A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Throughout the trip, many speakers used Confucius quotes in their speeches about the purpose of our visit and the future relationships they hoped we would form with not only Chinese schools but with the people we met in the delegation. Before I left Lawrence, I knew the basic itinerary of the trip, knew I would be seeing cultural sights like the Great Wall that I could cross off my bucket list, and knew we would be seeing different schools, but had no idea what a profound impact this trip would have on me.  One speaker at our final conference at Renmin University used another Confucius quote about our trip to China when he said "I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand."  There is so much more I understand after this experience.

During the trip, I took in as much as I could even though it was a whirlwind and I knew it was going to be the most memorable of my life, but it was just too much to process at the time. At some points I was so exhausted I did not know how I could gather enough energy for the next part of the trip, and at other points I was laughing until my stomach hurt with people that were strangers a few days before. Now, having been home for 36 hours, I can't stop looking at all of the pictures and am just now taking it all in, and WOW! 

Not only do I understand so much more about China's cultural heritage, language and education system, but I understand more about myself.  I live a very busy and hectic life, especially right now, and I rarely take time to find any type of harmony in life. China radiates spirituality, and while there we learned about and saw evidence of thousands of years of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, and that has made me realize I need to slow down and find an inner peace within myself so I can live a long, healthy and happy life.  

I left China with a deep appreciation of not only their rich cultural history and their education system, but also with new friends and experiences, and hopefully with ties to a few schools that Lawrence can connect with and learn from, both in China and in the states.  I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to be a part of the Chinese Bridge Delegation, and hope to bring my experiences and knowledge to not only Lawrence but to my personal life.

A speaker at the concluding ceremony used another Confucius quote that stuck with me, and I will always associate it with my first trip to China.

 "Wherever you go, go with all your heart."  

Pictures in the schools

In the previous posts I could only use pictures from my phone since I was unable to connect my computer to the internet during the trip.  Here are more pictures from the school visits that were on my camera.

stairs of the vocational school

Vocational school - chocolate making room

bartending room at vocational high school

Imax type screen in classroom

Even the cooks came to see us!

Trying to act serious

Shuttlecock to bring home

Shuttlecock in heels and a suit

Playing shuttlecock with the admin of the Middle School

They wanted our autographs!

Food in China

Peking Duck Dinner

The food needs a completely different post. So I am a picky eater, especially with meat and condiments/sauce, and knew that the trip was going to be challenging.  I traveled fully armed with granola and protein bars, and they proved to be very useful.  Most of our meals were served one of two ways - buffet style or family style on a lazy susan.  I tried to be adventurous, but by the end I was sick of eating rice and cabbage (the only two foods I always was comfortable eating) and was very excited when I found pizza at the airport before the flight home.

Then there was the night market and their food.  The night market was right around the corner from the hotel, and they had all kinds of crazy food that was on sticks and still alive.  These sticks had seahorses, scorpions, starfish, etc and when someone ordered a stick, it would be fried on the spot and then given to the customer.  Some of the members of the delegation were adventurous (or crazy) and ate one.  I took pictures from afar and couldn't even get close because there was an awful smell.

Scorpion on a stick anyone?  How about a sea horse?

Buffet at the Luoyang High School

Sweet and Sour Fish - with the head on the plate...

Last day in China - shopping, Olympic Park and the flight back to the US

So excited when I found a starbucks!

Well, today is the last day of what was certainly the most memorable and incredible trip of my life.  Our flight was at 5pm (well, it was supposed to) and so we are able to squeeze in some last minute sight-seeing. I got up early (I tried to sleep as little as possible so I could sleep on the plane), got a big Starbucks coffee, and walked around the city for an hour before we packed up and got on the bus.

We went shopping in another market close to the Temple of Heaven, and although shopping at the markets is absolutely exhausting because of all the negotiating, I was able to get everything I wanted/needed with time to spare.

Next we went to Olympic Park to see the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The area was beautiful and the Bird's Nest was incredible.

IBM building

The Bird's Nest

Very windy

In front of the water cube

After the windy morning at Olympic Park we had our last meal at a restaurant and headed to the airport. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 5pm and we were able to get some pizza before boarding.  At 5:45 we still hadn't taken off, watching as they took items off the plane.  Finally a flight attendant announced that they were having weight imbalance issues, and that they needed 68 people to leave the flight or they would cancel the flight.  After many announcements, many head counts and a lot of waiting, our flight finally took off 4 hours late.  One of the perks of having 68 less people on a flight was that there were many empty seats and a lot of room to lay down and sleep, and that is what we did!  I was home at 10:30pm, and Tsun-Ju volunteered to leave the flight and she was home around 3am.

Remnin University and the Concluding Ceremony

Today is our last full day in Beijing, and we visited Remnin University where we had a full day conference and province summaries.  First we got a tour of the University, and then we headed to a seminar on the Chinese Education system and the challenges and goals for education in China.  It was really interesting to hear what they see as their challenges, such as educating more of the rural parts of China and increasing the literacy rate of adults.

After lunch, we heard reports from each of the 6 province groups.  The delegation was split into 6 and each group went to a different province in China for the few days (I was in the Henan group, which was the BEST one.)  Every group had a completely different experience and saw many different cultural sights and schools. My favorite story was of the group that visited a school during its physical education class. The school exited its 2000 students in 5 minutes for physical education class.  All 2000 students went to the fields and lined up in rows within 5 minutes - that is just incredible.

The conference ended at 5 and we had a few minutes to change and head to the closing ceremony that was held in the banquet hall at the Beijing Hotel.  We listened to speeches about the week and our experiences, as well as about the importance of continuing the partnership between Chinese and American schools.  We were given the challenge that the next time we go to China that we are all able to speak more Chinese, and that will certainly be a goal of mine!

Dinner...well not mine!

Henan 2 group shot

The handsome gentleman of Henan 2 group