red, and they exchanged email addresses. I also got a great picture of the happy couple. We left the school and drove to an office of the U.S. embassy. Three of the people who worked there told us a lot about China and its relationship to the U.S., the Olympics, and the process for getting visas. We’re on our way to a snack street now, where we might be eating some scorpions and some other strange things.
Goodbye from China!

waiting in newark

Ok, so we are waiting in newark. Emelia is writing on ms.lees's little computer, but I am on my phone. We are trying to make a plan for what we are going to do on the plane, but I'm pretty sure we won't stick to it anyway, haha. Lauren, nicky, emelia, sivana and I bought neck pillows, and we all got food. Mr. Collins and mr. Kelley were not in school, so I would have had zero classes today. Good, because I'm not missing anything, but bad because I would have had the day off. Oh well, I'm going to china. Ok so, we're are waiting, so nothing is happening And I'm going to go.
Peace
Nicole

day 1 of traveling

todaY I WOKE UP AT 4. i was extreeeeeemely tirerd! WE PICKED UP NIcole from her house. we got to logan and chilled out with dunkin donuts. then we boarded the plan and i sat next to nicole and across from sivana. me lauren and nicole slept the whole entire hour to newark. i woke up and hit the flight attendent in the butt with my elbow by accient. then we landed in newark and jason, nicky, lauren, molly, sivana, nicole and i walked around and bought neck pillows. they are really comfortable. we played on the moving sidewalk for a while. they were fun. and then we played a card game and nicky was raelly bad. he failed and we all quit. now im writing this blog on a mini computer. and molly is helping me write this. so we have to go and yonder to the bathroom now before we board.

Packing!

So the countdown is currently at 620 minutes (until we leave from Logan), and Lauren and I are kind of freaking out.

We started counting down from 100 days, and the time just flew by. Before we knew it, there was a month, a week, and now a day.

Everyone went shopping to get some crazy stuff. What am I most excited about? Paper soaps and collapsible cups.

I just finished packing my backpack - I packed the actual suitcase on saturday - and it is mostly full of food.

I can't sit still. Seriously.

Lauren is actually planning to stay up all night to get on China time before we go, so she'll be out on the plane tomorrow. 

I was really nervous about the weight of my suitcase, but it wasn't that hard to keep under the limit. Everything is travel sized, so its pretty light and small. Hopefully I don't lose anything.

Me too, but when you leave out stuff like jeans and cotton hoodies, clothes are surprisingly light.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

Lauren's excited.

Next post will be coming to you from CHINA!

Sincerely, Jason and Lauren

Getting ready for China

Getting ready for a big trip is always hard. For me, I'm an all-week type of packer -- I started laying things out on a bed about the beginning of last week, started planning my outfits and double checking the packing list that Todd and Rachel gave us. Even though I've been planning all week, I suspect that I'll be packing all night on Tuesday anyway. Well, at least for me, I'm packing for my children to go to their inlaws too.

I have to keep remembering that China now is not the China that I remembered from 1993 when I was studying abroad. They have a lot more of the modernizations that we take for granted today than they had over 15 years ago. You can almost get anything you need...except maybe the brand of hair gel or lotions that you are used to. My brother, who moved to Shanghai in November, has asked me to bring hair gel. Of all things that I could bring to him, that was on the top of his list!

Here's the itinerary for our trip:
Itinerary
Day 1 > April 15 > Start Tour -- Flight to BeijingDay 2 > April 16 > Ni Hao Beijing
Meet your Tour Director and check into hotel
Day 3 > April 17 > Beijing
Tiananmen Square
Local school visit
Forbidden City visit
Peking duck dinner

Day 4 > April 18 > Beijing
Tai-Chi Exercise
Summer Palace visit
"Snack Street" visit
Day 5 > April 19 > Great Wall
Travel to Great Wall of China
Sacred Road
Day 6 > April 20 > Beijing--Xian
Fly to Xi'an
Bike the City Wall
Greater Wild Goose Pagoda visit
Day 7 > April 21 > Xi'an
School visit
Muslim Market visit
Mosque visit
Dumpling dinner
Day 8 > April 22 > Xi'an
Terra Cotta Warriors Museum
Tang Dynasty Singing and Dancing Show
Day 9 > April 23 > Xian--Shanghai
Fly to Shanghai
French Concession walk
Yu Yuan Garden
Bund evening cruise
Day 10 > April 24 > Shanghai
Shanghai museum
Nanking Road
Acrobatic Show Day 11 > April 25 > End Tour
High-speed train to airport

As we prepare to leave, we want to express our appreciation of the support of the school administration, all our families and also WEEFC which has helped fund our participation in the Pathways program for the last two years.