China Service Program Blog

"It Was a Rich Day"

2012-01-17T06:22:00.005+07:00

by Teri Evans Calvin

It was a rich day.
Prosperity of heart and soul.
Scents of the culture,
tastes savored.

The universal smile,
bright eyes reflecting mine.
Genuine joy of breath -
exhaling life.

Hearts in rhythm,
pulsing with mine.
Tender warmth,
radiating as my own.

Strange voices,
perception nonetheless.
Cheerful sounds,
Gentle but precise.

Impatient for the sun.
Waiting for the breeze.
Delighting in the flora.
Damp rains.

The comfort of unity
like I belong –
It was a rich day -
China in my view!

A friend of mine invited me to join her in China with Global Volunteers. We both had volunteered previously, and are adventurous travelers. I researched Global Volunteers' internet site, talked to their representatives in St. Paul, MN and communicated with other volunteers with Global who had volunteered in China. I took the plunge, which was rewarded with an awesome experience.

For two weeks, Monday through Friday, I taught conversational English, pronunciation, and comprehension to students with various levels of English understanding. I tried to adjust my teaching experiences to meet their needs. Most of the students were Han Chinese from various provinces. However, one group, were Uyghurs from Xinjiang province. These Muslim students had their own language and customs, including dietary requirements. The Uyghur students are learning Mandarin, the Chinese national language, as well as English.

The administrators and students were warm, friendly and eager to share who they are. They were also very interested in Americans and our way to life. It was a living experience of a cultural exchange. We were treated with courtesy, curiosity and warmth throughout China.

I do believe that World Peace does begin through mutual international understanding, which is one of the philosophies of service with Global Volunteers. I am eager to learn more about the language, customs, history and the people of China since I have returned and have devoted my
reading to such a task.

I felt that I made a “difference” and I was gifted with a rewarding experience.

2011-07-21T00:00:00.000+07:00

Thought for the Day: "You will miss 100% of your shots you don't shoot..."

Journal by: Anna Morgan

It seems to me Thursdays and Fridays are the hardest days for me to wake up. Somehow I managed to wake up around 6:30 to get ready for breakfast. At 7 o'clock I'm down to our little room and hungry. Once breakfast is finished we are off to teach the English teachers the knowledge we know.

For my mom and me we were ready to teach them fun and exciting activities. We answered questions then wrote a note to Anne saying " Our students would appreciate it if you came in and sang some songs in a free time." Seconds after she got that note she was in our room singing away! The teachers loved it!! When my mom and I squeaked and squawked trying to sing along, our students somehow covered up our furious singing with their angel like voices. Once that was done we were doing many different skits and paper activities. In the afternoon the whole team came to play some games with the teachers.

We had basketball, charades, and "can't say yes can't say no". Many of the female teachers were wearing high heels but still played perfectly fine. These games went on for 2 hours. In the end, the students gathered together to say their good byes to Anne and Lynn. Then everyone was off for the weekend.

2011-07-20T23:58:00.000+07:00

Journal by: Claudia Bailey

After a hearty breakfast and journal reading by Lynn, we made a quick stop in our respective rooms to gather our teaching materials. Sunny weather greeted us as we boarded the bus and we again marveled at Mr. Fonges ability to find new routes to campus in record time. We dispersed to the 3rd floor classrooms to await our teachers/students. Lynn began class with dictation from a CHINA DAILY article about exploding watermelons. This led to a short discussion centered on chemical treatments of crops. Our main discussion topic focused on teacheres responsibilities, student attitudes, and freedom of activities for students during campus life at commuter vs. boarding campuses. We also encouraged the teachers to work on selecting topics for their speech to be given next week and making an outline. A few songs rounded out the morning.

After lunching at the hotel, we returned to campus for a short lecture by Susan and Anna. Susan related regulations and events associated with adoption of Chinese babies by non-Chinese. Pictures and comments poignantly documented the development of her loving family which welcomed 2 orphans from China. Anna also shared some of her experiences in welcoming her little sister. to the family, some humorous moments when her American classmates discovered her parents. were not Chinese, and discovering her 2 siblings, also adopted and now living with other adoptive families in the US. After a few Q and Aes, the team had a little time to devote to shopping and headed off to the Bird and Flower Market. Entering the jade market, we were overwhelmed by the multiple floors crammed with booths displaying jade in every imaginable form.

Between our limited time frame and the prices, we were soon exiting this area and moving on. We dispersed into the Bird and Flower Market proper and Susan, Anne, and Lynn made selections from various booths: a beautiful figurine, colorful shadow puppets, an other items. I noted that business must be good. since many of the proprietors were seated in front of laptops.

Catching a cab for our return to the hotel was a challenge but we all made it back safely in time to enjoy yet another good meal. Planning for our morning of group learning and afternoon of games. kept us occupied until we fell into bed for a nightes sleep

2011-07-19T23:53:00.002+07:00

Thought for the day: Peace begins at home, but it can be infectious.

Journal by: Lynn Murry

We met for a quick breakfast at seven AM and Warren gave a synopsis of our planned activities. Ann read the journal entry for Tuesday and we scattered to pick up our materials for class. Mr. Fong was right at the door at 8AM to whisk us to the university and so began our day.

Claudia and I went through a wealth of material beginning with charades (at which they excel), proceeding to contractions, pronunciation and discussion, and ending with a word puzzle that ends by providing a phrase describing a picture that appears below the puzzle. Since it took me a while to solve the puzzle, my guess is most of them will spend quite a bit of time on it. One student explained that this puzzle type was not new to them because such puzzles appear in their newspapers as they do ours.

We had lunch in the porridge restaurant on the first floor—excellent as usual (potatoes, tofu, BBQ, beef and egg, dumplings and soup. There was a little time for shopping, lecture prep, and rest before returning to the university to go on our field trip.

We visited the Flying Tigers Memorial. It is very close to the city and 6800 feet above sea level. The memorial consisted of two parts, spires and a separate piece of marble that explained the reason d‘etre.

Warren spoke a few words in honor of the fallen pilots, saluted and placed a bouquet of flowers at the base of the spires. The rest of the group also laid flowers down before the memorial. Chris

translated for the students in case they were not following all the words.

The mountains in which the memorial is located were very green with pines, spruce, laurels, peaches, etc. and very moist as evidenced by at least two types of mushrooms growing among the grasses.

All of us walked to an open area in the trees and learned to dance with our Yi and other indigenous peoples. Although it was hot and humid, there was great participation; and a good time was had by all.

Volunteers had dinner at a very fine Moslem restaurant. We had lots of lamb, fresh tofu, mushrooms and bok choi, sweet pumpkin, and a very good cabbage and chicken broth soup.

2011-07-18T23:50:00.000+07:00

Thought for the Day:

To Learn of the Pine, Go to the Pine.

Japanese Poet: Basho

Journal by: Gretchen Webster

Monday morning brought us all back together for an 8 oeclock breakfast. As we were discussing the plan for the day and Warren told us we would have a free morning, his cell phone rang. Chris was in the lobby. Suddenly our free time turned into: Give us 10 minutes . Weell be right down!

Taking off in the van we spent the morning walking around the new Kunming University, driving around the new Yunnan University and the New City with Chris pointing our all the places of interest, including the wholesale district for global exports, the offices and apartments for dignitaries and important political people, plus the very new and beautiful middle school for their children. It was all very interesting. We had been looking forward to this tour and had it on our Important things to do list. We returned to the hotel for lunch in the Porridge Restaurant and then gathered our materials for afternoon classes of Group Instruction.

Warren visited each class and discussed the field trip to the Hump Memorial for Flying Tigers that would be Tuesday afternoon. He handed out a short paper explaining the significance and history so the students could have an introduction to this special place that honors the volunteer Flying Tigers during WW II.

We returned to the hotel after our classes that ended about 5:00. We had a short meeting at 6:00 in the library to discuss the programes progress so far and what is coming up in the next couple weeks.

A short walk with umbrellas in hand, took us to Mama Fues . a favorite dinner place for Global Volunteers. Most of us enjoyed Pizza and Wine and a couple adventurous teammates enjoyed/endured a SPICY Thai Salad.

2011-07-17T23:48:00.001+07:00

Thought for the day:

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. -Lao Tzu

Journal by: ANNE BENAQUIST

Today was a free day, so we pursued various interests at our personal choice of energy level. Warrenes cold was --about 70%. better, so he took it easy most of the day. Claudia and Gretchen discovered a pastry shop and a scarf store and discovered the road theyed been searching for to Mama Fues Restaurant. Susan and Gretchen used their coffee coupons in the hotel coffee shop and had a nice long chat.

Lynn and I went to the Stone Forest. Our driver didnet speak English and our Chinese was about the same, so he stopped en route and picked up his teenage daughter, who served as translator. They dropped us at the entrance to the SF, where we wandered happily for several hours, taking many photos. The day was overcast with occasional drizzles until about noon, so we were quite comfortable walking around.

The many rock formations were large and dramatically colored in various shades and patterns of white, grey, and black. From a distance they seemed to resemble buildings or creatures. Our guides had already eaten when we returned, but they recommended a nearby restaurant and we had a good lunch, seated at a low table on elementary-school-size stools. After we left Stone Forest, we visited one of Lynnes students, May, and her husband and niece for tea, apples, and cookies. They were great hosts and we had a fine time. Our guides took us home around 4:30 and we all had dinner together at 6:00 as usual except for Anna and Susan, who were out with friends. It was a lovely weekend.

2011-07-16T23:43:00.002+07:00

Thought for the day: "O' call back yesterday. Bid time return." -Shakespeare

Journal by: Susan Morgan

Despite still feeling a bit "under the weather," I was eagerly anticipating our free time visit to the Yunnan Jiu Xiang scenic area. Listed as a national scenic spot and historical site, national AAAA tourist area, national geological park and a member of International Association of Caves, Jiu Xiang Scenic spot covers a total area of 167,014 square kilometers. It is 90 kilometers away from the provincial capital Kunming and only 34 kilometers away from the famous Stone Forest. Ann, Anna, and I had decided earlier in the week to travel to the caves together.

Ann worked hard making all of the arrangements through the hotel's travel agency with help from Colin, Bella, and the other extremely capable Assistant Managers of the Golden Spring Hotel.

The three of us "adventurers" left the hotel lobby about 8:30 am. Our young driver, speaking no English, drove us a short distance away before stopping the car and motioning for all of us to get out. We were ushered towards a small group of men standing together where money was exchanged. After a brief conversation among the group, we followed an older driver to his car, a grey Honda, and got in. He also spoke no English but I introduced the three of us, the best I could manage, as Americans who were in China as English teachers. He seemed very nice and was an excellent driver, the heavy car giving a smooth ride like a hot knife through butter. The long drive to the cave area was filled with bumper to bumper traffic, rough roads,

and smells of exhaust from all of the heavy trucks traveling the same route. After a while, traffic thinned out and we moved along the highway at a good clip. Finally arriving at the cave area, our driver parked the car.

After a much needed "pit stop," we rejoined our driver who handed us three entrance tickets. I asked what time we should meet him for lunch in one of the many small restaurants fronting the gate and he replied "one o'clock". Ann, Anna, and I set off eagerly on our great cave adventure. We followed the walkways through increasingly green and forest-like surroundings until coming to a section where a sign indicated a long set of steps down to the rivers edge or a "glass elevator" for the infirm or handicapped sight seer. Fortunately, we chose the elevator, thus saving our feet for the many steps unknown to us yet to come.

After descending the elevator to the narrow river bounded on both sides by steep rock cliffs, we clambered aboard a row boat wearing padded life vests. About eight Chinese young people also climbed in before we set off down the river. The stillness of the surroundings was punctuated by the hum of insects. It reminded me of the cicadas in the States that one often hears on a mid-summer's day. The air was humid and occasionally a drop of water from the greenery above was noticeable. River water, a deep green, reflected the vegetation, overhanging tree limbs, and steep, craggy sides of the gorge. Unfortunately, our idyllic boat ride soon came to an end.

Upon reaching the boat "dock", we clambered out and followed the red arrows along the path. The scenery was jus gorgeous! After awhile, we came to descending paths and narrow steps leading to the caves. It was like entering a gigantic mouth, craggy rock formations looming ahead like giant teeth. Colored lights inside the caverns highlighted the various textures and formations of the ancient rocks. We made frequent "rest stops", especially as we made our way out of the caves.

One of the most memorable spots was a double waterfall, the flowing cascade of water tumbling over the rocky cliff with a deafening roar. I hoped that, as it was nearing two o'clock (an hour later than planned), our driver could still be found. We finally emerged from the caves, then walked many steps (over 300) to the light above. What a joyful sight that was for our aching feet! Our next adventure was taking a cable car ski-lift high above the mountain valley amid fir covered mountains back to the park entrance. It was just glorious despite my fear of heights.

We found our driver waiting for us and then had a nice lunch in one of the many restaurants nearby where he seemed to know everyone. We ordered delicious fried egg, fried rice, and a tasty green vegetable whose name we did not know. Yummy!!

The ride back to Kunming was smooth and quick. An hour and a half before our scheduled meeting in the lobby at 6, we arrived at the hotel and enjoyed a little R & R. Another wonderful meal at Jerome's Cafe, a short walk from the hotel, followed. "Wan an!" to all and to all a good night!

2011-07-15T23:41:00.001+07:00

Journal by: Anna Morgan

I woke up from an enjoyable sleep around 4 in the morning. Trying to figure out what happen to my retainer. I finally found it under my leg. Then fell asleep again. What felt like 20 minutes was 2 hours I was awoken again. This time by my mom saying "wakey wakey". Being a 14 year old I mumbled something like I'm up, and then dozed off again. After a repeat of my morning alarm I stumbled out of bed and got ready for breakfast. When mom and I got to our little dinning room we were greeted by the other volunteers. Warren our team leader would start of the day by saying "it‘s going to be a great day".

Then the whole team would discuss the plan of the day, of teaching in the morning, having lunch at a restaurant, then free time until dinner. We headed out Around 7:40 everyone went to their rooms and got ready for teaching. About 8:00 we climbed into our little bus and headed to school. Once we got there we scurried to the 4th floor. Going to our classrooms there were students already in there waiting. For the next five to ten minutes the rest trickled in.

We started the day by reviewing their homework. They had to tell us one rule they would change if they could. Some were about school, others were about family. Many of their thoughts were very interesting. Next we paired them up and handed them a picture. They had to create a story combining the two. Every story was different, but related to the characters celebrating a holiday or a kid being very naughty. It was funny to hear the stories.

I could tell that the students were tired from the long week of learning English. Many were Yawning and putting their head on the table. Mom and I were able to keep them awake until 11:30. It reminded me of how I felt in school. After saying that class is dismissed we left to catch our little bus.

Warren told the six of us that he didn't feel good so he dropped us off at the restaurant. We sat outside since it was a beautiful day. Claudia order fried rice and eggplant, Susan (my mom) and Gretchen ordered wanton soup and steam broccoli. Lynn and I ordered spicy rice for our hotness we craved. Lastly Anne was happy with what we ordered. When we were waiting for our food a Chinese woman and son was stopped because her Canadian husband stopped to talk to us. He talked about how he wished he could find somewhere his son could learn English. We gave him several ideas and told him about Global Volunteers. Information was swapped then we said our goodbyes. Shortly after our food arrived and was ready to eat. We realized that there was an extra dish of chicken. We all had our share and enjoyed it very much.

Once we were stuffed we headed out to the Green Lake. It was so beautiful. With kids in colorful inflated balls on water to painters painting sceneries, we all enjoyed the relaxing afternoon. Claudia and my mom stayed a little longer, while the rest of us traveled back to the hotel. At six we had a delicious dinner like always. Once that was done we went to our rooms to wait for our fruit. We had leeche then fell fast asleep.

2011-07-14T23:38:00.001+07:00

Thought for the day: Actions speak louder than words.

Journal by: CLAUDIA BAILEY

After another rainy night we were treated to a pleasantly cool morning. Breakfast was followed by Lynnes journal reading; then off to Kunming University.

There we met our 16 teachers from various schools in the city and surrounding environs assembled in the 3rd floor classroom. We employed a warm-up exercise to get the adrenalin flowing. Teams made new words by changing letters in a 3-letter word. Excitement mounted to see which team had formed the most words. A short written assignment followed: describe a favorite novel, movie, or TV program and why you would recommend it to someone.

Students volunteered to read their work and there was good variety among their selections. JANE EYRE, Forest Gump, biographical sketches of Chinese notables, comedy shows, a Chinese equivalent of I've got Talent, etc. The teachers related that each selection offered advice for living, values and qualities to help get through life: perseverance, strength of character, humor, etc. Other activities included charades and practicing our song for the afternoon session. Several teachers requested work with the pronunciation of difficult English sounds such as the zhu in usually, bed vs. bad, t vs. d and so on. Why study English?. . a question teachers often have to deal with, was discussed followed by their questions about the US.

Lunch restored our energy reserves and we returned to campus. Lynn gave an overview of the work of Project Helping Hands which sends medical missions to many countries. She related her experience in Bolivia where volunteer medical personnel from the US joined Bolivian doctors and translators to bring health care to poor mountain villages near Cochabamba yearly. Also their assistance has enabled some villages to become self-sufficient. Her presentation generated interest in bringing such a program to China.

Anne then directed a program of songs led by the volunteers and team leader. The local teachers participated with gusto, especially in the rounds. Warrenes rendition of Sheell be comine round the mountain., complete with gestures, rated an encore. We adjourned to the outside patio area and, to the delight of several older women and other on-lookers, we sang a few more songs and Warren led us in the Hokey-Pokey. For dinner we returned to the din of the restaurant we affectionately call Chipped Plate Special.. There we enjoyed dumplings and other delectable dishes.

This was the night we had tickets for a special show. Dynamic Yunnan.. With our address cards in hand and with the help of a bell-boy, we piled into cabs and headed for the theater.

Choreography based on dances of the Dai, Yi, and Han minorities conveyed aspects of their life, customs and religious beliefs. These performances were mesmerizing and often humorous. From the opening dramatic scene featuring (loud) precision drumming , elaborately costumed singers and vigorous dancing to the elegant and graceful Peacock dance finale, the audience sat enthralled. Catching a cab to the hotel was easier than expected and we all retired after a productive and stimulating day .

2011-07-13T23:36:00.000+07:00

Thought for the day:

Education is the solution.

Journal by: Lynn Murry

The air this morning after the rain was refreshingly cool. Perhaps the seasonal rains make the difference, but I think that Kunming is the cleanest of the Chinese cities that I have visited. We rarely see paper or other litter flying down the streets; and so far, all the people we have seen appear to be adequately nourished, healthy and spry.

After breakfast in our special room at the hotel, we hopped in Mr. Fong's bus and headed for the university. Our class was waiting and came roaring to life after a four-way competitive chain game of substituting letters into the word sun. We had a lesson on bacterial versus viral diseases and antibiotic efficiency. After some phonics training, the students, again grouped in fours, wrote stories about a cartoon, and one volunteer shared them to the class.

At lunch time, we rode down the street of plane trees (sycamores) and marveled at how they could grow as large as they are given the lack of root space and available ground for collecting water to support the plant. Then we enjoyed a lovely repast at the hotel and headed back to the university for afternoon lectures.

Anne gave a presentation on ―US immigration through history and Claudia, on ―panda conservation. The baby pandas were very cute. The late day free hours were filled with buying tickets to ―Dynamic Yunnan for tomorrow night and preparation for tomorrow‘s lesson. About six, we went to dinner at a fabulous restaurant around the corner from the hotel. We enjoyed a wonderful repast of rice (plain and sweet), a wonderful potato pie, vegetable soup, dumplings, excellent eggplant and, my favorite--very spicy, fried mushrooms. A walk through the neighborhood and preparation for tomorrow‘s sing and dance exercise completed our day.

2011-07-12T23:32:00.000+07:00

Thought for the Day from The Lorax by Dr. Seuss:

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

Journal by: Gretchen Webster

Tuesday A.M. began with the usual breakfast meeting and journal reading, then onto the bus and off to class. Students ready and waiting, our class began with a Thought for the Day discussion on a quote by Mahatma Gandhi: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Anne led us in the alphabet song: "A You're Adorable."

Then students talked about their families using information, photos or pictures they had been instructed to bring as a homework assignment. Next up was an activity on Lost and Found, including a story and dictation for multi-level abilities with emphasis on listening and writing.

Returning tired and hungry we agreed lunch was delicious and all gave Warren a big thumbs-up and permission to order all of the same for any meal in the future.

During afternoon lecture Warren talked about his experiences volunteering for GV and Gretchen discussed some of the other volunteer programs that are in the U. S. at home and abroad. Dinner time finally saw the opening of the bottle of Chinese Wine contributed by Anne. It tasted mighty good after a long hard day. And our fuwuyuan made sure it lasted a good long time as she doled it out one swallow at a time.

Over wine we waited for Collin to come help with free time activity ideas. Finally arriving for all of 30 seconds with a few books and pamphlets and what we thought was a promise to return. After dinner Anne , Susan and Gretchen walked to Wal-Mart and took the grand tour. spending most of the time trying to find correct up and down escalators.Our next mission was to find the Friendship Store which remained incomplete, settling for Magnum ice-cream bars instead!!

We headed back . feeling great to get out and walk. We should all sleep well tonight!!

2011-07-11T23:29:00.001+07:00

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Journal by: ANNE BENNAQUIST

Today we met for breakfast at 7:00 and took a van to Kunming University for our orientation and first class. The buildings at the University struck me as very interesting.pagoda-type roofs and a little park with a book fair going on. We met our students and several dignitaries in a large classroom. On the podium were Mr. Ha, Director of International Affairs KMG University; Mr. Xiong, Director of the Teacher Training Institute; our leader, Warren Williams; Mr. Lu, Party Secretary of the Kunming Municipality Education Board; and Mr. Wang, Director of Kunming Municipality Teacher Training Program.

They talked about the history of Global Volunteers in Kunming (since 2005, 19 teams have come, with very good results) and appreciated our teaching methods. Warren welcomed the students and predicted \a great three weeks. with one requirement: Donet be shy speak up! The last speaker, Mr. Lu, urged the students to forget theyere teachers and work hard as students. He closed with the hope that we would enjoy our stay in Kunming and that the program would be successful.

Then we met our classes. Gretchen and I took the lowest level class and were surprised at how much they knew and how outgoing many of them were speaking English. We had more time than we expected, but fortunately we had plenty of materials and activities, so the time was very productively spent. We found out that they like to sing and many are quite creative with script writing and performing.

We left the university at 11:30 and met for lunch in our usual dining room. It seems like every meal I get to experience something new and ites all delicious. During the afternoon we used the free time to go to Wal-Mart (which turned out to be very different from the stores back home), get acupuncture, nap, and prepare lessons.

At 5:30 we met in the lobby to go to a wonderful ethnic restaurant that was over 100years old.

We were hosted and toasted many times by Messrsw Yong, Wu Yanming, Xiong, Baokun, Chunfu, and Ha. We were seated at two round tables in a room that opened onto a courtyard and were brought many, many dishes.

The most exotic dish I saw was a duck with the head on. Mr. Ha urged us at the beginning of the meal not to think of ourselves as Chinese and American GVs, but as one family. He had spent a year in Missouri and had many interesting opinions about American culture and food as well as about Chinese traffic and minorities. Everyone had a great time.

July team arrives in Kunming!

2011-07-10T23:25:00.002+07:00

Thought for the day "Better to have a friend on the road than gold and silver in your purse."

Journal by: SUSAN MORGAN

Whether from a touch of nervousness or just too many raisin biscuits, I had no appetite for breakfast as I struggled to get ready on time. Our first meal together as a complete team was fast approaching and I just couldn‘t seem to wake up. The evening before, Anna and I had met Warren Williams, our team leader; as well as Anne Benaquist and Gretchen Webster.

Upon arriving at the second floor dining room and meeting the other two volunteers, Claudia Bailey and Lynn Murry, my appetite returned. Te Golden Springs Hotel breakfast buffet offered everything that a hungry Global Volunteer could ever want first thing in the morning. My choice of fried egg, Chinese greens, and tiny boiled potatoes tasted delicious. Topped off with two cups of coffee, I was ready to go.

After breakfast, we regrouped in a conference room and began introducing ourselves. Team leader, Warren Williams, started off with a fascinating account of his life story.

