Ayden Writes:
Today I went to school. I walked up to my classroom by myself. First subject was Chinese. I have no clue what they were doing because it was all in Chinese. Next subject was morning exercises. At the end of morning exercises, I taught the whole school English. Actually, I did a skit with a girl from a different grade and taught the school all of the lines of the skit. I was very scared when I did it for the first time (which was yesterday). When I was on the stage I looked a bit up over the heads of the students and realized that every body had straight, black hair. When I was done with my skit, I went back to my class. The next period was math. After math, we had eye exercises. After eye exercises, we had another class of math. My last subject was PE. During PE my teacher wanted me to read her an alphabet book, so I did.
Yesterday, after school I went to the zoo. It took a long time to get there. We drove out of the city to get there. The zoo was located in front of mountains. When we finally arrived there my mom bought us tickets to go inside. When we got inside the zoo, we hopped on a bus. The bus took us to every part of the zoo. Actually, the bus only took us to the wild animals. When the bus stopped, we started walking through the zoo. We came to an area where you could take pictures with animals. I took a picture with a camel. After our pictures my mom got someone to take us to all of the places we wanted to go in the zoo. First stop was the panda. Xi’an only has one panda and that was the one we saw. Next stop was the flamingos. The bus parked right in front of a spot in the grass that was not filled with trees. We walked down a hill to get to where the flamingos were living. When we saw them, they did not look happy. That is where I learned that the zoo did not take good care of the animals. I felt really bad for the animals. When we got back to the bus, we realized that it is not a good idea to leave a bus in front of an open area because the bus could roll into the area and get stuck. And that is what happened. The bus driver and my mom got into a big fight. After that fun activity, we walked to the front gate. My tutor got us a taxi. Then we rode home.
--Ayden.
Gavi Writes:
Hi all,
I have been sick for the past 3 days so I don’t have very much to report. I will tell you though that Chinese medicine, or at least what I was given, tastes, looks and smells horrible. The nurse gave me little bottles that I am supposed to drink two times a day. The liquid in them is a green-brown that reminds me of bog water and if I had to take a guess at what bog-water tastes like I think it would taste better then this stuff. I don’t even know how to describe the taste but it’s bad. Anyways I don’t have much else to report. Hope everyone is well.
More later,
Gavi
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Monday Week Three!!
Jocelyn Writes:
Another Monday --and the start of our third week here. We have finally developed a bit of a rhythm to our lives…My daily activities are pretty mundane on their face (taking the kids to school, going to the gym, food shopping, Chinese class with the kids…) but as you might imagine---seeing as how they are all conducted in Chinese, there are aspects to these daily activities (as Gavi and Ayden have described) that are anything but mundane and routine. Gavi was feeling a bit under the weather today so we gave her a day off from blogging.
Take care all—
Fondly, Joc
Ayden Writes:
Today I went to school. My Mom walked me to my class room. All of my classmates greeted me. Then my teacher began class. First we had Chinese. Yesterday it snowed and everything was wet so we didn’t do morning exercises. My next subject was math. After math we had computers. My teacher wanted me to teach English to her teacher friends. It was fun. They asked me how old I was and how old my brother and sister are. I replied “I am nine, almost ten.” They asked me “When is your birthday?” “March 7th” I said. “Would you like us to bake you a cake?” they asked. “I don’t care” I said. “Then, we will!” they said. Then my Mom picked me up from school. We ate lunch in the cafeteria.
After lunch, I had an hour break then my tutor came to our dorm. We studied animals. We played charades in Chinese with the animals we learned. Right before she left, she sang Moli Hua which is a folk song about a Jasmine flower. After that beautiful song, my tutor came into my room and asked my sister if she was okay because she was sick today. And that was all I did today.
--Ayden
Another Monday --and the start of our third week here. We have finally developed a bit of a rhythm to our lives…My daily activities are pretty mundane on their face (taking the kids to school, going to the gym, food shopping, Chinese class with the kids…) but as you might imagine---seeing as how they are all conducted in Chinese, there are aspects to these daily activities (as Gavi and Ayden have described) that are anything but mundane and routine. Gavi was feeling a bit under the weather today so we gave her a day off from blogging.
Take care all—
Fondly, Joc
Ayden Writes:
Today I went to school. My Mom walked me to my class room. All of my classmates greeted me. Then my teacher began class. First we had Chinese. Yesterday it snowed and everything was wet so we didn’t do morning exercises. My next subject was math. After math we had computers. My teacher wanted me to teach English to her teacher friends. It was fun. They asked me how old I was and how old my brother and sister are. I replied “I am nine, almost ten.” They asked me “When is your birthday?” “March 7th” I said. “Would you like us to bake you a cake?” they asked. “I don’t care” I said. “Then, we will!” they said. Then my Mom picked me up from school. We ate lunch in the cafeteria.
After lunch, I had an hour break then my tutor came to our dorm. We studied animals. We played charades in Chinese with the animals we learned. Right before she left, she sang Moli Hua which is a folk song about a Jasmine flower. After that beautiful song, my tutor came into my room and asked my sister if she was okay because she was sick today. And that was all I did today.
--Ayden
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Sunday Trip to Banpo Village and Museum
Ayden Writes:
Today my family and I went to Banpo. Banpo is a Neolithic village from six thousand years ago. It is an archeological site that is in good condition. Banpo is not near the city. It takes about 30 minutes to get there in a car. My Mom hired someone to take us there. When we go there my Mom bought us tickets to go inside. The first exhibit we went to showed us what the Banpo residents used to hunt and to fish back then. The next exhibit was the village that the Banpo residents lived in. The village was meant to be outside but when archeologists discovered Banpo they put a building over it. This building is hard to describe. When we entered the building we saw a lot of interesting things like a big sign that said something like “this is from six thousand years ago.” One of the exhibits was the crafts the Banpo residents made. They made pots out of clay. The next exhibit was a description of how the Banpo residents buried people. They showed a few pictures of how they did it. They buried people with pots. Last but not least we went to an exhibit of Neolithic artifacts that included the bones the Banpo residents used and how.
