Where Are They?

LGUHS

ASOP

FREEMAN

Getting Closer All the Time!

Good day everyone.

The good news is that the weekend weather looks really good with temperatures becoming more spring-like (mid 60s!). Looks like we’ll get all of this awful weather out of the way before our group returns from China.

The even better news is that we are at T-Minus 8! In the army, (back in 1970) when you had less than 10 days to go (to being discharged), you were known as short and had the enviable privilege of yelling, at any time, “Short!”

Let’s get right to today’s activities with an intro by our fearless leader, Tom:

[Our] kids performed for over 1,000 students at Inner Mongolia University tonight. The University is the top one in Inner Mongolia and has over 23,000 students. I've been here many times and am struck by the new construction, the English speaking ability of the students in the foreign language department and the growing sophistication of the students here on campus. Great experience for our kids. The President of the Foreign Language Department gave his opening remarks in English. I apologized for not being able to give mine in Chinese but told them that my hope was that some day people from our school might be able to do just that. They applauded the fact that we are now teaching Chinese to our students. [Tom]

A “Grand”
Performance

Let’s read what Aaron has to say about the day and performance:
 

April 16, 2007 -- Aaron Rucker, Junior

In the morning we had our fifth collaboration. This engaged our singing ensemble and then gave way to a musical piece which several of our American instrumentalists played with Mongolian students. After that, we continued with the dancing: [All went well except] when our ill Mongolian dance teacher had trouble getting the message across because a couple of us seemed to have ants in the pants.

After running around in circles singing “…chi, ba,” [“seven, eight,” as in counting to eight in a phrase of dance or music], we got in the groove. Later that day, our evening show was well-received, applause erupting both at random times and the right times. The link was undeniable between the show and the audience; the message—and even understatement of the message--seemed to get across, despite the language wall.

Our next stop is Baotao and then the vast Gobi desert where we can tour around on camels.

-- Aaron
 

Five, six, seven eight, here’s Ann’s performance update:

The show was so well received. About 1,000 students at Inner Mongolia University were clustered on the floor of a massive stadium. (JE ’04 alumni will remember the performance space that was the size of 3 or 4 basketball courts. This was close.) But Tom and our hosts made sure that the kids were clustered together on the floor in front of us and that the stadium seats were closed off. Thus they could see and hear us—and they were rapt. The show continually evolves: That’s the beauty of originality. It belongs to the ensemble and we can do what we want to hone the words, the music, the script, the dance. The kids see this as the rise to a higher bar with each performance. [Ann]

This is a great point that Ann makes. This “show” is not the same as the group ran through in their final pre-journey semi-dress rehearsal in the activity room at Leland & Gray High School. Each student is developing their part and creating new ways of communicating their purpose to the audience. The show evolves and changes with each performance, getting better all the time. Each show a little different from the last.

I’ll bet many of the kids could not imagine audiences like these. And now . . . look at them! Now they are performing in front of thousands as seasoned professionals! And here are a few pictures from that collaborative music session.
 

Do you know the name of the stringed instrument being played in the photo above (far left and far right)?

Tom has a few more photos for us below . . .

[Here are] a few that I took while on a five-minute walk next to the college this morning. The streets are so alive; full of people; colorful, vibrant. [Tom]
 

Some interesting bicycle setups. And, to say the least, some impressive balancing. Please kids, do not try this one (photo right) at home. Wow.

Did you know this is the year of the pig in China? That’s right, the new years started on February 18th. Since this is the Year of the Pig, any one who was born in the Year of the Pig is now either 0 or 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84 or 96 years old. Any of you born in the year of the pig?

There are three ways to name a Chinese year:

• By an animal (like a mascot). 2007 is known as the Year of the Pig.
  There are 12 animal names. Do you know the twelve animals?
• By its Formal Name (Stem-Branch). The new year is the year of DingHai. In the 'Stem-Branch' system, the years are named in 60-year cycles.
• Current year is Year 4704 by the Chinese calendar.
• Learn more

By the way, the photo of Chauncey Jones flipping on the Great Wall was the “Photo of the Week” (front page) of “The Original Vermont Observer.” Cool!

That’s it (so far) for today, folks.

Short!