When our team created a list of personal goals (three per volunteer), they read as follows:

1. to form friendships with local people, to meet new friends, to get to know other volunteers, and their experiences, to learn about lives, to be an ambassador;

2. to develop new (teaching) methods, to learn about the schools and education system in China, to share English teaching skills, to assess teachers;

3. to learn more about China, to speak Chinese, to experience Kunming, to see beautiful natural sights, to observe Chinese culture and people; and

4. To change a life, to help others.

The characteristics of a good team/team member read as follows: thoughtful speech, flexibility, respect, open mind, acceptance, listening, focus, humor, sharing, patience, energy, support, non-judgmental, and punctual

Later, just a short walk around the hotel, we shared a wonderful dinner at ―Jordan‘s Café. Beautiful decorated plates of squid, sticky rice shaped as mice (minus the tails), sliced barbequed pork, breaded pumpkin (a team favorite), and a tureen of mutton bubbling in spicy broth. With good food and better company, I was feeling utterly relaxed and enjoying the moment, walking back to the hotel amid the sights and sounds of Kunming in early evening, I was reminded of Warren‘s daily directive, ― It has been a good day…and tomorrow will be a good day too!!

My last day...

2011-05-21T23:16:00.000+07:00

Journal by: Katrina

My last day was sad for me. In just two weeks, I had become attached to the sixth grade boys and all the teachers and students at that beautiful little school with little room and little money.

Donald sang two songs for me, which was his forte, Mickey was going to sing, but he chickened out, and they gave me a beautiful card that said, “May Everyday Be Happy” and “We love you and will miss you!” I also received a pendant that said La La Shou, it was very unique and delicate, something I will keep always!

I had fallen in love with the students and the teachers. We communicated with our smiles, our laughter, and with our eyes. The translators were from the university and absolutely wonderful. They would bring me water and always tell me to sit! They loved America and President Obama. They all loved seeing pictures of my family and pictures of Abe Lincoln. They were very happy without a lot of material things, except of course their cell phones. They were English majors and they wanted me to be pleased with their English. They worked very hard translating and also helping with the students. They also were very proud to be in college and demonstrating their talents. They seemed to be more motivated and respectful than college students in America. They were very proud to be able to attend college.

China is a country of contrast, old and new. It is a country so vast and varied, yet the people seem to all work together peacefully. They find ways to survive and are very resourceful in a crowded city with 9 million people, and with what they have. It has truly been a life alternating experience. Basically, we all want the same things to be happy. Those students are so sweet and gifted in many, many ways. They love music and I found their choices of songs are the same songs that people in America. We practiced for a sports event they were having on Saturday. “We will, we will rock you,” was the song they were using in their dance routine. They all knew and loved Lady Gaga! They listened and exercised to “The Long Road to Tibet,” a sad and beautiful song that I loved. They also like “Old MacDonald’s Farm” and we sang that song many times during my short time at La La Shou.

I have had an excellent eye opening opportunity to have been invited to La La Shou. The parents and teachers are moving mountains in order for these children to be happy and successful in school. I never once saw any of the teachers become angry with the children. Mr. Tom and Mini, the teacher for sixth grades, (yes, I gave them English names too,) were very professional and caring to the autistic children.

My trip to China will remain with me always. I promised my new friends in China that I will try my best to make it back, but not without learning to speak more Chinese! One of many things I have learned is never to form an opinion about any country unless you have been there and overall try not to form an opinion about the people of a country unless you have worked with them and lived with them. China and especially Xi’an was a dream for me that came true! Thanks to Global Volunteers and my wonderful country team leader, Wang Baoli, it would have not been possible for me to have had this exciting opportunity! Baoli went above and beyond her call of duty to help. She made sure we were taken care of, that we were safe, and comfortable.

2011-05-18T23:13:00.000+07:00

Journal by: Peace

From our hotel room on the 11th floor I can see down to the old city walls and the park. In the morning there are a few dozen people out there doing a calisthenics routine or Tai Chi. Living in such small places, it seems to be a treat for them to exercise in open space like that. Mostly it's people over 50. I asked Teacher Della about running yesterday since people do that so much for exercise in the U.S., she said she thinks people don't do it because there is no room. I told her we run on sidewalks and in the streets, she doesn't know why people don't do that here. I've seen an gym advertisement, perhaps this will catch on here, who can say.

No teacher accompanied me today, just the driver who is the father of the baby I held yesterday. Time has taken on a strange quality, it seems like that is a week ago. I don't think he spoke much English, it was a very quiet ride, but quicker than yesterday. The sun has come out. We passed a dental clinic, all glass walls on a busy street, everyone can watch you as you get your teach cleaned or pulled or whatever.

Driving up to the school the gate wasn't working and we had to drive around to the side and be let in by a person. The driver walked me up to the Foreign Affairs Office on the second floor and I met with Della and Julia. My classes were supposed to be held in the library, but there was no power so they asked if I minded walking up to the fifth floor for class. I asked where the materials were, the ones left by other volunteers, but Della said there were none. I had a rough outline and a few materials, so I went with what I had. My class was about 25 people, but only 2 boys! I thought there were more boys that girls in China and yet here I am with a class full of 16 year old girls. A couple of girls in the front row stood out right away, giving every answer, knowing a lot of English. Everybody kept telling me these kids were low level, but several of them have studied English 5 or more years and knew a lot. All the stuff I had for reviewing numbers, time, all way too easy for them. In fact we blew through everything I had in the first hour, with 2 more to go. It was fantastic when the teacher stopped in and led class for a while, she ended up asking me to do the first few exercises in their book with them, and then she assigned the rest as homework. I wish I had taken pictures.

They already knew the alphabet song, although they sing it differently ABCD, EFG, HIJK, LMN,OPQ, RST, UVW, XYZ, Chinese ending. A few of the girls knew Old MacDonald too. At some point I realized they were calling me teacher and we hadn't practiced introductions. I wrote my name on the board and then one of the girls asked if I could write my name on her textbook. This started a rush, and soon I had printed my name in every text in the room. It was a little rough the whole morning though, I really had a beginner lesson plan and they were intermediate students.

For lunch Julia & Della walked over to the cafeteria with me, it is much like college cafeterias everywhere. They asked what kind of soy sauce I like to drink, but with a little translation I figured it was soymilk. I said, "what do you mean what flavor?" and Della said, "you know, green bean, black rice, etc." I said in America the choices are vanilla, chocolate or plain. I let them choose. I got piping hot sesame flavored soymilk and it was good. Grain flavored and weird, but good.

2011-05-14T23:06:00.000+07:00

Journal by: Peace Gardiner

First day in China...

Since I didn't have a meeting until 12:30, I decided to walk along the city walls and explore a park I could see from my 11th floor hotel room. I also had directions to a large supermarket nearby. I walked and explored, and as happens so often in China, I saw so many new and wonderful things. As I approached the park I heard loud rhythmic popping sounds and saw a group of maybe two dozen men and maybe two women. They were cracking whips! They had giant 8-10 feet long bullwhips and seemed to be seeing who could do the most continuous cracks. There was a talented younger man who was helping others. Some people were only able to do 2 cracks, while others kept going for several minutes. Even after such an achievement there was no applause, but you could feel the approval of the crowd.

For lunch Katrina & I met with Wang Baoli, our Global Volunteers coordinator. She took us to a Sichuan style restaurant near the hotel. She ordered us rice, stewed eggplant, bok choi, and some sort of cashew chicken sort of dish. It was very good. Katrina had never had eggplant before, but she is such a trooper, she seems to try everything without complaint. We tried to get a taxi to the school that we had meeting at, but there was a wedding letting out and 20 or more people in line for taxis, so we started walking. We made it to the school where Katrina will be teaching, a private school for autistic children. We had meetings until dinner time with Global Volunteers policy review & such, and then met staff for both of our schools. Several nursing students from the college I will be teaching at came to meet us too.

They asked each of us to introduce ourselves in English as much as possible, and the students had prepared notes. They did quite well and we all applauded each other’s efforts. They each had a question prepared too. In some cases it was "Do you like Xi'an?", "Have you been to Xi'an before?", or "Does the hot weather here make you feel short of air?" One girl asked us for our favorite singers. Katrina and I started trying to name somebody we thought they might have heard of, although I drew a blank for quite a while.

Us: Justin Beiber?
Them: Justin Beiber?

Us: Frank Sinatra?
Them: blank stare

Us: Elvis Presley?
Them: blank stare

Me: Lady Gaga?
Them: LADY GAGA!!!

Man, I love

China

Working at La La Shou (Xi'an China)

2011-05-14T22:56:00.002+07:00

Journal by: Katrina Beattie

We met at my school for autistic children, La La Shou. There was a room full of teachers, speaking in Chinese all at once. I could feel the panic rising up from my feet and sweat dripping down my back! How is this going to work? The room was very humid and everyone was looking at Peace and myself. Baoli, my team leader, began translating in English. I began to relax and a sense of well-being came over me. I knew this is where I was meant to be, here and now, at this moment.

After walking to school, I thought I had seen everything! People were dressed with suits, dresses, ankle length pantyhose, beautiful black haired girls with outfits that would have passed for American dressed girls with the latest attire. People dressed in rags. People with their wares on a towel to sell on the sidewalk, people eating porridge with chopsticks on the sidewalks, reading news, washing their cars, cooking, sitting, and staring at me! The smells were very different. Some were horrible, some were pleasant!

La La Shou means hand in hand in Chinese, One of the parents started the school, as she didn’t know how to educate her autistic son. There is not a special needs program in the schools of China. It operates on donations only. The school is incredible in that the teachers are caring and patient with these children who have short attention spans, can not tolerate loud noises, are obsessive compulsive, cannot stand to have anything wet on their skin and clothes. Most of all, the general population has difficulty accepting them, let alone trying to teach them. With very little money, the teachers and parents have found a way. The students seem very happy, they smile and love to be touched. There are approximately sixty students at La La Shou. They have various difficulties, just like the autistic children in the USA. They can have very atypical social behavior. They are in their own little world and want to stay there.

After meeting with the translators and the head teacher, Global Volunteers, team leader and myself, we decided that I would join the sixth grade. They were all boys and had become oppositional and somewhat aggressive. When I met them, I knew this was the spot for me! One of the students was rubbing his forehead and rocking back and forth. He was not a happy camper! I found out later they were not playing his choice in music.

After one week, when the teachers and I felt they would be comfortable with me. I taught them the English alphabet. They progressed quite well and seemed to be attentive to this strange English teacher from America.

I read them stories. One was “The Three Little Pigs”. THEY LOVED THE STORY AND WANTED TO HAVE IT READ TO THEM SEVERAL TIMES. We said the alphabet and numbers in English and sang songs. They also loved my scrapbook, showing pictures of my family and the museum where I worked, “Abraham Lincoln Museum.”

The boys at the school were a unique and tight little group with their own way of communicating with one another.

They all wanted English names, that was a really big deal. They loved the cartoon, “Tom and Jerry”, so I named them accordingly. Tie Jiawei (Shea Swek), was given the English name, Jerry. He was nonverbal, was in the top spectrum of autism, and would become very agitated if he could not listen to his favorite songs.

Mickey was very intelligent and learned English phrases quicker than I could learn the Chinese language. Periodically, he would want me to sing “Mickey Mouse” or “Chinese Opera.” He would say English sentences that would come up out of nowhere.

Donald was a crooner that would sing beautiful sad songs with a pretend microphone. I wanted to name him Frank Sinatra, but he liked Donald. His voice had perfect pitch.

One of the student’s was quite low functioning, but understood social behavior well, and was a joy to be around with his continual smile. We named him Shrek. He was a hero in his own sweet way. He also was nonverbal, but somehow was able to communicate with us by pointing and making disjointed sounds.

The last young man was Islo. He was the “assistant principal” of the group. He was constantly making sure his classmates were not wandering off and that they were paying attention in class. Islo was the always smiling as if he were watching a funny play that he was not a part of. He was a tremendous help. He would make sounds and pull us to attract our attention whenever the routine was off schedule or when the other students were doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing.

Join us at 'A Passage to China' at MOA!

2011-04-16T10:00:00.001+07:00

If you live in Minnesota or happen to be at the Mall of America this weekend, don't forget to stop by 'A Passage to China' to meet with our wonderful staff and volunteers!!

You can come take part in the fun event activities and learn about our volunteer service programs in Xi'an, Kunming & around the world!!

2011 Photos from Kunming, China

2011-04-13T21:35:00.000+07:00

Our 2011 volunteer teams in Kunming and Xi'an, China are off to a wonderful start! Please enjoy the images below and imagine yourself in these wonderful communities teaching conversational English.

Humanitarian Airfare Opportunity

2011-04-02T04:08:00.001+07:00

If you're seeking great deals on airfare for a service program later this year or in 2012, check out Fly For Good where you can receive excellent discounts when you travel as a volunteer. Simply contact your Volunteer Coordinator today to learn more about this excellent opportunity (you will need to get an official letter from Global Volunteers to qualify for certain deals)!!

Fly For Good website: http://www.flyforgood.com/

We look forward to speaking with you soon!

Call toll free (800) 487-1074.

Volunteer Shares Video Retrospective

2011-03-14T10:45:00.006+06:00

We're privileged to work with hundreds of wonderful volunteers, host partners, and supporters each and every day. Occasionally, we receive exceptional material to pass along to others....to tell the Global Volunteers story in a particularly striking way. A recent volunteer "retrospective" follows a group of volunteers over nine separate service programs. This segment portrays a team in China.

Thank you, Graham (above)! And to our online friends... ENJOY!!
http://www.youtube.com/user/endlessmug#p/u/6/SuiX4Sziz2c

Happy Chinese New Year!!

2011-02-14T16:01:00.001+06:00

Curious about Chinese New Year?? Read on to learn more!

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors. The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.

---------------------------------

Year 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit by the Chinese calendar.

So what does this mean?!?

"The Rabbit symbolizes graciousness, good manners, sound counsel kindness and sensitivity to beauty. His soft speech and graceful and nimble ways embody all the desirable traits of a successful diplomat or seasoned politician."

Please let us know if you would like to become a Global Volunteer in China this year! We have volunteer teams serving throughout the year in Xi'and Kunming. Call (800) 487 - 0174 today to learn more!

The Holidays are a Time of Giving!

2011-01-24T12:20:00.001+06:00

Veteran volunteer Roger Rossman joined Global Volunteers in Kunming, China for the holidays this year (December 2010 - January 2011).

Take a peek at some of his personal photos and consider joining us for your next holiday vacation. An international service program is an excellent way to experience a community and culture in an intimate way AND it gives you a geniune opportunity to give back to the international community. We hope to hear from you soon, and we sincerely thank Roger for his commitment and photos :)

Roger and his class.

Roger 'playing' his violin!

Roger and his student at the Ma Ma Fu Restaurant!

Consider volunteering in China & enjoying a Cultural Event!!

2011-01-13T03:43:00.003+06:00

Many volunteers choose their destination and volunteer team based on their schedules AND the cultural events happening in our host countries/communities. Check out this link to read about several events and celebrations in China & select your 2011 volunteer team today!!!

CNNGO LINK: http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/escape/2011-travel-planner-362357

Here is a sample of the Chinese events listed:

** January 5 to mid February: Harbin Ice Lantern Festival

Cold, but spectacular :)

At this annual freeze fest held in China’s northernmost province (-40°F temperatures and Siberian winds), the 2,000 plus intricate icicles carved in honor of the Lunar New Year include ephemeral masterpieces like the Great Wall toboggan ride and a 10-story high Arc de Triomphe.

The most colorful ones are lit from within, making night the ideal time to tour, for those unafraid of a little frostbite.

** February 3rd: Lunar New Year

Chinese people across Asia recognize the Chinese New Year at beginning of the first month of the lunar calendar, in late January or early February.

Their ancestors believed a fierce creature called the Nian would otherwise come down from the mountains to hunt villagers around this time of year. Even now they beat drums or gongs and set off fireworks to symbolically conquer the legendary monster.

Celebrations include festive street parades and illuminated displays of large sculptures of mythical characters like the God of Fortune and Chinese zodiac animals plus a nightly explosion of fireworks to scare off any Nian.

Call your Volunteer Coordinator TODAY & join us in 2011!!

"Spring into Service" in China!!

2010-12-14T22:41:00.001+06:00

“Spring into Service” with Global Volunteers to receive a special limited discount offer for our March and April teams!

Four or more volunteers who apply by January 31 for any of these 28 teams in 16 countries will receive a discount of $200 off our standard service program fee, per volunteer, for one-, two- or three-week international programs or $100 off our standard service program fee, per volunteer, for USA programs. No other discounts apply.

Please encourage others to volunteer in our five fundamental project areas: education (especially promotion of girls education), labor and community infrastructure, health care, child care, and food and nutrition.

Call us at 800-487-1074 for details and we'll assist you every step of the way. Our worldwide host communities can’t wait to welcome you!!

Check out this link for more details & service program dates: http://globalvolunteer.org/special/springspecial.asp

China Service Program, March & April Teams:
5-Mar-11 to 26-Mar-11
9-Apr-11 to 30-Apr-11

Please Vote for Global Volunteers this Weekend!

2010-11-19T20:58:00.000+06:00

Global Volunteers is engaged in a contest entitled 'Full Page Project' - put on by the Star Tribune newspaper in the Twin Cities - through November 21 amongst Minnesota non-profits and the winner will receive a free full page ad in an upcoming addition of the Sunday paper!

Please vote for us this week ~ you can vote once per hour!

Here is the link where you can register and then vote for Global Volunteers (please copy and paste the link): http://startribune.upickem.net/engine/Registration.aspx?contestid=22815

We would also encourage you to pass this link along to your family and friends, colleagues, classmates or students, and post it on your personal Facebook page or blog if you are able. Let us know if you have any questions, and remember voting goes until 5 p.m. Sunday!

Thank you for your support.

Team Journal ~ The Final Day

2010-11-19T02:51:00.001+06:00

”We came, we saw, we loved, we treasured, we gave, we received, we will never forget.” Kunming Team 189

November 19, 2010

Thought for the day: "You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give." Kahlil Gibran 'On Giving'.

In a way, the morning program we were invited to attend was also a morning of giving...from the school administration of all of us….first as a group and then individually.

We arrived at school and were ushered into what had been Mary and Joe's classroom. A wide space was given over for the two groups of students, all girls (with one solo male with the older group), who performed two tribal dances, complete with beautiful costumes and accompanying music via a recording. The school's principals, vice-principals, assistant principals along with our English teachers were all present, when we were asked to take a seat on the front rows. Water and those delicious Clementine’s were placed in front of us. In no time, cameras were ablaze as Serena translated the thank yous from the administration. Phyllis reciprocated by presenting to Mr. Dai a photo of this particular group standing in front of the school along with the logo of Global Volunteers superimposed at the bottom and with our signatures affixed. Phyllis also presented a card written by us expressing the warmth and enthusiasm we felt from both students and teachers during our two week stay. Phyllis further captured the moment of all of us by expressing our feelings of acceptance and friendship we've felt being amongst them. Lastly we were asked to come to front and center for more photo ops and a presentation by their art teacher to each one of us...a handsome 'poster'; each one different. Some related a story while others set out to explain a way of learning; of gaining knowledge; something we have all endeavored to get across to our students.

The program ended and we all met outside for one huge group photo, complete with our dancers. It was then time to say our good-byes, which, for some of us brought tears to not only our eyes, but to the eyes of a few of those dear teachers who could not accompany us to the planned luncheon. After all, there were classes yet to be taught and plenty of students to fill those rooms.

Annie and Lily along with dear Mr. Dai accompanied us to a lovely restaurant featuring 'across the bridge noodles', a local dish in which the noodles continue to cook in the hot broth while other items are added. The bowls are huge. We were met there by Shirley, Owen, Chris, the PE Teacher, Assistant Principal Wang and a lady at our table, unknown to me. We needed two tables to accommodate our crowd. It was during this meal, I learned the value of 'slurping' and it was essential form; even for those accustomed to the chopsticks; so I slurped with the best of them. Served next to this large bowl of soup was a much smaller bowl of what Shirley told us was another Yunnan specialty - steamed chicken soup. It was quite tasty.

We departed the restaurant to allow everybody to get back to school aned we were accompanied back to the hotel for the last time. Goodbyes were said; some teary eyes appeared; and then last minute plans for tomorrow morning and getting to the airport. Mary and Joe and been taken back to the hotel prior to the luncheon so they might make their mid-afternoon flight home. Curtis will be departing early tomorrow morning, even before breakfast time for a few more days in Dali. Barbara and Anita will be picked up by the school van around nine and Phyllis a bit later.

Back to our rooms for more packing and tidying up and then Barbara, Curtis, Phyllis and I walked over to Mama Fu's Restaurant nearby for a last dinner. We had planned to eat there earlier in the week but the rain threw a damper on any walk and so we left it for tonight. Nice meal and I can see why previous teams have suggested it. Not in the same league as previous wonderful minority dinners, mind you, but pleasant--especially their ribs.

So this is how our last school day in Kunming was spent. It did not seem possible that these two weeks have literally flown by the way they have. We've seen so many things, while in this most unusual place. We learned more from the students and their teachers than we possibly taught them and we had a feeling that would be the case. I for one feel all the richer for this experience and will forever have a soft spot in my heart for this Kunming experience.

Submitted by, Anita Verbeke

Team Journal, November 15

2010-11-15T08:49:00.000+06:00

November 15, 2010

Thought for the day: "If you don't know where you're going, you'll wind up somewhere else." Yogi Berra

Starting our second week with the usual breakfast at 8:00am, each of us have developed a pattern as to our likes and dislikes from the large and varied buffet. At our post breakfast briefing Phyllis put up the chart of “Characteristics of an Effective Team”. These were keywords we had brainstormed at our very first meeting. The ten items we listed were:

1. Considerate
2. Respectful
3. Sense of humor
4. Flexible
5. Think before speaking
6. Acceptance of goals
7. Timeliness
8. Listen to others
9. Patience
10. Sharing
On review of this list a week later, we all generally felt the team did have these characteristics.

Then we reviewed the five goals that we posted at that first meeting which were:

1. To help children improve their English.
2. To exchange ideas with others.
3. To learn about modern Chinese culture and people.
4. To experience Kunming
5. To represent American volunteer spirit in China.

On review of these goals after one week, we do feel we “know where we are going”.

After lunch we departed for our classes with the junior level students and at the end of the day we went to dinner with teachers Annie and Katrina. Our driver, Mr. Dai selected the restaurant and menu. The dinner had a large variety of dishes including tofu soup and a braised pork dish. The restaurant was located not far from the school in northern Kunming. It was adjacent to the huge apartment complex project which we have seen from distance which looks like a dark fortress complex because of construction curtains which are still in place.

At our after dinner at our wrap up meeting in the hotel we all agreed that the local teacher plays an important role in helping us interact with the students such that they are comfortable in expressing themselves in English. Phyllis advised us that on Friday we would be having lunch with the school principal and his staff.

Submitted by Curtis Joe

Team Journal, November 11

2010-11-11T19:07:00.000+06:00

November 11, 2010

Thought for the day: "If you only do what you know you can do---you never do very much.” Tom Krause, Motivational Speaker.

Following breakfast, we met our hotel staff for tutoring for the second time this week. Two original waitresses came back but the one waiter came in to whisper to one of his colleagues he had to work and could not attend. Halfway through the hour, one waitress and one waiter joined our group. They came prepared with huge smiles. Today's lesson was more concrete. 'I am a waitress; this is a glass of water, this is a cup of tea, this is a knife, a spoon, a fork, this is a bowl, a napkin and these are chopsticks.' They wrote the words, we went over and over the pronunciation and then as I pointed to or picked up an item, they would then tell me what the object was...and as the pace picked up, many laughs went around the table as they tried [and succeeded] in keeping up the pace as well. I am not too certain just how much the two new arrivals fared; but they were attentive and those smiles appeared to be most genuine.

We gathered at 11:45 for one last 'Hokey Pokey' goes thru. It was the opinion of the group we not rush through with our presentation at the school. While the early part of the day had us dressing a bit warmer for sure and some of us committed to dragging along an umbrella the sun came out when we arrived for the school's competitive Dance Day. The huge open area that sits between the two buildings was their huge staging area. Tables and benches were waiting for us next to the judges table. The program had commenced at 1:30; and Annie immediately came over to tell me that our group was to follow one group of teachers that were 'now on deck'. She mentioned where we should then report, and be ready to march in and present ourselves to the judges table. March in? Was she kidding? Why for goodness sakes, we didn't know about a 'before' or an 'after' to our dynamite routine, much less practice for it.

Nonetheless, as we were being introduced, all of a sudden we were aware of cheering from all around this grand stage. By George; they were cheering for us. But even THAT loud sound of welcome did not prepare us for their high regard for our group effort. Except for a major boo-boo made unfortunately by Anita, the lady with the microphone, the rest of the Fabulous Five minus One rallied on. Even the many cameras and video did not thwart. We strutted offstage as we had come on....Barbara instantly had a young admirer snap her picture on the youngster's cell phone but gave her a hug as well. Star power. Soon enough, other admirers came forth, grinning and laughing letting us know how well we had done and how we had been appreciated. Silly song notwithstanding--as director, I fully believe that with a little tweak here and there, we might surely take this little gem of ours on the road. I can be contacted after our project...that is if we think we might want to make this a 'go'.
We were all delighted to have seen the children perform...all of them. It became evident that despite our having met but nine classes to date, we recognized OUR KIDS out there front and center and we took proprietary interest in how they danced! They were delicious to watch. The weather also co-operated, making our outing truly a thumbs-up event.