After we looked at this exhibit, me and my mom went to the bathroom. The bathrooms are a lot different in China. Instead of sitting on a toilet seat you have to squat down and use a porcelain hole. After that fun trip, we went to a gift shop. We didn’t find anything we liked. Then we went home to our dorms.
The weather today was strange. It was SNOWING. It doesn’t snow as often as it snows in America. At Banpo me and my Mom were very cold. On the way home I was looking out the window and all of the palm trees were covered in snow. They looked very odd. I hope the weather doesn’t stray this way.
--Ayden.
Gavi Writes
Hey all,
Today when we woke up it was snowing! For those of you who know me well, you know that this is all it takes to make me a very happy! So, the day started off great! After an early breakfast, my family and I piled into a bus and went to Banpo. Banpo is a 6000 year old village that archeologists dug up about 30 minutes from where we are staying. It was very interesting.
There were a couple buildings with little things such as fishing hooks and such that the archeologists had found. Then there was one big building with the ground that had been the village. We saw what the houses’ floors looked like, though the roofs and the walls weren’t there. There were two different kinds of houses. One was rectangular and mostly underground. There were stairs that went down into the one-room house and in the middle of the house there was a fire pit. There was also a circular model of a house. It had the same basic structure as the rectangular one accept that it was mostly above ground. There were also videos that showed how the buildings were built. We also saw skeletons of humans and animals of the time. It was all very interesting and cool. Afterwards we all piled back into the bus and drove back to the dorms.
More later,
Gavi
Today my family and I went to Banpo. Banpo is a Neolithic village from six thousand years ago. It is an archeological site that is in good condition. Banpo is not near the city. It takes about 30 minutes to get there in a car. My Mom hired someone to take us there. When we go there my Mom bought us tickets to go inside. The first exhibit we went to showed us what the Banpo residents used to hunt and to fish back then. The next exhibit was the village that the Banpo residents lived in. The village was meant to be outside but when archeologists discovered Banpo they put a building over it. This building is hard to describe. When we entered the building we saw a lot of interesting things like a big sign that said something like “this is from six thousand years ago.” One of the exhibits was the crafts the Banpo residents made. They made pots out of clay. The next exhibit was a description of how the Banpo residents buried people. They showed a few pictures of how they did it. They buried people with pots. Last but not least we went to an exhibit of Neolithic artifacts that included the bones the Banpo residents used and how.
After we looked at this exhibit, me and my mom went to the bathroom. The bathrooms are a lot different in China. Instead of sitting on a toilet seat you have to squat down and use a porcelain hole. After that fun trip, we went to a gift shop. We didn’t find anything we liked. Then we went home to our dorms.
The weather today was strange. It was SNOWING. It doesn’t snow as often as it snows in America. At Banpo me and my Mom were very cold. On the way home I was looking out the window and all of the palm trees were covered in snow. They looked very odd. I hope the weather doesn’t stray this way.
--Ayden.
Gavi Writes
Hey all,
Today when we woke up it was snowing! For those of you who know me well, you know that this is all it takes to make me a very happy! So, the day started off great! After an early breakfast, my family and I piled into a bus and went to Banpo. Banpo is a 6000 year old village that archeologists dug up about 30 minutes from where we are staying. It was very interesting.
There were a couple buildings with little things such as fishing hooks and such that the archeologists had found. Then there was one big building with the ground that had been the village. We saw what the houses’ floors looked like, though the roofs and the walls weren’t there. There were two different kinds of houses. One was rectangular and mostly underground. There were stairs that went down into the one-room house and in the middle of the house there was a fire pit. There was also a circular model of a house. It had the same basic structure as the rectangular one accept that it was mostly above ground. There were also videos that showed how the buildings were built. We also saw skeletons of humans and animals of the time. It was all very interesting and cool. Afterwards we all piled back into the bus and drove back to the dorms.
More later,
Gavi
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Lantern Festival & Ayden's Friday (2/22/08)
Ayden Writes:
Yesterday was the last day of Spring Festival. My family, my tutor, my tutor’s friend and the bus driver went to the old city where we walked the wall. The wall was bursting with people because it was the last day of Spring Festival. The last day of Spring Festival has another name, Lantern Festival . I saw more fireworks than you would see in the United States in 500 years. The fireworks made me feel worried because they were happening all around me.
Today I went to school. School was the same as all of the other days this week. Nothing different happened. When I got there all of my friends were waiting for me so that they could start class. My teacher asked me how I was feeling because yesterday I didn’t go to school. I was dehydrated. We started with Chinese class then we had morning exercises. After that, we had math, a break and eye exercises. I don’t know what the next subject was because I couldn’t understand any of it. I think it was politics. Next was PE. We played a game that I never heard of before.
Then I went home for lunch. After lunch, my mom, my brother, my tutor and I went to get cell phones. After shopping for cell phones, we came back to our dorm rooms.
Everyday we have a cultural class. Today it was painting. We painted a loquat on a tree. A loquat looks like a teensy weensy beensy orange. I didn’t want to do one so, I just watched. They came out very nicely. And that was my day.
--Ayden
Yesterday was the last day of Spring Festival. My family, my tutor, my tutor’s friend and the bus driver went to the old city where we walked the wall. The wall was bursting with people because it was the last day of Spring Festival. The last day of Spring Festival has another name, Lantern Festival . I saw more fireworks than you would see in the United States in 500 years. The fireworks made me feel worried because they were happening all around me.
