It's hard for all of us to believe that our second week in China is underway. Our time together is flying by in this exciting, warm and welcoming culture. This week, our host students are taking mid-term examinations so our days are spent a bit differently than last week. As a group, we attended two special classes this morning. Our first, Chinese Culture and Language, was taught by our new and good friend, Rex. Rex is an animated, engaging and humorous teacher. We now know the differences between a Chinese dragon or "long" and a western dragon...we can identify the five tones used in the spoken Chinese language...and an recognize how written characters are broken down. Our second lesson, Seal Carving, was taught to us by one of the school's art teachers. We were each given one small stone with a unique butterfly design stenciled on it. Using specialized knives, our task was to carve out our unique design...a bit harder than it sounds! Working with our designs, the teacher created a beautiful group collage for us to bring home to DHS. After lunch we toured the Shanghai Glass Museum. The weather was glorious and the day went by quickly. Back at school our students reunited with their host buddies to recount our experiences and head home. We're excited for the continued adventures that tomorrow will bring.
Today I got up as usual for school at 6:15 and ate a delicious breakfast with my host student Cici. After this we were off to school! Today the girls at Shanghai No. 3 Girl’s school had a shorter day than usual ending at 2:20 instead of 4:30, which everyone was quite excited for. Our group went to two classes before getting to attend an art class! The art room is very impressive because all around it hang amazing art pieces all done by students! A lot of the art pieces are movie posters like Toy Story 3, Wall-e, and Life of Pi. I got to work with a student group that was painting a Doctor Who poster. I talked with Rosetta who was part of that group and who was also part of the welcoming play we watched! We discussed tv shows that we both watch like the Big Bang Theory as well as our hometowns because Rosetta was actually born in Beijing. I helped her color letters to be pasted onto the poster while the other members finished painting. After this class, we all went downstairs and outside to the benches for a martial arts lesson. A P.E. teacher as well as Rex who served as our translator taught us. First we warmed up with a jog around the school, which actually developed, into a race. Then we stood in lines tallest to shortest, and began. The moves were quite difficult at times, I found it hard to balance, but after a while they became easier. The P.E. teacher showed us a sequence to do and we all did it with her and then attempted to do it ourselves. After this we ate lunch and went on a group field trip to Starbucks before karaoke. Since Cici was going on a field trip to Shanghai Medicinal University I went with her and got to do a really cool experiment with frog blood and then got to hang out with some of her friends. We then all met up and attended an amazing acrobatics show full of motorcycles, bowl balancing, and much more before heading home for the weekend.
As the days roll out I am amazed at how quickly our group has bonded. We all thought we were pretty close at the beginning of the trip but as each day goes by we are noticeably tighter knit. Today we enjoyed a martial arts class then had lunch and took a group field trip to Starbucks. Later in the day we went to sing karaoke, which was a blast. We went with some of the girls from the school. They surprised us with frapuchinos from Starbucks (my second of the day!) and we all had a wonderful time singing and dancing. My voice even hurt after! We then went to have a delicious dinner at a nice restaurant. My table ordered pigeon and it came to our table with the head on! That is not something you see everyday! After dinner we made our way to the acrobatics show. After all the excitement of the day the acrobatics show was a good cool down. It made me sit on the edge on my seat! Every day I love the feeling waking up and knowing that today I am making more and more memories. This week has been a whirlwind but I'm ready for a whole new week of fun!
oToday (Monday) was a very relaxing and interesting day. It started off with all 15 of us meeting at the school for a 7:30 departure to Zhujiajiao, a ancient garden/home with beautiful scenery and canals running through it. After about an hour drive, we pulled up and were all amazed to find that the place was practically surrounded by a beautiful moat and was full of greenery and pretty plants. We started off our day in Zhujiajiao with a neat tour of the home. We saw where guests would be greeted and where, years and years ago, the children of the owners would sit and play.
Next we walked through a beautiful garden filled with trees, bridges, rocks, and took one too many pictures. After we finished our tour, we all filed into boats that slightly resembled gondolas and enjoyed a gorgeous boat ride down the green canal. We passed many shops and posed for lots of photos taken by natives, which has become the new norm. After the boat ride, we docked and endulged in some refreshing Starbucks before we sat down for a Chinese lunch right by the water. While we were enjoying our meal, we were constantly being entertained. Whether it was by more photos being taken of us by Chinese people on a nearby bridge or workers cleaning the river from their boats nearby, it was an interesting meal and one that I know I'll never forget!