Got caught in bumper-to-bumper-to-bumper one our way back to the hotel for a small and intimate dinner this evening. Once again, we were in Mr. Dai's patient and capable hands driving our van.

Fresh air is sure to work magic this evening when it comes to calling it a memorable day.

Submitted by, Anita Verbeke

Team Journal, November 8

2010-11-08T13:46:00.000+06:00

Monday, November, 8 2010

Thought for the day: “ A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.” Chinese Proverb

Our first day of work began with some organization of the supplies in our library/office. It appears that over the years, an outstanding collection of teaching materials and aids for a better volunteer experience have accumulated. The portable toilet seat took away a worry of a few of the female participants because of the lack of western toilets at the school. I would think that future groups should limit their contributions to this supply base and bring only personal photos, etc.

Our teaching at the school began in the afternoon. The journey to the school took about twenty minutes. As soon as we exited the van, the kids swarmed us with smiles and "hellos". Each of our three groups had three forty minute sessions with the younger age groups -ages 10-12.

The afternoon was very quickly over and the group was taken to a restaurant run by the Chinese Nan minority (Islamic tradition) who has been in the Kunming area for centuries. Our meal included a Kunming local food-steamed chicken soup with medicinal herbs. Two English teachers from the school and our driver joined us for dinner.

At our closing session in the evening, we shared our experiences in teaching today. All three groups had different approaches and visuals aids-maps blowup globes, photos on computers, math games, days of the week exercises etc. We all quickly modified our approach as the afternoon progressed because the material and language was a bit over the heads of the younger children.

The Chinese English teachers were very helpful with translation and suggestions.

Submitted by Mary Mastin

Team Journal ~ And So We Begin...

2010-11-07T17:42:00.000+06:00

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Thought for the Day: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." --Maya Angelou, poet; b.1928

None of us had any difficulty in making it down to breakfast at 8 am-- this in spite of our having pushed dinner last night from 5 pm to 7 pm, an executive decision made by Phyllis AND deeply appreciated by Barbara and myself: late-comers due to a canceled flight from Hangzhou.

Breakfast is a grand affair, buffet style with an interesting array of breakfast fare. I could tell I wasn't 'in Kansas anymore' when I realized Corn Flakes and Raisin Bran were not only among the missing, but at the very end of the table, sandwiched in between the pineapple juice and coffee/tea in three dainty bowls I found some Rice Crispies, Cheerios and Muesli. Well, it made my day along with vanilla yogurt, fresh fruit and coffee. I noticed others with their egg white omelets, miss soup, french fries and sautéed vegetables. We even had our own carafe of coffee with hot milk in our private dining room. We met for the first of our meetings up on the 20th floor in the conference room; a large sign greeting Global Volunteers across from the elevator and a smiling young hotel employee showing us into the room.

We spent a good deal of time discussing ourselves in more detail than last night at our first dinner. We're a small group of five; with most interesting and diverse backgrounds and along with our country manager that no doubt will add much to our group's dynamic these next two weeks. 'Housekeeping chores' were discussed and volunteers stepped up for: Anita to remind us who will be keeping the journal along with the thought for the day; Curtis to collate the journals and pass them on to Phyllis before we all depart; Barbara to serve as our 'social director and see who might be interested in sharing a group outing over the week-end and then contact Chris at tonight's Banquet and ask him if he might have a guide in mind for us. Mary and Joe will co- ordinate our last evening's 'wrap party' on Thursday the 18th when we come back from dinner with our teachers. Phyllis's only suggestion was a 'surprise us!'

Broke for an immediate lunch--whose menu had been decided upon by the group at breakfast. We thought three dishes [two vegetables and one meat] in addition to their tasty rice dish would tide us over until tonight’s dinner. It did!

Afternoon meeting at 1:30 discussed Global Volunteers objectives in our own words along with characteristics of an effective team. Touched upon a master schedule from our English teacher and the policies/guidelines of Global Volunteers i.e. we'll not bring cameras to school until the second Monday. Curtis will be doing a solo teaching job while Mary and Joe will team teach as will Barbara and Anita.

After a short break, Serena and Lily came at 3:30 for an hour's Chinese lesson. It was a most intriguing hour of Chinese basics. It also became crystal clear who was our most challenged volunteer, Anita. Our instructors were not only charming but patient—two attributes I will try my best to emulate while I am here with the roles reversed with our students. We also learned our students will range in age from nine to thirteen and our school is the Kunming Heavy Industry Middle School with a thousand students.

Here it is, 7:45 and we're back from our Banquet hosted by principal, assistant principals and the English teachers from our school. We were split between two tables, drank many a toast welcoming us to their city and school. Our lazy susans were filled with [by my count] fourteen dishes including two soups. My palate and I agreed wholeheartedly how one of the soups, a pork-mushroom-tofu plate, and the bread were terrific. Everybody else agreed that the rest of the meal was an event and delicious.

Tomorrow is Monday, the start of our reason for being here.

Submitted by Anita Verbeke

Team Journal, October 29

2010-10-29T22:10:00.000+07:00

Friday, October 29 - Greg

Thought for the day: "There's no place like home."

Goodbyes are bittersweet. Bitter for obvious reasons, but there's also a positive side because some of the really good stuff on a trip like this happens at the end.

Last night the girls and I finally got to hang out with teachers from the school- and the reason it worked out, finally, was that we all knew there wasn't much time left, it was now or never. It was a great visit over late dinner at One Noodle Under the Sun.

This morning the students put on a goodbye ceremony for us. At these things we see sides of our students that we don't get to see in the classroom: special talents, more nature social interaction, etc. Then afterwards we said goodbyes and took pictures. There were tears - and of course it's not that everyone was hiding these feelings all along, but the end is when we're moved by the experience and appreciate it this way.

Tonight before dinner I walked down a couple streets taking pictures in the light of our last evening in Xi'an, sort of appreciating the cityscape in ways I hadn't yet and saying goodbye.

Another experience that I had to wait for until the end.

Team Journal, October 28

2010-10-28T22:09:00.000+07:00

Thursday, October 28 - Mary Ellen

The ancient story of Gilgamesh teaches that the secret of life is that "all things change." And our lives are all about to change again as we return to our homes tomorrow, and Baoli too will soon start her new life as a mother.

In Future Shock, Tofler wrote of a world soon to come where change will take place at such a pace that humans will barely be able to cope with it. Here in China that accelerated change boggles the mind and convinces me that all people everywhere are in the same boat, even if we don't see it as readily when we're home as we do here. "We all live in a yellow submarine."

Today, Xi'an Biomedical Tech. College teachers taught 2 regular classes. Judith and I combined our last class period, same as yesterday, by teaching "My Country 'Tis of Thee," which really is a great song for china as well, minus the Pilgrim reference of course. Judith did a great job explaining how the song shows pride for both our countries. It's a great song and the students (mostly girls) sang very well.

Our third class was cancelled for a teachers' meeting which was very cordial. They asked us about our techniques and thanked us for our contributions.

Then we ate at the students' cafeteria. We had a delicious soup with noodles and a new drink: fresh hot soy milk. I thought this would be gross but was oh so wrong!
Then back up the three flights of stairs to rest until our 2:30 tai chi lesson outdoors with the students. We concluded the day with the usual van ride home but with three new twists: First, filling up at a gas station inhaling awful gasoline fumes that filled the van; Second, Mr. Sun the driver and his apprentice getting out of the van to switch places at the entrance ramp to the expressway; Third, witnessing the shutting down traffic as a security measure for VIPs passing by with the attendant police cars, just as if Obama was in town.

Ginny, Judith, Baoli and I wrapped up the day with a terrific meal of noodles at the KuKu place with the best-yet dessert of sticky rice and brown sugar.

Team Journal, October 27

2010-10-27T22:08:00.000+07:00

Wednesday, October 27 - Fred

Thought for the day: "Fifty years from now it will not matter what kind of car you drove, what kind of house you lived in, how much money you had in your bank account. But the world may be a little better place because you were important in the life of a child, or a student."

Cloudy and cool but no rain this morning. Classrooms were quite cool. Heat will not be turned on at the college until Nov. 15.

Here it is Wednesday already, only two days of teaching left. Today's ride to High Tech fast and uneventful. Had two small classes today, only 15 in each. As usual there were about 6 in each interested in trying to practice their English. It was a good morning though. Our driver and his car had other duties at noon so we took a taxi back to the hotel. I decided to take a walk to Bell Tower, the sun came out, warmed it up some and was a good walk. Bought some things at the Muslim Market.

Highlight of the day was on my way back to the hotel. I looked toward the street and much to my surprise, in a bus going by, were Mary Ellen, Judith and Ginny waving at me. Dinner at 6pm, good food, good conversation and the end of another day in Xi'an.

Team Journal, October 26

2010-10-26T22:07:00.000+07:00

Tuesday, October 26 - Gwendolyn

Thought for the day: "Never give up!" - Winston Churchhill

Another cool and rainy day began with Cici picking us up at the hotel. We teachers began to appreciate what a good driver Mr. Sun is as he has navigated some hair-raising traffic every day to deliver us safe and sound at the Biomedical Tech College. Today, he slammed on the brakes to avoid another driver and then that same driver nearly hit us again. Mr. Sun was "very angry," Cici explained to us as he was muttering to himself afterwards. We laughed and assured her that we needed no translation - his feelings toward the other driver were absolutely clear!

The class this morning was lively, eager to participate and especially eager to have fun! We played a couple of games and learned the song "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean." Judith and Mary Ellen brought their classes upstairs to sing for mine, and then we sang back.

The afternoon's adventure took us by bus to Art Street, hoping to see the "Forest of Steles" museum. Judith accompanied us on our outing. The neighborhood was enchanting and the stores filled with all sorts of brushes, paper and ink as well as paintings, jade carvings and other treasure. We had several chops made. We were looking for the museum, but couldn't seem to find it. After asking a couple of people, we learned that it was "straight ahead." We arrived at big, red, definitely closed doors and stood there pondering. A lovely woman saw our consternation and told us that the door was around back - Aha! Our quest was at an end. We found the door, looking inside and decided it was now too cold and too late.

We headed back to hunt for the bus home and eventually found it. We were very late for dinner but our teammates were gracious and forgiving!

Team Journal, October 25

2010-10-25T22:06:00.000+07:00

Monday, October 25 - Ginny

Thought for the day: "Don't sweat the small stuff. It's all small stuff."

Today began as a holiday for Fred and I. It was like a "No-school day in Worchester due the snow" only I knew this last Friday. Instead of rushing from breakfast room at 7:15, we lingered until 8:15.

Around 10:30am Wang Ping called and invited Fred and I to lunch at her house. She won't be doing the cooking (she isn't a good cook or so she says) but another teacher at Hi Tech College will cook, Miao Rong. Wang Ping picks Fred and I up at the hotel and brings us to her apartment on the 6th floor. The apartment is a very large one and belongs to her parents who are in the 70's and presently renting an apartment in another place on the second floor. There is no heat in the apartment but a pipe is present to be hooked up to a heating system if the community wants heat. Then each apartment owner will have to buy the heating, wait to be attached to the pipe. It can be very cold in Xi’an (-10 Celsius to -3 Celsius) in winter. Wang Ping told us she spends cold days in a bed covered by quilts. I notice a wall air conditioning unit and ask her about it. It does give off some heat but not much.

Miao Rong cooks a delicious 12 vegetable soup with a small noodle added called "cat's ears" since this is their shape. Miao states that many Chinese youngsters do not eat their vegetables, preferring meat to vegetables. So she cooks this soup for her 5-year-old son and husband often for lunch. Also two additional cold dishes are served, one a pigskin with garlic in vinegar and another darkly colored egg slices quite colorfully arranged. Sweets of all kinds were served and Wang Ping insists that I bring them to the hotel. Fred leaves to meet his Chinese friend. Wang Ping is concerned about Fred so calls his friend and asks her to call her when Fred arrives. Wang Ping gets the cab for Fred too. Miao returns home as her son gets home from school at 5pm. Wang Ping wants me to stay longer and insists on getting the taxi and riding to the hotel with me. She showed me pictures of me and Kitty taken in 2005. I am amazed that she kept them on her computer.

The most outstanding memory I will have of this day is how Wang Ping has really come out of her shell or shyness with me. She is sharp and gives it back to me whenever she can. I love it. She is still nervous at first but then she realizes we are all friends and relaxes. I forgot to mention her husband came in for lunch and all three of them worked in the kitchen making our lunch. I know I have found more Chinese friends in Xian. Global Volunteers has again made a difference in my life.

Team Journal, October 24

2010-10-24T22:05:00.000+07:00

Sunday, October 24 - Judith

It is said that Mark Twain visited Orange County, California, in the height of a summer drought, he stood on the shore above the bone-dry Santa Ana River and quipped, "water does something for a river." And that, slightly adapted to "Water does something for Xi'an," is the thought for today. On Sunday rain came to this part of China; mostly it was a light drizzle that made the sidewalks slick, the hair damp, and the tree leaves glimmer, but, oh, the sweet pleasure of that cooling, smog-defying water. May it rain all week.

The day dawned sleepy, with all the members of our group drifting to the breakfast table a lot later than usual. Thanks to Mary and Ginny's kind intervention, I was invited to tour a bit of the city with them and Wang Ping, a teacher from Ginny's school. And a lovely day it was, though shot through with the nervous cultural dance of Chinese politeness and American unfamiliarity with Chinese social custom.

We taxied first to the Bell Tower and listened to a short but lovely bell concert played by one man and four 4 women dressed in Tang Dynasty finery (Wang Ping dismissed the elegant gowns as "too inconvenient" for modern Chinese). One of the bell players was actually playing not on bells but on beautifully sonorous pieces of slate.

Not long after the bell concert, we had a delicious lunch at the Muslim Quarter; then Ginny took a taxi home and Wang Ping, her sweet, husband, Mary and I went scouring the Quarter for gifts for friends and family at home. Mary emerged as a stellar bargainer. I was less good, but Wang Ping was kind enough to negotiate 50% off one of my purchases.

We were wet and chilly on the way home, but the rain had eliminated most of the smog, so visibility was high and breathing easy. We were able to persuade (actually arm-twist) Wang Ping and her husband into joining us for coffee in the hotel bar. The conversation was lively and we felt like we'd made a good friend in Wang Ping.

At 6:00 pm we got another good meal, at which Elizabeth told me about her Warrior Cats and Gwendolyn regaled us with accounts of the strange but wonderful denizens of the Washington public library system - including "Oversized Book Man" and "Tony-with-the-identical-twin-cousin-named-Xavier". Lots of laughter, then to bed.

Team Journal, October 23

2010-10-23T22:04:00.000+07:00

Saturday, October 23 - Mary Ellen

Thought for the day: "To pass by these towering crippled remains reduces me to an inner silence, and the lust to express [myself], which keeps tormenting me in the presence of this awesome sight, is stripped of words." - Gao Xing Jian, the first Chinese author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, in Soul Mountain

Saturday, I substituted for Fred with Ginny, with Tara and Patty (Wang Ping) from XUT, Xi'an University of Technology. Fred was teaching. Tara's husband took us out of the city to this apartment complex near the airport. We visited her husband's new school, Juntai Training School, which definitely caters to the children of the wealthy and upper middle class.

We walked to one of the gated communities really to visit a beautiful new ground-floor 3 bedroom apartment owned by a very successful business man. We met his wife and children and sat down to tea and fruit snacks. His daughter is an accomplished pianist at only 10 years of age. "Everything is for the children!" said the father. His 3-year-old son is already addicted to computer games and had a major meltdown when father tried to get him away from the computer. Now that's something Chinese and American parents face in common.

We visited Tara's penthouse apartment in another gated community at the complex, rolling out, stuffing ourselves silly on out-of-season New Year's dumplings. Both apartments had 2 western toilets. Imagine the water problems China is headed for if every home in China has 2 toilets flushing. Yet who can blame them for wanting these necessities?

Then we walked back to the school where Ginny taught a group of children "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." And then we ate again, this time at a restaurant in a farming village where we learned that the northern Chinese staple food is corn meal rather than rice -- a bowl of it with almost every evening meal along with vegetables and a little meat.

But the best new food find was a popular delicious drink which we found astonishing: coke with fresh ginger root heated up in a kettle and served hot in glasses. Fantastic end to a fantastic day!

Team Journal, October 22

2010-10-22T22:02:00.000+07:00

Friday, October 22 - Greg

Thought for the day: "Now the fat lady is going to sing." - Wang Bao Li

Friday was about people. I spent time with Rebecca while Elizabeth went to the school to teach with Gwendolyn. We missed breakfast but were able to catch my parents on Skype. Once we got video working, I moved my laptop around to show them what Xi'an looks like from our hotel window.

In the morning Rebecca and I ran some errands. She led me to a notebook shop she had been to with Gwendolyn last week. We spent the rest of the morning in the lobby with the laptop, catching up on homework.

In the afternoon we had the farewell celebration with the teachers and students from the two schools. I'm glad we had it now to include the two-week teachers. We got to meet teachers and students from each others' schools. We had a great time. The three-weekers will miss Elli, K.C. and Tommy a lot.

The girls and I hit the Big Goose Pagoda at the end of the day. When we got in the taxi I said Da Yan Ta to the driver and he didn't repeat it back or ask for clarification. Usually when I try to speak Chinese I get some feedback that tells me what (low) percentage I pronounced correctly, so this was a little unnerving. I asked a follow-up question about whether the Big Goose Pagoda was close to the Small Goose Pagoda. He just said Bu (no) which told me that either he was understanding me, or he plain didn't feel like talking. He did take us right to the big goose, so I'm counting that encounter as a language victory.

There wasn't the expected light & sound water show that we expected at the Big Goose Pagoda, but we did meet a guy who spoke English and got to hang out a little with him, talking in Chinese and English. Mostly English.

Team Journal, October 20

2010-10-20T11:00:00.000+07:00

October 20, 2010 - Judith

Thought of the day: "Trying is all, the rest is not our business." -- T.S.Eliot

I'm told that in China 10/20/2010 is not auspicious, but to me since it's a palindrome, it looks and feels like a very special day indeed. It began with the standard breakfast at which appeared K.C., who told us that the severity of his cold and the pain of his back meant that he wouldn't be able to continue with his teaching. Our subteam of 5- all more or less healthy and fit- got to the Biotech College with not a single tragedy -- no harrowing traffic incidents and no more smog than usual. Everyone reported (at noon) that our second week classes were good. My family pictures were a big hit certainly.

Lunch was especially good -- featuring two bean soup and other beautiful dishes. A post-breakfast team meeting and discussion revealed that the four goals we established at the outset of this journey are being met. We agree that we know Xi’an better and have, in truth, established ties in the community and the group.

At 2:30 three of us (Greg, Mary Ellen and I) went with Baoli for a trip to La La Shou, one of the only schools in China for children with special needs. The school is a remarkable place. It occupies several stories of a 5-story building, has a fine central office/library/conference room combination, and a large staff. La La Shou's primary purpose is to enable children with autism and developmental delays to reach their fullest potential. At present there are about 60 students- 90% of them boys. Every effort is made to support the parents on their challenging journey with their fragile children. It was heart-wrenching for me to see parents and grandparents come by the school to escort the children home. Most of the kids are autistic; almost all are formidably hard to handle.

Currently the school is recipient of a large grant from the German Helfswerk Project, is in the running for a grant from Jet Lee's charitable organization, and has gained government recognition. This project, started by two brilliant mothers 8 years ago is on the cusp of greatness, I think.

7:00pm found the Haley family, Ginny, Elli, Mary Ellen, Baoli and me heading off (by cab) to the Shaanxi Grand Opera House for a dumpling dinner and musical show. The meal, as Ginny predicted, was delicious and more than ample (and 20 substantial courses including cabbage, shrimp, pork and duck dumplings), a complimentary glass of warm rice wine mellowed the group and made us ready to sing along with the performers. Since Tommy was not there to help us, we refrained.

The Tang Dynasty Show was impressive, with beautiful size 0 dancing maidens skimpy costumes floating with remarkable grace across the stage. Most of the music was westernized. Once Australian man muttered as we left, "I'll bet traditional Chinese are groaning." Still, the show was great. The musicians - a group of 18 - filled the hall with lutes, pan pipes bells, drums, cymbals and trumpets as well as several instruments that were rather like marimbas, hammer dulcimers and balaloukas. For me, the most impressive dance was the Spring Dance in which each dancer artfully used diaphanous fabric to illustrate the gentle breezes of Spring. The best instruments were the 8 man who performed the delightfully amusing "Quarrel Between the Ducks." The piece was richly contrapuntal and full of musical jokes. Quite a tour de force.

In all, QUITE a day.

Team Journal, October 19

2010-10-19T21:56:00.000+07:00

Tuesday, October 19 - Tommy

Thought for the Day: Fame can be demanding!

Looking out the window the window this morning... I hope there is a fog or heavy haze... otherwise, the smog is thick today. Breakfast as usual, the meal most like home... and, with real silverware, except Fred brings his chopsticks.

I am sorry to say, it is a thick smog but not much of a damper on our day... Cici met us and went with us to the school and then passed us off to Swallow... Swallow took us on to a nurse training vocational school and we began a 5-hour royal treatment... drum and dance... up to their conference room for instructions... then back down for more drum and dance... then to an auditorium FULL of really EAGER students. This was just the beginning... here we introduced ourselves and answered questions...

Then outside to have personal pictures taken by students and with students... play badminton, ping pong, dance etc etc... then a group picture... True celebrities!! Then to a really nice lunch with everyone who was anyone in that county... I have failed to mention that all the men had suits and ties and the women were in more or less formal business suits...

It wasn't over... now to the "farmers'" art museums (plural because there were 2 of them)... I suspect these are professional artists, but, in any case, they have a style and quality that is quite artistic... this 1/2 day ended back at the hotel @ 4:30. End of 2nd Tuesday...

Team Journal, October 18

2010-10-18T21:46:00.002+07:00

Monday, October 18 - Fred

Thought for the Day:
"Life is a song--Sing it
Life is a game - Play it
Life is a challenge - Meet it
Life is a dream--Realize it
Life is a sacrifice--Offer it
Life is Love--Enjoy it"

After two days off from teaching, with most time spent seeing the sights of Xi'an, it is back to work. Those of us at High Tech enjoyed our fastest ride to class today. Arrived at our first class at 8am. Traffic was very light. Eager students awaited us with smiles, but had very few words to say to us. The morning went by very fast. Our regular driver had other duties at noon so we were surprised when our chauffeur turned out to be the college president, with Miao Rong as our interpreter, as he speaks very little English. As it was on our ride to the college, a very fast ride back to the hotel, very light traffic. After another great lunch, I believe most took the time to get some rest from a very busy weekend. Dinner will be at a Hot Pot Restaurant near by this evening. After a short walk down the street we came to the restaurant. We had a room to ourselves, with one table with two pots, each divided into two sections. One with a hot broth, the other with a mild broth. Both were very good. The meal consisted of two meats, potatoes, mushrooms, noodles, seaweed noodles, lettuce, quail eggs, and I am sure some other things. All enjoyed doing their own cooking and we left in happy spirits and a full stomach. Another good day with Global Volunteers in Xi'an.

Team Journal, October 17

2010-10-17T21:41:00.001+07:00

Sunday, October 17 - Judith

Thought for the day: "None of us can express the exact measure of our words, or our ideas, or our sorrows, and human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we beat our tunes for bears to dance to, when we long to move the stars to pity." - Gustave Flaubert

For the seventh morning now, I took a pass on "congee" and noodles and opted for more familiar Cheerios and yogurt. By nine a.m. Tommy, Mary Ellen, Ginny and I were standing in the cool lobby where we were greeted by our size 2 tour guide, whose English name was "Chili" but whose Chinese name was the less unlikely Yang Yang. Our tour group was completed by Cyril, a handsome young orthodox priest currently teaching theology in Beijing. Cyril proved to be a cordial and articulate tour mate.

Mr. Toad's wild ride commenced at 9:15. Our first stop was Banpo Museum, on the Eastern outskirts of Xi'an. Banpo, a cultural museum of considerable charm, has preserved the site of a matriarchal Neolithic Yangshao Culture from 6000 years ago. Too soon, we were shepherded to a pottery factory, where we saw all manner of small and large terracotta replicas. The objects in the lacquered table room were stunning, but somewhat out of our groups' budget.

