Ayden Writes:
Two days ago I went on a hike. The reason why was because the Gaoxin High School where I live was having exams. The principal arranged for us to go with the Sharon High School students (the other High School group in Xi’an). It took us about an hour to get where we were going to start our hike. My mom and my sister didn’t go on the hike because my sister was sick. When we arrived at the mountain, I had to go to the bathroom. The first thing that struck me was the smell, but then I realized that there weren’t any doors in the bathroom. By the time I got out of that bathroom I had promised to myself that I would never use that bathroom again.
The hike was really really tiring because we were going up and because gravity was fighting against us. We had to walk up so many stairs. When we reached the top we ate some lunch. For lunch we had many different things. First, the waitress brought out five dishes, then the waitress stopped bringing out dishes. I asked my dad if this was all we got for lunch, and of course he didn’t know. After a little bit the waitresses brought out about 20 more dishes. After lunch, we headed down the mountain and our hike was finished.
--AYDEN YAEL MALLORY
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Back from Shanghai!!
Jocelyn Writes:
Hello all!!
The kids and I have returned from a great visit with our friends the Davoudgoleh Family in Shanghai... Spending time with Goldie, Jacob, Sherri and Ira was fun ...a bit like Club Med as they live on the grounds of the Shanghai Raquet ball and Tennis Club. They welcomed us, toured us around the Bund, Pearl Tower, Shanghai Museum, the water town of Qibao, took us on shopping excursions to the pearl and fabric markets and fed us American food (a welcomed break), took us for kabbalat shabbat services at the Shanghai Chabad House and taught us about how to prepare and host a Persian seder. The kids enjoyed seeing their buddies, swimming, preparing for and celebrating Passover!
Shanghai is quite international and therefore so different from Xi'an. We have a few pictures posted...and Ayden's blog below.
Ayden Writes:
Last week I went to Shanghai to visit Goldie, my friend from Rashi, and her family. My mom, my sister, my brother and me were all going to Shanghai but not my dad. We had to wake up at four o’clock in the morning so that we wouldn’t miss our seven o’clock flight. I was very excited on our way to the airport. When we arrived at the airport, the driver helped us check our bags. Then we thanked our driver and he left. After we checked our bags, we went through the security check. When we had all gone through security, we boarded our plane to Shanghai.
The plane to Shanghai was a very pleasant flight, that is to say that no one got sick. When we arrived in Shanghai, the Davoudgoleh’s were on the way to the airport. When they got to the airport, the Davoudgolehs greeted us with a great welcome, and then we went to the fabric market. The fabric market is a market where you can get clothes designed especially for you. There were three floors in the fabric market; we walked through all of them. By the end of the trip to the fabric market, I bought two skirts and one cashmere jacket. My sister bought a Chinese dress, two shirts and a cashmere jacket. My mom just got a jacket. I decided that going shopping in a big store with many people is very tiring.
Driving home from the fabric market, I was very excited to see Goldie’s house and to have American food. When we arrived at her apartment, we went to the second floor then unlocked the door and… it was beautiful, and everything seemed amazing. It was a warm, cozy house. First, Goldie showed me her room, which was a nice room. Goldie had a bunk bed and a regular bed. I was sleeping on the bottom bunk. For dinner, we had a delicious chicken. It was so good I couldn’t wait until breakfast the next day.
On Friday we went to the Shanghai Museum. The museum was very interesting for my family but the Davoudgoleh’s got alittle tired of the museum. They had already been there a couple of times. We only went to two floors (there were four) because my brother was also getting tired of the museum. My favorite room was the room with the coins. The room with the coins had all different kinds of coins from different places and different time periods in Chinese history. Another one of my favorite places was the calligraphy room. Calligraphy is when people write things in Chinese and draw pictures. My favorite picture was a tree with little flowers on its branches. Goldie’s class had made a little museum from what they saw at the museum (they went on a field trip). Goldie made a gorgeous coin. Even though the museum took a long time to get all the way through I still had a good time.
Friday night we went to the Chabad temple that the Davoudgoleh’s belong to. It took about a half an hour to get to their temple. First they had services. It felt so weird to be singing the songs we sing at Rashi and at HBT (my temple in Boston). After the service, we had a kosher Shabbat meal. First, we had some vegetables. Then the caterers brought out a whole other bunch of food that I didn’t try. Usually my sister doesn’t eat meat unless it is kosher, so she was really happy when the brought out the meat. The temple in Shanghai was not that different then my temple at home because the service was in Hebrew and they sang the same prayers and songs.
This week was Passover and the Davoudgoleh’s had two seders. I was at both of the seders with my family. The first seder was really fun and short because the adults knew that the kids could not sit for a long time. My mom made a Passover Jeopardy gme and we all played. The second night I knew one family because they had come the night before. The dinner at the seder was so good. Usually Passover is not one of my favorite holidays, but this year I had a lot of fun.
On our way back to the airport there was a lot of traffic because a couple of cars got in an accident. Someone was repairing the car in the street. My mom was scared that we were going to miss our flight to Xi’an. And we didn’t…and I am still here to tell the story.
