My China Trip 2010

Connecticut-Shandong Province Principal and Teacher Shadowing Program

The goal of this program is build partnerships between school leaders, promote mutual intercultural understanding, and create opportunities for professional development. Since 2004, Connecticut has established over 120 partnerships with schools in Shandong. I will be visiting Huojiajie Primary School in Jining, Shandong Province. The school has 86 classes with 5,897 students and 258 faculty members. This should be quite a contrast to any school in the United States, especially Colebrook Consolidated School with only 118 students.

The Last Day – April 26, 2010 – As I sit on the plane preparing to land in DC, I share the same sentiments as my fellow travel mates. We are all very happy to be back in the U.S.A. They actually offered us noodles on the flight home. No noodles!

We had spent Saturday in QuFu, home of Confucius. Unlike Europe and America, the places I’ve traveled, China does not restore their “tourist sites”. The buildings are pretty much as they were 1000 years ago. It’s amazing to be standing next to something that is 1000 years old. You admired the skilled craftsmanship and the detail but they are certainly not “beautiful” buildings. Not sure any new wisdom was gained from walking on the same ground that Confucius had walked in 500 B.C. Saturday night we had our final banquet, with our group hosting the dinner which included local education officials. We had a huge rectangular table that seated about 35 people. Delicious food! Sunday we boarded a high-speed train and traveled back to Beijing in half the time. It traveled at 240 km per hour at some points. It was a comfortable ride and a treat after being on a tour bus for so long. Last night we were on our own. Three of us climbed in to a cab at the hotel heading to the silk market. We were ready to shop and haggle for the best deals. That really was a lot of fun, especially once we had our strategy figured out. Leaving the silk factory in the rain at 9pm, we were at the mercy of the taxi drivers. They originally 500 yuan ( $65) to take us back when we had paid 27 ( $3.50) yuan to get there. We haggled a woman down to 100 ( $15). She called her husband and then lead us to a van. We were very nervous being in what we were sure was an illegal taxi, but returned safely to our hotel. He had worked in the silk market and learned very good English for his interactions with the customers. This morning before heading to the airport we stopped by the site of the 2008 Olympics. There were many beautiful structures, with the Birdsnest being the most popular.

Reflecting back on the adventure to China, the time at the school was incredible. It was a great way to get to know local people and get a strong sense of the culture. The Chinese were very friendly and incredibly gracious host. I’m not sure we could ever give them the same level of treatment should they visit our school. We would certainly try hard, though. The site-seeing outings were great to see but seemed less significant after the school visit.

Many new friendships were made with my fellow travel mates. We spent many hours together laughing and sharing the joys and challenges of our adventure. For now, however, this traveler is happy to be home with those I love, real toilets, and food I can identify.

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Friday, April 23, 2010 – It is the last day of my visit here in Jining. I am sad to leave as I have really enjoyed my stay, working with the teachers, but mostly interacting with the students. I have not carried my own bag, opened a door, poured my own drink, or served myself food for most of the week. I’m sure reality will set in as soon as I am back home. I went to the school this morning for only about an hour and a half. A woman from the banquet the previous night came to school to get her picture taken with me. She had a young girl with her. She was in grade two and didn’t tell me the relationship, but I think it’s her granddaughter or a grand niece. I had my picture taken with the young girl and about 5 different groups – just me, me and principal, and grandma, then all of us with some teachers. It really did matter who you knew this week as to how close you could get to the American and if you could get your picture taken with her. I did “private” photo sessions with the administrators’ children, teachers’ children, teacher leaders, and those teachers who knew how to find me. My last photo session was with the Teachers of English. They were shy at first about asking me questions and actually talking in English. By the end of our time together, we had exchanged email addresses and were hoping for them to visit the US. I taught them to cross their fingers and hope it comes true. They got a real kick out of crossing their fingers for good luck.

I have arrived back in Jinan and been reunited with my group. It is really fun to hear everyone’s stories. They are very similar in some respects (how well we were treated and the food) but different in others. One duo stayed at a different family’s home each night. At another’s school class consisted of the students standing up to repeat what the teacher had said and then sitting back down. More of what I had expected to see on my visit. Everyone had a great week and came back with many gifts. How to fit scrolls into a suitcase is the newest challenge. We shall be quite a spectacle on the plane Monday.

I did Skype with my students both Thursday and Friday mornings. It was great fun and hopefully helped them to feel a part of this adventure. They asked great questions. I have many pictures to share with them so they can get a sense of the life in China that I saw.

