Safe arrival in China

We have arrived safely in Beijing and are trying to adjust to the time change. (15 hours ahead of California) We learned just before we left that we would NOT have to do any quarantine, which will make life much easier. We also learned that we have until Wednesday to relax and prepare before classes begin again. We usually come for the July summer session, arriving in time for two weeks of training and team bonding beforehand, but this year we will teach at the June session and then do our usual routine. We have met some of the delightful people we will be working with this month and are looking forward to our first session.

Access to Facebook, Twitter and this blog is blocked, but sometimes I have been able to borrow an internet connection that works around it. Email seem to be fine and available all of the time. I will post again when I have some pictures!

Oh BTW, we will be visiting a new start-up church today. Apparently they have about 100 people plus 20 on the worship team. It should be interesting.

Returning to China

This will be our third summer in Beijing working with Chinese English teachers to help them improve their verbal skills. Every year is different and the opportunities are always a surprise, so we are looking forward to seeing what this year holds.

There are some things we know: We will leave on June 2nd and arrive in Beijing at 5:30 AM on June 4th. This is a bit earlier in the month than usual and we will be spending almost two full months this year. We normally arrive with the summer team at the end of June and spend two weeks in training before working with the teachers in a classroom setting during July. This year, we expect to spend four days in quarantine (probably reviewing the training) and then begin immediately with the three week June session. There will be a break while the rest of the summer team arrives and is trained, then we will participate in the July session. During that break, we expect to help with training as well as participate with the others.

Sorry, there are no pictures, but I know there will be lots when we get back and I will post when I can.

Even though we always go in the summer, this is a year round program. Because most Chinese teachers have a summer break, and most American students/teachers do too, the July and August sessions are larger and are considered short term. In addition, most months from September to June have the same sessions which are taught by about 15 year round staff.

Christanity in China

China has changed a great deal in the last 25 years. Our first visit was in 1983, and at that time, China was closed to most things of the Western world. We heard many stories of the "persecuted church" and were amazed that there were so many believers after almost 35 years of atheistic rule. We had the opportunity to take a large suitcase of Bibles to some of the Christians there, which were gratefully received because they had not been available for many years.

Today's China has embraced the Western world, both the good and the bad and the most important thing I've learned after three additional visits is that people are people all over the world. They have the same desires and concerns for their families and the same hunger for God that everyone else has. We have been told that as many as 4% of China's population are Christians -- in a country that has been officially atheistic and with no foreign missionaries for over 60 years. God certainly is at work! However, we struggle to understand the current situation of the Church in China and the amount of freedom that Christians have to practice their faith. It seems that there are credible stories of persecution in recent years, but also there is clearly a strong vibrant Church growing very quickly in this part of the world.

The organization we have worked with the past two years (ESEC -- Educational Services Exchange with China) began working in China about 29 years ago and has been very careful to establish trust with the government by being above board and respectful of China's laws against proselytizing. We are told that today, the Chinese Education Department welcomes our program because they see its value to Chinese people, even though they are aware that all who come are Christians. We are very careful to avoid direct evangelism and will only discuss our faith as a result of direct questions from individuals.

My favorite phrase to describe our work in China is to "spread the love of Jesus everywhere, using words if necessary." We show the love of God to our students as we work with them day by day, and they definitely notice. The two most common questions are "Why are you bowing your head before you eat?" and "Why would you come all the way to China to help us?" Both are wide open doors to share our faith, which we do in a variety of ways.

This year, I had one student ask me some questions about my faith in God and I was able to explain to her that God's love is not something that we have to work for ... that we want to please him because He loves us. She was very interested in the concept that we give gifts to our children because we love them, not because they have done something to deserve it and asked if we could talk about it later. We set a time and then later in the day she asked if she could bring her friend. Of course! As we met the next day, we talked a little further about God's love and then I asked her friend (another of my students) what she thought about it. Her immediate response was "I want that! -- I want to be like you...to have what you have." I was rather startled by her response, since I had not said anything to her about God before. To make sure she understood what we were talking about, I explained God's plan for salvation and after patiently listening, she again said "I want that!" What an honor and blessing to be able to pray with her as she accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord. I was able to give her a Chinese/English Bible (printed in China and purchased at the legal registered church we attended --not smuggled in!) and she explained that a neighbor of hers at home attends a Christian church. Please pray for Sally as she comes to mind, because I have no email for her or way to keep in touch.

Chinglish

In China it is common to translate English phrases directly from Chinese -- often resulting in nonsensical phrases called Chinglish. For example "We wish you much happy".