Stop three was the Huaqing Hot Springs and Palace, a famous resort for millenia of Chinese Emperors. It was here that the Emperor of the HanWu dynasty built Xanadu known to most of us because of Coleridge's poem and Citizen Kane. Huaqing Palace was also the site of the "Xi'an Incident," in which Shang Kai Shek was captured in his pajamas by two of his own Generals.

For lunch--not nearly as good as the lunches we get here at the Xi'an Empress--we ate right next to a "Silk Road Exhibit", which was mostly an opportunity to purchase silk products. In our walkthrough, we were told about the silk making process from worm to fabric. Unfortunately, the women who would have illustrated the steps to us were all on their lunch break.

Back on the van, we drove through a busy farmer's market. Even zipping through the streets proved a high point for we saw flower, fruit, and animal merchants-far more like the "real" China than any museum.

The Emperor Qin's Terra Cotta Warriors and Horse museum was impressive, crowded, and remarkably short on horses. There was lots of jostling for camera space. Tommy said that weekday visits are considerably less congested. The achievement of the terracotta army is staggering, and the site well deserves its designation as the 8th wonder of the world. Seeing it was worth a 6000 mile trip, worth many an upset stomach; worth difficult teaching assignments. After touring all 3 excavation pits, we 5 celebrated with an ice cream and limped over to watch the cinema in the round presentation on the site--a show presented entirely in English. We were back in the van by 5:00 and home by 6:00. It was a long and interesting day. Would that we were all as young as Cyril, however.

Team Journal, October 16

2010-10-16T21:40:00.000+07:00

Saturday, October 16 – Gwendolyn

Thought for the day: “Hop on the bus, Gus.” – Paul Simon

After Friday’s various health adventures, we were all relieved to wake up Saturday feeling much, much better. All the same, we decided to take it easy.

To that end, we set out to take a taxi to the North Gate – Greg remembered that there was a McDonald’s on the north side that we saw from the top of the wall last week. The only problem was that once we got to the North Gate, we didn’t know if the McDonald’s was east or west from there. The view from the ground was completely different! We asked directions, but understanding directions is still a skill in development.

So we walked and walked. Finally we decided that we should try to hail a cab. No luck. Ultimately, we ended up in a motorcycle cab. He took us through the Muslim Quarter to the Drum Tower and a McDonald’s. Hooray!

After all the tummy troubles yesterday, chicken nuggets and French fries really hit the spot. Greg was thrilled to find a hot and spicy chicken sandwich – something that McD’s doesn’t have in the U.S.

Fortified with lunch, we explored the Market and came away with "qi paos" (Chinese dresses/tops) for the girls and various gifts for family and friends at home.

Then it was time to find a cab to go back to the Empress Hotel. No luck on the main street – not a taxi in sight. We decided to try out luck on a side street and so we walked, making our way toward the East Gate. No luck. By this time, everyone was hot, tired and cranky. Still no taxis. They either had people in them, or were not taking passengers. It was one of those situations where our communication skills were not up to the task and there were rules in play that we did not know or understand. But this time, I was carrying Rebecca. We decided to make our way back to the main road again.

As we rounded the corner, we saw the Hyatt Hotel – a welcome oasis. (Did I mention that some of us where in dire need of a restroom?) We went inside, to use the facility, rest and ask the English-speaking staff for help. Lo and behold, the #8 bus stopped right outside and would take us home for 1 yuan each. Hooray!

Refreshed and armed with this new knowledge we sallied forth to wend our way home quickly and conveniently thanks to wonderful public transportation.

When we got home, we vegged out by watching Spongebob Squarepants on TV. It makes as much sense to grown-ups in Mandarin as it does in English. Then out to a dinner of noodles and fried rice. All-in-all a very good day, if a little more grueling than we had intended. Through it all, we found the residents of Xi’an to be friendly and helpful. It was our own inability to communicate effectively that caused our difficulties. Now we know: Take the bus!

Team Journal, October 15

2010-10-15T21:38:00.000+07:00

Friday, October 15, 2010 – Greg

Thought for the day (paraphrased from the traditional Wedding bible passage):
If I speak in understandable Mandarin, and master the Xi’an local dialect, but have not love, I have become just a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of perfect communication, and travel all over the city uncovering every hidden mystery of this ancient city; and if I keep up hope, and life the spirits of my travel-weary wife and children, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give every last yuan to beggars in the streets, and weather my intestinal distress without complaining, but have not love, what is the point?

Today my class only had six students, plus teacher Lisa who sat in and participated with the class. The first half of my calls was spent working with English names. I start by handing out pieces of paper with names of people in my life on them; the students take turns asking, "Who is Jill? Who is Doug?" and I respond, "Jill is my sister. Doug is my brother." Then, they choose their own English names from the pile of names I've given them.

I've been enjoying teaching, but even more I've enjoyed talking to the English teachers. This is partly because their English level is higher, and partly because I know that as much as I am helping their students, I'm also helping them in their jobs. Seeing their teachers talking in English to foreigners must build respect in the students for their teacher's ability.

Team Journal, October 14

2010-10-14T21:38:00.000+07:00

Thursday, October 14, 2010--Elli

Thought of the day: "If you save one person, it's as if you saved the whole world." Jewish Proverb

Quote of the day: "We survived another u-turn." Tommy

When the day started, I felt like I finally "got it". What am I doing here, how should I teach these young people to improve their conversational English. What approach will work. I left with the group carrying my trustee book bag full of games, reading material, lesson plans, magic markers, and flashcards as well as masking tape and photos.

I started the class (smaller than usual and all girls) with the partners question and answer introductory segment. Questions went on the board. What's your name, How old are you, Where do you come from, who is in your family? Two girls were in a partnership. One told the other the answer-then the one she told stood beside her and told the group what she learned. Everyone presented info., including Julia and Elli-Teacher and volunteer. After the introductions Elli talked about her own situation and showed pictures of her family.

After some time discussing family and breaking the ice it was time for a break. The girls didn't seem eager to leave the room for a break so Elli started to lead the group in ballet exercises including lining up like ballerinas holding on with one hand and lifting the outward leg-front, side, back. Also stretching from the waist with arms high in the air. This energized the whole group and we got back to work.

Asked what they wanted to do and given a choice, they wanted to improve their skills in nouns and verbs. We spent a long time playing with the flash cards with a noun on one side, verb on the other. This continued for a long time.

After this we turned attention to the calendar, naming the months and the holiday in each one.

We closed with Elli reading idioms and slang words like geek, cool, dude, foot in mouth, money talks, etc. The girls laughed and seemed to have fun.

Team Journal, October 13

2010-10-13T21:37:00.000+07:00

Wednesday, October 13, 2010--K.C.

Thought of the Day: "Never underestimate the ability of a small group of individuals to change the world." Margaret Mead

Started to school 10 minutes earlier to try and beat the traffic. After some hair-raising encounters with cement trucks, public buses, private buses, little school children walking alone, big school children walking in packs, bicyclists carrying huge bundles, mopeds darting in front of us at the last second and various and sundry other means of human conveyance we made it to Hi-Tech College only 10 minutes late for our first class instead of our usual half hour late appearance. I remarked to Fred and Ginny that Xi'an traffic looked like an enormous game of chicken. The wonder is that more accidents don't happen. Fred said that he saw the remnants of one the other day, but I haven't seen any (kena hora).

My first class was new and I told them about my life in Bellingham, Washington and showed them pictures of me and my son in Washington DC, Disneyworld, and Bellingham. They responded well and the time passed quickly.

I was worried about my next class. I had already met with them at the beginning of the week and they had been absolutely silent. Lei Shuya had to come into the room and speak to them in Chinese before they responded at all. This would be our second meeting and I didn't have much planned. To my surprise and delight, they talked quite freely and even asked me some questions about the United States. I was relieved to find that the period ended while we were still actively discussing things.

After lunch, Fred and I went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda to see the water show. Place was spectacular and well worth the visit even though there was no water show this afternoon. We were early when we got back to the hotel and decided to wander about the back alleys. We passed some wonderful outdoor food markets and I found a bakery that I'd been looking for since I got to Xi'an. Unfortunately, we also got hopelessly lost and had to get a taxi back to the hotel even though it was only 3 blocks away.

The evening ended with a delicious dinner at a nearby restaurant where the food was completely different from what we've been having at the hotel.

Team Journal, October 12

2010-10-12T21:35:00.000+07:00

Tuesday, October 12, 2010--Tommy

Thought of the day: "I never met a man I didn't like

8:10 as usual...to Xi'an biomedical technical college traffic bad but better than yesterday...rain all day (hope it subsides prior to Sunday trip to warriors), morning class much better than yesterdays...afternoon class better than morning class...it may be the teacher...I am going to wear out my little presentation...but I'm not changing it until next week...my role improved very much based on comments around breakfast table....still run out before my group class ends... I have a good presentation I believe...based on colors of the rainbow and how other colors are developed from the primary colors...the kids show an interest...I increased the time for introductions...both mine and the students...then extended the color presentation and this seemed to keep their interest up almost to quitting time...

Then back thru traffic to a nice dinner, which those of us that ate with the school teachers...had two excellent meals...dinner and certainly lunch... plan to do it all over again tomorrow!

Team Journal, October 11

2010-10-11T21:34:00.000+07:00

Monday, October 11, 2010--Ginny

Thought of the Day: "Travel is fatal to prejudice. Mark Twain

Monday began early with breakfast at 6:30, transfer by the school car to Hi-Tech College with three of us being picked up by "Hot Ticket". KC, Fred and I are assigned to this school.

Waiting for us out front were the President, Vice-President, and Dean of the English Teachers. Five years ago MS. Li had been the Dean and told me today she was under too much pressure and gave the job up three years ago. Smart lady! We each had 2 50-minute classes with the same students with a ten minute break between each. We had a 25 minute break between the two classes. Tara, one of the Chinese English Teachers came to school today. I met her 5 years ago when she was single. We email each other from time to time. Tara had a baby in April. An interesting story to me, and hopefully for those either reading or listening to this journal was when Tara asked my advice about buying a new to-be-built apartment five years ago. Her colleagues told her to wait for the man to buy the apartment. I told her that I would buy the apartment and when the man came along, I would let him buy the apartment and tent out her apartment. She did this too. School classes were very good and attentive. Introductions from me and then I had each student do the same. The smaller classes were more beneficial to the students. Back to the hotel for another delicious lunch.
Sunny, and English teacher at Xian Normal or Teacher's University came to the hotel to take me to the new South Park. Sunny is a friend of Hu Di's (the country manager) and came tot he University of MA in 2008 to study for a year in 2008. Hu Di asked me about where she could get a bed, a desk, curtains, and one thing more. I emailed a friend and asked her where I could get these things. After she emailed her friends, I received offers of a bed, as desk, desk lamp, chair, microwave, bed covers, quilt etc. My neighbor and I took his truck and picked up all donated items and brought them to Sunny in Amherst, MA about one hour and a half from Worcester. She shared an apartment with two other Chinese girls who had bedrooms. She slept in their living room. She returned to her job in China in 2009. Hu Di is now in her 2nd year at American University in Washington D.C. getting her second Master's in International Development. The afternoon with Sunny was lovely. We walked around the beautiful new South Park, ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant (eel, eggplant with beans, white soup, mushrooms and an egg dish) We walked to the Big Goose Pagoda and then to a pharmacy and supermarket to pick up my night medicine (brandy).

A wonderful day for me, seeing Sunny in China and learning from her how she valued our friendship. It happened only because of Global Volunteers.

XI’AN, CHINA – TEAM # 188 TEAM JOURNAL

2010-10-10T21:32:00.000+07:00

Sunday, October 10, 2010--Mary Ellen

Thought for the day: In a group of 3, you can always learn something from one in the group. --Confucius

I was surprised to learn during today's discussion that there is no minimum age for drinking alcohol in China. The same is true in Germany. Another surprise was the revelation that for a pedestrian, a green light means you can TRY to cross the street. Thus it seems prudent to find a crowd in crossing a street and to place yourself in the middle of that crowd.

Today we met from 8:00am to 1:00pm for orientation. As a team building exercise, we each wrote 3 personal goals in the to+verb+object sentence pattern. Baoli led the discussion by arranging our individual personal goals in 4 categories: To know Xi'an better; to establish friendships with local people; to make a difference through teaching; and to take pleasure in the experience. These became team goals! Baoli led us through a discussion over 13 characteristics of an effective team:

1. Being prepared
2. Doing things together (socialization)
3. Cooperation
4. Listening
5. Laughing
6. Asking for help/sharing successes
7. Skill building
8. Punctuality
9. Flexibility
10. Respectfulness
11. Patience
12. Being open minded
13. Commitment to team goals

My moment of joy came this afternoon. Remember the young student who said "I am a lovely girl."? I told her in a private conversation that she was indeed "a lovely girl" and she replied, "You are a lovely grandmother."

This afternoon we met with students and teachers from Xi'an Bio-Medical Tech. College and with teachers from Xi'an High Tech College. The first is a private school for students who did not do well enough on the entrance exams to attend a public university. The second is a public univ. for the better students.

I talked at length with Wang Liping who teaches English at the Bio-Medical College. She is 24 and is also studying for the nursing exam in 2011. She was a student at the college and stayed on as an assistant teacher of English while she studies for the nursing exam next year. She is from northwestern China and will loan me a map of China for my classes. She says students at this college come from all over China and would enjoy telling about their home places.

Sorry, I'm skipping around. Back to this morning: Baoli has 4 jobs she needs help with. Judith and Elli volunteered to be "Health and Safety Coordinators. Ginny and Fred (the returnees) will be Free-time Coordinators. KC and Judith will be Final Celebration Coordinators. Greg and Mary Ellen will be Journal Managers.

Referring back to the "Thought for the Day" at the beginning of this journal entry, I learned something from Judith this afternoon when she asked students if she was speaking slowly enough. Baoli asked for a percentage of understanding and students responded 10-30% understanding. So we are all talking too fast. Li Ping (Diana) told me the Chinese word for "slow a little" is "man yi dian". Tomorrow I shall write the Chinese word on the board and make a fool of myself pronouncing it. Then I'll have students practice saying "Slow down please." and ask them to say this when I'm talking too fast.

Friday September 24, 2010

2010-09-24T02:22:00.000+07:00

Thought for the day: Xian is now part of us, and who knows? We may be an English-speaking part of some Xian students' lives.

Team 187's final day volunteer-teaching in Xian brought rain and grey skies. The van ride to campus was swift, thanks to light holiday traffic. The bike and motor scooter masses were clad in many colored ponchos. Rain and the harvest holiday didn't halt work at construction sites. At one, a laborer, like tens of thousands before him, patiently waited as his hefty woven backpack basket was filled with wet sand to be carried up to the masons high above. We saw preparations underway for several weddings.

Marcella and I began class with the nursery rhyme: Rain, rain, go away, come again another day -- more tough words for students to pronounce.

I asked my students to describe their dream home some years after college. One young man wanted an apartment with many rooms in a high rise building and a yellow Ferrari. Some of us had a mix of nursing and Uighur students. Lively sessions.
Afterwards, another cordial exchange with local teachers. We continued to advise them of errors in the answer guide for their test manuals.

College president "Robinson" Liu Jin Tian and his always cheerful wife Julia hosted us to another multiple-course lunch and far ranging conversation, including general agreement that the US and China should stop worrying about any threat posed by the other and join in finding solutions to our energy problems. Robinson said private colleges do not receive government financial help, but students can qualify for aid. He expressed his appreciation for our GV service for his students and spoke of his desire to use his college also to build friendship between Uighur and Han students.

Afterwards, Julia invited us to group teach a physical education class how to play baseball -- indoors because of the rain. We probably set the sport back 50 years, but the students had a rousing good time. Maggie, Marcella, Claudia and Wally demonstrated jitterbug and swing dance steps to Bill Haley's "Rock around the Clock" and the twist to Chubby Checker's classic. Later, Uighur students again glided into their graceful ethnic dance, followed by a female Han student who gave a stunningly muscular hip-hop performance. Julia led a moving chorus of "We Are One World.
Student requests to have their picture taken with us strung out our farewell from campus for 45 to 60 minutes.

Back at the hotel for our GV farewell dinner, it was a similar occasion of mixed emotions -- happy to have finished our service, a little sad to part from our new friends. Much praise for our team leader Baoli. Then off to pack for morning departures.

- Tony

Thursday September 23, 2010

2010-09-23T02:21:00.000+07:00

Thought for the day: We can disagree without spite or violence.

Team 187, the "A" team, is winding down in our teaching duties. My morning class was a pleasant surprise. There were 2 Uighur students among the 8 students I had in my class. When the class started I was under the impression that the 2 Uighur girls had had very few English lessons. To my surprise after the first 10 minutes they could read and speak English quite well. Actually some words were easier for them to pronounce than the Han students. I was having fun and I also believe that the students were having a lot of fun, despite my goofy teaching style. We didn't know the class had ended until we saw Tony and Claudia waiting at the library door. Even so the students wanted to read and then sing an English song before the class ended. Of course the song they sang is the one that team 187 made famous here -- "You Are My Sunshine."

At our usual noon feeding, Baoli gave us GV questionnaires to fill out. She also informed us that Julia thought that Maggie was going to teach the students ballroom dancing. There might be over a couple hundred students tomorrow afternoon for our farewell event. Teaching hundreds of students ballroom dancing is an unimaginable task. Hmmmm! There seemed to be a communication problem between our team and the school. However, Maggie is a fast thinker having been a teacher for over 20 years: she has learned how to compensate when the chips are down. Maggie suggested we teach the students Swing and the Twist if we have to. After solving the dancing lesson problems we had to solve our second challenge for the Friday afternoon program. The students expect us to sing and dance. Since Wally is our designated entertainment director, he came up with the idea that we should do a skit in Chinese so the students could have a good laugh over our butchering Chinese pronunciation. So after lunch we practiced 3 Chinese tongue twisters and moved to the hotel mezzanine to practice a couple of swing steps and a few twist moves. The music for swing and the twist was to be downloaded from Wally's computer. This turned out to be quite a task. It took me over an hour to download and install iTunes onto his laptop. Rock around the Clock and The Twist are downloaded and we are ready for Friday - - our farewell party.

Before our evening feeding we had a little celebration in Claudia and Maggie's room. Thanks to Wally. As the evening progressed, Wally's English sort of vanished and he was speaking more and more in the native tongue -- Chinese. At dinner we had a wonderful disagreement and yet friendly discussion of our favorite subject "politics" which we had avoided for the entire 3 weeks. We demonstrated to Baoli how civilized we were not to kill each other when we disagreed. The truth is we do tolerate each other and like each other at the same time. In our mind, Team 187is the "A" team, the "Dream Team."

- Marcella

Wednesday September 22, 2010

2010-09-22T02:21:00.000+07:00

Thought for the day: Speak softly, learn Chinese.

The team assembled for breakfast a bit later than usual – it was the Chinese Moon Festival Holiday. However, it wasn’t really a holiday for the dedicated 187 Team! The first task of the day was to arrange for a suitable venue for our guests, scheduled to arrive at 10:30AM. Marcella spoke with the Western Restaurant wait staff in our hotel and arranged to have a table set by 10AM. We adjourned to work on lesson plans and our mottoes for the College students – to reconvene at 10AM. The table was set and we busied ourselves arranging the goodies for the tea: oranges, candy, moon cakes, walnuts and cupcakes. The wait staff would provide and serve tea.

At 10:30 our guests arrived, minus the college president, Robinson, who was unavoidably involved in meetings. His wife Julia, teacher Della and a friend arrived bearing marvelous gifts – a beautiful chest containing eight drawers with a moon cake in each drawer and a lacquered box with two amazing enameled tea canisters. The team immediately captured these gifts on film and thanked our guests profusely. They were very kind to include us in their holiday tradition.

We then sat down to tea, goodies and far ranging conversation. We discussed our teaching experiences, the Uyghur students that we taught for the first time on Tuesday, and a myriad of other subjects. Tony brought their IPad and the guests were most intrigued by the high resolution and capabilities of that marvelous gadget.

At 11:45 the wait staff served a delightful Chinese lunch which Claudia, Maggie and Marcella had ordered earlier in the morning. The highlight seemed to be the asparagus – which our guests had not previously eaten. Sliced lamb with a moderate hot sauce, sliced beef, noodles and vegetables as well as the asparagus rounded out a very good lunch.

The guests departed at 1:30 and the team dispersed to catch up on missed sites in Xi’an and do some last minute shopping. We reconvened at 6 PM for a lighter dinner at the hotel and continued a review of the day and our enjoyable experience with our guests.

At 7:30 the team strolled over to the park across the street and enjoyed watching the line dancers and the people, especially children, enjoying the cool air and the full moon – obviously shining in honor of the Moon Festival. We strolled up to the outdoor pool hall – Wally and Tony showed the locals how the game is really played – had an interesting discussion in English and Chinese with some fellow strollers – and retired for the evening around 9PM.

The holiday was indeed to be remembered. Great weather, good company and an all around enjoyable day as we rapidly approach our final teaching day on Friday.

- Wally

Tuesday September 21, 2010

2010-09-21T02:20:00.000+07:00

Today, we were scheduled to teach the Uighur students. The college has had students from Xin Jiang but this year over 100 enrolled. We had been told that they had little English. We discussed how to change the lessons for them and we were worried that what we were planning might not work. Marcella, Wally, and Claudia speak Chinese so they had an advantage, but Tony and I would have to rely on body language and enthusiasm to get the lessons across. I had studied the geography of Xin Jiang ahead of time and drew a map of China on the board so that the students could find their home towns. We began with introductions. While it was clear that their English was limited, they more than made up for it by being attentive, eager, and happy to try the sentences we were teaching them. It turns out that all but two students came from Kashi, Xin Jiang. We went on to colors and clothing and they began to smile and talked more naturally. They have less trouble with "th" but "w" was difficult. We marched on to names of parts of the body and the hokey pokey. We ended with counting, American money (with all the different presidents) and family pictures. Wally worked one side of the room and I worked the other making sure that the students knew what to say before they stood up to speak in front of the whole class. They have such a positive attitude and they will pick up English very quickly. Marcella, Tony and Claudia reported that their students were quite lively and that their English was much better than expected. They had a wonderful time with them and we all felt we would be happy to teach them again.

After lunch, we headed out to the jade shop to buy some presents for family and friends. Our taxi driver had a hard time finding the place but we finally joined the others. Then we all went to our favorite shop - Ren Ren Le to buy moon cakes, cupcakes, cookies, oranges and nuts for tomorrow. We have invited Julia Dong, the head English teacher, and Mr. Robinson Liu, the college President for tea and lunch. Tomorrow is Autumn Festival and classes are cancelled. We are looking forward to having time to talk about teaching and their plans for the college.

For dinner, we decided to escape the hotel dining room. Three of us ended up at A Small World Cafe for some western food including French fries. Two of us ate at Chengdu and had Sechzuan food with numbing peppers.

- Maggie

Monday September 20, 2010

2010-09-20T02:19:00.000+07:00

Thought for the day: If you think some small thing doesn’t make an impression, you’ve never been in a room with a mosquito.

Entering the nonsmoking section of the hotel restaurant we were greeted by a cool breeze through the open door. The team assembled and made selections from both Chinese and western dishes on the breakfast buffet. After the journal reading by Tony and announcements by Baoli, we trooped back to the 8th floor to gather our teaching materials before boarding the school van for the 45 minute adventure in driving safety-not. Diana asked for help with a project involving an employment contract. The first page was routine – company and employee information including the province of birth. The 2nd page referred to standard employment practices as directed by Chinese law. Since I was not familiar with Chinese employment regulations I tried to check grammar but had to defer to Dong Laoshi for accuracy of the terminology. Since many students had departed for Autumn Festival, we were unsure whether we would team teach or meet our separate groups. Eventually it was sorted out as English Club students straggled in. The library where Marcella, Tony and I regularly teach had no electricity and I envisioned a hot morning. Luckily a workman was called and solved the problem. Lights and fans were turned on and vocabulary review began. After listing campus locations and time words, students constructed and reported on schedules for a typical college day using what, where, and when questions to direct their writing. “I eat breakfast in the dining hall at 7am.” The students were inventive – “I slept late and missed breakfast this morning.” and the exercise went well. After some pronunciation practice, we ended our session early so that the volunteers could visit the student dormitory [6 floors, about 20 rms/wing and 4-8 [most common and cheapest] students to a room. Nearly 1000 girls in that wing alone. What an enormous adjustment for some girls, who previously lived with family only, to be crammed into a small room with complete strangers.