With full bellies we left the restaurant and headed down narrow streets full of shops and vendors. We passed stalls selling cooked brains and hearts (of which animal I can not guess with confidence), and went into many shops with insanely cheap products that became even cheaper with a little bargaining. I couldn't help but take advantage of the outrageous prices and bought many gifts for my friends and family back home. Overall Zhujiajiao was a stunning place to visit and was a nice escape from the modern and bustling streets of Shanghai. -Nora Markhamut an hour drive, we pulled up and were all amazed to find that the place was practically surrounded by a beautiful moat and was full of greenery and pretty plants. We started off our day in Zhujiajiao with a neat tour of the home. We saw where guests would be greeted and where, years and years ago, the children of the owners would sit and play. Next we walked through a beautiful garden filled with trees, bridges, rocks, and took one too many pictures. After we finished our tour, we all filed into boats that slightly resembled gondolas and enjoyed a gorgeous boat ride down the green canal. We passed many shops and posed for lots of photos taken by natives, which has become the new norm. After the boat ride, we docked and endulged in some refreshing Starbucks before we sat down for a Chinese lunch right by the water. While we were enjoying our meal, we were constantly being entertained. Whether it was by more photos being taken of us by Chinese people on a nearby bridge or workers cleaning the river from their boats nearby, it was an interesting meal and one that I know I'll never forget! With full bellies we left the restaurant and headed down narrow streets full of shops and vendors. We passed stalls selling cooked brains and hearts (of which animal I can not guess with confidence), and went into many shops with insanely cheap products that became even cheaper with a little bargaining. I couldn't help but take advantage of the outrageous prices and bought many gifts for my friends and family back home. Overall Zhujiajiao was a stunning place to visit and was a nice escape from the modern and bustling streets of Shanghai. -Nora Markham
After living in Shanghai for over a week, I have found my one discomfort to be the food. Chinese food is very different from the typical Western meals that we are used to eating at home. Ever since sitting down for my first meal on the Saturday we arrived, I have struggled to adjust to the food.
The vegetables in particular (Mrs. Spannus' and my favorite being the lotus root) are especially delicious. However, I have had a very difficult time eating many of these foreign foods, and the entire week I was craving some real American food. Saturday night I hit the jackpot. Over the weekend I stayed with Susan, a Chinese teacher at the Shanghai No. 3 Girls' School who I hosted in the Fall. After living together in October for two weeks we got to know eachother very well, and Susan wanted to give me the oppurtunity to try a restaurant in China that serves my favorite food: pizza.
Along with her husband and daughter, Susan and I went to eat at the restaurant "Gusto" near her house in the center of Shanghai. As we walked into the restaurant, I felt as if I were back in America. All of the customers were foreigners, the menus were in English, and they didn't even have chopsticks. They specialized in pizza, so I ordered a large pepperoni and a salad. The food was amazing, and I thought the pizza was even better than at some of the restaurants back home. I ate the entire thing by myself in under fifteen minutes, and Susan was thrilled to see me eating so much. I loved the meal so much that Susan has invited all of the American students out to eat with her at Gusto on Wednesday night. I can't wait!
Being in China is most definitely about trying new things. It is about trying new foods, listening to new music an new stories; but it is also about exploring the popular culture of that country. And before our group went to the acrobatics show on Friday night, we did just that. I know that we have karaoke in America but it is not widely publicized, however what I do know is that it is in China. When talking with the girls, they even said that they go there all the time and by saying that they identified this as part of their culture or more importantly a more modern part of their culture. And I am really pleased to say that our group loved every second of it. These past few weeks have been eye opening for all of us in the exchange. All the people in the exchange have learned more about each other day by day. These past couple of days have really been about stepping out our own comfort zones. For Colin Burke and I, that was stepping out on the glass observation deck of the pearl tower as; but still riding the extreme adrenaline rush of being in China my experience was easier to conquer than that of Colin B. Yet all the same it was about stepping out of our comfort zones. Our group knew that this would happen when we signed up for the Chinese Exchange as groups from the past said the same things. However we did not know how great it would feel and how close we would become until we went over to China for ourselves.
ps sorry about not having a picture but last time it would not load. But that hasn't put a damper on the trip whatsoever.
On thursday, April 10th, I stood steadily on the glass observation deck of Shanghai's very own Empire State building, the Oriental Pearl Tower, a whopping 259 meters (roughly 850 ft) above the ground; the rush of excitement I felt in that moment does not compare to that of which surges through me at every sighting of the children that belong to this side of the world. Miss. Wenzel and Colin B perhaps feel differently than I, as stepping onto that glass was a landmark moment in their fight against their shared fear of heights. It might be the babysitter inside of me missing her little people or perhaps my click-happy thumbs, but for whatever reason, I find my taking photos of the kids here becoming less of a coincidence and more of an addiction. If you don't want to take my word for it, ChEx2014 student Sofie S will be more than happy to send you the link to my future rehab center or you could simply check out my album, "Dumplings", on the photo tab of this blog.