Americans consider this hilarious!

In an effort to help, we prepared some lessons to correct Chinglish phrases for our students. It turns out that in my class at least, everyone knew what was wrong with common phrases and how to correct them. Keep in mind that we were working with English teachers, who understood grammar and spelling better than many Americans. After three days of this, I asked them to tell ME some Chinglish phrases -- which was even more hilarious! Here are some samples:

I will give you color see see -- I will fight you

People mountain, people see -- Lots and lots of people

Today no see - tomorrow see -- If I don't see you today, I'll see you tomorrow.

He feels very boring -- He is bored.

Good good study, day day up. -- Study hard and make progress

Little cockroach -- a little stronger

Double face, no face -- If you behave badly, you will lose respect.

White Horse Prince -- Mr. Right

I give a leg to you -- I love you

One stone, two birds -- Kill two birds with one stone

If you want to see more, please go upstairs -- If you go higher, your view will be better

Sunshine boy (girl) -- very active, energetic, loves sports

Not three, not four -- double face, bad guy

7 up, 8 down -- worried about something

3 words, 2 sentences -- uses may words to explain something

Blow cows -- boastful

Don't care 3-7-21 -- It doesn't matter, life is like that. Or, so what, it doesn't make any difference, 3 x 7 will always equal 21.

250 -- stupid, foolish person

colorful wolf -- sexy man, and one who plays around

Don't tiger me, I have twice. If you tiger me, I'll mountain you. -- Don't try to trick me. I'm very smart and if you try, I'll hit you.

And the very best genuine Chinglish: Long time no see

A little about Chinese customs and lifestyle

Pictures: 1. Some of Susan's class at the Old Summer Palace Park. 2. Class at Mutton Stick restaurant. 3. Mutton Sticks!

Chinese people live and work in community. I think Communism was easily accepted because for centuries the culture had been to work together for the common good rather than individual success. In our program, the first thing we tried to do was to build our class into a team. In just a day or two we were all family -- even if we couldn't remember every one's name. We had 28 students (Paul had 22) and the evening we first met, most of my class decided to go out for Mutton Sticks. The "English only" environment began the next morning and it would be the last time the students could leave the campus for three weeks. Since mutton sticks are a regional minority speciality, most of the students had never heard of them.

Mutton sticks are prepared on a bamboo skewer by threading two thin strips of mutton (mature lamb) with a small chunk of fat between. They are then seasoned with a spicy rub and grilled over charcoal. Bread is seasoned and grilled in the same way and it is very delicious. It would not be unusual to eat 10-12 mutton sticks along with bread, boiled peanuts and edamame (immature soybeans) for a meal.

In addition to a sense of community, there is a very different sense of space in China. Personal space as we know it in America is unknown in China. Instead of about 18 inches, People in China are comfortable as close as 6 inches apart. This means that people feel comfortable squeezing past in very confined spaces. If you want to get off a bus/subway car, pushing is perfectly acceptable -- and sometimes the only way to get off. One time a group of Americans was going to church when three of us got off and waved good-bye to Ray, who didn't make it because he waited for a lady to get out of his way. The Shanghai subway at rush hour is difficult to imagine. The way cars are packed make sardines seem comfortable. It is almost difficult to breathe and more than once we saw a briefcase stuck in the door as one last person tried to get smashed in.

In addition, physical contact between women and sometimes between men is normal. Women walk arm in arm or hold hands regularly. It was amusing to see two younger American team mates walk hand in hand down the street while shopping, which in China, it has no meaning other than a sign of affection. I felt honored when my students took my hand or arm while walking on campus.

What about construction in China?

Pictures (in reverse order): 1-2-3 Removing windows to be replaced. 4-5-6 show some of the remodel process of adding a bathroom. Notice the scafolding in picture 5!

We had the opportunity to observe China construction techniques up close and personal. It gives new meaning to the term "custom built". Everything is done from scratch - they bring in a load of 16' pipe and create whatever they want in the size they need. They cut it, thread it, weld it and paint it...or whatever else needs to be done for the project.