Today I went to school. School was the same as all of the other days this week. Nothing different happened. When I got there all of my friends were waiting for me so that they could start class. My teacher asked me how I was feeling because yesterday I didn’t go to school. I was dehydrated. We started with Chinese class then we had morning exercises. After that, we had math, a break and eye exercises. I don’t know what the next subject was because I couldn’t understand any of it. I think it was politics. Next was PE. We played a game that I never heard of before.
Then I went home for lunch. After lunch, my mom, my brother, my tutor and I went to get cell phones. After shopping for cell phones, we came back to our dorm rooms.
Everyday we have a cultural class. Today it was painting. We painted a loquat on a tree. A loquat looks like a teensy weensy beensy orange. I didn’t want to do one so, I just watched. They came out very nicely. And that was my day.
--Ayden
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Day Three at School
Jocelyn Writes:
Our internet access has been down the last couple of days so I am in the process of putting up descriptions of the kids first couple of days of school (scroll down for the First Day....). The walk to school takes about 20 minutes but we are able to take a cab if we run late. We see so many interesting things as we walk ... I am including pictures of some of them. Though the first day was tough on everyone, the kids seem to be adjusting to school. Everyone is at school from 8:00 AM-12:00 PM. We are not sure how much they are able to learn in their Chinese classrooms but they certainly have been warmly welcomed. We are hoping that after a time, they will start to pick up some Chinese!
Ayden Writes:
Exercises in China
At the school that I go to they do a lot of exercises. Let me tell you what I am talking about. In the morning we do something called morning exercises. Also in the later morning we do eye exercises. Both of them are pretty odd. During PE we do something like morning exercises.
I’m going to tell you about morning exercises. Morning exercises take place every morning at about 9:10. The whole school comes outside for morning exercises. They take about 5 minutes to get in to perfect lines. Then a guy comes up on to a big stage in front of us and leads the morning exercises. To me morning exercises make me feel like I am in the army because you have to keep your body straight and you call out words in Chinese loudly.
We also do eye exercises. Eye exercises are a quiet time to massage your eyes. It takes place after break at about 11:00 AM. The whole school does it. They put on a Chinese tape with music and words on the loud speaker. This is what you do during eye exercises: you take you hands and you put them on your face and move them around your face to relax your eyes. It looks weird. It is very hard for me to do because I cant always get my hands in the right position.
--Ayden
Gavi Writes:
Hi everyone,
Today was my third day of school. The day started the same as the last two. I walked into the classroom, everyone stared; then I walked to my seat, everyone stared; I sat down, everyone stared; I got my stuff out, and everyone stared. The first class I had was math. Math is becoming one of my favorite activities here because unlike most else its familiar and exactly the same as it is in Boston. Well, besides the fact that the teacher teaches in Chinese… After math was Chinese class. I never understand any of this because it’s in Chinese, about Chinese, and I’m really not very good at Chinese. Next we went outside and ran around the basketball courts twice completely synchronized. Well, everyone else was completely synchronized, I, on the other hand, could not seem to get my feet to line up with theirs.
After this we went inside and had a ten-minuet break. When I got inside I sat down in my seat and the girl who sits next to me, Yue Lei, sat down in her seat. I asked her to please write down her name for me in pin yin so that I could be sure I was pronouncing it right and the next thing I knew the entire class was around my desk scrambling to be the next to write their name in my notebook. It became very crowded around our desk. Then all of a sudden one girl who was standing behind me reached around my neck and started feeling my face. Then another couple of girls started playing with my hair. Then another kid grabbed my hand and started looking at it. All this time they were all talking in very fast Chinese that I could not at all comprehend. Luckily for me that’s when the teacher came in and everyone rushed to their seats. But, for the rest of the day I was passed sticky notes with names on them.
After Chinese we had Health. I found this very amusing. I had no idea what the teacher was saying but the reaction of the class was all too familiar. Then we had English. I have a feeling I’m doing pretty good in that class. Today we learned about how to ask someone what their nationality is and how to respond. We also learned the names of a few countries such as Russia, India, The United Kingdom, and Australia.
After school my siblings, my mom and I took a taxi back to the high school campus where we all ate lunch and Jenna kicked my butt in a game of basketball. Then we had a class on spoon painting. Mine has a face of some sort of dragon on the bowl and an interesting design on the handle. After the cultural class the high schoolers and I had a Language arts class with Mr. Mallory. Tonight we are planning to go out for hot pot for dinner. Hot pot is when everyone has their own pot of boiling water and you put different vegetables and/or meat in it. In fact I am being summoned now to get ready to leave.
More later,
Gavi
Our internet access has been down the last couple of days so I am in the process of putting up descriptions of the kids first couple of days of school (scroll down for the First Day....). The walk to school takes about 20 minutes but we are able to take a cab if we run late. We see so many interesting things as we walk ... I am including pictures of some of them. Though the first day was tough on everyone, the kids seem to be adjusting to school. Everyone is at school from 8:00 AM-12:00 PM. We are not sure how much they are able to learn in their Chinese classrooms but they certainly have been warmly welcomed. We are hoping that after a time, they will start to pick up some Chinese!
Ayden Writes:
Exercises in China
At the school that I go to they do a lot of exercises. Let me tell you what I am talking about. In the morning we do something called morning exercises. Also in the later morning we do eye exercises. Both of them are pretty odd. During PE we do something like morning exercises.
I’m going to tell you about morning exercises. Morning exercises take place every morning at about 9:10. The whole school comes outside for morning exercises. They take about 5 minutes to get in to perfect lines. Then a guy comes up on to a big stage in front of us and leads the morning exercises. To me morning exercises make me feel like I am in the army because you have to keep your body straight and you call out words in Chinese loudly.