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Thursday, April 22, 2010 - I had the opportunity to observe two more classes and to meet with teachers and teacher leaders to talk about education. It resembled a job interview as we sat around a table with the 15 or so of them each asking me a question. It was a great exchange. As my translator and I were walking back to the hotel for lunch and a rest, three teachers invited us to dine with them. They were insistent and so not to offend, I said of course. We went into a local restaurant and lots of food was brought out. Many dishes were very spicy. I did manage to avoid pig’s feet and snake at this meal. They all enjoyed those delicacies. The big highlight of the day was the signing ceremony. I was the first one to visit the Huojiajien School from Colebrook (and Connecticut and even the US, I believe), so I was the one to sign an agreement stating that we would have a sister-school relationship. Well, this was a HUGE deal. You have to see the pictures to really understand. Area government and education officials were invited to attend. Many of them were faces I had a seen a few times during the week. We wore corsages, gave speeches to the 300 guests, smiled for many cameras, signed the document both in Chinese and English, and then enjoyed a student performance. This event was taken very seriously by all who attended. The pressure is on as the expectations are high. I’m really hoping some of the Teachers of English will get the opportunity to travel to the US or another English speaking country. These are Chinese people teaching English and they had never spoken with a person whose native language is English. Tonight another banquet was thrown with the dignitaries and a few new guests. There is a Board who advises the school. Some of the members were there and the principal was doing some schmoozing ( sp) which all good principals do for the benefit of their school and students. There were many, many toasts given and a lot of food eaten. Amazing amounts of food were on the table this week as the Chinese show their pleasure in having you visit by preparing and sharing food with you. They are very proud of their regional favorite dishes. It was a great day.

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Saturday, April 24, 2010

Jinan Teachers of English and a War Memorial

(click on a picture for a larger view)

1 comment:

AnonymousApril 26, 2010 at 11:06 PM
Hello Beth,

You can never figue out who I am. I am the Chinese Teacher at the afterschool program at Colebrook school. Amanda gave me your blog address to let me see your jounal. It seemed to me you like the Chinese food. I think you did the right thing not trying the snake because I don't eat it also.

Xian
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Wednesday, April 21, 2010 – Today was quite an amazing day. I was expecting breakfast in my room when a knock on the door revealed the principal. I quickly shut down my computer and grabbed my coat. Fearing I was not going to be fed breakfast, we walked downstairs and ended up in a room at the hotel. The principal, an English teacher, and I had breakfast together. It was another big feast. I did have scrambled eggs with ham and peppers, but they also had soup and vegetables. I tried various dishes trying to be a polite guest.

At school I had the chance to observe two math lessons. Truly the only difference between us and the Chinese it our outward appearances. Good teaching and students learning is clear in any language. I loved watching these two teachers teach. One was only in her first year and the other year three. Like any principal, when you have guests you showcase your best teachers. They were amazing, smiling, calling on students, students talking to each other about their learning, and using manipulatives and technology to make the abstract more concrete. There were 82 second grade and then later 80 or so fourth-grade students in the class. Like students everywhere they gazed off into space, played with the manipulatives while the teacher was talking, picked their nose, and talked when they weren’t supposed to. The whole setting was nothing of what I was expecting. There were also about six adults sitting in on the classes. They observe each other and then on Wednesdays from 4-5:30pm (their day is 8-5:30) they meet as a grade-level department (6 teachers of gr. 2 math) to discuss their observations, work on improving teaching methods, or prepare for future lessons. It sounds very similar to PLCs (Professional Learning Communities). Later I would get to go to many of these meetings and meet the teachers. I was greeted with applause and requests for pictures. I was sung to by a 4th grade Chinese teacher who sings with the local opera. I was also accosted by a math teacher to go to her group’s meeting – I think I met the Chinese version of my son John’s teacher. She was very funny and literally grabbed me by the arm leading me to the room. They have the Chinese version of SMART Boards, too. Again, we are so similar. Except the teachers in China only teach one subject and they only teach 2 classes a day. That leaves them the rest of the day to correct papers, do research, observe each other, and prepare lessons. In our country “time” is the reason we give for not doing a lot of things. In China they have so much time for professional development. I wondered if they had a substitute when a teacher came 3 hours to pick me up or the two teachers took me shopping at 2:30 pm yesterday. Now I know how they did it.