This would be the work order for replacing windows:

Tools needed: hammer, blowtorch, electric saw (with the tiniest blade I've ever seen, about 3"), electric drill, bicycle cart, broom, newspapers

Manpower: at least 8-10

Task order:

1. Inform residents at noon by placing a sticky on the door that windows will be replaced at 3:30pm.
2. At 3:30, move aside remaining possessions and furniture before covering floor with newspaper.
3. Begin breaking glass of old windows.
4. When all glass is broken, begin tearing apart aluminum frames with hammer and bare hands.
5. Cut phone line which has been threaded through a hole in the aluminum frame.
6. Use blow torch to cut iron frames, pushing aside curtains to reach corners. Use power saw if that is handier.
7. Squat on ledge and use broom to sweep up glass and crud.
8. Replace window with a beautiful vinyl framed dual-paned window & caulk frames.
9. Remove newspaper from floors and pile frame pieces onto a bicycle cart.
10. Move on to the next window.

A week or so after we were finished with our quarantine, we had to move out of all of the rooms on the 1st floor -- except the four apartments the "older folks" called home. That meant we were in the midst of the work for our remaining time there. They were renovating 16 ancient dorm rooms into suites for the TIP staff that will be living there year round. The work needed to be done by August 6th, so they used China's most abundant resource -- workers -- to get the job done. They began jack hammering cement floors promptly at 6:30 each morning and they worked until about 7:30 each night with a two hour break each afternoon. The TIP office and our meeting room was directly above this chaos so we quickly learned to schedule meetings between noon and 2pm! I certainly hope the year-round staff appreciate their beautiful new rooms.

The living situation was a bit of a challenge, but we've lived through remodeling in our own home and realize that it is only temporary. However, it certainly is wonderful to sleep in our own bed in a nice quiet room!

What do we do in China?

Pictures: 1. A class performance at the Talent Show. 2. A bridge in the Old Summer Palace Park. 3. A classroom activity. 4. The July 2009 Summer Facilitators.

For the last two years we have been in China for about six weeks with an organization called TeachOverseas. We have volunteered with a program called TIP -- Total Immersion Program -- which is designed to help Chinese English teachers improve their spoken English. We have discovered that most English teachers in China have never spoken with a native speaker and have never been taught conversational English. As a result, they lack confidence and are fearful of speaking out and making a mistake. I can identify with that because, even with traveling to many parts of the world, I have never had enough confidence to speak the few phrases I know in a foreign language.

The concept behind TIP is to cloister these Chinese teachers in an English environment for a period of time, currently about three weeks, where they will be constantly exposed to English only, NO Chinese. This year there were about 350 English teachers, along with about 40 American volunteer facilitators. They were broken into 13 classes of 25-30 each with 1 - 2 Americans per class.

The typical student day began with breakfast on their own in the cafeteria at 7 am, then classroom time at 8am for two hours with their small group facilitators. During that time we used discussions, projects, games and other activities to get them to bond as a group and practice their English. They next spent two hours in a large group meeting where they had diction lessons and Morning Motivation time. MoMo time was mentioned frequently as their favorite part of TIP because they were inspired with a moral lesson and challenged to change their thinking about themselves and their lives. Some of the lessons included "Being the right person", "Never give up", "Have a positive attitude" and similar concepts. After large group time, they had lunch as a class with their facilitators and were required to stay for a full 30 minutes of conversation. They were given "conversation starters" with questions and vocabulary words to discuss, but of course they also wanted to know anything and everything about our lives in America. After lunch was a 90 minute break for a nap and personal time, then an hour in the reading room. Each American is encouraged to bring at least 10 magazines to stock the reading room, so there is much to choose from. The students are required to write a summary of an article each day as well as keep a vocabulary notebook of 20 new words they have learned that day. After reading time, they have a one hour large group meeting for "Famous speeches and Fairy Tales". Included are a variety of well known American speakers, such as Martin Luther King, Ronald Regan, Barbara Bush and Bobby Kennedy. The fairy tales are also ones with a good moral lesson. After this large group class, they are divided into different small groups for an hour of "clubs". Clubs are classes with specific topics such as cooking, sports, travel, holidays, drama and music. They changed their club every three days so they had an opportunity to learn about a variety of subjects in English. They had dinner with their club to give them a greater variety of people to talk with.

The last group activity of the day was at 7pm, when they had one hour of game time with their class. This could be physical activity such as basketball, card games, word games, etc. but they especially enjoyed the occasional opportunity to go to the park next to the campus and just walk and talk. The park area was the ancient Summer Palace that had been destroyed in the mid-1800's by European armies and kept as a memorial to the lost culture. Most of the students felt it was a sad place (sort of like a Holocaust memorial) but they loved to visit.

Throughout the day, there was also a rotating schedule for language lab when they used the computers and specialized software to continue practicing their pronunciation. After game time, they had an hour of personal time to write in their required daily journal and take showers before bed at 10pm. As you can see, it was a busy day with both students and facilitators working very hard.