We also do eye exercises. Eye exercises are a quiet time to massage your eyes. It takes place after break at about 11:00 AM. The whole school does it. They put on a Chinese tape with music and words on the loud speaker. This is what you do during eye exercises: you take you hands and you put them on your face and move them around your face to relax your eyes. It looks weird. It is very hard for me to do because I cant always get my hands in the right position.
--Ayden
Gavi Writes:
Hi everyone,
Today was my third day of school. The day started the same as the last two. I walked into the classroom, everyone stared; then I walked to my seat, everyone stared; I sat down, everyone stared; I got my stuff out, and everyone stared. The first class I had was math. Math is becoming one of my favorite activities here because unlike most else its familiar and exactly the same as it is in Boston. Well, besides the fact that the teacher teaches in Chinese… After math was Chinese class. I never understand any of this because it’s in Chinese, about Chinese, and I’m really not very good at Chinese. Next we went outside and ran around the basketball courts twice completely synchronized. Well, everyone else was completely synchronized, I, on the other hand, could not seem to get my feet to line up with theirs.
After this we went inside and had a ten-minuet break. When I got inside I sat down in my seat and the girl who sits next to me, Yue Lei, sat down in her seat. I asked her to please write down her name for me in pin yin so that I could be sure I was pronouncing it right and the next thing I knew the entire class was around my desk scrambling to be the next to write their name in my notebook. It became very crowded around our desk. Then all of a sudden one girl who was standing behind me reached around my neck and started feeling my face. Then another couple of girls started playing with my hair. Then another kid grabbed my hand and started looking at it. All this time they were all talking in very fast Chinese that I could not at all comprehend. Luckily for me that’s when the teacher came in and everyone rushed to their seats. But, for the rest of the day I was passed sticky notes with names on them.
After Chinese we had Health. I found this very amusing. I had no idea what the teacher was saying but the reaction of the class was all too familiar. Then we had English. I have a feeling I’m doing pretty good in that class. Today we learned about how to ask someone what their nationality is and how to respond. We also learned the names of a few countries such as Russia, India, The United Kingdom, and Australia.
After school my siblings, my mom and I took a taxi back to the high school campus where we all ate lunch and Jenna kicked my butt in a game of basketball. Then we had a class on spoon painting. Mine has a face of some sort of dragon on the bowl and an interesting design on the handle. After the cultural class the high schoolers and I had a Language arts class with Mr. Mallory. Tonight we are planning to go out for hot pot for dinner. Hot pot is when everyone has their own pot of boiling water and you put different vegetables and/or meat in it. In fact I am being summoned now to get ready to leave.
More later,
Gavi
Ayden's Second Day at School
Ayden Writes:
Today my friends were waiting for me at the gate. They walked me up to my classroom, where my teacher and all of the other students were eating their breakfast. Then we began class. First we had math. It was pretty boring because it was in Chinese.
After that we went outside for morning exercises. When we came in we started Chinese class. I don’t know what we studied because it was in Chinese. After Chinese we had a break. After break, we came back to the classroom for another class of Chinese. The next subject was English. I was VERY good at this subject. They were learning “I’m” instead of “I am”. They were also learning to say “I’m from China”. We played a game. We had to say our name and say where we were from without messing up. I was very GOOD at this game. After English my friends walked me down to my mom.
Today my friends were waiting for me at the gate. They walked me up to my classroom, where my teacher and all of the other students were eating their breakfast. Then we began class. First we had math. It was pretty boring because it was in Chinese.
After that we went outside for morning exercises. When we came in we started Chinese class. I don’t know what we studied because it was in Chinese. After Chinese we had a break. After break, we came back to the classroom for another class of Chinese. The next subject was English. I was VERY good at this subject. They were learning “I’m” instead of “I am”. They were also learning to say “I’m from China”. We played a game. We had to say our name and say where we were from without messing up. I was very GOOD at this game. After English my friends walked me down to my mom.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
First Day of School
Ayden Writes:
Today I started school. I was very nervous to start a new school. All of my teachers spoke all Chinese and no English. When I got to my school, my teacher was waiting for me. We walked up to my classroom. On the way up we didn’t talk to each other because she didn’t speak any English.
When I got in the classroom all of the students were looking at me. The first thought I had was that my class was huge. My teacher showed me where I should sit. I was sitting next to a girl whose name is very hard to say. When I sat down a teacher (who spoke English) came over to me and told me a little about the class.
The first subject was Chinese. They were learning Chinese characters. The next subject actually it was an exercise. We did morning exercises. The next subject was math. It was pretty easy except that it was in Chinese. The next thing we did was eye exercises. It was very strange. After that we had computer class. We did something like ultra key but easier. Next was music class. We sang songs in Chinese. I just hummed. And that was it for me.
--Ayden
Gavi Writes:
Hi all,
Today was the first day of school after The Spring Festival here in China. It was also me, my siblings, and all of the high-schoolers first day in Chinese school ever. For me school started at 7:50. Grace, one of the coordinators of the China Exchange Program here, met me at the front gate of the Gao Xin Middle School to walk me to my classroom. When I entered the room I was greeted by the first of many standing ovations. My English teacher Feng Lao Shi, who also was the teacher who brought the 8 Chinese students to Boston, quieted the classroom and then told me to read the speech which I had been asked to prepare the day before. I read it as best I could but seeing as it was mostly in Chinese it probably wasn’t very understandable. However, nevertheless I received another standing ovation as I finished. After that Tomas, one of the class presidents (there are four), introduced the fifty some 12 year olds who were to be my classmates. Then I was ushered to a seat in the back of the room, which was also apparently reason for yet another round of applause. The girl who sits next to me said hello and explained in broken English that she had essentially been assigned to help me get around and figure out what was going on.