Each day students and staff go home from 11:30am- 2pm for lunch and a rest. If your parents work, you will go to the grandparents or eat at a restaurant with friends. At this school, everyone including the principal lives within a 5 minute walk from the school. The school is surrounded by apartment buildings. For lunch, I went with the English teacher, the school director, and three of the four deputy principals, a.k.a vice principals. They each brought their one child with them so they could have time to speak English with me. The four kids get along very well and are very close especially considering there is a 17-yr old girl and then boys who are 10, 11, and 13. We had hot pots. A pot of boiling liquid is placed in front of you and then you select the raw food or fresh greens you want to put in the pot to cook. It was actually pretty fun. To drink we had corn juice. Yes, it reminded me of eating corn on the cob. They all drank it like water while I sipped it.

For dinner, I went to the principal’s home. I met her husband, son and daughter-in –law, a man who works for the education bureau, and then three teachers. The daughter –in-law and I hit it off with her sending me home with a bottle of wine that I imagine is similar to anti-freeze. I left having invited all of them to come to CT and stay at my home. They have a 2 yr old son they talked of bringing with them. I’m sure my kids would love it. We made pork –filled dumplings from scratch. It was a lot of fun and interesting to be in someone’s home. Again, a huge feast was had. I feel very full, but looking back I had little bites of food, nothing fried or with a sauce, and many vegetables and fresh fruit. It was a day of a lot of eating.

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Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - Every time I come or go from the hotel I am escorted by interpreters and/or teachers of English. They treat me very well here. The school is only about 2 blocks away so we walk. This morning was interesting as it was “rush hour”. The street was full of cars and bikes and mopeds. The street is really just a little wider than one lane. They don’t stop for anyone, children, the elderly or white women. Every head turns to look at me with some people saying hello. They seem to all get a chuckle out of being able to say hello.

At school they were having their annual sports meeting. The opening ceremony was similar to the Olympics. They had costumes and performers, a band, and flag raising ceremony. The regional leaders and principal gave speeches as well as a student and a referee ( a teacher). It was quite a production with a lot of time put in to practicing for it. All students watched the games as some students participated in the track and field events. They did the high jump and various running events. Some kids came up to me to say hi and have their picture taken. I walked around the classes later and caused quite a disturbance. They basically mobbed me trying to get my autograph or take my picture. Felt like quite the rock star! They can basically say, “ Hello. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you ,too. How are you? I am fine. Pleasure to meet you. Good bye. How old are you? You are beautiful.” They are very friendly and outgoing. One of the interpreters referred to them as “outcoming”.

I was taken back to the hotel to have room service for lunch and take a rest. At 2:30 two teachers of English picked me up and walked around Jining seeing the sights and going to the mall. It was a large 7 story department store. There were some great deals to be had. Maybe I will get to go back again later. We also went in to a gift shop. The manager seemed to know a little bit of English. The staff followed me around the store. It was like having an entourage. They all seem to want the chance to speak English, even if it’s just saying hello. Tonight I had dinner in my room. The principal ordered my lunch and dinner for me. Tonight was a vegetable dish and a fish dish. The hotel staff member actually spoke a little bit of English. I’m hoping someone comes to pick up the food as I don’t want the fish dish in here all night. Tomorrow I will get to observe some classrooms. I hear they have 60-80 students in a class. I can’t wait to see how this all works. It should be fascinating.

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Monday, April 19, 2010 - It is Monday and I am in Jining City at my sister-school. I was picked up this morning by Con ( pronounced Cone and a descendant of Confucius), Mr. Chang, a director at the school, and a driver. We drove almost 3 hours to get to Jining City. Riding for a long time in a vehicle seems to be a theme this trip. Con is one of 9 English teachers. His English is very good and he was excited to have the chance to speak English with me. We talked most of the way which helped the trip go by quickly. We stopped for lunch at a Western style restaurant – fast food. We had chicken sandwiches, fries and Pepsi. (There are no diet products in China I’m thinking.) They then checked me in to my hotel and gave me time to rest before a tour of the school.