After the usual photo ops, we were off to visit the home of the in-laws of Mr. Hao, a school leader. A bumpy ride ended in a small village just beyond Xi’an’s technology expansion area. Brick enclosures and brightly colored doors provided privacy for family dwellings. Our host and hostess greeted us warmly and invited us to enter through their small vegetable garden into their spacious and comfortably furnished home. The downstairs area included living room, 3 bedrooms, bath, kitchen and dining area. An early family portrait depicted the couple in their prime with their four children, 2 girls and two boys. The children evidently purchased the house for their parents – filial piety in practice. Our attention was drawn to some beautiful calligraphy and paintings gracing the walls – such exceptional art work. We were awed to discover that Mr. Tan, our host, was the calligrapher. Introductions and photos were interspersed between handshakes. We settled into chars while being served persimmons and tea. Questions and answers flew back and forth in both Chinese and English as we exchanged information about one another. Soon it was time to adjourn to the kitchen where the volunteers tried their hand at rolling and stuffing jiaozi. The table was cleared and everyone was seated around the table laden with food. As our host pointed out, “When Hu Jintao visited the White House he was served only four dishes but we were being served 6 dishes.” We all laughed. The food was flavorful and remarkable. Of course, the jiaozi were a hit, but the organically home-grown vegetables stole the show. A pepper in sauce, a tangy tofu-red cabbage and spice dish and a lovely orange squash were recognizable. One platter held a unique combination of marinated stems and fiddle heads of a mountain fern. A 2nd held dandelion greens with garlic, peppers and vinegar. The latter two dishes were touted to be aids in preventing diabetes and cancer. Ah, nothing like having plenty of antioxidants.

When we could eat no more we enjoyed Marcella’s family pictures and Mr. Tan exhibited his calligraphy technique and presented his art to Marcella. More photos were taken and heart-felt thanks offered for a wonderful afternoon. During the return to the hotel I learned from the student president of the English Club that he wanted to study in the US but feared that his English was too poor. Many students aspire to study abroad but application and living costs are beyond their resources even if they succeed in attaining a good score on the foreign language exams.

So, do we make a difference? Maggie related that during her visit to the Han Tomb museum she spoke to a shop girl and complimented her on her English. The young woman asked if Maggie was visiting. Maggie responded that she was a volunteer English teacher. The girl grinned and said “Global Volunteers? I had Global Volunteer teachers in 1997.” Then she said, “I’ve never forgotten them.” So, I guess we do make a difference!

- Claudia

Weekend September 18 & 19, 2010

2010-09-19T02:19:00.001+07:00

Thought for the day: Consider blessed even Sunday teachers in the park who can attract such eager, willing learners.

Team 187 soaked up more Chinese history and neighborhood life in Xian. On Saturday, Marcella, Maggie, Wally and I visited the Western Han imperial tombs on the outskirts of the city, while Claudia re-visited Xingqinggong Park.

Only about 10 of the 81 Han Yangling tombs have been extensively excavated. Jing Di (aka Liu Qi) was enthroned in 157 BC at age 32 and ruled 17 years. Although he and his father Emperor Wen subscribed to the Taoist principle of "doing nothing" (go with the flow) their reigns were considered a golden age. Jing crushed a rebellion of 7 kingdoms.

Jing is the Rodney Dangerfield of emperors -- no respect. The Qin terra cotta warriors get all the tourists, but the Western Han anatomically correct figures and artifacts are extraordinary in their own right. Han tiny figures should not be brushed off as Barbie dolls. The hologram film was superb. Amazingly, we had the other exhibition hall all to ourselves. Some ceramic vessels looked as modern as any we see today on worksites. The soldier figures included female troops on horseback. Western Han loved their pork -- lots of little piggy figures. For 28 years of Jing tomb building, the heavy lifting was done, again, by forced criminals.

On the way to and from the museum, our trusty driver Carravagio briefed us on high rise building economics. In exchange for farmers' land to build, say, 100 apartments, the farmer gets to live in one apartment and collect rent on perhaps three other units. Near a forest of new high rises, we saw the grand new railway station rising skyward.

Later, Wally, Maggie and Claudia reported good pickings at a jade factory. On the bus ride to dinner, Wally's pocket was picked. We ate a savory meal at the Xian Hotel restaurant where reportedly Zhou En Lai and friends in December 1936 met to resolve the impasse from Chiang Kai Shek's capture in the Xian Incident.

Afterwards, at the mobbed Muslim market, enterprising vendors with giant white barrel telescopes mounted on three-wheelers were charging 10Y for customers to look at the harvest moon. At a silk shop, Marcella checked the labels and found all the merchandise was polyester.

On Sunday, Marcella and I learned from the corner bullwhip slingers that the practice dates back to the Qin dynasty when they used whip cracking instead of firecrackers to salute the emperor. At Xingqinggong Park we were charmed to see how locals gladly devoted their Sunday leisure to outdoor practice under the direction of a teacher or leader, be it choral singing, hard tai ji, Chinese opera, belly dancing, ballroom, line dancing, knitting or whatever.

At dinner, the hotel kitchen lost, not misplaced, our order, but the meal once it arrived was tasty. Our team offered to perform surgery with a dull dinner knife on a US doctor who has been giving Baoli the runaround about volunteering.

- Tony

Friday September 17, 2010

2010-09-17T02:18:00.000+07:00

Thought for the day: When the going gets tough, don’t go shopping; get a good night’s sleep.

Another scorching and humid day in Xian. Friday is a very long tough teaching day. We taught a morning class until 11. Then we had teachers’ meeting starting at 11:15; it runs about an hour till noon. As last Friday, we had a wonderful lunch at a local restaurant with Julia and many English teachers. Julia ordered a variety of local specialty dishes we never had before. Among the nine different dishes 8 were vegetables and only one was a meat dish. Maggie commented the Chinese could do wonders with vegetables. I couldn’t agree with her more. During lunch Vivian was very surprised that we ate very little. What she doesn’t know is that we have been fed every 4 hours non-stop since we arrived in Xian. Personally I haven’t been hungry at all and yet I could not stop eating when the food was in front of me. We also learned a new Chinese saying: “Sweep off your doorstep.” It means at the end of a meal if there are still leftovers on the serving plates, each person should finish the dish of food in front of him or her.

After lunch we taught another class. At this morning’s class I had about 12 students. They were engaged and tried quite hard with their pronunciations and struggled with their writing. It went as well as could be expected.

However, my afternoon class was truly a test of my endurance in teaching. It was hot to begin with plus there were students I guess were in the class by command. This was not an ideal situation for a non-professional teacher like me, without a great deal of self control, who was tempted to scream and run out of the room. What saved me in this afternoon class was to see some improvements in 5 students from my last week’s class. I guess I did make a difference. On our drive back to the hotel from the school I was wondering whether our teaching in this school is a waste of time. Claudia and Maggie were trying to convince me it wasn’t. And that we do make a difference because there is a cumulative effect. I wish I could truly believe them.

At dinner time we had a long discussion about the problems we saw in this school and in their testbooks. We sympathized with both the teachers and the students. I for one am not qualified to solve this impossible situation. I think the best thing for me to do is just to go to bed and get a good night sleep.

- Marcella

Thursday September 16, 2010

2010-09-16T02:18:00.000+07:00

Thought for the day: A proper attitude conquers all evil.

Today was the most exciting day to date for our team. Teaching went very well – we had interested and enthusiastic students. Claudia presented a technical lecture to the nursing students. Baoli joined us and visited our classrooms and took pictures of us with our students. We returned to the hotel for a working lunch. The teaching experiences were reviewed and we then planned the rest of the day. Tony and Marcella headed for the huge electronics store to purchase a laptop replacement for her IPad – which died – but could not find a suitable replacement. Claudia stayed at the hotel to research additional material for a lecture. Maggie and Wally left to visit the Small Wild Goose Pagoda and managed to find a bus that stopped a block from the North Gate – quite a feat! The team rejoined at 6PM, meeting Baoli for a fantastic Peking Duck dinner.

The carver arrived with a beautiful roasted duck which he artfully carved onto three plates. Hoisin sauce and the thin wrappers were quickly snatched up and married with the scallion slivers to create a delicious duck roll. It was during this feast that Marcella informed us that Chinese characters and English words were not the same?? The team shows no mercy for such clairvoyance. When we thought dinner was complete, a fabulous basket of steamed sticky rice and spare ribs arrived which was quickly attacked. During a lull, waiting for the duck soup, Baoli drilled us on the team goals. It seems her professionalism never rests!

All of Baoli’s meals have been excellent but this dinner will be exceedingly tough to top.

The duck soup arrived and we devoured that as well. Marcella observed that it tasted too much like duck – two in one evening sets a team record – but we are a forgiving bunch.

After dinner Tony and Marcella headed back to the hotel – another bus adventure – while Claudia, Maggie and Wally waited for 15 minutes trying to hail a cab. Baoli stayed with us and we finally captured a cab during a very busy time. The three of us headed for the International Studies University to visit the English Corner. This proved to be a fascinating evening. The English majors, as well as other students and graduates, gather on the University Terrace to speak English, hopefully meet Americans or other English speakers and engage in what must be termed a free for all. Each of us had a large group of students around us who were not a bit shy about asking questions on everything from the Opium War to 9/11 and Americans opinion on building a mosque near ground zero. The enthusiasm and dedication to learning was palpable. These students engaged us from 8 until 9:30 and it appeared that they would have continued as long as we could stay. Many of the students want us to come back next Thursday but it is a National Holiday so we will probably not have this opportunity again. However, I feel certain that if we go, there will still be a crowd of students anxious to practice their English.

The students found a taxi for us and we returned to the hotel at 10PM – tired, hot, but thrilled to have had this opportunity. It is these somewhat impromptus engagements that make volunteerism a truly meaningful experience.

- Wally

Wednesday September 15, 2010

2010-09-15T02:16:00.001+07:00

In spite of a long discussion about teaching topics at breakfast, we were able to depart on time and arrived early at XBTC. During our ride, Swallow related information about the construction industry. Her father’s company hires workers from Shanxi and surrounding provinces. Workers stay in rooms, often in temporary buildings resembling dormitories, at the construction site. Oversight of the workers needs and “care” is relegated to an on-site manager.

Off to class where some of the volunteers had the same students as last week while others, including me, had new students. Marcella and Tony team-taught and laughter and singing from their group confirmed their successful enterprise. Maggie reported that in addition to her talented students from last week medical secretarial students joined her class. A dialogue about making an appointment to see the doctor was a highlighted activity. My class of 11 men and 1 woman told me they were 2nd year medical instrument students. One young man with an engaging smile confirmed that indeed he had been in my class last year. How nice to see progress in his performance. After a standard set of questions and dialogues to assess listening comprehension and speaking ability, we reviewed vowel sounds and the most troublesome consonants. “We want to do something more difficult.” said 2 students. In response to my question about a text, one student entered the stacks and located a book with some useful information. These students will learn to operate and fix instruments but will not interact with patients. I asked them for some appropriate vocabulary and they responded with ECG, current, battery and circuit. Ah, ha! They will be working with electronics. Not my forte. Although it was pretty basic, we managed to discuss, in English, wave energy, wave length, amplitude, various meters, and oscilloscopes. To lighten things up a bit after such a difficult topic, we talked about sports and one student gave a Tai Chi demonstration. We also sang “It’s a small World” and took pictures.

Julia, Swallow, Fisher and Diana accompanied us to lunch and we enjoyed a lamb and glass noodle soup, several well prepared vegetable dishes and bread with a tangy relish. Just as we thought we were finished, 2 more plates piled high with spicy goodies arrived. After a brief rest period, we were off to our afternoon classes. The young women in the nutrition class, although not as advanced as the morning class, were enthusiastic and wrote creative dialogues about “good foods”. We also used a table in the text to review the role of vitamins and problems related to deficiency diseases. I think, however, that I disappointed them by not knowing a Michael Jackson song but they sang a Chinese folk song for me.

On the way back to the hotel, Mr Zhao again demonstrated creative driving maneuvers. Dinner included jiaozi, crispy pigeon, mushu pork with pancakes and finished with apples which were gifts from students and teachers. Maggie and Wally are nursing colds so they turned in early. No adventure this evening.

-Claudia

Tuesday September 14, 2010

2010-09-14T02:16:00.000+07:00

Thought for the day:
“May your hands show mercy.”
“May your feet care for the green earth.”
- Sign at the Grey Goose Pagoda

We set off for school today trading last minute ideas on how to get the students to talk. I drew a town map on the board while the students were making shopping lists. Then we found the stores and they gave directions from one building to another. After that, we worked on pronunciation: th, l, and v, also "ing" and d. They want to drop the "g" in "ing" and add an "e" to the final "d" in a word. Then they opened accounts at the local bank. They like the dialogues especially when they write them. Today, I had dental students, so we went over dental vocabulary and they acted out their own dialogues about toothaches, cavities and teeth that got knocked out.

In the afternoon, we went to the Grey Goose Pagoda. The fearless Marcella and Tony went to the top. I stopped halfway fascinated by a movie about Xuan Zang, a Buddhist monk who left China in 629 A.D. to travel to India along the Silk Road in order to bring back the holy scriptures. When he returned in 645, he "burried the grey goose and built a pagoda". The courtyards were peaceful and the exhibit halls on the sides were filled with carved jade murals of his travels or Buddhist images.

We all met for dinner at the Bamboo Garden Village for Mongolian hot pot. We happily dipped meat and veggies in swirling stocks, one mild and one very spicy. Claudia and I took a cab home. Marcella, Tony and Wally stayed for the light show at the fountains in the square outside the pagoda. Claudia spent the evening working on her presentation on cells for a biology class at the college on Thursday.

- Maggie

Monday September 13, 2010

2010-09-13T02:15:00.000+07:00

Thought for the day: It's not the brightest students who need the most help.

Week 2 of team 187’s volunteer teaching in Xi’an: English Club students can cure whatever ails visiting English teachers.

We managed to extricate ourselves from a sudden swarm of smokers at our hotel breakfast, and driver Zhao demonstrated some NASCAR-like reflexes by detouring onto a sidewalk to extract us from a traffic jam. We passed a classical Greco-Roman building reminiscent of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome except the rooftop apostles in this case were nude to advertise a bath house Wei Duo Li Ya Yu Chang. Rush hour drivers carved an additional lane out of oncoming traffic proving once again that in China the wrong way can be the right way.

I had 23 students in my class. Thanks to Maggie's and Claudia's suggested dialogues, my students worked hard and some showed real imagination with their dialogues. The rest of our team reported similar good results.

I also asked students to help me make a list of tough to pronounce "th" words, then asked them to weave such words into complete English sentences. After class, several students spoke of their frustration in not being able to practice English with native speakers like us. Local teacher Swallow sat in on my class. It may be some sort of Freudian disorder, but once again I forgot to give them homework.

Marcella noticed in the office a school list of pesticides including "heavenly cow." It turns out that's the name for a long-horned beetle.

After lunch, we scattered to our separate errands. Maggie walked some of the city wall. Marcella, Wally and I checked out the local market, with many of the vendors taking their siesta. We passed two rag-tag old-time knife sharpeners pushing tool-laden bicycles and calling out their trade as it must have been done for centuries. One vendor was using a gas torch to burn hair off a pig skin. Moments later we were startled by a tour bus that also decided to use the sidewalk behind us as its personal traffic lane.

At the Shaanxi Daily headquarters we tried to wangle an invitation to see the newsroom but a meeting was in progress. A reporter in the lobby knew all about Marcella’s father and his various government posts. The paper employed about 700, 230 of them reporters.

Next we visited Xingqinggong Park. A brass band of Christians tried to save our souls but lost interest when they found we didn't speak fluent Chinese. They delivered the worst rendition of Onward Christian Soldiers I have ever heard. I doubt if even Jesus could stand it.

Dinner was at the Muslim restaurant Old Sun House, where we worked for our supper tearing up biscuits for lamb soup. The stroll back from Renrenle was fascinating to see life on the city sidewalks, people eating, gambling, repairing bikes, etc.

- Tony

Saturday & Sunday September 11 & 12, 2010

2010-09-12T02:14:00.001+07:00

Thought for the day: Whatever you do have fun otherwise it's not worth doing

Saturday. Team 187's weekend started with a trip to the Hua Qing hot springs and the Qin Shihuang Terra-Cotta Warriors' Museum. Our private "WHITE" van was from Raphael's travel service. We were picked up at the hotel right after breakfast around 8:10. All the seat covers in the van were with a "Pooh" bear design. I thought it was quite cute so I made the comment there was a "pooh" on the cover. My comment gave Claudia quite a shock for she thought it was something other than the cute Pooh bear from Winnie the Pooh. Afterwards all went smoothly during the ride.

The famous Hua Qing Hot Springs were built in the Tang Dynasty. Supposedly one of the most beautiful concubines from the Tang dynasty took her bath here. And this was also where took place one of the most famous incidents in Chinese history during the early years before the Communist Party came into power. Chiang Kai Shek the "generalissimo" of the Nationalist Party was captured by rebel leaders when he stayed here.

The highlights of this place for me are the rooms where Chiang Kai Shek and his entourage stayed. Also, the grafted persimmon trees on top of local Xian fig trees. According to the locals this gives Xian persimmons a unique flavor. All this I overheard from local tour guides explaining it to their tour groups.

There were hundreds of local tourists but only 5 non locals and 4 non Chinese at this place. I don't think I need to visit this tour site ever again.

From the hot springs we went to the Terra-Cotta Warriors Museums. Thanks to Claudia, we had our own private tour guide. The place was huge! Claudia showed us where we should start our tour -- the panorama theater. The show gave us a general history of Qin Shihuang, the process of how these extraordinary figures were made and a simulated re-enactment of life during ancient times. The movie was well scripted and the cinematography was well executed.

Next we went to the second museum building. There in an enormous domed structure were hundreds of the Terra-Cotta Warriors. It was breathtaking. I feel I could spend days in this part of the museum and never get tired of looking at these remarkable figures. It's the thought of how skillful these craftsmen were. The artistry, the craftsmanship, the creativity and most of all the amount of labor that went into the creation of this masterpiece. Later I learned in another museum building that many workers were criminals, forced laborers who created this enormous and one of a kind work of world-class art.

We were in the museum for so long that the wonderful driver provided by Raphael Travel called twice to make sure we hadn't left the museum without him. We got back to the hotel around 5:30. 6:30 we met at the dinning room for dinner. We each ordered a dish and shared in the Chinese style. Wally ordered two crispy pigeons since one pigeon were a bit small for 5 hungry people, Tony ordered a whole steamed flounder, Maggie ordered two plates of steamed dumplings because again 12 little dumplings per order are not enough for 5 people. Claudia ordered the healthy vegetable of stir fried asparagus and I ordered a great bowl of spicy noodles. Of course we all had beer to help us top off a wonderful outing.

Sunday, was a free day for all. Tony and I went to walk on the old city wall. It took us 4 hours to walk the complete wall because I was stopping every few minutes to take pictures. To see Xian in the morning when the city is starting its day is fascinating. The market was bustling, shoppers bargaining at the fruit stand, men doing laundry on roof tops, a woman washing vegetables on the street, a barber cutting hair on the sidewalk, a man sleeping on the couch in the open on the side walk, men and women exercising in the park, a man standing on his head in the park, rows and rows of ping pong players in the park, workmen on roofs laying roof tiles, window washers hanging from roofs without safety lines, brick layers laying bricks at the edge of a building on the third floor without guard rails, workmen squatting in a courtyard eating. Amazing sights.

After getting off the wall we went to a gigantic department store near the Bell Tower. The store has 7 floors and was packed. The busiest floor was the women's shoes department. I believe this might be true world wide. There were so many people inside the stores and on the street it was overwhelming. There were people eating everywhere, people selling things every few feet, people squatting and sitting on the steps in front of the gigantic department, people in front of stores shouting into bull horns, people sitting under trees. It was hard for me to think what it would be like if there were no one child policy in China.

We picked up a birthday cake for Wally because it was his Birthday. Team 187 celebrated his birthday at dinner with a pink lotus flower candle brought by Baoli which opened up with flames on all petals and in the center. It played the happy birthday song at the same time. We were lucky that we did not set the place on fire.

The cake looked so over the top. I cannot describe it to do it justice. All I can say is the cake had tomatoes, parsley, dragon fruit and other fruits on top. Only a photo can capture it.

It's getting late and I need to end this report. But I can not end this report without reporting that at dinner that Tony jokingly suggested that I should write this report as a dialogue. Such as what we do in teaching our English classes. Claudia humorously delivered a mock dialogue. We laughed so hard at the suggestion that I actually hurt myself.

- Marcella

Friday September 10, 2010

2010-09-10T02:14:00.000+07:00

Thought for the day: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. The teachers seemed to like “Love me, love my dog.” Perhaps we should let a sleeping dog lie!

The Friday 6:30 wake-up call seemed to be earlier than usual! The breakfast meeting, missing Baoli (doctor’s appointment) was kicked off by an excellent and brief Thursday report by Maggie.

We arrived at the school to find new schedules which required minor adjustments. It seems we have each developed a teaching method and style that works best with the various student groups that we meet each day. Friday was a long day with both AM and PM classes. Lunch was a highlight – hosted by six Chinese English teachers. The restaurant was a noodle house and we were served three different noodle dishes – all excellent. Noodle broth was served first, highly reminiscent of dishwater – but good for the digestion. We used three bowls for the variety of dishes presented – a great meal enjoyed by all.

After the PM classes the Chinese teachers took us to see the dental lab. It was amazing to watch the dental technicians make individual teeth, bridges and dentures. The instructor told us that several of the advanced technicians are going to Suzhou for an international competition. Then we went to the street market and had fresh winter melon and baodz hot out of the steamers. Another marvelous experience. With Marcella along to translate we actually know what we are seeing and eating! Claudia, unfortunately missed these events due to her dedication to duty – she promised a teacher that she would locate and print pictures of various medical devices. We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening in the visiting teachers office speaking with the Chinese teachers and helping develop their vocabulary.

At seven PM we went to the auditorium and witnessed an absolutely fantastic student presentation – which they labeled a Hip Hop. Each act seemed to top the previous one: A formal dance with formal attired students was performed, followed by a speaking quartet, then a Xinjiang solo dancer in costume, a group dance, an excellent solo singer, a kung fu presentation performed to music which was top quality, and break dancing. We got roped into some community dancing, and wore Chinese opera masks (which none of us understood and the Chinese teachers claimed no knowledge thereof).

We returned to the hotel after 9PM, tired, but appreciating a near perfect day!

- Wally

Thursday September 9, 2010

2010-09-09T02:13:00.001+07:00

Thought for the day: “In life, it is not the things that knock you down that count, it is the people who help you up."

While we were riding to school this morning, one of the teachers, Diana, told us a fascinating story about an American nurse who married a Chinese farmer and went to live in his village which was very poor. While she was raising their two children, she bought a cow and sold the milk in order to buy some chickens, she then sold the eggs to raise more money. Over the years, her businesses improved the whole village. I really enjoy talking to the teachers about their school and teaching. Today, Diana and I discussed the differences between American and Chinese farmers and one day Vivian and I talked about whether or not a mother-in-law ought to say anything negative about her daughter's boyfriend.

Our classes went well today. I had l6 medical instrument students. We worked on pronunciation especially "th" which is very difficult. All week, I had been using a dialog about going home for Autumn Festival. But many of these students live too far away to go home. To my surprise, the majority of the students I had all week had brothers and sisters. Not surprising was the fact that most of them had grandparents living with them.

This afternoon Marcella and Tony went to check out the history museum for us. Wally got a haircut and was quite pleased with the results. Claudia and I spent the afternoon at the office looking over the teaching materials. I was looking for more ways to get the students to talk to each other and to me, specifically topics for dialogues and role playing skits.

Baoli took us to a neighborhood restaurant for dinner and later we spent time in the park. Marcella and I joined the regular evening line dancing. The park is full of families and young people and many of them smiled at us and let us talk to their babies. In the daytime, people are flying kites, cracking whips, doing Tai Chi, dancing in traditional dress, playing both traditional and western musical instruments and best of all singing local opera. This is my third Global Volunteer trip. Each time, I come away with a warm feeling about a country and its people that I could never get from a tour of that same country.

- Maggie

Wednesday September 8, 2010

2010-09-08T02:12:00.000+07:00

Thought for the Day: Don’t be afraid to explore unchartered waters.

An auspicious beginning to our day – the sun is dimly visible through the low clouds and ever-present smog. The breakfast meeting is over and the 5 members of Team 187 load into the school van taking us to XBTC. Zhao shifu pulls into traffic and, with astounding nerve and skill, drives us successfully to the campus in record time. In addition to the daily exchange of ideas for our classes, the team’s “three merry maids” continue to rave about the local opera experience the previous night and the adventuresome jitney ride back to the hotel. A quick stop at the Foreign Affairs Office, then we disperse to our respective teaching locales. Marcella, Tony and I assist our students in arranging the tables in three regions of the library; the kids arrive, and we begin the day’s teaching.