Once I was settled and had gotten my notebooks out of my bag successfully Feng Lao Shi continued with her lesson. After a very short English class we had math, then a break, then Chinese. During the break all 50 some students were crowded around my desk asking my “buddy” questions in VERY fast Chinese. The most common answers were Gao Wei (my Chinese name) and mei go ren (American). After the Chinese class we went outside and stood in lines while someone spoke over the load-speaker. Tomas, who is Chinese-American and the best English student in the class, eventually was able to get the message across that this was a flag-raising. We must have stood there for ten straight minuets not moving a muscle when all of a sudden my “buddy” grabbed the hood of my jacket and pulled me to turn left as my class along with all of the other classes turned left at the exact same time, then she pushed me forward, and completely synchronized (with the exception on me) the entire school marched back into the buildings.
After the flag-raising I had music class. Everyone sang some song in Chinese that I understood none of and was unable to follow because the lyrics were written in characters, though the vocal warm-ups were similar to the ones I’m used to. Then there was another English class where again and again I was asked to stand and read something off of the board while everyone repeated after me. After English everyone went to lunch while I packed up and headed back to the high-school campus to have lunch and play a very heated game of soccer with the 8 high-school students and some Chinese students who were absolutely amazing at soccer and extremely intimidating. Over all my first day of school was very interesting, and hopefully, by the end of our time here I’ll be able to make out a little bit of what people are saying to me.
More later,
Gavi
Today I started school. I was very nervous to start a new school. All of my teachers spoke all Chinese and no English. When I got to my school, my teacher was waiting for me. We walked up to my classroom. On the way up we didn’t talk to each other because she didn’t speak any English.
When I got in the classroom all of the students were looking at me. The first thought I had was that my class was huge. My teacher showed me where I should sit. I was sitting next to a girl whose name is very hard to say. When I sat down a teacher (who spoke English) came over to me and told me a little about the class.
The first subject was Chinese. They were learning Chinese characters. The next subject actually it was an exercise. We did morning exercises. The next subject was math. It was pretty easy except that it was in Chinese. The next thing we did was eye exercises. It was very strange. After that we had computer class. We did something like ultra key but easier. Next was music class. We sang songs in Chinese. I just hummed. And that was it for me.
--Ayden
Gavi Writes:
Hi all,
Today was the first day of school after The Spring Festival here in China. It was also me, my siblings, and all of the high-schoolers first day in Chinese school ever. For me school started at 7:50. Grace, one of the coordinators of the China Exchange Program here, met me at the front gate of the Gao Xin Middle School to walk me to my classroom. When I entered the room I was greeted by the first of many standing ovations. My English teacher Feng Lao Shi, who also was the teacher who brought the 8 Chinese students to Boston, quieted the classroom and then told me to read the speech which I had been asked to prepare the day before. I read it as best I could but seeing as it was mostly in Chinese it probably wasn’t very understandable. However, nevertheless I received another standing ovation as I finished. After that Tomas, one of the class presidents (there are four), introduced the fifty some 12 year olds who were to be my classmates. Then I was ushered to a seat in the back of the room, which was also apparently reason for yet another round of applause. The girl who sits next to me said hello and explained in broken English that she had essentially been assigned to help me get around and figure out what was going on.
Once I was settled and had gotten my notebooks out of my bag successfully Feng Lao Shi continued with her lesson. After a very short English class we had math, then a break, then Chinese. During the break all 50 some students were crowded around my desk asking my “buddy” questions in VERY fast Chinese. The most common answers were Gao Wei (my Chinese name) and mei go ren (American). After the Chinese class we went outside and stood in lines while someone spoke over the load-speaker. Tomas, who is Chinese-American and the best English student in the class, eventually was able to get the message across that this was a flag-raising. We must have stood there for ten straight minuets not moving a muscle when all of a sudden my “buddy” grabbed the hood of my jacket and pulled me to turn left as my class along with all of the other classes turned left at the exact same time, then she pushed me forward, and completely synchronized (with the exception on me) the entire school marched back into the buildings.
After the flag-raising I had music class. Everyone sang some song in Chinese that I understood none of and was unable to follow because the lyrics were written in characters, though the vocal warm-ups were similar to the ones I’m used to. Then there was another English class where again and again I was asked to stand and read something off of the board while everyone repeated after me. After English everyone went to lunch while I packed up and headed back to the high-school campus to have lunch and play a very heated game of soccer with the 8 high-school students and some Chinese students who were absolutely amazing at soccer and extremely intimidating. Over all my first day of school was very interesting, and hopefully, by the end of our time here I’ll be able to make out a little bit of what people are saying to me.
More later,
Gavi
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Our First Visit to the Muslim Quarter
Jocelyn Writes:
Today we were off early to the Muslim Quarter of Xi'an's Old City. Xi'an is the home of China's largest Muslim community. Islam was first introduced in China by Arab merchants during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AC). As you will read, the kids , Bruce and I loved the visit and will definitely be returning many times...
Ayden Writes:
Hey y’all,
My topic for today’s blog is bargaining. Today my tutor, my family and I went to the Muslim open air market. We saw a lot of stores and stalls. We went to the Great Mosque. After the visit, we went shopping. My sister bought a jade bracelet for ten Yuan. In America, ten Yuan is about $1.35.
