|
|
Don’t Dilly Dally in Silk Alley!
Silk Alley -- ChinaNow.com says:
“Where oh where can you find high fashion brand name knock-offs amid high fashion backpacking gear
knock-offs, amid athletic shoes, South Park silk boxers, North Face jackets and backpacks, and insidious calls for CD-music, VCDs, and CD-ROM? None other than Silk Alley, the long-time favorite haunt of
foreigners in Beijing.”
If the kids have any money left after thirty days, this is where it will end up. Lots of shopping, lots of excited bartering! Should be a lot of fun.
Well, everybody, this is it. Tomorrow the group heads back to the U.S. We’ll post flight numbers (as we did for Day One) so you can follow the flights home.
We have a couple more reports from the kids. And we have some comments from Ann. She says:
The Great Wall visit was graced by beautiful weather and a clear blue sky. They say in China that
you're not a "real man" until you've climbed the Great wall. We assume that applies to both genders! Another beautiful day in Beijing. Off to the art street and then a few hours at Silk Alley.
And then we hit the long trail to home . . . Best to all, Ann.
So cool. Now let’s check in with the latest reports. Aubrey’s up first, followed by Ida’s and then Sarah’s.
Let’s go . . .:
|
|
REPORT 19 -- Aubrey, April 18, 2002
Today was the day we all finally got a chance to catch up on our sleep.
Just about everyone has been running on empty so 9:30 [wake-up] is a luxury these days. I think the extra time definitely paid off. Our performance today went very well: We always seem to pull it off
without even thinking about it. The Mongolians seemed to love it. Their hospitality was amazing: I felt like a super star. They were so interested in everything we had to say (My mouth hurts from smiling
so much)
After our performance we had a delicious dinner. The hit dish was the caramel covered bananas, but I must say I was diggin' the sweetened milk and millet soup. After dinner our
hosts, the Foreign Language  Academy of Economics and Trade, threw an outside dance for us. That's when everyone
went wild! At the end of tonight I tried to collect a quote from as many kids as I could and here they are:
Ida: “I was blown away by how interested the Mongolian students were in
us Americans."
Marcus: "Live life and dance!"
Nathaniel: "You know what's fun? Dancin'!"
Nick: "I thought the best part of today was the dance. Everyone got to cut
loose and enjoy themselves."
Devin: "Nice to see everybody's getting along."
Kim: "The day began with sleep and ended with energy. It was a blast!"
Elayna: "The hospitality and kindness of the citizens of Hohhot is unlike anything I've ever experienced."
Eric: "It was a warm welcome and a good time."
Mitch: "These Chinese kids sure know how to party!"
Alex: "If anyone didn't dance, they missed the best time of their life."
Jessica: "There were two Australian teachers who were dancing with me and a bunch of students and they were crazy! It was so much fun!"
Wei Wei: The dance was great. Dancing with the Mongolian kids was the best part."
Liza: "It rocked."
 Sarah: "The enrgy was
amazing. I love these people."
Maura: "It was great meeting the Mongolian students. I know I have made friendships for life."
Elton: "The food was great."
Julia: "They want us to teach them how to dance to popular music. How do you do that?"
Rachel: "Lots of fun!"
As you can see, we had a wild night full of laughs!
I miss everyone back home and most of all I miss my daddy's cooking!
|
|
REPORT 23 -- Ida, April 23
HOHHOT/BEIJING
The first chilling and windy weather today in Hohhot
seemed to signal our time was up and eased the pain of leaving our home of nearly two weeks. This morning we made some last purchases at the shopping center and I walked around the market and said
farewell to the city. All morning I was thinking of the friends whom I may never see again, which inevitably put a damper on my morning. But the tearful goodbyes had already been said the night before so
it was as if my mind had moved on to the next adventure but my body had stayed behind.
The day was bittersweet as I will miss the down-home feel of Inner Mongolia and our host city of Hohhot,
nestled among dramatic chiseled mountains, but I look forward to the last leg of our journey.
I am in Beijing right now, in the same hotel, one room down from where I first stayed in China. I'm
writing as if years have gone by when it really has only been three and a half weeks overflowing with new sights, sounds, smells, tastes and overwhelming experiences.
Beijing seems different
somehow, now that I have gone and come back. My mind is not boggled from culture shock and I'm no longer so awed by the once unfamiliar surroundings. I feel like I have a deeper understanding of
what's going on around me now that I have witnessed and been part of the Chinese peoples' social interactions. If I'm not making any sense, it's because it's midnight and my head is fogging up. I
should get some sleep.
Tomorrow is the day we go to the Great Wall and we have our last performance in China. I'm determined to soak in everything and take advantage of every minute of these last
precious days. I only hope that I'll be back again in years to come. This is a place where there is far too much to take in all at once, where I'll only gain more knowledge and have more fun by
coming back.
|
|
REPORT 24A -- Sarah, April 24, 2002
BEIJING Today, like every other day, has been a whirlwind
of events. Getting in late last night and then leaving the hotel at 8:30 seemed to set us back a bit, but after three weeks of traveling, the lack of sleep proved to be an obstacle of no consequence.
We climbed on to our comfortable Huijia School bus and made our way to the Great Wall. Mountains covered with green trees, and thousands of terraces flew past my window. Houses gave way to rivers and
in no time we were riding up to rthe Great Wall in gondolas. It seemed almost unbelievable that the wall we were standing on, visible from space, had been made by thousands of workers decades ago. The
winding steps traversed the rocky mountains, and at times seemed almost vertical. Pictures were taken at every available moment, and we even met some kind of demolition workers from New Jersey who
juggled our dozens of cameras to capture our Great Wall group photo.
Another performance at the Huijia School ended our day successfully. We barely noticed the absurd performing conditions as we
"calmly" made our way from piece to piece. I'm amazed when I look back at our first few weeks here in China. We have had a few bumps along the way, but in the end, the trip was an amazing
experience. I will be glad to go home and sleep in my own bed, but I will always miss the good times we've had and the kind people we have met.
|
|
|
|
Wow! These reports are written with so much emotion that I feel as if we are somehow peeking over their shoulders while they share put their thoughts and personal
experiences in words. We can’t say thanks enough to all the kids (and adults) for sharing these moments with us.
Well, everybody, It has been a magnificent Journey and we have enjoyed helping bring it to you. Of course, this day-by-experience has been from “our” perspective, here in
Vermont, and now, when the group returns, we can look forward to hearing how it “really” went! The weeks ahead will be filled with stories, pictures, and more stories. The kids will be pumped up with
energy and the excitement of telling everybody about what they saw and did. They will travel to other schools and communities, sharing this journey with everyone.
Note to families: These kids have been on a most ambitious and energetic 30-day journey. Once the “buzz” from being back home wears off, they’ll try to resume what we
consider a “normal” life. This may not be easy for some of the kids, so be patient as our kids transform back from being “Chinese” for a month to being our kids again. As we have mentioned several times
throughout this experience, these are not the same kids we knew a month ago. And for many parents, we are not the same either.
We look forward to the many get-togethers that will take place in the coming weeks. I believe we we have ALL grown a little closer.
|
|