At 2:30PM we headed to the school where I met the principal, Mrs. Xiang, two deputy principals, an English teacher and a tech person. They had students placed in rooms as tour guides. They were very well rehearsed and sounded like real tour guides. I said thank you to them and each said, “It’s my pleasure.” They also got a kick out of saying, “See you later”. I caused quite a commotion at the school. Kids were jumping up to look in the window to catch a glimpse of me. As I walked down the street 2 blocks to my hotel, with my hosts, everyone stared. I don’t believe there are many Caucasians visiting Jining City. One student took my picture on his cell phone, and a girl told me I was beautiful. We have a full-day celebration tomorrow. It’s called a meeting, but we would consider it an assembly. The band will play and kids perform. I hope to videotape segments of it. Oh, as we walked around the campus there was one man taking photos constantly and another videotaping every move. I do feel like royalty. Thursday I have to give a speech to 300 people as we sign our sister-school agreement. Local education officials will be in attendance. They want my script tomorrow so they can have it interpreted for the audience. We will also exchange gifts then. I’m nervous about that as I’m not sure I have something significant enough. Some schools brought plaques. Oh, well, I have what I have.

I am back in my hotel room to rest some more. At 6PM they will get me and there will be a banquet in my honor. We had a banquet last night that really was just a dinner with a short speech by our host and then the top level person in our group. Hopefully it will be that same format. Wish me luck!

Banquet Dinner. Wow! This evening I was the guest of honor at a dinner that included the Deputy Mayor and several people from the Bureau of Education plus the administration from the school. This is a city with .3 million people in the downtown area (where I am) and over a million in its entirety. One interpreter was Con who sat next to the principal. I had a special seat and sat next to my hostess, the deputy mayor. Right next to me was another interpreter named Wei. She is an assistant professor in Singapore and just visiting back in her homeland of Jining City. She got her degree at UCLA, so she is very proficient in English. Thank God she was there as I frequently asked her what I was eating and how to correctly do things. The Chinese are rich in tradition. The hostess served me dishes that were local delicacies. I ate snail, turtle soup, fish with bones, and other shellfish. My piece of chicken was very boney, so I’m not sure exactly what that was and don’t want to think about it. She put snails on my plate and then instructed me on how to eat it, so I had to do it and do it with a smile on my face. They use small everything in China. They use a small wine glass that holds maybe 2 ounces. The tradition is that you empty your glass by the 6th toast. She gave 4 and the co-host from the Education Department gave the last 2. There was a waitress nearby to always refill the glass. Then each person at the banquet individually toasted me. This time the glass was filled with a very little amount because at this point you are to empty your glass when you toast. So now I had 10 toasts to get through. Once that was finished I had to go around and individually toast each person. Again another 10 toasts and very, very little wine put in the glass each time. I chose a red wine instead of the Chinese rice wine as it is very powerful stuff. Good choice! The last toast of the night is given by the hostess. I needed to toast the entire group so I did so once the fruit came out. The fruit signals the end of the meal. After my toast, she toasted me again. I used chopsticks for everything watching my fellow guests as to when it was okay to use my fingers. At the banquet, each toast talked of our close working relationship. There are very big expectations on the sister-school venture. I hope everyone in Colebrook is ready.

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Sunday, April 18, 2010 - Today it seems fitting to focus on food in China. We have left Beijing and are on the bus to Jinan. It is about a 6 hour ride, mostly freeway. Not dissimilar to the US truck stops and rest areas, food is less than desirable and bathrooms are too be used quickly. In China the traditional toilet for the girls’ bathroom is a hole in the floor. It does flush, and there is usually no toilet paper. Interesting to us Americans to say the least. There is running water but no soap, so the hand sanitizer has come in handy. Ha Ha! Everyone where we stop the ladies are all asking the first person out of the bathroom if there is a western toilet. The hotels have western bathrooms, so I tend to drink nothing all day until I’m in my room or nearing it. A western bathroom is like ours, with a regular toilet.

Breakfast at the hotel has been a buffet. There is a mix of traditional Chinese food and a more western breakfast. I have had a ham and onion omelets most mornings, toast, fruit, and tea. I also had potatoes, bacon, and sausage. There are a few dishes labeled “ Chinese delicacies”. Makes me a bit nervous to see those words. The one I tried was a bread roll. They also served steamed pumpkin, various other vegetables, some dish with foods to mix in that is similar to our oatmeal. Oh,they also serve baked beans at breakfast. I haven’t had those before but somewhere they got that idea that Americans eat them in the morning. This afternoon we ate at a truck stop. I had rice, a staple at every meal, and then some celery. The meat dishes were not easy to recognize. At the end we noticed a plate of chicken heads. I passed on those. I’m not brave enough nor do I want to be sick to eat things that are not somewhat easy to recognize. Our meals that were served the first few days remind me a lot of meals at our local Chinese restaurants, sweet an d sour chicken and beef with broccoli. Last night’s dinner and today’s lunch was not that great. For beverages, they serve Coke or Sprite or beer at lunch and dinner. Tea, of course, is served at the table, too. I have not been able to find a diet coke lately. I did buy some Oreos at the supermarket today as I am feeling the need for something sweet. The Chinese have fruit for dessert, which is really a healthy way of eating.