The most rewarding part of TIP was the love and appreciation of the students. They came from all over China and many never imagined ever meeting a foreigner. Many times they had unpleasant ideas of what an American would be like and were amazed that we were loving kind people there to help them. One day a student asked if Americans hated Muslims, and since he was a Muslim from a persecuted area, it wasn't a casual question. I have already received an email from this teacher and I know his idea of Americans has been changed forever. Yes, it was an exciting and rewarding experience!

Living on campus in China

The first pictures are of the facilitator dorm and bathroom facilities. The beautiful green trees were from last year's campus and the concrete buildings are from this year's campus.

This year, the TIP program was moved to another campus of Peking University. The former campus was about one hour out of Beijing and quite isolated. There was a lot of green space with trees everywhere, but the University decided to use the campus as a research center and there was no room for our program.

The University offered us the Yang Ming Yang campus in the city of Beijing, which had some advantages but several disadvantages. First of all, it was very small and had very little grass or trees. We felt a little like we were in a concrete jungle (last picture). Most important, because it was in the city, an inviting world was right outside the gate and it was very difficult to maintain an English Only environment. The most important element of our Total Immersion Program was NO CHINESE as much as possible for the entire three weeks. Since there were other students on campus, the guards didn't know who was allowed out and who wasn't, so many did leave at various times.

The dorms were better for the students since they had AC if they chose to use it, but many of the women weren't excited about using public showers. At least at the beginning, many took showers in their underwear and my favorite comment was from a student who was afraid others would look at her and think "too many dumplings". Actually, the other campus had similar shower facilities with fewer "hot water" hours, so apparently this is normal for a University campus.

The facilitators shared four western style bathrooms, so showers weren't so much of a problem, but with as many as 40 people sharing four showers, it was a challenge to find one available! (The shower schedule broke down very quickly as more and more people were included)

In general, however the dorms were spartan, but adequate for our short term use.

Actually arriving in China

Health is a very important topic and concern in China. Because we were working with teachers from all over the country and on a campus with students from all over, everyone was VERY concerned that the "foreigners" not bring in the H1N1 virus (Swine flu). The precautions taken were almost unbelievable!

1st of all, we were not allowed to have any physical contact (handshakes, hugs) with anyone who already was in the country. In addition, a record was kept of the taxis we rode in, any hotels we stayed in, etc. Before we were allowed off the plane, people in white uniforms and hospital masks boarded and took our temperature. One of our teammates (on a different plane) had a temperature and spent the next week in isolation in a hospital. His only other symptom was a runny nose, but he tested positive for H1N1. The three other teammates on his plane were sent to a hotel and isolated in separate rooms for 7 days. They weren't allowed to have the AC on because the ventilation system might spread any germs they were bringing into the country.

After we arrived on campus (at 1 AM), we could do nothing until we took a shower to remove any surface contamination. We then were confined to our building for seven days from when the last person arrived -- that meant eight or nine days for some people. We were completely confined and only allowed to use a covered patio outside one door, We set up tables on the patio and had meals brought in for the whole time. I'm sure the cafeteria workers who delivered the food in masks were very concerned for themselves! They had fenced off any access to our building to make sure we didn't "escape" and no one accidently wandered into our area.

While in quarantine, we had to take our temperature twice a day to begin with, but eventually only once a day. I was in charge of making sure all 35-40 of us got recorded each day, which was quite a challenge. We also had to have our bathrooms "sanitized" twice a day, along with all doorknobs, etc. and for the first day or two we even had to wear hospital masks. For most of the week, we were in good humor and greeted each other with "Dzong" or "unclean", but as you can imagine, we had quite a celebration on "release day"!

This whole thing sounds quite bizarre -- and it was -- however, it provided an amazing bonding experience for the team and several "returnees" recommended a period of isolation be included in future trainings. Since the program is now located in the city, it is very easy -- and fun -- for the facilitators to go off campus regularly. I don't believe we would have developed such a close team without that time spent together. It reminds me of the Bible story of Joseph and his brothers. The brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.