Because we see a different group of students at each teaching period [roughly 2 ½ hrs], we tend to repeat activities. The emphasis is always on conversation, however, whether the topic is family, college life, fashion, etc. The ability of the students to speak and to comprehend spoken English varies dramatically within each group, but classmates help one another with dialogues and understanding questions.

Students in today’s morning class aspire to jobs making dentures while the afternoon students are studying nutrition. Near the end of each class I introduce some terms relevant to their major or subjects and offer anecdotes of how English skills might help them get a better job.

Between the morning and afternoon sessions, Julia Dong and 4 teachers escorted us down the main street to a local restaurant for a delicious meal. After lunch I spent a little time with a teacher who had been assigned a new course while the other team members visited the nursing anatomy and the pharmaceutical labs. The afternoon teaching went well for everyone in part because the students had been exposed to a bit more English. Weary but satisfied by a good day’s effort, we returned to the hotel for yet another dinner of inspired selections by Bao Li. Can we all say, “more food”.

Our team has consistently displayed the desired team characteristics of communication, cooperation and so on. But I must note that what I am enjoying most is their marvelous energy, playfulness and humor. As these traits extend into the teaching enterprise, it is no wonder that much of the applause heard during class is the appreciative recognition by the students of the caring and personal effort of the volunteers.

- Claudia

Tuesday September 7, 2010

2010-09-07T02:11:00.000+07:00

Thought for the Day: A picture word is worth a thousand abstract textbook words.

Day 2 of our Global Volunteers teaching in Xi'an began with great promise as our driver zigged and zagged through traffic snarls in record time. Della, one of the English teachers at the college, graciously rode along as escort. (The school van was still black.)

When we arrived at the campus, long lines of students were waiting to register. Those of us assigned to teach in the library found the double doors locked and not a student in sight. Eventually about 15 students strolled up and the doors were unlocked. We divided those 15 among us -- 5 per volunteer teacher -- with mixed results.

Most of our team today reported very lively sessions. My five students, all from outlying farm communities, struggled with reading and using even simple English sentences. Often they could manage only phrases. None had a textbook and I had to lend one a pen. Yet they tried as best they could to communicate in English. And by noon quitting time I believe we all knew more about each other's lives and English conversation. One student helpfully reminded me that China's one-child policy was interpreted as one child per city family, two in the countryside.

Conclusions:

Especially with less advanced students, Claudia is right that the teacher should read a passage first before asking students to read.

Maggie is right that you cannot overdo "modeling" dialogue or other exercises before asking students to try them.

Prodding and enthusiasm such as Marcella radiates are powerful assets in motivating students to learn.

Wally is showing that hamming it up works in the classroom, if not on stage.

I found even my struggling students rallied when given a framework such as who, what, where, when and why -- with answers modeled in advance.

The textbook we were given is woefully lacking in conversational "picture words." Students are focused on exams anyway. So skip the abstract textbook vocabulary whenever possible and go for hot button conversational topics.

Our afternoon visit to the Grand Mosque was fascinating.

Also, you can measure distances along the Xi'an historic wall by the number of parkside Chinese opera singers. Our walk to buy opera tickets was a six singer trip, at high decibel level.

Most wonderful of all was a slender elder brother in grey scholar's garb dipping a 3-foot long brush in a tin can full of water and producing the most elegant ephemeral calligraphy on public park paving stones.

- Tony

Monday September 6, 2010

2010-09-06T02:11:00.000+07:00

Thought for the Day: We are all life-long learners.

I woke up around 5 a.m. anxious about what lay ahead of me today. Teaching a class is something I had never done before, and here I was about to teach conversational English to a group of students in Xian Biomedical Technical College. These students are high school graduates from different provinces and backgrounds. Many of these students have never seen a foreigner or heard a native English speaking person. I had only a vague idea as to what I needed to do. I was not afraid of the challenge but I did feel quite inadequate. Well, since I always believe that life is all about new experiences, I decided to dive in head on.

We were picked up at the hotel by Julia in a black van. She is the wife of the president of the school. The traffic was extremely heavy because it was raining and during the rush hours. Riding in a car in China is an experience you will never forget. Chinese drivers, bikers, and walkers are like kamikazes. Weaving in and out of traffic in whichever direction they want and whenever they see an opening, even if the opening is just a foot away from the next car, bike or person. Because of the rain and the traffic we were about 15 minutes late getting to the school. When we arrived the president of the school and the students were there in the front entrance hall waiting to welcome us. It was very moving and at the same time I was a little embarrassed and I don't quite know why.

After we shook hands with the students, the president gave a short welcome speech and from our volunteers group Claudia responded with a very warm short message. Then our whole party moved upstairs to a very large conference room. On one side of the room there was a huge development plan for the future school. It was quite an ambitious plan. On the oppose side of the room on a long dark wood cabinet there were 5 gold colored awards for the school's achievements. Robinson, the president of the school, gave us some information about his background and we each introduced ourselves. Then we were escorted to our classes.

My classroom was in the library with Claudia on the other side with another class. When I saw how many students were there in the class, I had a moment of panic. I found it was very difficult to get the students to be involved in the beginning. But with some trial and error I finally got them to respond. There was one particular student with quite an attitude. I think she feels that she is quite good at conversational English already. But when I asked her to answer what she wants to be, she could not speak a complete sentence and was having difficulties with words. So I tried to get her involved every chance I got. I don't know how successful I was with these students. All the while I was teaching trying to think of things that might interest them I was perspiring with sweat running down my back. It was the combination of anxiety and frustration plus the heat I suppose. I was really glad the class was over. I didn't know what to expect on the first day. Hopefully, all will be well tomorrow and it might be slightly easier after the first day, and this first ever teaching experience.

Now I can understand what teachers everywhere go through.

- Marcella

Sunday September 5, 2010

2010-09-05T02:05:00.002+07:00

Thought for the Day: "Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous." CONFUCIUS

The team, consisting of Claudia, Maggie, Marcella, Tony and Wally met at 8AM for a breakfast meeting with Baoli in the hotel dining room. At 8:40 we had out first planning meeting in the Global Volunteers office. We continued personal introductions, defined team goals and explored the characteristics of an effective team.

Baoli thoroughly covered the Global Volunteer policies and discussed how the team could best fulfill our goals. We adjourned at 12:30 and met in the hotel dining room for lunch. The discussions continued in lively fashion.

We met again with at 3PM with several teachers and students from the Xi’an Biomedical Technical College. The students and teachers each introduced themselves with a brief description of their names and where they were from. Several spoke about their desire to learn English and made us feel extremely welcome to Xi’an.

The team members then introduced themselves and spoke briefly about why they came to China and how they hoped to help the teachers and the students. Then the teachers provided additional details of their background and experience. This was followed by a request to have the team members speak in more detail about their “previous lives”, occupations and experiences. This led to continued conversation and questions which was enjoyed by all.

The meeting adjourned at 4:30PM and Baoli, the team and the teachers and students walked back to the hotel. Additional, wide ranging discussion continued.

The team members spent another hour discussing and planning for Monday’s first day of teaching members of the English Club at the University.

We met for dinner at 6PM and continued to voice our potential difficulties to be faced on Monday morning, our “baptism of fire.”

The day was an exciting and informative experience. The team members are all here for the right reasons, communicate and cooperate. There is no doubt that the next three weeks will be exciting and productive. And if we continue to eat all of the fantastic meals ordered by Baoli we will all have to purchase new clothes to return home.

- Wally

Thank You Speech by a Chinese teacher in Kunming

2010-08-16T20:16:00.002+07:00

Today is a special day for me. Standing here, I have so many thanks to say to all of you.

I have taught for 15 years, teaching becomes boring and tiring for me although my students sometimes give me a surprise, happiness and the sense of success. From you, the volunteers, I learned a lot and have changed a lot. You are not professional teachers, but more than teachers. What you did make me feel shamed at my thoughts.

Thank you, Bill and Marissa! You taught us so well. You are kind, patient and hard-working. Thank you for your idioms and slangs. They are so interesting. I’m not a smart cookie, but I learn them for kicks. Thank you for your tongue twisters. Now I can say “If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch” well. Thank you for teaching us how to distinguish the pronunciation. Now I know I cook with a pan, not a pen. Thank you for the papers you gave us. I’ll keep them. When I see them, I’ll remember you and I won’t forget the time we spent together. I want to tell you I’m so lucky to be your student.

Thank you, Lee! I tried my best to catch every word you said about law, but I failed to understand because my knowledge about law is so poor. But your speech about American History was interesting; please know I did not fall asleep for that.

Thank you, Helene! From your speech, I know when someone is ill in America, he would call 911, not 120. I also remember you like helping others. You said “Helping others is also helping yourself”.

Thank you, Grace! You are cleaver, active and beautiful. If you lived in China, I think you would be a super girl. From you and Marissa, we learned a lot about American teenagers.

I’m always wondering why America develops so fast, although it has a history of only about 200 years. From you all, I’ve got some answers.

- Kathleen
A teacher from Dehong Prefecture in Yunnan Province of China

Friday, August 13, 2010

2010-08-13T20:28:00.000+07:00

Today is the last full day in Kunming. Because I have not walked around much by myself around the area, I decided to take a trip myself. The days in Kunming are beautiful, except for sudden rains in the middle of sunny days. After my short walk, we started the day off in with an unusually cheerful breakfast.

Because today is the last day at the Kunming University, we had our final celebration. Marissa, who is in charge of arranging schedules for the final celebration, picked a total of six songs for us to perform. Although we do not have strong vocal chords like the couples in the Dehong prefecture, we were excited to sing our songs and celebrate our days together.

We headed off to the University in a shorter route than usual. When we arrived, we went off to start our last lesson, which would end approximately an hour earlier. Today’s class was exceptionally enjoyable. We spent only about fifteen minutes quickly going over some idioms and quotations and dove into role - playing. The students seem to enjoy this game very much. We set up scenarios, such as having students playing parents of Sean and me. We ended the class at ten fifteen on a good note – singing “You Raise me Up” and “Take me to your Heart”.

After the shortened class, all students and teachers went into a “meeting hall” for the final celebration. Because the directors of education of Kunming have not arrived yet, the classes each performed what they have prepared. The class taught by Bill and Marissa performed first. A lovely, outgoing student named Tanya did a graceful flowy Chinese dance, which the rest of the class sang to. I made sure to tape it on my iPod. The next class, taught by Lee and Helene, sang Auld Lang Syne, English and then in Chinese. Finally, my class went up and sang a beautiful song while doing sign language. The song is named “Thank you” and their sincerity almost brought tears to my eyes.

Now it was our turn. We may have not been very loud, but our spirits were up in the air. We sang the following songs: America the Beautiful, Good Bye Teachers, This land is Your Land, It’s a Small World, Clementine, and an old, and cute Chinese song named “Kan Guo Lai” just with Marissa and me. We also recited a poem, “We are Global Volunteers”, which had the words “We will always love our English teachers dear and hope we see you over here or over there”.

Just then, the directors of education in Kunming arrived. Thank goodness that some people moved the chairs for them to sit. The speeches were short and sweet. But the real sweet part of the speeches was when all of a sudden, they called all the volunteers up to the stage. They presented us individually with a box of expensive Pu’er tea, a CD of pictures, and a colorful “man bag”. The closing ceremony was not over just yet. Just as I was starting to pack up my belongings, about fifteen students came running to where I was with one hand, their certificate, and the other, a black pen. I first started signing all the certificates with my Korean name, English name and my Chinese name but as the piles of certificates got higher, I only started to write my English and Chinese names.

After hugs and photographs, we headed to have lunch with the leaders. The food, of course, was delicious, but I thought the sliced bamboo sticks were a little hard, until I realized I have to peel the surface numerous times before it is edible.

Any how, in this trip, I’m sure all the global volunteers have not only accomplished our initial goals, but made friendships and memories that will last forever. These last two weeks flew by and I would love to come back to the Yunnan province to see the students’ lovely smiling faces again.

- Grace

Thursday, August 12, 2010

2010-08-12T21:17:00.003+07:00

Thought for the Day: There is nothing we like to see so much as the gleam of pleasure in a person's eye when he feels that we have understood him. At these moments something fine and spiritual passes between two friends. These are the moments worth living.

We had our usual morning routine of breakfast and team meeting at the hotel. As we were driving to KU, I was daydreaming and watching the cars, scooters and people move about the streets. I realized that it was like a flowing river; where someone stopped another moved on… as long as you had the flow, you moved. If you slowed down or stopped you were the rock in the river and everything flowed around you… It all seems to work. Somehow it is natural. Earlier this week I mentioned to Marissa that I thought I could ride a scooter around Kunming – how hard could it be? Thousands of Kunmingese ride about the streets every day. Surely I could too. Now I’m not so sure.

We arrived safely at KU and headed to our last full day of teaching. We quickly reviewed for the whole class some of the keys to public speaking: don’t read your speech, make eye contact with your audience, speak slowly and remember to breathe! We were pretty flexible in class today – the teachers wanted to go through the final handout of tongue twisters. We ran a little long on this section and consequently had a late break. As the break period was ending the students started practicing a song they will sing at tomorrow’s closing ceremony. It was a lovely and soothing melody. We told them that they could continue to practice as long as they sang in Chinese but spoke only in English. It was a bit of a challenge but they did a good job using their English skills.

The class broke into small groups as several teachers had specific questions regarding pronunciations and this afternoon’s speeches. Soon the volleyball made it from the podium and was being volleyed back and forth. After a close call with breaking the ceiling lights, we put the ball away but started jump roping. James is quite good! We were ready for some fun and adjourned to the great outdoors to play volleyball, throw the Frisbee, wiggle the hula hoop, and jump rope. It was good to see all the teachers out participating and trying something new.

I’d been curious all week about the school’s cafeteria and so we walked over with James, Kathleen and Erin to see what was happening. We recognized over half of our combined teaching group sitting at tables eating lunch. After a few minutes we hurried along to the van for our ride back to the hotel for lunch and then returned for the afternoon Speech Festival.

We had 21 teachers present their English speeches – the topics ranged from Travel in China, Chinese Festivals and My Home Town to Pollution, a Mother’s Love and Thank You’s. Each of the teachers did a great job and all of the volunteers were very proud of their students – those that spoke at the Festival as well as each teacher that presented within our respective classrooms. Public speaking is stressful in and of itself – let alone in a foreign language.

After the Speech Festival we visited the East and West Pagodas in the southeast part of Kunming and then shared dinner at Seeing the Dragon restaurant. It’s been a long, tiring, rewarding and successful two weeks with our new friends – both volunteers and teachers. It has gone by quickly. We achieved all of our group’s goals as stated at our first team meeting. Thanks Baoli!

- Bill

Wednesday August 11, 2010

2010-08-11T20:55:00.003+07:00

Thought for the Day: “Instead of counting your days, make your days count.”

I woke up unusually early this morning. Instead of groaning and hiding my head back into the sheets, I could not help but be distracted by the things I wanted to do for the day. So I kicked off my sheets and went on to my computer. I had just planned to talk about the Independence Day as the culture of the day, but as soon as I typed in “different cultures” into Google, I found myself sending 12 pages of materials for the class to Baoli.

Ever since I have joined the Global Volunteers, I have always felt a sense of accomplishment or some sort of satisfaction at the end of the day. Instead of spending my summer days drooling in front of the TV, and/or getting up at 2 in the afternoon, teaching has allowed me to feel that I may have made a difference, no matter how small, in someone else’s life. So here is the thought of the day: “Instead of counting your days, make your days count”.

As soon as we arrived at the Kunming University, there stood waiting not one, but two people greeting us. Sean, the usual face, brought his cousin named Cherry. She is an English major student at the Yunnan University who wanted to participate in what she called “free” and “fun” American style of education.

So we started off the class with the different kinds of greetings in different cultures. They especially enjoyed the greeting in Tuvalu, which is to press a face to a cheek of the other and sniff deeply. I also demonstrated the Korean style of bowing down to the elders. I was not aware that China does not have a bowing-down culture, as does Korea. Great to know that now. Anyhow, we moved on to making our own movies. One thing that still sticks in my mind was that one of the students wanted to be a terrorist who would bomb America. The next activity was debating. I wrote the most cliché opinion essay topic on the board: Should high school students wear uniforms? Then I enjoyed the students’ fervent participation in the debate no matter what their language level.

After the class was over, we headed over to a traditional Dehong restaurant. We had a great meal with rice in the pineapples, mysterious milk tea – like – drink, and a ton of different dishes I have never tried before. The never-ending list of different dishes is one thing that never fails to amaze me about China. It was also very nice to have lunch with the students and seeing them socialize outside of the classes. It surprised me though, that the students would not start eating the food unless I try it first. Although I was slightly reluctant to try the foods with the word “la” or spicy in front, or the soup with a chicken’s foot in it, it was great fun tasting a little bit of Dehong.

After eating lunch, the students got together to go shopping. They were excited to have the day off in a cosmopolitan city, compared to the villages where they came from. Unlike many other girls of my age, I do not particularly enjoy shopping so I went back to the hotel.

At around five thirty, Sean decided that we should eat American food after the chicken foot episode at lunch. So we went into a restaurant, and ordered some curry, which the waitress said it was not spicy. Well, later I found out, it was not spicy for a local Chinese. So, I ended up ordering some pasta. We walked around in Kunming a little bit and called it a day after planning together the activities for tomorrow’s lesson. We were most looking forward to having Sean’s cousin for the rest of the classes.

- Grace

Tuesday August 10, 2010

2010-08-10T19:48:00.002+07:00

Thought for the Day: If you plan for one year, plant rice. If you plan for ten years, plant trees. If you plan for 100 years, educate mankind.

It was a day of firsts: seeing our first traffic accident, our first field trip with our students and the first night I’ve not gone out for sweets after dinner…

After saying just yesterday that we’ve not seen any traffic accidents, we saw three today. Fortunately none of the accidents looked too serious – mostly of the type we would call fender benders.

Our driver, Mr. Na, arrived promptly at 8am this morning to drive us to Kunming University. He drove the “long way” past the Yunnan Provincial Museum to the campus. Even though it is a longer distance, we arrive quicker to our classes as there is significantly less traffic. We had a full morning session reviewing tongue twisters, responding to questions about Thursday’s speech festival, a review of the Hump Memorial, Claire Lee Chennault and the Flying Tigers as well as general conversation exercises. As our class ended, Judy, who has apparently been appointed as the coordinator for our class stood up and spoke to her classmates in Chinese. Marissa and I sat and waited as Judy and the class had some back and forth discussions – none of which I understood. On the way to the van for our ride back to the hotel, Marissa related the portions of the discussion she could understand… basically Judy was reviewing the schedule for the balance of the week, including tomorrow’s friendship day and where the class would take us to lunch – but some noted that Marissa may indeed understand what was being discussed and that the class had better complete their “friendship day” plans later and without us within earshot. Marissa is a good poker player, she didn’t let on that she understood anything they were saying!

We had lunch at the hotel and discussed logistical coordination for our Saturday flights out of Kunming – primarily the need for flight confirmations and timing of our flights. For once we ran out of rice (we never run out of food at any of our meals!) and Baoli asked for an additional small bowl of rice. Well there is no such thing as a small bowl of anything here. The waitress promptly delivered a full, large bowl of rice that we had no hope of ever finishing... oh well, we tried!

We met our combined classes at Kunming University at 1430 for our ride to the Hump Memorial. The Memorial is located northwest of Kunming University and our driver, Mr. Na, did a wonderful job of getting us there safely. We had short detour to fill up with gas and then a longer detour as there was significant road construction at the base of the hill we needed to climb. There was no signage directing vehicles which way to go, that the road was indeed “closed” ahead. It was basically follow the leader and see what the cars in front of us were doing. Amazingly, somehow Mr. Na found his way through the construction, around a dead end path and onto a paved road that lead up the hill to the Memorial. Our students arrived in two buses but had to walk the last half mile as their bus was too large to be allowed up the narrow road. The Memorial was dedicated in 1993 by several Chinese agencies/associations. The description and photos of the joint efforts of the Americans and Chinese – each doing the work they were best suited for, left me in awe. Fighting the aggression of the Japanese invaders with the limited resources but with great valor showed heroic actions by all involved with the transportation of critical materials from India to China in support of the Chinese Resistance efforts. It was a vital effort for all of China. I was proud to know Americans were involved with this effort and glad to be able to share the experience with our new Chinese friends. Eventually just about everyone brought out their cameras and the photo shoot was “on”… We must have taken photos for over an hour with every permutation of classes, teachers, school districts, counties, friends included in specific photos. I think we felt a little like celebrities. As we finished at the Memorial and were getting ready to jump back into the van for the ride back to Kunming, we were directed to walk down the roadway… following our students’ lead. Eventually, we arrived at a stage after passing through an amusement area and groves of trees. There was music and the students started dancing traditional Minority dances. It was great fun to participate and to watch the dances and have an opportunity to socialize with our new friends. After several dances, we headed back to the van for a short ride to a restaurant located adjacent to the “old” Kunming Zoo (not the Zoo and Animal Park that we visited yesterday). We were the guests of our hosts and we shared a delightful hot pot dinner and conversation. We commented to our hosts that we were having a good time although Baoli has kept us very busy. Our hosts noted that the students are enjoying our interactions and improving their English verbal skills – a win win for all!

At the Golden Springs Hotel there must be wedding at least 5 nights a week. We’ve learned the Chinese “congratulations” to recite to the Bride and Groom – gong xi, gong xi. Each time we’re rewarded with candies, peanuts and/or cigarettes. It’s called positive re-enforcement and I’ve responded very well to the conditioning. I can’t wait for tomorrow night’s wedding party.

- Bill

Monday August 9, 2010

2010-08-09T19:45:00.002+07:00

Thought for the Day: You can turn off the sun, but we’re still gonna’ shine.

Today we had morning classes, and the rest of the afternoon was free. Class flew by, mainly working on pronunciations of different, but similar sounding words. (For example, rule / rural, lead / lad, wheel / will...)

After classes, we had lunch at the hotel. Bao Li ordered the perfect amount of food this afternoon… Shocking! Definitely a memorable event in our short two week stay.

With lunch and reviewing the team goals under our belt, (literally and figuratively…) my dad (Bill) and I decided to cross off the Kunming Zoo and Wild Animal Park off our viewing list. Bao Li assisted in our communication to the taxi driver. She even had to pull the “they’re helpless Americans!” card to get him to agree to drive us to, and wait for two hours while we roamed the Zoo. Luckily, he agreed in the end, after warning us that normal people can spend up to five hours in the Zoo. Well, we aren’t normal. We’re crazy Americans, substantially worse than usual, given that we’re from California!

Anyways, the Kunming Zoo and Wild Animal Park was pretty interesting… We were each given two tickets, one for the entrance to the Zoo, the other I translated as “electric bottle car”… Not really sure what that was for. Turns out, it’s your pass to get on an oversized golf car and ride around the Zoo. Once we saw the map of the Zoo, I was grateful for the “electric bottle car”. The place is huge. It would have taken much longer than two hours to walk the park…I guess the taxi driver really did know what he was talking about! It would take days to walk and see each of the different animal enclosures.

The Zoo had some “normal Zoo creatures” – giraffes, antelope, assorted bears, monkeys, apes, tigers, pandas… They had a couple of unique animals indigenous to China, and raccoons, which I found to be a little odd in a Zoo, but they were cute, so I was ok with it. There were three pandas that I saw. I’m sure they’re quite active when they’re a bit cooler, but today it was pretty sunny out and they were sweating, if you’ll excuse the idiom, like pigs. They looked pretty miserable… And I thought it was hot in jeans and a t-shirt.

While exiting the tiger exhibit, after watching people who had bought chunks of meat and had them tied on bits of string, attached them to a bamboo pole and were swinging the meat over the tiger’s enclosure, we noticed signs attached to the fencing that led us through the far end of the enclosure. Two of them I found to be really amusing. The first – PLEASE DO NOT FEED FINGERS TO TIGER! The second – Only those who strongly believe in Rebirth should risk going near. Good ol’ Chinese humor… I think?

The notable unique thing about this Zoo – the animals are free roaming. But some of them (not the big cats, don’t worry) have open enclosures, which, while being an oxymoron, was really interesting. People were allowed to walk through the deer, antelope, and peacock enclosures, while the animals roamed around. Many times, they ventured close enough to touch. While I decided it was probably not the most intelligent idea to touch some of these animals, many of the visitors risked their fingers to pet a deer. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it… It was definitely a personal person – to – animal experience. If you have the chance, visiting the Zoo is worth the effort just to be so close to these normally wild animals. Not for the faint – of – heart, however. An emu almost took a bite of my cell phone… Close call.