What I see in these miniature faces is the future of the World; I am a strong believer in the idea that kids are the future and must also be taught to think that way. With tonight marking the end of my first week in China, it took me some time to think over all the extraordinary memories I have made and choose a topic to write about for my blog entry. The final decision was to not just talk about one moment but rather a series of moments that have painted a trend across the pages of my personal trip journal. This trend is China's agreement with my belief in today's rising generation of children.
On the streets of Shanghai, I see kids watched closely by the watchful eyes of their guardians. In the stores, I see kids being handed brooms and mops so they may learn how to be helpful and take care of the important things. At the acrobatic show, I saw kids performing extraordinary stunts that had to have come from countless years of hard work and dedication to the family business. In the home of my host family, I witness Trista, my host sister, devote the majority of her time out of her regular school to her studies. In the class rooms of Shanghai Number 3 Girls School, I see an increasingly balanced array of outlets for the growing mind's creative and factual understandings. China is developing from the ground up or rather the youngest children up into a booming country, diverse in ideas, where the stereotypes of communism creating a uniform society that suppresses creativity and growth are torn from their throne.
I am thrilled to have two more weeks in this amazing country to continue to document it's adorable inhabitants!
~Isa J
P.s. I worry that my wording may make me come across as slightly creepy so I would like to assure the public that while my addiction might be a little strange, I have the support of the ChEx2014 to keep me grounded and away from the line of creepiness.
P. P. S. Shout out to Mr. Egan who tried so hard to teach our ChEx class the importance of framing the subject of our photos, sometimes the quality of the photo has to take second string to discreetness.
Traveling is such a wonderful and amazing thing to be able to place yourself into. We love to merge ourselves into the culture and try many new things.
Today we had the experience to do our first real outing and go to the Pearl Tower in Shanghai. While we were there we noticed there were many tourists there from outside the city. They all were eager to take pictures of us and take them with us. We all loved being famous for a few minutes as we posed with all the chinese, as many more were taking the pictures.
Later that day we went up only to find the best view of the city right under our noses. Litterally, we went out on a lookout that you can look down and see the whole city right under your feet. It was incredible and an experience I am sure none of us will forget.
When I think of a temple, I see great, golden walls and massive deities, with smoke coming out the nose of a giant dragon statue. This is what I was expecting.
It turns out the temple we went to, "Yu Temple," is more of a neighborhood with countless mazes of alleys and shops all crammed and snuggled together. It's perfect for some really good bargaining. Isa was able to buy "Ray Bans" for only 20 Yuan ($3). Exploring through these streets left me in awe with all the different goods they sold. Some stores sold old clocks and stamps, some sold "Oba-Mao" T shirts, finger painting, threading; we even found a store entirely dedicated to walking canes. All of the buildings were in the more traditional Chinese style, but with very modern goods and people.
This is the amazing thing about China, because it has so much beautiful history, and yet is still able to be keeping with the modern day. It's where the river meets the sea: both the past and the present are able to mix together and combine in this place. I was really able to see it today at the Yu Temple. -Sofie S.
Since Autumn I have kept in contact with the Senior 2 students from Shanghai No. 3 Girl's School. The girl I hosted, Dan, agreed to make plans to spend time together. So, on Saturday I met her, her father, and her best friend to go on a tour of all of the schools she has been to.
We started off at Shangbao Middle School, which resembles a college campus. Full of lush trees and green manicured lawns Shangbao Middle School was the opposite of everything I have everseen from a middle school. I was really surprised by the architecture of the school. Even though it was a set of towering dark grey semicircles, the main school building seemed to fit in well with the bright greenery. What stood out the most was the giant red sign saying the school motto: "Today I am proud of Shangbao. Tomorrow Shangbao is proud of me". The emphasis on studying seemed to be everywhere around the school. I thought it was really interesting that even at such a young age students are pushed to do well. The words emphasizing studying were also found among the playgound, as if to remind student that you can work hard but you cannot forget to include play in your life.
I really enjoyed traveling to the different schools and learning about various forms of education. Even though the philosophies of Darien's schools and Shanghai's schools seemed very different, both schools put a lot of emphasis on the students and students improvement. Even though our two high schools are on opposite sides of the globe, both sets of students are challenged by teachers in order to push us forward.