Arrival instructions have arrived

Arriving at an airport in another country -- especially one that speaks a foreign language -- is always an adventure. You just never know what is going to happen! This trip holds special promise because of the concern over the H1N1 virus. I've heard of an entire plane being quarantined because of someone coughing. Maybe a rumor, but you get can an idea of the level of concern. Here are some of our instructions, based on government requests:

For the first 7 days, we will take these measures of precaution by staying together as a team, living and holding training in 2 buildings (attached with interior access) on campus. We will keep ourselves from coming into contact with the other students on campus (these are Peking University students, not our TIP students. Our TIP students will arrive after the 7 day isolation period). We won’t do any site-seeing or city exploration until after these 7 days, as we want to stay away from crowds. If we do need to leave the campus for any special reason, we will go as organized and planned groups, but when we are out of our isolated area, we should keep a distance from others outside our group of about 5 feet.

Also, some specific practices that we will be encouraging each other to do in those 7 days are the following:

• get lots of rest after travel
• take vitamins and drink lots of fluid
• exercise
• wash hands at least 6 times a day (2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, 2 in the evening)
• use paper towels on public doors and faucets
• bring your own tissue supply
• don’t touch your eyes or nose
• don’t shake hands
• do not sneeze without covering your mouth
• wash your hands right away after sneezing
• use disposable plates and utensils
• keep record of body temperature
• report any cough or discomfort immediately, and go to hospital/doctor
• wear mask when in doubt
• sterilize the dorm twice a day

That is, if we get out of the airport without being quarantined.

We will be leaving home about noon today. Our first stop is in LA to pick up 5 cases of Uno cards, then on to Irvine, where we will be staying tonight. Our flight leaves LAX about 1pm tomorrow. We are flying All Nippon Airpines and will have a very short stop in Tokyo -- just enough time to change planes. I think I can add Japan as a country I've visited, though.

Getting the Uno cards have been quite an adventure, too. I know our students will appreciate the cards, even if they don't realize the effort to get them there.

Next stop -- Beijing!

We are getting ready to make our next trip to Beijing and will be flying out of LAX on June 21st. We decided to fly Nippon Airlines this year so we will be making a short stop in Tokyo -- just enough time to find our outgoing gate! We will be part of a team of about 50 Americans, Canadians and Dutch who will be working with about 500 Chinese to help them improve their English skills. We did this last year and had an amazing experience, so decided to go back again this summer. The program is called TIP -- Total Immersion Program. This means that for three weeks, our "students" will speak, listen, read and hopefully think in English only.

We will be at a different campus this summer, the Yang Ming Yang campus of the University of Peking and will be in Beijing itself, right next to the Summer Palace. The living facilities will be quite different from last year and most of us will be housed in Chinese-style dorms. We have been told that the dorm rooms are air conditioned, which will be helpful in the heat and humidity, but the bathroom facilities will be typical Chinese dorm. Meaning "squatty potties" and open showers. There are a few apartments with western-style facilities, and rumor has it that they will go the married couples and older teammates. Since that's us, we are hopeful!

One of the things we discovered last year is that Chinese people love to play UNO (one of the TIP activities) but Uno cards aren't available in China. We therefore thought that UNO cards would be a great gift for our students. The only problem is that there will be 20-30 students per class, and the cards cost $5-$6 per deck. After investigating lots of possibilities, we found a guy on Craig's list who had what we needed and was willing to sell 10 cases (12 decks per case) for $100 -- but we had to find a way to get them from Phoenix, without paying postage if possible. After much prayer and many Facebook postings, we found some friends of friends who are make the trip from Phoenix to LA at the end of this week and are willing to bring the Uno cards. The Craig's List guy was even willing to deliver to the people in Phoenix. We delight in a God of creative solutions!

We expect to have internet connection while in China, but there is some question about whether we will have access to Blogspot because of censorship. If possible, I hope to update while we are there. But if not, I will post a report when we return.

Susan - I've been fascinated with your trip and following it since you first went last summer! I would love to hear MORE! Did you have people who could not overcome their hesitance to speak out? What were the people like? What grade level or age did most of the teachers teach? Is almost everyone learning English there? Or how common is it to learn English in school there? At what age does common education cease? Do the people really eat all those weird things that they've been showing on tv? What did you eat when you were there? Barbara O.

Ohhh, I love questions Barbara!

First of all, everyone in the program had some level of English. Many of the teachers were sent by their district and had no choice, but most of them were delighted to improve their English and become better teachers. We also had teachers that didn't actually teach English, but were just trying to improve themselves. Also in that category were university students, business people and a few even as young as middle school students. Our youngest was a 12 year old girl who came with her mother. She was put into a separate class from her mom and was amazing! I'm not aware of anyone who didn't overcome their initial hesitation -- on the other hand, they had no choice but to speak at least sometimes. It would be pretty hard to keep your mouth shut for the entire time. :-) They were given citations for speaking Chinese, and if they were caught speaking Chinese more than four times, they were sent home! (No one has ever been terminated for that reason.) At the end of the session, everyone had to recite a 15 minute speech they had written and memorized in order to get their University of Peking certificate. As far as I know, no one failed to get a certificate for not doing their speech.