Hello all!!
The kids and I have returned from a great visit with our friends the Davoudgoleh Family in Shanghai... Spending time with Goldie, Jacob, Sherri and Ira was fun ...a bit like Club Med as they live on the grounds of the Shanghai Raquet ball and Tennis Club. They welcomed us, toured us around the Bund, Pearl Tower, Shanghai Museum, the water town of Qibao, took us on shopping excursions to the pearl and fabric markets and fed us American food (a welcomed break), took us for kabbalat shabbat services at the Shanghai Chabad House and taught us about how to prepare and host a Persian seder. The kids enjoyed seeing their buddies, swimming, preparing for and celebrating Passover!
Shanghai is quite international and therefore so different from Xi'an. We have a few pictures posted...and Ayden's blog below.
Ayden Writes:
Last week I went to Shanghai to visit Goldie, my friend from Rashi, and her family. My mom, my sister, my brother and me were all going to Shanghai but not my dad. We had to wake up at four o’clock in the morning so that we wouldn’t miss our seven o’clock flight. I was very excited on our way to the airport. When we arrived at the airport, the driver helped us check our bags. Then we thanked our driver and he left. After we checked our bags, we went through the security check. When we had all gone through security, we boarded our plane to Shanghai.
The plane to Shanghai was a very pleasant flight, that is to say that no one got sick. When we arrived in Shanghai, the Davoudgoleh’s were on the way to the airport. When they got to the airport, the Davoudgolehs greeted us with a great welcome, and then we went to the fabric market. The fabric market is a market where you can get clothes designed especially for you. There were three floors in the fabric market; we walked through all of them. By the end of the trip to the fabric market, I bought two skirts and one cashmere jacket. My sister bought a Chinese dress, two shirts and a cashmere jacket. My mom just got a jacket. I decided that going shopping in a big store with many people is very tiring.
Driving home from the fabric market, I was very excited to see Goldie’s house and to have American food. When we arrived at her apartment, we went to the second floor then unlocked the door and… it was beautiful, and everything seemed amazing. It was a warm, cozy house. First, Goldie showed me her room, which was a nice room. Goldie had a bunk bed and a regular bed. I was sleeping on the bottom bunk. For dinner, we had a delicious chicken. It was so good I couldn’t wait until breakfast the next day.
On Friday we went to the Shanghai Museum. The museum was very interesting for my family but the Davoudgoleh’s got alittle tired of the museum. They had already been there a couple of times. We only went to two floors (there were four) because my brother was also getting tired of the museum. My favorite room was the room with the coins. The room with the coins had all different kinds of coins from different places and different time periods in Chinese history. Another one of my favorite places was the calligraphy room. Calligraphy is when people write things in Chinese and draw pictures. My favorite picture was a tree with little flowers on its branches. Goldie’s class had made a little museum from what they saw at the museum (they went on a field trip). Goldie made a gorgeous coin. Even though the museum took a long time to get all the way through I still had a good time.
Friday night we went to the Chabad temple that the Davoudgoleh’s belong to. It took about a half an hour to get to their temple. First they had services. It felt so weird to be singing the songs we sing at Rashi and at HBT (my temple in Boston). After the service, we had a kosher Shabbat meal. First, we had some vegetables. Then the caterers brought out a whole other bunch of food that I didn’t try. Usually my sister doesn’t eat meat unless it is kosher, so she was really happy when the brought out the meat. The temple in Shanghai was not that different then my temple at home because the service was in Hebrew and they sang the same prayers and songs.
This week was Passover and the Davoudgoleh’s had two seders. I was at both of the seders with my family. The first seder was really fun and short because the adults knew that the kids could not sit for a long time. My mom made a Passover Jeopardy gme and we all played. The second night I knew one family because they had come the night before. The dinner at the seder was so good. Usually Passover is not one of my favorite holidays, but this year I had a lot of fun.
On our way back to the airport there was a lot of traffic because a couple of cars got in an accident. Someone was repairing the car in the street. My mom was scared that we were going to miss our flight to Xi’an. And we didn’t…and I am still here to tell the story.
Monday, April 14, 2008
A Sports Meet at Ayden & Ben's Primary School and a Video too!!!
Jocelyn Writes:
Hello everyone!! Today's blog entry (written last Friday) focuses on the sports activities that took place at Ayden an Ben's primary school last week. In addition to Ayden's written description of the activities, check out the video of Ayden and Ben teaching English at morning exercises below after Ayden's blog entry!
Gavi, Ayden, Ben and I leave to visit our friends --Sherri, Ira, Goldie and Jacob Davoudgoleh-- in Shanghai tomorrow morning at 5:00 AM. Ayden and Goldie were in the same grade at the Rashi School (from Kindergarten until they moved to Shanghai last year). We will be with them for a week or so including both of the Passover seders. We are so excited to see them and celebrate Pesach Persian style in China!!