We returned to the hotel, and went to dinner with the team, less Grace, who was attending Sean’s 21st birthday bash. Che Che’s is dubbed an American restaurant, which proudly proclaims, under its name, “We use no MSG”. Well that’s reassuring. We had two pizzas, half fruit, half meat, and another one a whole meat – mushroom, as well as an herb – roasted chicken. It was actually pretty good. What I found most amusing was that Bao Li, who ordered her Asian dish after we ordered our American dishes, received her dinner substantially earlier than we received ours. I guess the staff had to go through the bookshelves and dust off the American cookbooks. The wait made the food taste better, so perhaps that was part of the strategy?

After dinner, my dad and I ran to Wal-Mart, to re-stock our chocolate supplies, which were running dangerously low. I’ve decided the walk to Dairy Queen is much shorter than to Wal-Mart, and, in the end, more rewarding. Although, the DQ route it is more dangerous, containing many dangerous large – intersection crossings. How much are you willing to risk to get your sugar cravings satisfied?

I’m happy either way.

- Marissa

Sunday August 8, 2010

2010-08-08T19:42:00.002+07:00

Thought for the day: “Nine-tenth of education is encouragement.” Anatole France

The morning is beautiful. Most mornings are, in Kunming. But, as Helene remarked, it has rained every day except Friday, and now today, Sunday. The statement s correct, but may be misleading. Better said, it has rained at sometime on every day except Friday. For example, we put off our departure from the hotel yesterday to go to the Yunnan Nationalities Village because it was raining. At midmorning, the rained stopped, and we enjoyed a beautiful day. Then, this morning when we awoke, the streets and sidewalks were wet. So, it has already rained today, but by dawn the sun was shining. Nevertheless, we have learned to always have our umbrellas at hand.

We met in the lobby at 8:30 for our prearranged ride with Chris, our teacher program manager, to the Stone Forrest. However, when the school van arrived, Sean, our young Chinese volunteer, and the regular school driver, were also present for the outing. The drive to our destination was one hour and 45 minutes. We first stopped in a stone village in the mountains near the Stone Forrest. We mean “stone village” literally. Only stone was used as a building material. Every structure, every fence, every curved and hilly road was of stone. The roofs were of handmade clay tile. The inhabitants were Sani, a subset of the Yi ethnic group. They maintain their own dialect, such that our Mandarin speakers cannot understand them. Life is simple in the village. The people, population 1,475 in number, are farmers. Interestingly, they appear to grow tobacco as their principal crop. Their transportation was either by the familiar motor scooter/truck or by oxcart.

We watched as one family tied tobacco leaves, one by one, to a six-foot pole, to be stacked in the kiln for drying. The six-year-old boy sat on the pile of leaves in the back of the wagon and handed the leaves individually to his father for tying. On the opposite side who appeared to be the grandmother was handing the leaves to the mother for tying. They were working next to one of the many kilns in the village, which were perhaps 15 feet in height. The small oven at the base of the kiln was fired with coal, a sack of which lay open near the oven.

We explored the small village on foot, and came to a compound which contained a larger building, which Chris told was a very small hostel for artists, who come to paint. There appeared to be no artists in residence at the moment. The proprietors were a nice-looking Saki couple, who were dressed in the bright, colorful working costume of the Sani. Her apron was hand-embroidered, in the now-familiar pattern and color, which she sells, along with scarves and other cloths.

To our surprise, Chris had arranged for them to serve lunch. We sat at a low table on a patio, on lower stools, as the couple brought dish after dish of delicious foods. We drank tea, but after we were first toasted three times with a corn alcohol drink, a whiskey, while they sang songs of welcome to us. It was a happy occasion.

I have noticed on my trips to China that when we go for lunch, whether in a nice restaurant in the city or in a countryside village, all the students who may be along and the driver join us for the meal. It is truly a classless society here.

The Stone Forrest is an immensely popular tourist attraction with a large parking lot and many tourist busses. We are among the few Caucasians in the crowd. The Stone Forest is a beautifully landscaped park in the mountains where tall limestone projections create a forest-like setting. It is the most popular tourist attraction in the Province, the kind of place surely National Geographic has featured in a photo article. We spent two hours walking along the laid stone walks through the largest stones. Our many photographs will have to serve to complete the description.

We had a wonderful outing today. I am glad that I came to Yunnan Province this year, for a different teaching experience and a different environment. I still haven’t made up my mind whether I prefer the program here or that in Xi’an. Perhaps I will know after we complete this final week, and then again, maybe I won’t be able to decide.

- Lee

Saturday August 7, 2010

2010-08-07T19:33:00.002+07:00

Thought for the day: “It is possible to store the mind with a million facts, and still be entirely uneducated” Alec Blourn

Saturday early morning was filled with thunder, lightning and rain by the bucketfuls. Not an auspicious beginning for our only free Saturday. It was still raining after breakfast so Lee, Bill, Marissa and I decided to head to the Yunnan Provincial Museum by taxi.

We had two Chinese college students approach us in the museum, asking if they could practice English with us. They were volunteer guides in the museum. Joseph was a student in Kunming and lived in another city not far away. He is studying business English. Darryl lived in Kunming but is a student in Beijing, studying electrical engineering. They explained in fair English many of the exhibits to us and made our visit much more interesting. We helped them with their English pronunciation and sentence structure.

The museum was quite good, with a large exhibit of bronze artifacts from a nearby site, which was discovered in the 1950's. Reportedly, bronze pieces were found for sale in the Kunming Bird and Flower Market. Further investigation led them to the Lijiashan village site. The Museum also had an entire wall mural of the Dai Minority Water Splashing Festival. It looked like a massive water fight with wall-to-wall people. Too bad it is not happening while we are here. It would be great fun to participate!

The skies looked less threatening after lunch, so we decided to head to the Western Hills and the Yunnan Nationalities Village. The trip was about 30 minutes and to our amazement cost only about 31 Yuan. We tried to find the cable car to the Western Hills, but no dice. Something must have been lost in translation when Baoli told us it was “right next to the Village”.

We headed into the Village through a maze of souvenir shops and snack food. Lee got in free with his driver’s license. Marissa could not get in at half price without her student ID, so we three had to pay 70 Yuan each. The Village contains 26 different minority areas. I will just mention a few. The Dai People have the Water-Splashing Festival I mentioned earlier. They have dragon-boat racing, singing, dancing, and fireworks. They also have an exquisitely beautiful dance called the “Butterfly Dance”. The Yi People have their Torch Festival, where they build bonfires and dance with torches. They also have wrestling, bull fighting, singing and dancing, The Hani People do precision dancing between bamboo sticks. The Dulong People are famous for their colorful weaving, and they wear elaborate masks in their ceremonies. The minority that surprised me the most was the Jinpo People. They are a minority who uses our English alphabet for their language. They were converted to Christianity by Western missionaries and worship in a church. There are pictures of The Last Supper and the life and death of Christ. The guitar is one of the instruments they use for their singing.

Unfortunately, Bill received a very painful bug bite on a finger in a Buddhist Temple “some kind of a big black flying bug.” Fortunately, there was a little concession stand close by. No ice, so we did the next best thing. Bill held a frozen ice cream cone on his finger until the cone melted. By then, his finger was feeling less painful.

When we entered the Bulang Village we found an insect display, where the insects were visible in plastic pendants. It was funny to see Bill and Marissa going from bug to bug, trying to identify what had bitten him. We also met an exceptionally talented artist in this village who did wood carvings. A very colorful butterfly carving caught Marissa’s eye and Bill decided to buy it. We all agreed it was a good decision.

On the way out of the park we saw an elderly woman in ethnic garb. I approached her for a photo, but her husband kept walking, saying something in Chinese which obviously meant “no”. We continued walking, when about five minutes later the same woman put her arm through mine, indicating that she wanted the photo after all. So, Bill took a photo of her, Marissa and me; he showed the photo to her and to her husband, who was now all smiles. I don’t know what changed his mind, but I’m glad he did.

The taxi back cost us a whopping 33 Yuan. We did not get back to the hotel until about 1900, but Baoli was nice enough to delay her meal to wait for us. I gave Bill Benadryl for his bug bite, and by morning he said his finger was feeling a lot better. We all had a fun day, even without the Western Hills.

- Helene

Friday August 6, 2010

2010-08-06T23:00:00.002+07:00

Thought for the day: Kind words can be short an easy to speak, but their echoes are endless.

Today began with breakfast and an uneventful ride to Kunming College, excluding the new route we took, in order to see the group of people practicing tai-chi at the park.

In our class today, we discussed American holidays; namely Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Christmas was a source of minor confusion in our class. Some people had questions as to whether there really was a jolly old man who slid down our chimneys in the middle of the night to steal our cookies and give us toys. Luckily, that was sorted out without much difficulty. Since it was Friday, I toted a hula-hoop to school, and before class ended, we let everyone have a go at hula-hooping. We all got a kick out of it, as did Bao Li, who dropped in to photograph the novelty.

After lunch at the hotel, the whole gang hopped in the van to attend the afternoon lectures. Lee discussed the history of the United States, Grace presented the Evolution of Beauty, my dad (Bill) shared the history of Chinese immigration to the United States, and Helene talked about teaching in California.

We ate dinner out, at Jorden’s Café. With some time to spare, we sat and chatted before setting off to the Yunnan Dynamic show. The show was, for lack of an adequate description, amazing. The lighting, costumes, and set were shockingly elaborate, really beautiful. The entire cast was energetic and extremely talented. A few of the crowd favorites – the moonlight dance, and the peacock dance. The moonlight dance was a solo, and unique in the fact that the audience didn’t see the dancer. For the entire dance, we watched her silhouette, as she danced behind a lighted screen.

The peacock dance began as a solo, with the dancer performing a series of complicated hand motions at center stage, in a shimmery white dress with the peacock feather – pattern on the train. She was joined by twenty other female dancers, and a young (six year s old, we guessed) girl another crowd favorite. All the dancers wore the same dress as the original soloist. The finale of the dance, as well as the entire show, was a woman who dressed in a black, similarly patterned dress, whose train literally covered the entire stage, silently made her way upstage and down a flight of stairs at center stage. What a show. We the made our way back to the hotel, thoroughly satisfied with the memorable performance.

Craving a snack after witnessing all that hard work on stage, my dad and I decided to try a late – night run to DQ. Disappointingly, DQ had just closed for the night, so we settled for a shake from Mickey – D’s. Note to all future sugar fiends visiting Kunming – DQ closes at 10:30, not 11:00.

- Marissa

Thursday August 5, 2010

2010-08-05T21:01:00.002+07:00

Thought for the day: The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.

Thursday is another teaching day. The drenching downpour of last night is more than just a memory. My school shoes are still so wet, I must choose a different pair.

We met as usual at 8:00 AM in our private dining room, for breakfast and our team meeting. Then, promptly at 8:00, the driver of the school van whisked us off to the campus. It is a beautiful morning, but we are not so trusting now of the appearance of the sky. We have our umbrellas at the ready, remembering the sudden thunderstorms of yesterday that can envelope Kunming without much warning.

The ride to the University was uneventful, as was our dispersal to our respective classrooms. Yesterday we had inquired of our students whether any of them were one of the 55 minorities in China. I had read that 25 of the minority groups have thrived in Yunnan Province for more than 2,000 years. Three of these teachers proudly responded that they were of one of the minorities, and Alice reported that her husband was one of the minority people. We asked them, as a homework assignment, to prepare a description of their minority group. Each of them in the classroom this morning read an extensive presentation about their respective people.

Michael told us of the third moon festival of the Bai People, and described their colorful festive costumes, drawing on the board the elaborate headdress that is worn in their ceremonial dances. We had seen a dance presentation on the stage of the elegant restaurant where we had dinner last night, that depicted many of the minorities of Yunnan Province. Helene remembered that Bai headdress.

Donna presented the customs of her Yi People and described for us in colorful terms the dance of the fire or torch festival. The other teachers listened attentively, even they seem to be knowledgeable of the customs of the various minorities.

Alice described the Dai People and their water-splashing festival (whatever that may be) and the Peacock Dance. She and Mary told me at the break that they would teach Helene and me the Peacock Dance. I’m not sure that I am looking forward to that, and we didn’t get around to such instruction. Tomorrow, the remainder of the class, who are of the Han majority in China (we are told 95%), will describe their people. It will be interesting to hear them.

The most fun in class today was the description of an American wedding ceremony. I had brought photographs of a wedding my wife and I recently had attended in Florida which I explained. We described each aspect of a wedding in a church, and Helene “married” Roy and Amy, to the great delight of the rest of the class, which included their affirmative responses to the familiar question, “Do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife . . . ?” and so on.

There was much laughter. Most of the students have overcome their shyness are starting to loosen up.

For lunch today, the five of us walked to the Golden Flower Hot Pot Restaurant. It was different from the hot pot restaurant in Xi’an, which had the boiling broth in a large pot in the center of the table. Today, we had individual hot pots and the broth was not spicy. In addition to the two kinds of meats, we had quail eggs, julienned Lilly flowers, chopped cabbage strips and other vegetables to mix in one’s pot. There were slippery noodles which I found impossible to pick up with chopsticks.

This evening we had dinner in the hotel. Grace was absent with another engagement. The discussion was spirited, including a disagreement whether a proper plural form of “fruit” may be “fruits”. Helene insisted it was not. Marissa and I thought the latter was permissible. Bill was on the fence. Marissa said she would Google the words and report to us.

- Lee

Wednesday August 4, 2010

2010-08-04T20:43:00.006+07:00

Thought for the day: A life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.

Wow, it was another busy incredibly busy day for us in Kunming. The morning started with the usual breakfast fixings and our morning review of the past day’s Journal. At 8am we headed over to KU-Teachers Training Center through what seemed like the heaviest traffic we’ve encountered. An extraordinary sight along the way was the young lady dressed in a fine pink dress holding a frilly pink umbrella. She riding on the back of a motor scooter driven by a young man in a white shirt and black tie – it was an unusual contrast to the other morning commuters going to work!

The morning session seemed to pass by very quickly starting with a short review of volunteerism and the concept of “pay it forward”, then some exercises involving students describing, in some detail, their weekend routine. We ended the morning with a rather animated round of tongue twisters…peter piper picked a peck of pickled…oh well, you get the idea. We headed back to the hotel for lunch – geez, didn’t we just eat - and some last minute preparation (for me) for this afternoon’s volunteer presentations. Around 2pm we headed back to KU-TTC and each of us made short presentations to the combined classes.

Lee discussed general education, examination and professional careers for people that pursue a legal profession as well as a brief history of the origin of the American legal system with some contrasts between the American, British and Chinese systems.

Helene explained the fundamentals of nursing / healthcare in America. (I did not know the difference between primary, secondary and tertiary hospitals.) And gave an example of how the US healthcare system requires medical treatment for those needing medical attention, whether or not those individuals can pay for the care they receive.

Marissa discussed life as an American teenager and explained each of the seven habits of a highly effective teenager (from the book with the same title) and how those habits have helped her in better organizing and prioritizing her days.

Grace reviewed the many challenges and differences between American and Asian cultures - for example, the differences in the meanings of different expressions and colors.

Bill presented a short power point and talked about the history and events at the Hotel Del Coronado.

After a hot afternoon and a busy teaching day we were ready for a special night on the town. We shared a wonderful meal and dinner show at the Yunnan Flavor Restaurant. We enjoyed watching (and Marissa and Grace participating) in the show highlighting songs and dances of different ethnic groups from around the Yunnan province.

As the show ended and we were finishing our dinner, a huge thunder storm erupted and it poured rain – even through areas of the restaurant’s roof! Only Baoli and Helene planned ahead and had umbrellas. After a short, but futile, attempt to hail a cab, we bought a couple umbrellas and had a pleasant walk back to the hotel. Yes, the weather in Kunming changes rapidly. Gotta remember to take the umbrella with me tomorrow morning.

- Bill

Tuesday August 3, 2010

2010-08-03T22:23:00.002+07:00

Thought for the day: A human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind” - William James.

Before I get to talk about the adventures we had today, I would like to talk about yesterday a little bit. Yesterday was my birthday. Because I did not think that our team would celebrate a birthday of someone whom they have just met, I did not expect anything. However, Baoli surprised me by appearing with a card, a cake and a mysterious looking plastic flower bulb. As soon as she lighted the middle of the flower bulb, the flower opened up with the tune of “Happy Birthday”. It was a really pleasant surprise. As soon as I got home, I called my family and friends that I had the most special birthday.

Today was the first day of regular classes. So we went off to school and went into our own classes. At first, I was afraid that the teachers would not respect me as their teacher because I am much younger than them and because I am of Asian descent. However, they gave me a warm welcome as soon as I entered the classroom. Although they were puzzled that I am both Korean and American, they accepted me as their teacher, either way.

For the first portion of the class, I taught them different idioms, such as, “music to my ear”. They struggled a little bit understanding why Americans would use such a phrase, but as soon as they understood it, they incorporated the idiom into their language. Also, we talked about Halloween. Using a power point that I made the night before to explain it helped them focus. They liked the idea of free candy. Some other things we did together are interviewing each other, singing an American song, interpreting poems, and playing games. Because education in China is focused on doing well on the exams, they were not used to being creative and having fun. So, during a break, a student came up and told me that he most liked interpreting poems because a poem can be interpreted in so many different ways.

After the class was over, we went to the hotel for lunch, and headed back to the school for two more hours of lecture. As Americans, we could not help but feel bad for the students who have to sit in classes and lectures all day long during their summer vacations. Anyways, Baoli took over the first hour talking about Global Volunteers organization. She explained the history of the organization, the philosophy, and why we do it. She also introduced the concept of helping others, because Chinese who come from rural areas have a hard time understanding why people would spend their own money and time to help others. Then, the rest of the team went up to talk about their experiences with volunteering.

At the end of the lecture, Baoli collected the questions from the people who were too shy to ask questions in front of a crowd. The questions mainly had to do with how they could volunteer without having much money. We had to explain over and over again that we do not need to have a lot of money to be able to help others. A helping hand is all we need to have. There is the thought of the day. “A human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind” by William James. We hope that by having shared our experiences with volunteering, the teachers would change their attitudes and pay it forward.

- Grace

Monday August 2, 2010

2010-08-02T22:21:00.002+07:00

Thought for the Day: Learning is like rowing upstream; not to advance is to drop back.

We arrived at Kunming University at 8:30 and proceeded to our welcoming ceremony for both the teachers and Global Volunteers. We listened to five different people for 75 minutes, all of whom said the essentially the same thing in different ways:
1) The teachers have a great opportunity to be here and work with Global Volunteers and they should use the time wisely;
2) Thank you to Global Volunteers, who actually paid money to come so far just to help Chinese teachers improve their conversational English.

After a group photo, we proceeded to our classrooms. Lee and I are teaching 17 teachers. Bill and Marissa also have 17 teachers; Grace, because she is teaching alone, has 11 teachers.

Some are from the same city, but none from the same school. All of our teachers had English names and only one was unusual “Luxxan.” We had the teachers introduce themselves in pairs to each other, and we used the opportunity to tell them about the American need to have a firm handshake and to look the other person in the eyes. Then, we had them introduce themselves to the class, since they had also just met. They each told their Chinese name and their English name, where they were from, where they taught and something about their home city. We learned that all of them came from “beautiful” cities, and that they all loved their students (unlike in America schools where teachers definitely not love all their students). For homework, they were told to find other adjectives for “beautiful”.

Their English skills are so much better than the students we have taught in the past. We should have expected this since they are English teachers. Our challenge will be to have them speak freely in class.

Our class day was shorter because of the welcoming ceremony. We left at 11:30 to return to the hotel and have lunch. During lunch, Baoli gave the team ideas on how to try to get the teachers to participate more in class. For example, call on individuals rather than wait for a volunteer.

After lunch I was just about to leave my room to explore the side streets, when it suddenly started raining cats and dogs (another idiom for class). The highlight of the day was the celebration of Grace’s 18th birthday at dinner, fireworks and all. Baoli brought a traditional Chinese cake, complete with grape tomatoes on top. Will wonders never cease! A group of hotel staff came in and sang “Happy Birthday” to Grace in both Chinese and English. We laughed when the staff started speaking to Grace in rapid Chinese. To her credit Grace was able to understand some of what they said. She should have no trouble passing her Chinese exams. They also sang a traditional ethnic Yi welcoming song, including their toasting each of us, as they circled the table. Grace will never forget the unusual celebration of her 18th birthday, and neither will we!

- Helene

Sunday August 1, 2010

2010-08-01T21:53:00.002+07:00

Thought for the Day:
This is the first day in the China Global Volunteer program for Team 186. None of us is a teacher by profession, but we will undertake to teach others for the next two weeks. And, ironically, we will be teaching professional teachers. One thought that inspires us is:

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”

A friend described his first stint as volunteer here in China as “a life-changing experience.” Just maybe we can make this a life-changing experience for these 45 middle-school teachers from a rural prefecture in Yunnan Province, most of whom will never have been face-to-face with a foreigner before.

Our team has only five members, an unusually small, and very diverse, group. Bill is a retired San Diego CPA from a large accounting firm, and now a large project construction manager. He is accompanied by his high school age daughter, Marissa. By herself is Grace, just turning 18, whose family is from Seoul, Korea, although she attends a women’s’ boarding school in Connecticut. This is their first service with Global Volunteers. The other member besides me is Helene, a nurse from UCLA Hospital. Helene and I have been team members together in Xi’an during the past two years. This is my fourth Global Volunteer program, my first in Kunming.

To prepare us for the two weeks ahead, Baoli conducted an orientation session in a beautiful conference room on the top floor of our hotel. Among the subjects covered, she had us list 15 characteristics of an effective team, such as being flexible and having respect for the opinions of others, and working together for the team goal. We reviewed the Global Volunteer philosophy of only doing what is asked of us. We are not here to do, but to help.

We spent perhaps three hours in the team meeting, before taking an afternoon break. At 5:00 PM, we assembled in our hotel lobby for the 30-minute drive to Kunming University, specifically the Teachers Training Center. We were met by “Chris,” the driving force for the collaborative effort of the Training Center and Global Volunteers. We walked down the narrow streets of the nearby neighborhood to a favorite restaurant, where the teacher-students awaited us. I happened to be seated next to Chris, who explained that these teachers traveled 12 hours by bus from their rural prefecture to be with us for two weeks. In prior years, the participating teachers came from Kunming, but it was decided to go outside this provincial capitol and reach those teachers who come from more disadvantaged areas. Chris reports that they come mostly from rural villages, only three being chosen from each county. It is apparent that young teachers are selected for this program which is considered by them to be a rare privilege. The government underwrites most of the expenses of the teachers. We are excited to be with them for the next two weeks.

We returned to our hotel after a sumptuous Chinese dinner, less Marissa and Grace, who were detained by “Sean” for a tour of the campus. Sean is charming ever-present young student, who hopes to go to UCLA next year.

One of the slang words listed in our Teaching Guide is “pumped.” That perhaps best describes out state of mind as we prepare to go to the campus tomorrow.

- Lee

Friday, July 23, 2010

2010-07-23T21:43:00.002+07:00

Thoughts For The Day: If we use today well, tomorrow will take care of itself. AND Plan briefly, and act boldly.

We departed from the hotel at 8:00 a.m. and began our last classes at about 8:30. This last class lasted only until 9:50 a.m. Carol and I undertook a number of activities that would get the students to talk a good deal and added to the list of American idioms we had given them in a previous class. We also showed them some pictures of New York City and of the Amish people. (During these two weeks we have talked about a number of minority groups in the United States, and it is clear from their questions that the students were interested in those topics.) We ended with the spelling game Hangman, which we had played before and which they really liked. The very last Hangman puzzle for them to figure out was "We will miss all of you." Actually, they figured it out very quickly. Our last class ended, as had all the previous classes, with many smiles and a great deal of enthusiasm. It was hard to realize this was the last time "our" group of students would be together with us and with each other.

All three classes and the volunteers gathered for the final ceremony. The ceremony was preceded by an exceptional collection of photographs that the University folks had taken of the students and all the volunteers over the past two weeks. We heard a series of speeches from several dignitarites, including our own Baoli, thanking the volunteers and congratulating the students on their hard work and achievements during the program. In addition, the volunteers each said a few words about what these two weeks have meant to us, and each received several very thoughtful gifts.

After the formal part of the ceremony ended, each of the three classes presented a medley of songs for the entire group. The songs were spirited, well done and very much appreciated. The volunteers, with Baoli, ended the program with our stirring renditions of "Getting To Know You" and "It's A Small World." (But let us be very clear that no matter what singing talents the volunteers may have exhibited, each of us knows it is important "to keep our day jobs.") The program was followed by many pictures with students and many heartfelt goodbyes. It was a perfect ending to what has been a wonderful two weeks, for the students and certainly for the volunteers.

