JOURNEY EAST 2007

A Beautiful Journey
(JE Performance Program)

Created at Leland & Gray High School in Townshend, Vermont, supported by the ~Asian Studies Outreach Program (ASOP) at the University of Vermont (UVM), and funded primarily through a grant from the Freeman Foundation,

Journey East, as a whole, consists of the Asian Studies Academy and Sino-American Performing Arts Exchange at Leland and Gray Union High School; the integration of an Asian Studies curriculum throughout the Windham Central Supervisory Union, and the introduction of Chinese language programs into the district.

~Dr. Juefei Wang, Director of the Asian Studies Outreach Program University of Vermont, is a recipient of the prestigious Goldman Sachs Award for Excellence in International education, on behalf of the UVM, Asian Studies Outreach Program.

The Leland and Gray Journey East program is deeply indebted, and extends its heartfelt thanks, to Dr. Juefei Wang, without whose effort and support this program would not even be possible!

Thank you Juefei!

Leland & Gray
Journey East 2007

Tom Connor
Program Director

Ann Landenberger
Artistic Director

Matt Martyn
Music Director

Come see these magnificent performers on Saturday, April 28 at 7:30 pm. They will perform at Leland & Gray High School in Townshend, Vermont.

Click here to find out more about this amazing and fun evening!

They Made It!

According to the United Airlines flight status, the group landed in Beijing China at 3:03 this morning (our time)! Yea!

As we begin our day here in Southern Vermont, the Journey East gang is eating dinner (their first Chinese meal!) and, after 24 hours in airplanes and airports, looking forward to sleeping in a real bed tonight.

Here are the first photos of the gang! Looks like everyone is enjoying a hearty meal! About the meal, Tom said:

Great meal tonight, lots of veggies, pork, green beans with garlic and chili peppers and a few other tasty treats.

Tom said the flight over was without music and TV! It is a looooong flight anyway, but the lack of the TV and music made it even longer!

It won’t be long now before we and see some photos of their first experiences in Beijing. Some of the magnificent places and events the group will be seeing are:

• The Great Wall at Mutianyu
• Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City
• The Summer Palace
• The Pearl Market (shopping)
• The Temple of Heaven
• Acrobats

We’ll look at each of these in more detail as the group visits these amazing places.

Here are a couple of links to help give you a better idea of what Beijing is all about:

• Beijing International
• Travel China Guide
• Beijing Lonely Planet

Did you know the population of Beijing China is over 24 times that of Vermont! That’s right, over 12.8 million people in Beijing. To give you better perspective of how many people that is, New York City is just over 8 million; Los Angeles 4 million; and Boston at 600,000.

Beijing will be hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics next year. The group should be able to should see many of the Olympic venues taking shape.

Olympics Beijing 2008

Okay, so here we go. Our Journey East gang has safely landed on the other side of the planet and, after a good night’s sleep, will spend the next couple of days exploring Beijing.

We should be getting our first reports and photos soon. Can’t wait!