Tonight we are attending a banquet given by some delegates from the Shandong Province Ministry of Education. We are being given directions as to how to behave, where to sit, what to drink, and how to not offend our guest. For example, don’t’ ask for anything you don’t see. Should be quite interesting.

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Saturday, April 17, 2010 - Another very busy day. We begin our days with a 6:30a.m. wake-up call – in Chinese , of course. Yesterday, we went to Tiananmen Square and saw the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is huge with 9,999 rooms in the many buildings there, and no, we didn’t go in any of them. We also saw the Imperial Gardens, and then rode in a rickshaw. A family allows tourist to come in to their home so we can see how a Chinese family lives. We also went to the silk factory which is where you haggle over prices. I finally figured out my strategy and am hoping we go back next weekend. Today we went to a jade factory and a peal factory. True tourist traps. We also went to the Great Wall. Unfortunately the weather has been horrible. It is foggy and cold and damp. Visibility was about zero on the Wall. It is a more challenging climb than any of us were expecting. There are steps in some areas and others are flat but go at quite an incline. We actually had to hold on to a railing in certain areas. Lunch and dinners have pretty much been the same each day. The meal starts with soup and white rice and then they bring out several dishes of vegetables or tiny pieces of meat with vegetables. I ate Peking Duck last night. I have been trying some things that I can’t quite identify but cautiously. When a dish comes out and we don’t know what it is, the usual response is “chicken”. Tomorrow we are riding on a bus to Jinan. It will take about 6 hours. Apparently we are stopping at a truck stop for lunch. Our leader told us that most people then go next door to the 7-Eleven type place and buy snacks for the bus. Great! It’s certainly an adventure. More news later.

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Friday, April 16, 2010 - We are safe and sound in Beijing. It is Friday morning here and we are getting ready to go to breakfast and then off to the Ministry of Education for a lesson on the Chinese Education System. We saw Tiananmen Square last night all lit up and will go today to actually walk around. Interesting fact I learned, there are 67 McDonalds and 59 Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in Beijing. There seem to be many, many restaurants in this city, but with 16 million people, I guess you need many, many restaurants. We had a yummy dinner last night. It seemed to be very similar to the Chinese food we get at home. They served it family style so we had plates of chicken, beef, lamb, fish, rice, vegetables, and soup. Missing my good cup of tea from Dunkin Donuts but will survive. It is colder than I expected or packed for, so I am wearing several layers today. I slept well last night regardless of the fact that the bed is really like a box spring. There was just a comforter, no top sheet, but I was happy to have a place to lay down after being up for 24 hours. Sleep came easy.

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Tomorrow is Day One!

April 13, 2010 -I managed to fit everything into two normal sized suitcases. My laptop, camera, and videocamera are in a carry on, and I have the official tourist purse that carries everything and goes across my body so no one can steal it and take my money! I'm prepared! I am bringing gifts with me to give to my host at the sister school. I have homemade maple syrup from the O'Dell family, pewter ornaments of scenic places in Colebrook, shopping bags with Colebrook written on them, Munson's chocolates, and the children's book The Giving Tree. I have been told that they always give us far more gifts than we give them. I am excited about the gifts I have for them, and hope they enjoy them. Figured if I was asked to teach a lesson, I could use read aloud the Giving Tree before I present it. It will all work, I'm sure!

Will I Ever Be Ready?

April 11, 2010 - It is Sunday morning before I leave for China. I am no where near ready. I still have a long to-do list but some how I know I will pull it all together before 5:30am on Wednesday. Soon I will be emersed in a culture that is totally different than the one I know so well and am comfortable in. That is part of the adventure but also causes me some stress. I'm sure many of my concerns will be alleviated once I am there. I keep hearing from more and more people who have traveled to China. It's fun to hear their stories and advice. Well, time to get crossing things off of my list.

My China Trip 2010

Pages

Connecticut-Shandong Province Principal and Teacher Shadowing Program

Day by Day - Summary of Events

Travel Pictures and User Comments

About Me

Blog Archive

Saturday, April 24, 2010

1 comment:

Day by Day Archive

Tomorrow is Day One!

Will I Ever Be Ready?

Xu Suqiu

Vaccinations

Getting Ready for the Trip!

Interesting Websites

The current time in China is....