We think that we will be out of touch with our blog until our return so take care and to all our readers who celebrate Passover--a chag sameach (Happy Holiday!)!!
Ayden Writes:
Last week my brother accompanied me for the skits at morning exercises. The skit was about a sports meet. For Ben and me the skit didn’t make sense, but who cared --we were the only students who could understand it. This week we found out what it meant. Our school was going to get together and play some sports. I didn’t understand how the whole school could fit into one small part of the campus. The sports meet took place on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning.
First thing on Wednesday morning everyone went out and sat around the play ground at our school (it is big). Then a huge group of students came on to the playground and started marching around it. There were students dancing, students playing the drum and students dressed up as people from the Olympics. Then the kids started to race. My teachers wanted me to race, but I didn’t want to so I didn’t. My brother was going to throw some balls like in baseball but, that was in the afternoon and we are only there for the morning.
Instead of everyone sitting on the ground, the school provided us with little chairs. They were so small that I had trouble sitting on them. The chairs were so uncomfortable that I had to sit on the ground. At the sports meet, a student who was sitting next to me had a bottle of coke. The student shook his bottle up. I don’t think he knew what that does because he opened his bottle, and the coke went shooting out of his bottle and on to me. I was so annoyed with the student that I went to sit somewhere else. Even though the chairs were small and I was soaking I still has a good time.
--Ayden
Hello everyone!! Today's blog entry (written last Friday) focuses on the sports activities that took place at Ayden an Ben's primary school last week. In addition to Ayden's written description of the activities, check out the video of Ayden and Ben teaching English at morning exercises below after Ayden's blog entry!
Gavi, Ayden, Ben and I leave to visit our friends --Sherri, Ira, Goldie and Jacob Davoudgoleh-- in Shanghai tomorrow morning at 5:00 AM. Ayden and Goldie were in the same grade at the Rashi School (from Kindergarten until they moved to Shanghai last year). We will be with them for a week or so including both of the Passover seders. We are so excited to see them and celebrate Pesach Persian style in China!!
We think that we will be out of touch with our blog until our return so take care and to all our readers who celebrate Passover--a chag sameach (Happy Holiday!)!!
Ayden Writes:
Last week my brother accompanied me for the skits at morning exercises. The skit was about a sports meet. For Ben and me the skit didn’t make sense, but who cared --we were the only students who could understand it. This week we found out what it meant. Our school was going to get together and play some sports. I didn’t understand how the whole school could fit into one small part of the campus. The sports meet took place on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning.
First thing on Wednesday morning everyone went out and sat around the play ground at our school (it is big). Then a huge group of students came on to the playground and started marching around it. There were students dancing, students playing the drum and students dressed up as people from the Olympics. Then the kids started to race. My teachers wanted me to race, but I didn’t want to so I didn’t. My brother was going to throw some balls like in baseball but, that was in the afternoon and we are only there for the morning.
Instead of everyone sitting on the ground, the school provided us with little chairs. They were so small that I had trouble sitting on them. The chairs were so uncomfortable that I had to sit on the ground. At the sports meet, a student who was sitting next to me had a bottle of coke. The student shook his bottle up. I don’t think he knew what that does because he opened his bottle, and the coke went shooting out of his bottle and on to me. I was so annoyed with the student that I went to sit somewhere else. Even though the chairs were small and I was soaking I still has a good time.
--Ayden
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Video: Zhong Guo Hua
Jocelyn Writes:
Dear All-
And now for a cultural moment....
I am attempting to post a video of our group (adults included) performing a dance to the song Zhong Guo Hua for the "Welcoming Assembly" organized by the Gaoxin School (see Gavi and Ayden's post entitled The Gaoxin Welcoming Ceremony). The name Zhong Guo Hua literally means "The Chinese Language." The song is written and sung by the Chinese Rap band S.H.E. (the singers are all women!) and tells the story of how after many years of having to "twist their brains" around English, Chinese people can take pride in the the fact that "the whole world is finally learning Chinese..."
Our performance opens with Ayden doing cartwheels... , Ben does some break dancing (but doesn't break!!) and Gavi, Bruce and I are background dancers. Our buddy Jonathan Flash-Inbar created and adapted the choreography loosely based on a music video by S.H.E.
Access to our video is below on this blog entry, I think that after you click on the ">" below, the video may take a few minutes to load. Let us know if this works!!!
In addition to our "home grown version of Zhong Guo Hua, check out S.H.E.'s music video version of Zhong Guo Hua on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEZKP5RNdCI . For anyone interested in the lyrics, you can find a translation and pinion version at http://www.chinesemusicblog.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=33679
The song is cute and starts with a Chinese tongue twister (that makes little sense in translation)....
And stay tuned...I will be trying to post Ayden and Ben at Morning Exercises later today...
Much Love, Joc
Dear All-
And now for a cultural moment....