Here is how my sister got her bracelet so cheaply. We were walking through the market and my sister saw a pink jade bracelet that she loved. She asked “how much is this bracelet” the woman at the stall replied “60 Yuan.” “No way” my sister said, “40 Yuan then” said the woman. “No, no, no” my sister said. “You chose your price then” the woman said.“10 Yuan” “to cheap” the woman said. Then my sister walked away but not too far because the woman called her back and said “ fine 10 Yuan.” And that is how you bargain.
--Ayden
Gavi Writes:
Hi everyone,
Today Wen Yi, our tutor, took my family and I to the Moslem quarter. Our first stop was The Great Mosque. It was absolutely beautiful. There were 5 courtyards before you reached the actual mosque itself. All of which were gorgeous. There were many buildings in each. All of which had little carvings of animals on the roofs and many other beautiful details. There were also quite a few trees and plants that one doesn’t often see in the states. However, yet again everyone there seemed to find us more interesting.
After the Great Mosque we went to the outdoor market to do a little shopping. Walking through the streets we saw a lot of North Face jackets, Kipling and Coach bags and Calvin Kline underwear (Ben found this very funny). We also saw a bunch of pretty jade bracelets. My mom bought me a pink one after bargaining the price from 50 Yuan (about $7) to 10 Yuan (a little more then $1). I was very proud.
After this we ran into 5 of the 8 of the high-schoolers who had also come to shop for the day. They were in the process of a heated debate over whether the Gucci watch Mikey had just gotten for 100 Yuan (about $14) was a “ladies watch” or not. This topic was only dropped when someone realized that Jonathan had gotten a pair of funny glasses for 40 Yuan when the starting price was 60. He then of course had to be scolded for not bargaining enough and getting completely ripped off.
We then decided that it was time for lunch so we all went out for badsa. Badsa are little dumplings that are very good but nearly impossible to pick up with chopsticks. After lunch Jonathan got even more grief when someone pointed out that lunch for all 11 of us (5 high-schoolers, 5 of us, and our tutor) had cost ¼ of what he had paid for a pair of sunglasses. After this, the high schoolers went back to their shopping and we went back to the dorms. Over all it was a pretty exciting day.
More later,
Gavi
Today we were off early to the Muslim Quarter of Xi'an's Old City. Xi'an is the home of China's largest Muslim community. Islam was first introduced in China by Arab merchants during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AC). As you will read, the kids , Bruce and I loved the visit and will definitely be returning many times...
Ayden Writes:
Hey y’all,
My topic for today’s blog is bargaining. Today my tutor, my family and I went to the Muslim open air market. We saw a lot of stores and stalls. We went to the Great Mosque. After the visit, we went shopping. My sister bought a jade bracelet for ten Yuan. In America, ten Yuan is about $1.35.
Here is how my sister got her bracelet so cheaply. We were walking through the market and my sister saw a pink jade bracelet that she loved. She asked “how much is this bracelet” the woman at the stall replied “60 Yuan.” “No way” my sister said, “40 Yuan then” said the woman. “No, no, no” my sister said. “You chose your price then” the woman said.“10 Yuan” “to cheap” the woman said. Then my sister walked away but not too far because the woman called her back and said “ fine 10 Yuan.” And that is how you bargain.
--Ayden
Gavi Writes:
Hi everyone,
Today Wen Yi, our tutor, took my family and I to the Moslem quarter. Our first stop was The Great Mosque. It was absolutely beautiful. There were 5 courtyards before you reached the actual mosque itself. All of which were gorgeous. There were many buildings in each. All of which had little carvings of animals on the roofs and many other beautiful details. There were also quite a few trees and plants that one doesn’t often see in the states. However, yet again everyone there seemed to find us more interesting.
After the Great Mosque we went to the outdoor market to do a little shopping. Walking through the streets we saw a lot of North Face jackets, Kipling and Coach bags and Calvin Kline underwear (Ben found this very funny). We also saw a bunch of pretty jade bracelets. My mom bought me a pink one after bargaining the price from 50 Yuan (about $7) to 10 Yuan (a little more then $1). I was very proud.
After this we ran into 5 of the 8 of the high-schoolers who had also come to shop for the day. They were in the process of a heated debate over whether the Gucci watch Mikey had just gotten for 100 Yuan (about $14) was a “ladies watch” or not. This topic was only dropped when someone realized that Jonathan had gotten a pair of funny glasses for 40 Yuan when the starting price was 60. He then of course had to be scolded for not bargaining enough and getting completely ripped off.
We then decided that it was time for lunch so we all went out for badsa. Badsa are little dumplings that are very good but nearly impossible to pick up with chopsticks. After lunch Jonathan got even more grief when someone pointed out that lunch for all 11 of us (5 high-schoolers, 5 of us, and our tutor) had cost ¼ of what he had paid for a pair of sunglasses. After this, the high schoolers went back to their shopping and we went back to the dorms. Over all it was a pretty exciting day.
More later,
Gavi
Friday, February 15, 2008
Chinese Challenges
Jocelyn Writes:
Over the last couple of days we have been trying to establish a bit of a routine here in Xi'an's High Tech Zone---that's the name of our new neighborhood. Meals in the cafeteria and walks in the 'hood are among the activities that have become routine this first week. Below are Ayden and Gavi's blog entries on some of these routines. Also included are pictures of our visit to our neighborhood tea house with Wen Yi our tutor.
Fondly-Joc
Ayden Writes:
Hey y’all.
When they say hot they mean hot. Let me tell you what I am talking about. Last night at dinner we had rise, soup, pickles, beans, chicken and green stuff. I am going to tell you about the green stuff. It was green with different sizes of lettuce and HOT PEPPERS. I didn’t know what a hot pepper was. I was taking some of the green stuff when my fork came across a something that looked like a black piece of lettuce. My fork picked up the black thing and put it in my mouth. OH NO it was so spicy. My eyes turned red and started to tear, my nose started to drip, my mouth was bursting with pain and my hands were moving like crazy. I ran up stairs and got some yogurt. I was jumping up and down. I had a bad experience with hot peppers. Now I know what a hot pepper looks like I will never eat one again.