The people were delightful. I absolutely LOVE the Chinese people! This is coming from someone who was interested in "helping people" but with no special interest or concern with China before going. They were very caring, loving, helpful, courteous, giving, and just about any other good thing you want to mention. They were beyond grateful that we left our homes and came to China to help them. In fact, they could hardly believe that we would do such a thing! This was the best testimony we could have to begin with. It opened up dozens of opportunities to discuss WHY we would want to do this. (I've removed additional explanation that might cause a problem.)

As far as grade level, we had all levels from pre-kindergarten to senior school. The methods we used were based on how children learn...by fun, games and natural conversation. Some of the senior school teachers felt it was too simplistic for their classrooms, but they still learned and improved their English. The biggest problem that hinders English learning is the rote memorization that is used in many areas of education. They "teach to the test" -- sound familiar? Students learn the vocabulary and grammar rules, but don't learn how to carry on a real conversation. They were from all over China and many rarely encounter native speakers.

Yes Barbara, I think just about everyone in school studies English. As poorly as some of the teachers speak it though, you can guess how much their students learn. Normal Chinese education lasts until the 12th grade. Then they are under HUGE pressure to pass entrance exams for the best universities (if they take a test for U of Peking and don't get in...they are finished. They can't go anywhere else...at least that year.) Their success in getting into a "good" university affects the rest of their lives.

Finally, YES at least SOME people really eat those weird things you saw on TV. We were at the same street market where you saw the scorpions and EVERY part of an animal's body was available to be cooked before your eyes. I'm not convinced many people beside tourists trying to prove something actually eat those scorpions though -- none of the Chinese I talked to would actually do it. However, I have pictures of some of my team mates and other tourists eating them. At the left is teammate Sarah enjoying her snack. YUCK! On the other hand, I ate the duck feet that came with the Peking duck. The method of service is to present the perfectly roasted duck and have the chef carve the slices to be served. Then the remainder of the duck is sent back to the kitchen and part of it is made into soup, while the rest of it -- the bones, etc is deep fried. I can assure you that deep fried duck feet is crunchy and chewy, but has no taste whatsoever! We didn't do the Hot Pot this year...but the restaurant shown on NBC was in Chang Ping, the section of Beijing where we stayed, and a number of our teammates ate there. I think you order what you want to have cooked in the hot pot...and it doesn't have to be intestines! We had Hot Pot last year, and it was mainly mutton. Speaking of mutton, that is my new favorite Chinese food! Apparently, mutton is a popular Muslim food and BBQ mutton sticks are amazing! The meat is cut into thin strips and skewered like shish kabob, then seasoned and grilled over coals. They do the same thing with thick bread slices and they both are delicious. I wonder if it's possible to get them here? Yummmmm! This picture is of our last meal in the village before coming home. I think we ordered about 100 mutton sticks for about eight people.

Actually, we mostly ate in the school cafeteria -- which every student said was bad. There were a few things that were good, but by the end the things *I* would eat were pretty limited. If I couldn't identify the concoctions in the pans, I would stick with fried rice and hard boiled eggs. Brown chicken eggs...not to be confused with green duck eggs! They also had bags of yogurt and nutrition drinks based on yogurt, which were very good. Red date yogurt and red bean ice cream were wonderful, believe it or not! Bottled green tea and milk tea were my favorite drinks. We drank gallons of bottled water too.

BTW, when I came back last year, I announced that Chinese people don't eat sweets. WRONG! There was an amazing bakery next to the church we attended that did the most exquisite desserts which was very popular. Also, candy and ice cream were in abundance -- even chocolate. It was not served with meals, however.

Now that we are home, it's time to sort out the events of the past six weeks. We had such an amazing summer that it's difficult to know where to begin. To start with, last year we went to China and saw the country. This year, we met the people -- and they are delightful. It was SO sad to leave.