I am attempting to post a video of our group (adults included) performing a dance to the song Zhong Guo Hua for the "Welcoming Assembly" organized by the Gaoxin School (see Gavi and Ayden's post entitled The Gaoxin Welcoming Ceremony). The name Zhong Guo Hua literally means "The Chinese Language." The song is written and sung by the Chinese Rap band S.H.E. (the singers are all women!) and tells the story of how after many years of having to "twist their brains" around English, Chinese people can take pride in the the fact that "the whole world is finally learning Chinese..."
Our performance opens with Ayden doing cartwheels... , Ben does some break dancing (but doesn't break!!) and Gavi, Bruce and I are background dancers. Our buddy Jonathan Flash-Inbar created and adapted the choreography loosely based on a music video by S.H.E.
Access to our video is below on this blog entry, I think that after you click on the ">" below, the video may take a few minutes to load. Let us know if this works!!!
In addition to our "home grown version of Zhong Guo Hua, check out S.H.E.'s music video version of Zhong Guo Hua on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEZKP5RNdCI . For anyone interested in the lyrics, you can find a translation and pinion version at http://www.chinesemusicblog.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=33679
The song is cute and starts with a Chinese tongue twister (that makes little sense in translation)....
And stay tuned...I will be trying to post Ayden and Ben at Morning Exercises later today...
Much Love, Joc
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Digging to China
Ben Says:
Hi there everyone this is Ben. For todays blog, I will tell you what I know about digging to China. If you live in the USA and dig through the planet you would end up in a very cold ocean near antartica. Antipode means the opposite side of planet Earth. The antipode of Shanghai, China is Concordia, Argentina. If you dig from Concordia, Argentina through the Earth, you will end up in downtown Shanghai. The distance from Concordia, Argentina to Shanghai is 12,445.17 miles through the Earth.
I researched the Earth's structure. There are five different layers. The Earth is made of a crust on the outside like bread. The crust is solid. The next layer is the upper mantle which is between solid and liquid. Then there is the mantle which is between solid and liquid. Then there is the outer core and the inner core which are solid. The inner core is hotter than the sun.
It has a temperature of 13,000 Farenheit.
I hope you enjoy this!
Me and my mom researched this using the internet. We read articles and watched a video on Youtube.
ben
Ayden Writes:
Yesterday I made pottery. It took about fifteen minutes to get to where we can make pottery. Our tutor, Wenyi, met us at the pottery place and then she showed us two different kinds of pottery we could make. One kind was the type you do on a wheel and the other kind was the one you do by hand. I chose the kind you do on the wheel, so did my brother. We had to wear aprons that went around your legs and your shirt.
First, the lady who worked at the pottery studio asked us what we wanted to make. I wanted to make a plate, and my brother wanted to make a mug. Next we put our foot on a pedal that made the wheel spin. Then the lady pushed on the clay, which made it into a bowl. Next I was supposed to push the clay down so it made a plate. For Ben’s (my brother) cup he just had to hold the clay in a special position so it didn’t tip over. I had to start over six times.
When we finished, we had to choose what colors we wanted on our pieces of pottery. We were allowed to paint our pottery ourselves, but the kind of paint we could use did not let us get the piece wet when it was finished. But if we wanted to use the piece, the people at the pottery studio painted it for us with a special glaze. Both Ben and I wanted to use our things so the people at the pottery studio painted ours. After pottery, we went to a couple DVD stores. We found a few more movies that interested us. Then we took a taxi back to the Gaoxin school.
--Ayden
Hi there everyone this is Ben. For todays blog, I will tell you what I know about digging to China. If you live in the USA and dig through the planet you would end up in a very cold ocean near antartica. Antipode means the opposite side of planet Earth. The antipode of Shanghai, China is Concordia, Argentina. If you dig from Concordia, Argentina through the Earth, you will end up in downtown Shanghai. The distance from Concordia, Argentina to Shanghai is 12,445.17 miles through the Earth.
I researched the Earth's structure. There are five different layers. The Earth is made of a crust on the outside like bread. The crust is solid. The next layer is the upper mantle which is between solid and liquid. Then there is the mantle which is between solid and liquid. Then there is the outer core and the inner core which are solid. The inner core is hotter than the sun.
It has a temperature of 13,000 Farenheit.
I hope you enjoy this!
Me and my mom researched this using the internet. We read articles and watched a video on Youtube.
ben
Ayden Writes:
Yesterday I made pottery. It took about fifteen minutes to get to where we can make pottery. Our tutor, Wenyi, met us at the pottery place and then she showed us two different kinds of pottery we could make. One kind was the type you do on a wheel and the other kind was the one you do by hand. I chose the kind you do on the wheel, so did my brother. We had to wear aprons that went around your legs and your shirt.
First, the lady who worked at the pottery studio asked us what we wanted to make. I wanted to make a plate, and my brother wanted to make a mug. Next we put our foot on a pedal that made the wheel spin. Then the lady pushed on the clay, which made it into a bowl. Next I was supposed to push the clay down so it made a plate. For Ben’s (my brother) cup he just had to hold the clay in a special position so it didn’t tip over. I had to start over six times.