--Ayden
Gavi Writes:
Hey all,
I have been assigned the topic of traffic for today’s blog entry. First of all, for the time being, there isn’t a whole lot of it… but it’s Spring Festival so a lot of people are away with family, we will have to see what happens once the holiday is over. But, there is plenty enough to get used to even without a huge number of cars. For starters, unlike in Boston, (usually) the cars don’t stop, they swerve to accommodate you. When crossing small streets without walking signals, waiting for all the cars to stop before you cross is pointless, it will never happen. The easiest thing to do is to just walk into the street and the cars move around you. It is absolutely terrifying but I guess its just one of those things we will get used to.
Along with not bothering to stop for pedestrians the drivers here don’t seem to enjoy stopping at red lights, so a lot of the time they don’t. As my dad was saying earlier today, it seems like traffic laws here are more like traffic “requests” or “suggestions” that often aren’t responded to. However, all of these differences with cars can really be found in NYC and sometimes in Boston as well, the biggest difference is probably the bicycles.
Bikes here are used for quite a few things, from carrying ice from the sidewalk away to who knows where, to simply getting home from school. And in total, there are a lot of them. They are ridden mostly by men with women literally sitting sidesaddle on the back, sometimes carrying children. No one wears helmets. We haven’t actually seen anyone fall off yet, but I have a hard time believing that will last long. There are also a fair amount of bikes with big wooden crates attached to the back that are used to carry different things mostly by street cleaners. They look a little like truck beds, just on a bike. Along with bikes, there are also quit a few motorcycles and mopeds. Seeing as we have only been here 6 days I’m sure there will be more to report on traffic later on, hopefully not including anyone needing to be peeled off of the street.
More later,
Gavi
Over the last couple of days we have been trying to establish a bit of a routine here in Xi'an's High Tech Zone---that's the name of our new neighborhood. Meals in the cafeteria and walks in the 'hood are among the activities that have become routine this first week. Below are Ayden and Gavi's blog entries on some of these routines. Also included are pictures of our visit to our neighborhood tea house with Wen Yi our tutor.
Fondly-Joc
Ayden Writes:
Hey y’all.
When they say hot they mean hot. Let me tell you what I am talking about. Last night at dinner we had rise, soup, pickles, beans, chicken and green stuff. I am going to tell you about the green stuff. It was green with different sizes of lettuce and HOT PEPPERS. I didn’t know what a hot pepper was. I was taking some of the green stuff when my fork came across a something that looked like a black piece of lettuce. My fork picked up the black thing and put it in my mouth. OH NO it was so spicy. My eyes turned red and started to tear, my nose started to drip, my mouth was bursting with pain and my hands were moving like crazy. I ran up stairs and got some yogurt. I was jumping up and down. I had a bad experience with hot peppers. Now I know what a hot pepper looks like I will never eat one again.
--Ayden
Gavi Writes:
Hey all,
I have been assigned the topic of traffic for today’s blog entry. First of all, for the time being, there isn’t a whole lot of it… but it’s Spring Festival so a lot of people are away with family, we will have to see what happens once the holiday is over. But, there is plenty enough to get used to even without a huge number of cars. For starters, unlike in Boston, (usually) the cars don’t stop, they swerve to accommodate you. When crossing small streets without walking signals, waiting for all the cars to stop before you cross is pointless, it will never happen. The easiest thing to do is to just walk into the street and the cars move around you. It is absolutely terrifying but I guess its just one of those things we will get used to.
Along with not bothering to stop for pedestrians the drivers here don’t seem to enjoy stopping at red lights, so a lot of the time they don’t. As my dad was saying earlier today, it seems like traffic laws here are more like traffic “requests” or “suggestions” that often aren’t responded to. However, all of these differences with cars can really be found in NYC and sometimes in Boston as well, the biggest difference is probably the bicycles.
Bikes here are used for quite a few things, from carrying ice from the sidewalk away to who knows where, to simply getting home from school. And in total, there are a lot of them. They are ridden mostly by men with women literally sitting sidesaddle on the back, sometimes carrying children. No one wears helmets. We haven’t actually seen anyone fall off yet, but I have a hard time believing that will last long. There are also a fair amount of bikes with big wooden crates attached to the back that are used to carry different things mostly by street cleaners. They look a little like truck beds, just on a bike. Along with bikes, there are also quit a few motorcycles and mopeds. Seeing as we have only been here 6 days I’m sure there will be more to report on traffic later on, hopefully not including anyone needing to be peeled off of the street.
More later,
Gavi
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Our Arrival and First Days in Xi'an, China
Jocelyn Writes:
Hello Everyone!! We have finally overcome our jet lag enough to begin our blog. Our arrival coincides with Spring Festival here in China. Spring Festival is a time to return to your village of origin and visit your family. The Gao Xin School has been pretty empty this week--students are on vacation. The sound of firecrackers can be heard at all times of the day and fireworks are all over the skies at night. Ayden and Gavi have written descriptions of where we are and what we've been doing...these descriptions appear below.
Ayden Writes:
We are staying at the Gao Xin Number 1 School on the senior campus. I am sharing a room with my brother and my sister. We have a little kitchen with a clean water cooler because the water in China is dirty and you can’t drink out of the faucet. We have a bathroom with a shower the bathroom smells really bad. We have a TV but it is of no use because it is all in Chinese. My parents’ room is right next to my room.