We went to teach English, and teach we did. The program was called T.I.P. - Total Immersion Program, and the goal was to create a totally English environment for 3 1/2 weeks. There were about 40 of us from America (pictured, below) and about 400 students. We were on the far outskirts of Beijing on a satellite campus of the University of Peking. The campus is perfect for the program because it is quite isolated -- and a little overgrown like the Secret Garden. It is no longer used by the UP for classes, but instead the property is leased to other educational groups. Our students were not allowed to leave campus the entire time except with special permission, and they signed a commitment card to not use any Chinese while they were in the program (day or night, in public or private). TIP is based on the way children learn best...using language in natural everyday situations. For the most part Chinese classes are based on memorizing vocabulary and grammar rules with very little opportunity to actually speak English. Many Chinese people have never met a native speaker and are afraid to speak up for fear of making a mistake. Most of our students were high school English teachers and had many years of book learning but depending on the university the attended, knew very little actual language. In addition to the teachers there were some college professors and university students, as well as a few high school and even middle school students. Their level of oral English varied greatly, so we did an entrance interview and assigned them to classes based on the results -- although some were so nervous that they didn't exhibit their true ability. I was assigned to a class of 17 Low+ (meaning lower verbal skill) students and Paul taught High. One of our first goals was to get them to relax and feel comfortable so they would speak out. We did this by playing games and making the classes as student centered as possible. The first week, we concentrated on getting them to speak...no matter how badly, and to help each other overcome their nervousness. The second week was devoted to listening and helping them to better understand spoken English. The final week focused on activities to get them to think in English. At the end of the program, each student had to recite a 15 minute speech ... no matter how poor their oral English.

In order to build confidence, we worked very hard to get the class to bond and work together toward the common goal. What an experience! Even though they were from all parts of China (one had a 43 hour train ride to get there) we were all best of friends within just a few days. It was a good thing ... in Susan's class, (pictured left) one favorite activity was a "pretend" game. The idea was that they were on a sinking ship and the only thing left for everyone to stand on was a piece of the ship the size of a small square of paper. The men and women played separately, and at the end, 6 adult men managed to stand on a piece of paper about 12"x14". The 11 women were on a piece about 18" x 24". Talk about close fellowship! Paul taught a Science club (below, left) for higher level students, and they also had a lot of fun. One of the projects was for a team of four students to build a bridge that could span a 14" gap – using only 8 chopsticks and 2 plastic chopstick wrappers. The winners were determined by piling journals (college blue books) on top to see which bridge could hold the most. The first week, we were amazed that one bridge could hold 150 books! When he did it the next week with a different group of students, the winning bridge could hold 250 books – a stack about two feet tall!

We were overwhelmed by their love and concern for each other and us as the classes progressed. In addition, we could never have imagined how much their English would improve in such a short time. Even Susan's poorest speaker was able to communicate in understandable English before we left. Obviously, they all had a long way to go to sound like native speakers, but we tried to give them the tools to take home and continue learning on their own. One of my favorite phrases was "You are your own best teacher." As a result, you take your best teacher home with you and continue learning! In addition, since most were English teachers, we offered methods for helping their students improve their English.

I have removed a discussion that may be of concern to certain officials. If you would like further information, please email us when we return.

All in all, the inconveniences of living in a third world country (and there are some) are minor in comparison with the reward of the relationships that we developed. Probably the most significant thing we learned is that people are people no matter where on earth they live. There may be some cultural differences, but their desires, needs and concerns as individuals are the same.

If you are interested in further information about this program look up the websites http://www.esec.org/TIP.htm http://www.teachoverseas.org or contact us.

Thank you for your interest and support as we participated in this amazing adventure.

A fresh start

We will be leaving tomorrow morning for a new adventure in China. As we explained in our "travel with a Purpose" statement, our goal is to teach English in various parts of the world for short periods of time, and then travel in that area while we are there.

On this trip, we will be in the Beijing area for about six weeks. The first 2 1/2 weeks will be training, and then our team of about 35 will spend 3 1/2 weeks in a total immersion program with about 200-300 students. Most of these students will be English teachers from around China and we will teach classes, but also actually live in the dorms with them and be together 24/7. For the classes, we will work in teams of two with about 20 students and help them to hone their English skills. Many Chinese people have studied English in school and have a lot of "book knowledge" but have little experience speaking the language -- especially with native speakers. Our goal is to help them to gain confidence with practice, practice, practice, using fun learning techniques with someone who knows how to speak English as a first language.

We will be returning to the US when these classes are finished at the end of July, since we have already visited China...and so we can be home for our first grandchild, due on August 25th!

Our schedule as we know it so far:

Monday, drive to Irvine to visit with our kids who are living in that area.

Tuesday evening we will get to the airport in PLENTY of time to catch a 1:30 AM flight on Wednesday, non-stop to Beijing.