When we finished, we had to choose what colors we wanted on our pieces of pottery. We were allowed to paint our pottery ourselves, but the kind of paint we could use did not let us get the piece wet when it was finished. But if we wanted to use the piece, the people at the pottery studio painted it for us with a special glaze. Both Ben and I wanted to use our things so the people at the pottery studio painted ours. After pottery, we went to a couple DVD stores. We found a few more movies that interested us. Then we took a taxi back to the Gaoxin school.
--Ayden
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The Gaoxin School's Welcoming Ceremony
Ayden Writes:
For today’s blog entry, I will be writing about the welcoming ceremony. Last week a group of kids from Sharon came to Xi’an. The Gaoxin School (the school I live in) prepared a performance for us. Usually the welcoming happens is when the exchange students arrive; but we had to wait for the Sharon High School kids to get to Xi’an. The Chinese students put on many different acts. All of the acts were phenomenal.
First there were a couple of speeches, then there was a chorus singing. The chorus sounded so so good. After the chorus, we watched a few dancers doing Chinese dances. The dancers were wearing really funky traditional outfits. After the dancers, a student did Kung Fu. He was so amazing at Kung Fu that he scared me. Next the kids from Brookline High School read a poem in Chinese. Then the kids from Sharon sang a song, they sang Edel Weiss.
We were the last ones to perform in the welcoming ceremony. We did a dance. Usually the Brookline High kids do something lame, but this year they decided to do something better. I thought the dance was great and everyone else thought so too. The dance was to a song all about how “everyone” now is learning Chinese. The Chinese people had to “to twist their tongue” to study English but now it our learn to “twist our tongues”. The song we did the dance to was called Jungo Hua ( which means “the Chinese language” ). It was really fun learning the dance. Even though the song was in Chinese, we did a super job.
Gavi Writes:
Hey Everyone,
Today was pretty much a normal day. I went to Chinese school in the morning. Then I came home and had a quick lunch and hung out with the Brookline High students. Then we all went up to my parents dorm room to watch the tape of our Zhong Guo Hua dance that we preformed at our belated welcoming ceremony. The dance was basically most of us doing “background dancing” which was a bunch of simple moves repeated over and over again, while Jenna, Mickey and Joe went crazy throwing themselves around in front. We had a blast actually watching what we looked like. After watching the dance we watched the first hour of “China a Century of Revolution” which is a PBS documentary that covers everything we have studied in Chinese history for the past two months. Then we all had these Chinese desserts that Feng Lao Shi (the teacher who came to Boston) brought back for us from her hometown on the countryside. They were buns made of flakey dough that had, what tasted like, nuts and cinnamon sugar inside. They were absolutely delicious! After the movies we went back downstairs and had Chinese class. Then we had our first kung fu class with our new uniforms. I defiantly felt 100 times more powerful in my bright blue, silk outfit then I do in my usual jeans and t-shirt!
So overall, it was really just another day here in Xi’an.
More later,
Gavi
For today’s blog entry, I will be writing about the welcoming ceremony. Last week a group of kids from Sharon came to Xi’an. The Gaoxin School (the school I live in) prepared a performance for us. Usually the welcoming happens is when the exchange students arrive; but we had to wait for the Sharon High School kids to get to Xi’an. The Chinese students put on many different acts. All of the acts were phenomenal.
First there were a couple of speeches, then there was a chorus singing. The chorus sounded so so good. After the chorus, we watched a few dancers doing Chinese dances. The dancers were wearing really funky traditional outfits. After the dancers, a student did Kung Fu. He was so amazing at Kung Fu that he scared me. Next the kids from Brookline High School read a poem in Chinese. Then the kids from Sharon sang a song, they sang Edel Weiss.
We were the last ones to perform in the welcoming ceremony. We did a dance. Usually the Brookline High kids do something lame, but this year they decided to do something better. I thought the dance was great and everyone else thought so too. The dance was to a song all about how “everyone” now is learning Chinese. The Chinese people had to “to twist their tongue” to study English but now it our learn to “twist our tongues”. The song we did the dance to was called Jungo Hua ( which means “the Chinese language” ). It was really fun learning the dance. Even though the song was in Chinese, we did a super job.
Gavi Writes:
Hey Everyone,
Today was pretty much a normal day. I went to Chinese school in the morning. Then I came home and had a quick lunch and hung out with the Brookline High students. Then we all went up to my parents dorm room to watch the tape of our Zhong Guo Hua dance that we preformed at our belated welcoming ceremony. The dance was basically most of us doing “background dancing” which was a bunch of simple moves repeated over and over again, while Jenna, Mickey and Joe went crazy throwing themselves around in front. We had a blast actually watching what we looked like. After watching the dance we watched the first hour of “China a Century of Revolution” which is a PBS documentary that covers everything we have studied in Chinese history for the past two months. Then we all had these Chinese desserts that Feng Lao Shi (the teacher who came to Boston) brought back for us from her hometown on the countryside. They were buns made of flakey dough that had, what tasted like, nuts and cinnamon sugar inside. They were absolutely delicious! After the movies we went back downstairs and had Chinese class. Then we had our first kung fu class with our new uniforms. I defiantly felt 100 times more powerful in my bright blue, silk outfit then I do in my usual jeans and t-shirt!