Yesterday my mom, my tutor, my sister and I went to the old city of Xi’an where we walked on the walls. When we got there my mom paid 40 Yuan per person so we could climb on the wall. The exchange rate is 7.3 Yuan per dollar. When we got there I saw a big stage covered with Chinese new year decoration including a big rat because it is the year of the rat.
To get on the wall you had to climb a big stare case. When we got on the wall we started walking. While we were walking, I saw lots of decorations for the Chinese new year. The wall that we walked on was built in the 14th century during the Ming dynasty.
Zaijen! (see you later!!) Ayden
Gavi Writes:
Hey all!
WOW we are finally here! Thirteen hours on a plane is much too long! I can only think of two times when the dazed miserable expressions left our faces, first, watching the sunrise over the North Pole, and second, when the pilot announced that we were approaching our destination, and even then Emily and I exchanged an anxious glance as we prepared for the nauseating landing to come. However, this has all become worth it now that we are here and settled for the most part. China is everything and more then I ever could have expected or prepared myself for! My family and I are staying in dorms at the Gao Xin Number 1 High School in Xi’an. We are served three meals a day in the special section of the cafeteria reserved for guests. The food is absolutely amazing and we are given three times the amount we can eat! The rooms we are staying in are much nicer then I expected. Though much smaller then I am used to, they are comfortable and there is all of Xi’an to explore when they get tight!
I think the best word to describe Xi’an is different. For one thing (in my mothers words) it has the feel of a science fiction movie, where it’s always nuclear winter and the sun is slowly burning out. We haven’t seen a blue sky since we left Brookline and from what I have heard it’s not likely that we will until we return. However even the constant grey isn’t the biggest change. I think that the strangest and hardest thing to get used to is being an extreme minority. I feel as if I’m some strange imported animal newly added to the zoo! From shopping at the supermarket where my family and I were stared at by many, and straight out followed by some, to the day before yesterday when we were at the Dai Yen Ta (the Big Goose Pagoda). A mother, instead of taking a picture of her daughter with the nearly 3,000-year-old, seven-story building, asked to take a picture of her daughter with me! I think that feeling like animals in a zoo is something we are just going to have to get used to.
Along with the Big Goose Pagoda, the translator/ Chinese tutor my family has hired to help us out for the next four months, has taken us to LOTUS (the local supermarket), and the old city wall, which we walked around and then shopped in the market below it. All of these places were incredibly interesting (including the supermarket) and I can’t wait to see more of the amazing city that is Xi’an!
More later,
Gavi
Hello Everyone!! We have finally overcome our jet lag enough to begin our blog. Our arrival coincides with Spring Festival here in China. Spring Festival is a time to return to your village of origin and visit your family. The Gao Xin School has been pretty empty this week--students are on vacation. The sound of firecrackers can be heard at all times of the day and fireworks are all over the skies at night. Ayden and Gavi have written descriptions of where we are and what we've been doing...these descriptions appear below.
Ayden Writes:
We are staying at the Gao Xin Number 1 School on the senior campus. I am sharing a room with my brother and my sister. We have a little kitchen with a clean water cooler because the water in China is dirty and you can’t drink out of the faucet. We have a bathroom with a shower the bathroom smells really bad. We have a TV but it is of no use because it is all in Chinese. My parents’ room is right next to my room.
Yesterday my mom, my tutor, my sister and I went to the old city of Xi’an where we walked on the walls. When we got there my mom paid 40 Yuan per person so we could climb on the wall. The exchange rate is 7.3 Yuan per dollar. When we got there I saw a big stage covered with Chinese new year decoration including a big rat because it is the year of the rat.
To get on the wall you had to climb a big stare case. When we got on the wall we started walking. While we were walking, I saw lots of decorations for the Chinese new year. The wall that we walked on was built in the 14th century during the Ming dynasty.
Zaijen! (see you later!!) Ayden
Gavi Writes:
Hey all!
WOW we are finally here! Thirteen hours on a plane is much too long! I can only think of two times when the dazed miserable expressions left our faces, first, watching the sunrise over the North Pole, and second, when the pilot announced that we were approaching our destination, and even then Emily and I exchanged an anxious glance as we prepared for the nauseating landing to come. However, this has all become worth it now that we are here and settled for the most part. China is everything and more then I ever could have expected or prepared myself for! My family and I are staying in dorms at the Gao Xin Number 1 High School in Xi’an. We are served three meals a day in the special section of the cafeteria reserved for guests. The food is absolutely amazing and we are given three times the amount we can eat! The rooms we are staying in are much nicer then I expected. Though much smaller then I am used to, they are comfortable and there is all of Xi’an to explore when they get tight!
I think the best word to describe Xi’an is different. For one thing (in my mothers words) it has the feel of a science fiction movie, where it’s always nuclear winter and the sun is slowly burning out. We haven’t seen a blue sky since we left Brookline and from what I have heard it’s not likely that we will until we return. However even the constant grey isn’t the biggest change. I think that the strangest and hardest thing to get used to is being an extreme minority. I feel as if I’m some strange imported animal newly added to the zoo! From shopping at the supermarket where my family and I were stared at by many, and straight out followed by some, to the day before yesterday when we were at the Dai Yen Ta (the Big Goose Pagoda). A mother, instead of taking a picture of her daughter with the nearly 3,000-year-old, seven-story building, asked to take a picture of her daughter with me! I think that feeling like animals in a zoo is something we are just going to have to get used to.
Along with the Big Goose Pagoda, the translator/ Chinese tutor my family has hired to help us out for the next four months, has taken us to LOTUS (the local supermarket), and the old city wall, which we walked around and then shopped in the market below it. All of these places were incredibly interesting (including the supermarket) and I can’t wait to see more of the amazing city that is Xi’an!
More later,
Gavi
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