Each in our team arranged their own transportation, so our flight will have two others from our group and we will be arriving at 5:20AM Thursday. We will be picked up at the airport and transported to the Chaing Ping campus of the University of Peking, our home away from home for the next six weeks.

I will be keeping a journal as before, and posting as the internet is available, but may not be able to do much until we return.

Final posting

This blog describes in words and pictures our 21 day tour of China. To begin with day 1, go to the bottom of the page and select "older posts", then do the same on each page until you get to the beginning. It will take a while for each page to load, but you will be able to follow along on the trip day by day.

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me:

psbringard at gmail.com

Thanks for viewing my blog.

Day 21 Flying home

We arrived at the airport in time to be near the front of the line for check in, which is important when you fly Air China. They don't allow early seat selection and it's first come first served. At least we were able to select seats on our flight from Beijing to San Francisco. NOT!

We were late getting into Beijing, so they had a special bus to take us to the check-in. When we actually got to the gate to check-in, the attendant tried to change our seats, but we told her we wanted it the way we had arranged it. Of course, when we got on the plane, one of our assigned seats were already taken--by someone who was also assigned that seat. It turned out to be great though, because the we ended up with a row all to ourselves -- and we were in front of the wing! As Paul said, this was the best situation we could have had. There was a very long line of planes waiting to take off from the Beijing airport, but we finally got in the air and had an uneventful trip home. Even though it was a 12 hour flight, we were able to relax a little because of the empty seat in our row and it went very quickly.

It was exciting to see the California coast and the Golden Gate bridge as we arrived in San Francisco! The trip was wonderful and we loved just about everything about it, but it was definitely good to get home.

Day 21 Leaving China

After our final breakfast, we took the bus to the Meglev train for a high-speed ride to the airport. They claimed it would take 8 minutes and that it was about an hour and a half bus ride. We had to wait 15 minutes for the next train, but it got up to 431 Km/hr, which was VERY fast. The biggest surprise came when we passed the train going the other direction. The air currents really rocked us, and it happened so fast, we didn't even see the other train.

It was also a bit strange to see no track, since the train runs on a cushion of air.

Day 20 An evening on the town in Shanghai

As we were leaving McDonald's, we ran into John from our tour group, who had a subway map. Even though our guide said that the subway was too difficult to navigate and that a taxi was the way to get back to the hotel, John said he had done it and it wasn't difficult at all--that it stopped in sight of our hotel. He gave us the map and we determined to try it at the end of the evening.

We had planned to meet several of our group at the top of the Hyatt Hotel to watch the sunset and the city lights at night. To get there we took a tunnel under the river that was called the Tourist Light Show. It was a little like a Disney ride, but a downgraded quite a bit. The first picture shows some of the lights.

When we got to the other side we had to walk quite a bit to get to the Jin Mao Tower, and when we got there, they told us that the Hyatt didn't have a restaurant on the 88th floor. They sent us up to the Observation Deck, which WAS on the 88th floor. By then we had missed the sunset, but the city lights were breath-taking.

After walking all around the Observation Deck, we left and walked back to the Light Show tunnel, and then to the subway station--at least where we thought it should be. We went back down Nanjing Road, and finally found the station--exactly where the map showed it. Fortunately, everything had English subtitles, so we found the train we needed and the right direction to go. John was right--it was quite easy, and because it was later in the evening, it wasn't even crowded. When we got back to the hotel, we found out that we were suppose to go to the BAR on the 87th floor--not the restaurant on the 88th floor. Oh well, we still had a good time.

The last picture shows the night view out of our hotel room. We were further away from downtown, but there were still pretty lights.

Day 20 The Shanghai Museum and on our own

The Shanghai museum was an historical museum of clothing, furniture, currency, jewelry, and minority handcrafts. There were many beautiful exhibits, and we could have spent all day there. In fact, some of our tour group chose to stay instead of exploring the town on their own.

After lunch, we chose to go back to Nanjing Road, but explore some of the side streets. It was interesting that the shopping area was very western and upscale, but the side streets immediately off the main road were very Asian and often run down.

As in all areas of the country, the laundry was hanging from poles and people were carrying out their daily activities on the streets.
Apparently the men were unemployed, and some were perhaps even homeless.

We were also on our own for dinner, and I think the entire group went to either McDonald's or Pizza Hut! We got hamburgers and chocolate shakes, and even though the girl at the counter didn't speak English, she pointed to the menu, her way of asking "do you want fries with that?"