So overall, it was really just another day here in Xi’an.
More later,
Gavi
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Back At School in Xi'an
Jocelyn Writes:
We reluctantly said "goodbye" to our friend Marilyn yesterday. What a fun time we had hanging out with her in Xi'an and its environs! The highlights were a bike ride around the top of the ancient city walls (9 miles) successfully completed by Ben, Ayden, Gavi, Wen Yi, Marilyn and myself on two bicycles built for two and one single bike (pictures to follow) and a hike up the East Peak of Hua Shan a mountain in the Chingling Range outside of Xi'an. We did the first 5000 ft on a cable car and the last 1000 ft or so on foot (see the pictures to the right!!).
We are trying to work our way back into a blog writing groove....Gavi has rejoined us (yeah!!!) and has some great stories from school and Ayden has been observing what people wear both here in Xian and in Yunnan. We are still working on Ben.
The kids love your comments about the blog (both written and verbal) so keep sending them either on our page, via email or telephone.
Much love, Joc
Ayden Writes:
For today’s blog entry, I will be writing about what people wear in China. The clothes people wear in the city and the clothes people wear out of the city are a little bit different.
What people wear at my school is basically the same thing that I wear. My school has a uniform. Usually the kids in my class wear the uniform once a week. My uniform is red. My brother’s uniform is blue. My sister’s uniform is white. I can’t exactly figure out how the students keep a white uniform clean. Many schools have white uniforms I don’t really understand why.
If I am walking down the street in China the people are wearing the same king of clothes that people wear in America. Some people are wearing traditional clothes but not often. When I was in Yunnan province there were many Bai people wearing traditional clothes. The headdress had two flaps. If your headdress has two flaps it means you are looking for a husband. If your headdress has one flap that means you have a husband but are waiting for a child. If you have no flaps it means you have a husband and a child. I think this is a funny way of telling people that you need a family.
Sometimes in Xi’an, I see people wearing clothes with English words on the shirt. When ever I read their shirts, the words don’t make sense. These English words that don’t make sense on peoples’ clothes are called “Chinglish”. Sometimes shirts says things like “sky happy together we are”. I have a bag that says “Flower Spring”. I haven’t really figured out what it means. The non traditional clothes in China look the same as the clothes in America.
--Ayden
Gavi Writes:
Hey Everyone,
Monday was my first day back at school after our exhausting trip to Yunnan Province (see Ayden’s blog). I was greeted back with a very culturally educational day!
Our friend Marilyn arrived for her week long visit on Sunday and because my mom wanted her to be able to easily reach us I lent her my cell phone. However, my mom didn’t want me to walk to and from school without a phone so I borrowed my dad’s phone. Half way through the school day it rang (luckily it was on silent) I checked to see who was calling and it was my mom. I knew that my mom knew I had my dads phone and that I was in school so I got a little worried. In America, you can get into a fair amount of trouble if you are caught talking on your cell during school hours without permission, so at break I went to ask my classes head teacher if it would be okay for me to make a quick call to my mom. It took 15 minutes and 3 translators to get the message across, and even then she seemed confused about why I was asking her. In the end I called my mom and she had just forgotten that I had my dad’s phone.
After school, the teacher was talking to out class about the homework when all of a sudden she started talking really fast and it seemed like every other word was Gao Wei (my Chinese name). Then a student, who had helped me translate earlier, stood up and did the same thing. Then everyone turned to me and started clapping furiously. I tuned to Annie, my buddy, confused. She explained to me, in much slower Chinese, that the teacher was so impressed that I had asked to use my phone in school that she was telling everyone to be like me. The student had been explaining the entire story from start to finish. I found it so wild that in China, where students have to do 30 pushups for being a little out of synch during morning exercises, I was being applauded for asking permission before making a call on my cell phone during class.
And for the record…
Today was probably the best school day I’ve had so far. During our trip to Yunnan Jonathan was finally able to successfully teach me how to solve a rubix cube. It has served as great self-entertainment the past three mornings when I got really bored in class. Today, my desk mate finally figured out what I have been doing under the desk and got very excited! The next break we had she announced to the class to come look and before I knew it there were 20 7th graders less then an inch from me and the cube waiting for me to amaze them. I started solving the cube as fast as I could hoping that I wouldn’t completely mess up a combination like I had done so many times before. Luckily, I successfully completed the cube with only one minor mistake, which was easily fixed. Everyone was very excited!
For reasons unexplained to me, our next class was basically a free block. We all went outside and sat on the curb, I brought my cube in case the conversation with Annie didn’t really work out, which was very common. However, to my surprise when we got outside Annie pointed to my cube and said “I try?” “hao (okay), yea” I replied, handing her the cube. She was unsuccessful and looked really upset. I quickly solved the cube for her and then made it so that the center of each side was a different color than the outside (a much easier trick then solving the cube). “Wa!” she exclaimed. “Kan (watch)” I said, I then did the trick 3 more times very slowly and then handed her the cube. Then I lead her, in Chinglish, through the steps. Her smile when she did it was completely priceless! I returned the smile “fei cheng hao (excellent)” I exclaimed. Then I pointed to the cube and said “again.” This time she did it all by herself. “Can you teach more?” she asked. I smiled, “hao, sure” I replied smiling. For the rest of the period I taught her tricks with my rubix cube and for the first time we were actually talking and having fun together, despite the language barrier. After class, she handed me the cube “xie xie! (thank you)” she said with a smile. “bu ka xi (no problem)” I replied. It was so great to finally feel like I connected with someone at school, and all it took was a little cube with different colored sides…
More later,
Gavi
We reluctantly said "goodbye" to our friend Marilyn yesterday. What a fun time we had hanging out with her in Xi'an and its environs! The highlights were a bike ride around the top of the ancient city walls (9 miles) successfully completed by Ben, Ayden, Gavi, Wen Yi, Marilyn and myself on two bicycles built for two and one single bike (pictures to follow) and a hike up the East Peak of Hua Shan a mountain in the Chingling Range outside of Xi'an. We did the first 5000 ft on a cable car and the last 1000 ft or so on foot (see the pictures to the right!!).
We are trying to work our way back into a blog writing groove....Gavi has rejoined us (yeah!!!) and has some great stories from school and Ayden has been observing what people wear both here in Xian and in Yunnan. We are still working on Ben.
The kids love your comments about the blog (both written and verbal) so keep sending them either on our page, via email or telephone.
Much love, Joc
Ayden Writes:
For today’s blog entry, I will be writing about what people wear in China. The clothes people wear in the city and the clothes people wear out of the city are a little bit different.
What people wear at my school is basically the same thing that I wear. My school has a uniform. Usually the kids in my class wear the uniform once a week. My uniform is red. My brother’s uniform is blue. My sister’s uniform is white. I can’t exactly figure out how the students keep a white uniform clean. Many schools have white uniforms I don’t really understand why.
If I am walking down the street in China the people are wearing the same king of clothes that people wear in America. Some people are wearing traditional clothes but not often. When I was in Yunnan province there were many Bai people wearing traditional clothes. The headdress had two flaps. If your headdress has two flaps it means you are looking for a husband. If your headdress has one flap that means you have a husband but are waiting for a child. If you have no flaps it means you have a husband and a child. I think this is a funny way of telling people that you need a family.
Sometimes in Xi’an, I see people wearing clothes with English words on the shirt. When ever I read their shirts, the words don’t make sense. These English words that don’t make sense on peoples’ clothes are called “Chinglish”. Sometimes shirts says things like “sky happy together we are”. I have a bag that says “Flower Spring”. I haven’t really figured out what it means. The non traditional clothes in China look the same as the clothes in America.
--Ayden
Gavi Writes:
Hey Everyone,
Monday was my first day back at school after our exhausting trip to Yunnan Province (see Ayden’s blog). I was greeted back with a very culturally educational day!
Our friend Marilyn arrived for her week long visit on Sunday and because my mom wanted her to be able to easily reach us I lent her my cell phone. However, my mom didn’t want me to walk to and from school without a phone so I borrowed my dad’s phone. Half way through the school day it rang (luckily it was on silent) I checked to see who was calling and it was my mom. I knew that my mom knew I had my dads phone and that I was in school so I got a little worried. In America, you can get into a fair amount of trouble if you are caught talking on your cell during school hours without permission, so at break I went to ask my classes head teacher if it would be okay for me to make a quick call to my mom. It took 15 minutes and 3 translators to get the message across, and even then she seemed confused about why I was asking her. In the end I called my mom and she had just forgotten that I had my dad’s phone.
After school, the teacher was talking to out class about the homework when all of a sudden she started talking really fast and it seemed like every other word was Gao Wei (my Chinese name). Then a student, who had helped me translate earlier, stood up and did the same thing. Then everyone turned to me and started clapping furiously. I tuned to Annie, my buddy, confused. She explained to me, in much slower Chinese, that the teacher was so impressed that I had asked to use my phone in school that she was telling everyone to be like me. The student had been explaining the entire story from start to finish. I found it so wild that in China, where students have to do 30 pushups for being a little out of synch during morning exercises, I was being applauded for asking permission before making a call on my cell phone during class.
And for the record…
Today was probably the best school day I’ve had so far. During our trip to Yunnan Jonathan was finally able to successfully teach me how to solve a rubix cube. It has served as great self-entertainment the past three mornings when I got really bored in class. Today, my desk mate finally figured out what I have been doing under the desk and got very excited! The next break we had she announced to the class to come look and before I knew it there were 20 7th graders less then an inch from me and the cube waiting for me to amaze them. I started solving the cube as fast as I could hoping that I wouldn’t completely mess up a combination like I had done so many times before. Luckily, I successfully completed the cube with only one minor mistake, which was easily fixed. Everyone was very excited!
For reasons unexplained to me, our next class was basically a free block. We all went outside and sat on the curb, I brought my cube in case the conversation with Annie didn’t really work out, which was very common. However, to my surprise when we got outside Annie pointed to my cube and said “I try?” “hao (okay), yea” I replied, handing her the cube. She was unsuccessful and looked really upset. I quickly solved the cube for her and then made it so that the center of each side was a different color than the outside (a much easier trick then solving the cube). “Wa!” she exclaimed. “Kan (watch)” I said, I then did the trick 3 more times very slowly and then handed her the cube. Then I lead her, in Chinglish, through the steps. Her smile when she did it was completely priceless! I returned the smile “fei cheng hao (excellent)” I exclaimed. Then I pointed to the cube and said “again.” This time she did it all by herself. “Can you teach more?” she asked. I smiled, “hao, sure” I replied smiling. For the rest of the period I taught her tricks with my rubix cube and for the first time we were actually talking and having fun together, despite the language barrier. After class, she handed me the cube “xie xie! (thank you)” she said with a smile. “bu ka xi (no problem)” I replied. It was so great to finally feel like I connected with someone at school, and all it took was a little cube with different colored sides…
More later,
Gavi
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Touring Xi'an with Marilyn
Jocelyn Writes:
Marilyn Shapiro, our friend from New York, is visiting us in Xi'an this week. Ayden, Ben and I have had the pleasure of revisiting some of our favorite spots with her on Monday and discovering and exploring new ones on Tuesday. Gavi joined us Tuesday too (and will be rejoining the blog shortly...) ALSO Ayden updated the blog entry on Yunnan Province--scroll down and take a look!
--Joc
Ayden Writes:
This past weekend my mom’s friend came to visit us in Xi’an, China. Her name is Marilyn, and she arrived Friday afternoon. We went out to a Peking Duck restaurant for dinner. Marilyn brought four jars of peanut butter, books, 2 bathing suites, nuts and dried fruit. I was very glad to see her. We picked her up at her hotel and brought her back to our dorm room. We showed her what a Chinese dorm room looks like.
The next day we went to the peasant farmer painter’s village. The peasant farmers are a group of people who paint pictures. The peasant farmers work out of the city, it took us about one hour to get there. When we got to the peasant farmers’ studio, it seemed like a part of their house. All of their paintings are beautiful. They paint pictures of things that they see. I was allowed to get one painting for my room in America. It was so hard to choose a painting. Finally, I chose a picture of flowers with a few birds. I had a lot of fun at the peasant farmer painters’ studio.
After the peasant farmers, we went to a Taoist temple. This was my sixth temple since we arrived. Six temples is enough for me. We also went on horses part way up a mountain.
On Monday we went to the Big Goose Pagoda and the Little Goose Pagoda. The Big Goose Pagoda I have already been to, but it was my first time to the Little Goose Pagoda. I didn’t go to the top of the Big Goose Pagoda because I was too tired. I did go to the top of the small pagoda. Climbing was really tiring, when I got to the top it was SO beautiful. We also went in a museum that was all about Xi’an. I had an amazing time at all of these sights.
Marilyn Shapiro, our friend from New York, is visiting us in Xi'an this week. Ayden, Ben and I have had the pleasure of revisiting some of our favorite spots with her on Monday and discovering and exploring new ones on Tuesday. Gavi joined us Tuesday too (and will be rejoining the blog shortly...) ALSO Ayden updated the blog entry on Yunnan Province--scroll down and take a look!
--Joc
Ayden Writes:
This past weekend my mom’s friend came to visit us in Xi’an, China. Her name is Marilyn, and she arrived Friday afternoon. We went out to a Peking Duck restaurant for dinner. Marilyn brought four jars of peanut butter, books, 2 bathing suites, nuts and dried fruit. I was very glad to see her. We picked her up at her hotel and brought her back to our dorm room. We showed her what a Chinese dorm room looks like.
The next day we went to the peasant farmer painter’s village. The peasant farmers are a group of people who paint pictures. The peasant farmers work out of the city, it took us about one hour to get there. When we got to the peasant farmers’ studio, it seemed like a part of their house. All of their paintings are beautiful. They paint pictures of things that they see. I was allowed to get one painting for my room in America. It was so hard to choose a painting. Finally, I chose a picture of flowers with a few birds. I had a lot of fun at the peasant farmer painters’ studio.
After the peasant farmers, we went to a Taoist temple. This was my sixth temple since we arrived. Six temples is enough for me. We also went on horses part way up a mountain.
On Monday we went to the Big Goose Pagoda and the Little Goose Pagoda. The Big Goose Pagoda I have already been to, but it was my first time to the Little Goose Pagoda. I didn’t go to the top of the Big Goose Pagoda because I was too tired. I did go to the top of the small pagoda. Climbing was really tiring, when I got to the top it was SO beautiful. We also went in a museum that was all about Xi’an. I had an amazing time at all of these sights.
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