We returned for lunch at the hotel. During the afternoon Bob, Carol and went to the Bird and Flower Market. It was a great deal of fun (although getting a taxi to go there proved somewhat difficult). We gathered for our last dinner together at our hotel at 6:00 p.m.

This ends the Journal for Team 185. Martin, Kathy, Bob, JK, Carol and Dick, always so ably helped and organized by Baoli, became good friends; we enjoyed Kunming a great deal; we loved working with our English teacher students; and WE DID HAVE FUN. For the future, the very best to all of us, and here's hoping that we meet again.

- Dick

Thursday July 22, 2010

2010-07-22T21:08:00.001+07:00

Thought for the Day: "Life's most urgent question is, what are you doing for others?? Martin Luther King

We began the day as usual -- chatting, enjoying a delicious breakfast, and today practicing our two songs -- "Getting to Know you" and "It's a Small World" -- which we will perform at the Final Ceremony. We plan to practice several more times in order to be presentable! We all hopped on the van at 8AM and traveled to our English Classes at Kunming University -- we can hardly believe that we are on Day 9 of our of teaching project. We are tired but feel so satisfied with the progress that all of our students have made and how friendly everyone has become toward one another. We remind ourselves that our goals include improving Conversational English skills but also building relationships and I do believe that we have accomplished both. And yes, we are having fun!!!

Dick and I began our class with several games -- Telephone, Hangman, Let's Tell a Story, and 20 Questions. We always emphasize how good these games are for their students to learn and the teachers seem to love them. Then we spent the time up to the break and some of the time after, allowing our 6 student representatives to practice their speeches again. This time many more students had comments and suggestions for them. Everyone seemed very excited and enthusiastic about this Speech Festival. After the break we talked a little about America's early history, some important Presidents such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt. We had pictures to show them of Washington, D.C. and the various Monuments and Memorials connected to these Presidents. We finally ended our class by practicing the two songs that the students will sing tomorrow at the Closing Ceremony -- "Blowin' in the Wind" and "You are My Sunshine." One of our students will play the guitar for this performance -- I think it will be very nice.

We traveled back to our hotel for lunch and a slight rest -- and then back in the van to attend the Speech Festival. Chris introduced the Festival and one of Martin and Kathy's students acted as moderator. We sat and listened to 18 speeches -- 6 students from each class. The topics were varied, the body language was wonderful, the eye contact was very good, and everyone seemed to have a fine time. After the student speakers, the Volunteers each said a few words of encouragement to all of the students who participated, including those who did not speak at the final round. We all agreed that we felt the students had made significant progress in this short time and that they were all very enthusiastic.

Baoli decided that since it looked like it might rain, that we should forgot our trip to the pagoda and the restaurant and just go back to the hotel. We all agreed that a rest and another fine meal in our hotel would be fine.

We all will certainly look forward to our final day tomorrow with our wonderful students and will store memories forever of our "adventurous" experiences here in Kunming.

- Carol

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

2010-07-21T20:20:00.001+07:00

Thought For The Day: God grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

8:30 - 10:00 a.m. -- This morning we prepared the students in our class to practice for the First Round Speech Festival. Each student was required to give a brief 3 to 5minute speech on any subject. After the end of each student presentation, Bob and I gave our comments and tips on how they could improve their speech in English. As a whole, the class did quite well, and we plan another speech dress rehearsal tomorrow morning before the Final Speech Festival.

10:00-10:10 a.m. -- Bob and I left the class room, and the students selected 6 representatives to represent our class in the Finals. In addition, we announced that in the closing ceremony, Friday, our class will be singing two songs.

11:30 -- 1:30 p.m. -- During the Friendship Activity the class treated Bob and me at a restaurant call Foo Chou Lou. It was a fabulous 15 course meal which to me, was more like a feast for a king. Interestingly, because of our age and the fact that we were teachers, the students insisted on carrying our books and held both of us by the arm to protect us from falling.

To make things even better, one of the students owned a fancy red Honda and drove Bob and me to the restaurant and back to the hotel. Why can't we get such VIP treatment back home?

- JK

Tuesday July 20, 2010

2010-07-20T20:50:00.001+07:00

Thought for the day: Why is that when people reach a certain age we think they're approaching death soon? We should instead celebrate the fact that they're still alive and kicking. It is not so much dealing with death, it's learning from people who have come this far (Personal philosophy derived from life experiences).

Today started off with a very busy morning going over several agenda items which will occur over the next three days: the Friendship Activity, the Speech Festival, and the Closing Ceremony. We spent so much time going over these items that we were rushed in doing our regular exercises of the journal reading, pronunciation drills, open-ended discussion questions, and role playing. We did manage to sing some songs and teach the students some games which they might use in their classes including Hangman.

After lunch at the hotel, we went to the Hump Memorial where we spent the afternoon with our classes teaching them about American assistance to the Chinese government during the Sino-Japanese War. Beginning with the American Volunteer Group lead by Claire Chennault in early 1941, the outfit turned into the Flying Tigers when America entered the war after Dec. 7, 1941.

The weather was quite bad with continual rain changing from light to heavy showers. My arthritis was acting up, aggravated by the wet weather, and I decided to stay in the van. Martin told me the students enjoyed taking pictures of their friends and with the Global Volunteers. J.K., our dancing master Volunteer, felt under the weather with flu-like symptoms and spent the afternoon resting. He was still not feeling up to par by dinner time and Baoli arranged for him to eat supper in his room and continue to rest.

We were all tired after the day's outing with the rain and mud, but got our second wind when we had dinner at Che Che, a restaurant which serves American food in Kunming. The food was quite tasty and a welcome change to all the wonderful Chinese food which we have been eating. The food did not taste exactly what we are used to eating in California, New York, and New Jersey where the Volunteers are from, but it was appreciated by all. After our American food fix we all walked back to the hotel in the drenching rain for a much needed night's sleep.

Tomorrow is the Friendship Activity session and I look forward to seeing what our students have planned.

- Kathy

Monday July 19, 2010

2010-07-19T20:48:00.001+07:00

Thought for the Day: “Some men see things as they are and say 'why'. I dream things that never were and say 'why not?'” - John F. Kennedy

Following our morning meeting we boarded the van with Chris and headed for the flower market. We learned that Kunming is the flower capital of China, and for much of SE Asia. Although much of the activity had slowed down by the time we arrived (9:00) it was still very interesting to observe the site and enjoy the beautiful displays.

We met a group of English speaking college girls who insisted on our having our pictures taken with them. I tried to resist but they threatened to use force, so I succumbed.

We then drove through the new city where there is construction going on a monumental scale. The University, a medical school and a tech campus is being built. Along with huge housing complexes for faculty and staff. It is all on a world class scale.

The van to take us to school after lunch was a little late, so class was a little compressed. JK announced about the speech festival. He discussed the various ideas for delivering a good speech. He then discussed the variables that determined a teacher's salary in the US.

I added one point to the tips for the speeches, Inflection. I explained the meaning and we had a short drill to illustrate.

After that we had a short game of telephone and learned some new slang. We finished with a new song, The Unicorn, to add to their play list of Yakety Yak and Where Have All The Flowers Gone.

Dinner was at a Moslem restaurant. The ambiance was pleasant, the food was good, the service attentive and a good time was had by all.

- Bob

Sunday July 18, 2010

2010-07-18T20:40:00.002+07:00

Thought for today: The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Neibuhr, American theologian and Christian intellectual. God give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

We are half way through our two week service session in Kunming and it has been exhilarating, exciting, fun, and exhausting. I was very happy to have the weekend free in order to recoup after being away from home for over one month, traveling over Southern and Southwestern China and winding up at the Shanghai World Expo before starting my Global Volunteers session in Kunming.

I anticipated teaching in Kunming would be relatively easy since this is my fourth term back to Kunming University (previously Kunming Teachers College). But it has been a little disorganized for both Kathleen and me, first time teaching as a team, in that we have not gone over and refined our lesson plans as we had planned to do before starting our China journey. But we started our first week in Kunming on cruise control and like bicycle riding, the techniques come back on a subconscious level.

The first week ended and I was happy to rest yesterday with spending some time in the street next to the hotel with shopkeepers whom we have known for four years and who recognized us from prior sessions. We have also had an opportunity to touch base with some of our former students who have kept in contact with us throughout the years.

This morning was the first time Kathleen and I ate breakfast at the late hour of 8:00am in the hotel and enjoyed a long leisurely meal. We didn't have an opportunity to eat with the other team members although J.K. Chun stopped for a few minutes to have a second cup of coffee with us.

After breakfast, Kathleen and I went to Green Lake Park to spend several delightful hours mingling with the local people and seeing how Kunming families, young couples, and a few tourists, spend their Sundays. The park is quite nice for a large park located in the heart of a big city and like Central Park in New York, Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and Grant Park in Chicago, it forms a large part of the culture of the city dwellers. We enjoyed seeing young singles, one, two, and three generation families, the little kiosks offering souvenirs, toys, refreshments. the lake with its lotus plants, ducks, paddle boats, and many people, like us, enjoying a respite from the hustle and bustle of city life.

We returned to the hotel and had lunch at a restaurant a few yards adjacent to the hotel, XiYingZhai, a modern Chinese fast food/cooked to order, hybrid, restaurant/cafeteria. The decor is clean, McDonald's style, with their logo on plastic plates and bowls. After entering the restaurant you read the menu with accompanying pictures on the walls. After deciding what you want to eat, you go to the only cashier, tell her what you want and pay her for your meal. You get one receipt for each item you offer. You then turn around and go to the counter where your food is cooked and present your receipt. Your order is filled, you take your tray and utensils and find an empty table and enjoy. The dining room employees, almost all young women, clean all the tables and keep the condiment trays filled. No self-busing.

The food is quite good for simple dishes, well prepared. For 12 Yuan, approximately $1.80, I had a four item tray: a covered bowl of seaweed soup, a covered bowl of rice, a plate of sliced barbecued roast pork, and a small dish of stirred fried cabbage with mushrooms. Utensils and paper napkins are included. The only unusual part of this nice lunch was the absence of anything to drink -- no water or tea. Since soup is served, most patrons do not drink anything else. As usual we always bring a bottle of water with us in case of situations like this.

My wife had a large bowl of soup rice noodles with beef: 6 Yuan or 90 cents. Total cost of a leisurely lunch for two, nice ambiance, tasty and enjoyable food, good nutrition: $2.70 American. Tipping not expected nor desired, but probably appreciated. Welcome to Yunnan Province! The only downside: if you don't speak elementary Mandarin, you may have some challenges to overcome. Learn to point or study Wang Baoli's Chinese lessons.

After lunch we retreated back to the hotel, relaxed with some television and computer time.

Dinner at 6:00 pm at the hotel with the team who filled everyone in with their Sunday activities. Wang Baoli gave us some background material for our Hump Memorial visit on Tuesday. After dinner Kathleen had her weekly nail treatment at the local beauty emporium on the adjacent street. As a finale to a restful Sunday, Kathleen and I went back to our room where we prepared for our teaching session tomorrow and where I did my journal duties.

Week two begins tomorrow with a morning visit to the wholesale Dou Nan flower market in the New Kunming area. Let the activities commence!

- Martin

Saturday July 17, 2010

2010-07-17T20:38:00.001+07:00

Thought for the Day: "The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit." (Nelson Henderson; from Boldt, Zen Soup -- Tasty Morsels Of Wisdom From Great Minds East & West, Penguin/Arkana, 1997)

Because it was Saturday we had no classes to teach. Martin and Kathy spent a quiet day in and around the hotel. Carol, Bob, JK, and Dick traveled in a rented van with Chris (the program assistant at the University who provides so much help for us). We rode for about 2.5 hours to a stone village occupied by people from one of China's minority groups. The village is very old, and we had the impression of stepping back into life that is similar in many ways to life lived a couple of hundred years ago. Only very recently did any electricity or running water reach this village, and we could see small pipes running above ground for the most part and then entering houses, and electric wires running into the buildings. We had a delicious and much too large lunch with a young family who live in the village. After lunch the husband and wife sang two songs for us, and their five-year-old daughter sang an additional number. Bob and Carol each bought one of the hand-made items that they had for sale.

We then travelled to a small lake (Long Lake) surrounded by a park. We walked along the shoreline, sat in the shade, and talked for a while. After that we drove back toward Kunming and stopped at the Stone Forest, one of China's remarkable natural treasures. Here great stones (formed from what was originally limestone at the bottom of an ancient ocean) create sharp towers and rocks of many different shapes. This is a truly fantastic landscape. We had an English-speaking guide -- one of Chris' former students; he was a delightful young man who has worked at the park for four years. We walked some distance through the park. After the hiking and climbing, some delicious chocolate ice cream truly "hit the spot."

Chris parted from us when we left the park, so he could stay with his parents in a nearby village. Our faithful driver delivered us back to the hotel just in time for a 6:30pm dinner with Baoli, Kathy and Martin. It was a very full, busy, warm, and memorable day. Sleep came quickly.

- Dick

Friday July 16, 2010

2010-07-16T20:37:00.001+07:00

Since I'm 80 and time is short for me, my Thought For The Day is: "Enjoy your self (baby). It's later than you think."

8:30-11:30 a.m. Small Class Teaching at Kunming Teachers College

I thought since my arrival 5 days ago, today was the most successful and productive class meeting. The students seemed more relaxed, more confident, less shy and even smiled when they spoke.

Although Bob and I teach alternate hours (1.5 hrs. each), we both decided today to focus on encouraging students to ask us questions rather than vice-versa. In that way the students could practice their English by speaking, and when we answered their questions, the students could practice their English by listening to our answers.

The strategy I used today was to explain the importance of being a "team player," emphasizing the fact that 2 heads are better than one.

So I chose 3 of our bravest and best students as "Team Leaders." Then each leader would have 4 students under them, and together as a team, they would decide what questions to ask me. In that way, as a team, they would feel less embarrassed to ask me questions. For example: How did you meet your wife? Was it love at first sight? (As an individual, they would never ask me these questions, but as a group together -- Anything Goes.) I wrote their questions on the board from the 3 team leaders, and they were very interesting; but my time was up so I had to turn the class over to Bob.

When Bob took over the class, he also asked students many questions to encourage them to be more confident and to speak more. In addition, Bob also taught them a few American idioms. Later he played a game called "Telephone" which was interesting, and the students responded well.

12:00 -- 1:30 p.m. Lunch at Golden Flower Hot Pot Restaurant

Bao Li made an excellent choice by bringing us to this unique restaurant. Although my wife and I have hot pot occasionally in L.A. (usually in the winter), this experience was interesting because we use different kinds of food and ingredients. Which tastes better? Our American-Chinese style or Kunming style? No comment.

5:00-5:45 p.m. Chinese Language Lesson

Dick and Carol as pure blooded, white, Caucasian Americans attended. Kathy, Marty, and I as Chinese-Americans, "played hookie" and did not attend.

6:00-7:00 p.m. Dinner at Yunan Food Restaurant
The food there was also good, but we had to rush our meal to attend the Yunnan Dynamic Show.

8:00-10:00 p.m. Yunnan Dynamic Show

This show was spectacular with a huge cast composed of China's minority groups. The costumes were unique. I really enjoyed the show because where else in the world can you see authentic native minority dancers and singers, except in Kunming?

My main objection, however, was during the show I was caught "illegally" taking pictures. Yet many people from the audience (including Bob) were also taking pictures during the show, but they got away with it. My question is: Why me?

-JK

Thursday July 15, 2010

2010-07-15T21:41:00.001+07:00

Thought for the Day: Tell me, I will forget. Show me, I may remember. But involve me and I will understand. - Chinese Proverb

We again woke up to another wonderful Chinese Buffet Breakfast. I am always amazed at the variety of food we find and the many interesting names that accompany this food! We ate, conversed as usual about our many experiences here in China, and also our many opinions about just about every subject. This group is so interesting and knowledgeable about everything. At 8AM we all met downstairs at the white van and traveled to our teaching assignments.

Dick and I also are finding that the students are becoming more and more comfortable and confident to speak up in class and to ask many questions. We began today by reviewing questions from our "lectures" yesterday -- Dick speaking on American History, Carol speaking on Special Education and Disabilities, and Bob speaking on Jewish History. We helped them if they needed clarification on information presented and answered some written questions. Then we began a discussion of our National Holiday -- Thanksgiving -- and the Chinese holiday of Spring Festival or the New Year. Dick and talked about some Thanksgiving customs and I put new vocabulary on the board. Then we went around the room asking each student to say a sentence or two about the Spring Festival and that was very interesting for us. Many students had some similar customs and then other students shared more unique experiences such as taking short trips, spending time with friends, or going to the Buddhist Temple to pray. Our next activity involved the World Map -- a wonderful activity since it did not appear that the teachers had spent much time with maps. We brought all the students up around the map and then "quizzed" them on oceans, continents, countries, rivers, seas, etc. and they were very interesting. Again we put new vocabulary on the board. Next we put the letter "B" up on the board and with partners, the students wrote down as many words as possible beginning with that letter -- I printed all the words on the board -- we pronounced newer, more difficult words and often used them in sentences. I was amazed at the number of words they found. The students seem to really like working with one or two other people and then sharing with everyone what they find. Finally, Dick and I passed out a short Rober Frost poem (The Road Not Taken) which we hope to work more on tomorrow -- we read this poem in unison and then tackled a few unfamiliar vocabulary words before finishing the class with the Hokey Pokey...they loved it.

Other Volunteers shared some of their Thursday teaching experiences at lunch -- which included more "open-ended" questions, students being teachers, and lots of good conversation. JK even got a "headstart" on our afternoon entertainment by teaching his students both the Bunny Hop and the Macarena.

In the afternoon 5 of us again met at the van at 2PM and traveled back to the University to participate in both another lecture on Chinese overseas and some wonderful dances and songs. JK, Martin, and Kathy formed a panel and related such fascinating personal experiences as people coming from two cultures. The students stood up and asked questions as they had yesterday when the previous three Volunteers gave their presentations. Then we took a short break and walked back to our classroom building for another hour of the Bunny Hop and Macarena -- and then we all sang "You are My Sunshine" and “This Land is Your Land”. I think it is safe to say that the whole event was a big success.

Finally, at 6PM we met outside the Hotel to walk 10 minutes to the Jordan’s Cafe...along the most interesting street I have seen in China. We walked through a "neighborhood" within a big city -- a place where you could really find any consumer good necessary or have your pants shortened or buy your live chicken for dinner. I definitely want to walk along that road again, perhaps on Sunday, and take in more of the sights, sounds, and smells. I'm not sure how I can really describe this all to my friends at home -- everything is so fascinating!

I am feeling tired at the end of this wonderful day and so happy to be involved with my new Volunteer Friends as well as my new Student Friends. I look forward to tomorrow and another whole set of possibilities...

- Carol

Wednesday July 14, 2010

2010-07-14T22:54:00.002+07:00

Thought for the day (after observing the relationship between GV team members and their students at Kunming University): Youth is a wonderful thing; it is a shame that it is wasted on the young (paraphrased from Mark Twain).

Today was a turning point in the student/teacher relationships in our class. The students were at ease, asked questions, gave opinions, and in general appeared interested in the program. After a routine journal reading by one of the students, essentially a copy of our daily GV exercise, comments were given from me, Martin and the students regarding grammar, syntax, pronunciation, body language and anything else that might contribute to improved English written and conversational skills.

We then spent some time commenting about yesterday's presentation by Baoli and the GV about volunteerism. Each of the students gave their opinion about the presentation and how much they had learned about volunteerism and the motivation to participate. Their interest was stimulated and they appreciated the opportunity to learn about a cultural phenomenon not often seen in Asian cultures.

We went through a variety of exercises including team role model playing, instant creative responses to open-ended questions, vocabulary building, pronunciation exercises, singing, and public speaking techniques. By 11:30 both students and GV were ready for lunch and some rest from a full morning.

After the usual delicious and nutritious lunch at the hotel, three members of the team returned to school to give cultural enrichment talks: (1) Dick spoke about American History, (2) Carol discussed Special Education and Disability, and (3) Bob talked about Jewish culture and religion. All the talks were well received by the students as evidenced by a prolonged ovation to all the speakers.

My husband and I underwent a different adventure as we had to go to the local police department, named the Public Security Bureau in China, in order to extend our China visas. Although I speak fluent Mandarin, without Baoli accompanying us to the Exit & Entry Certificates Service Office where they issue visas in cities without consulates, we might be there for the rest of the afternoon or given a run around to return with additional documents, pictures, credit cards, hotel statements, etc. Several GV in Xi'an had to do the same and they experienced nothing but grief until they got their visa extension. The process went very smoothly in Kunming with Baoli's guidance and with luck. We will get our new visas after a week.

On our return walk home, the afternoon heat had its effect on me after a few blocks but we were fortunate enough to get a taxi for all of us back to the hotel. After a brief rest the entire tea met for an evening dinner and show at the Yunnan Flavor Restaurant where the quality and quantity of food was memorable. Just when we could not eat anything more, individual bowls of Across the Bridge Noodles, a Kunming specialty, was served to each of us. After the meal, a thoroughly enjoyed show demonstrating the various dances of many Yunnan minority groups was presented with singers, acrobats, and even sword walkers involved. At the end of the show, the audience was encouraged to come on stage to meet the performers and get pictures taken.

And so ended another day in Kunming with too many activities, too much food, a lot of work but at the end of the day, it was thoroughly enjoyable and I look forward to tomorrow for more of the same after a good night's rest..

- Kathy

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

2010-07-13T22:52:00.000+07:00

Thought for the day: Hillel, the great Hebrew sage of the millennium, was approached by a young man. The youth said he would convert and follow Hillel if the Rabbi could explain his religion to him while he stood on one leg.
Hillel responded: "That which is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor. All the rest is commentary".

Dick read the journal at the breakfast meeting. The day's program was given to us and we headed to the University. Our class went well. We did role playing, discussed the American education system, and JK did an extensive presentation on effective teaching methods. The other groups did not discuss their sessions with us, but we gathered the impression that their classes went well. Baoli distributed the syllabus for the rest of the program at lunch.

Following lunch we returned to the University. The combined classes were gathered in a conference room. Baoli gave a very effective power point presentation on GV and the concept of volunteerism. Then each team member spoke about their own roles as volunteers.

The students were asked to ask questions. They were reluctant to participate at first. But when given the opportunity to submit their questions in writing they were very responsive and a number of very good question were turned in.

We returned to the hotel at 5:00. A full and satisfying day.

- Bob

Monday, July 12, 2010

2010-07-12T20:46:00.001+07:00

Thought for the day: "Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile." (Einstein)

After breakfast we left the hotel at 8 AM in a van to travel about 20 minutes to the local college where we will meet our English teacher students for the first time and have our first day of class. Our "teaching day" began with an Opening Ceremony attended by all the English teacher students, team members, and a number of dignitaries. Each of the dignitaries spoke at the ceremony, including our team leader Baoli. All the speakers welcomed us and said how delighted they are that we have come from the United States to assist Chinese English teachers with their conversational English. All of them also said how important a learning opportunity this will be for the English teachers who are present and how important learning English is for the children of China. The ceremony took about 40 minutes. It was followed by a "photo op" in which one of our hosts took a group picture of all those who attended the Opening Ceremony.

We met our three groups of students and went to our respective classrooms. Each of the three groups (as noted previously) is taught by two teachers: Martin and Kathy; JK and Bob; and Carol and Dick. The groups completed a variety of first day activities designed to help everyone meet everyone else and to allow our volunteers to gain a sense of the existing conversational skills of the English teachers (so that we can plan for the best possible classes during the rest of our two weeks here). Creativity in running the class sessions was very evident in each of the classrooms, and everything seemed to go splendidly throughout our first day. Most importantly, all of our students seemed eager and very interested in the activities that we suggested.

At approximately 11:45 AM we got back in the van and traveled back to our hotel for lunch. We spent a good deal of time at lunch talking about the two week teaching schedule and in particular about the "lectures" that team members will give on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons this week. Most mornings we will be teaching from 8:30 until 11:30 AM, and we will have afternoon sessions for two hours each on some days, but not all.

The afternoon was spent on a variety of "free time" activities. The high point of the afternoon was Kathy and JK's visit to a local craftsman who successfully opened JK's locked suitcase. In addition, Dick spent an hour talking to a young man who is a third year college student here in Kunming. He hopes to attend graduate school in the United States, and he had numerous questions about what he might expect if he does eventually do so.

After dinner we reviewed our first day's activities, so each group could learn something about what the other groups are doing. We can be very pleased that our first day of teaching went so well, that our group of six volunteers plus Baoli get along so well together, that we are so enthusiastic about the English teachers who are our students and about the opportunities we will have to help them during days to come, and that we are having fun (as Kathy keeps urging us to do).

Remember: "Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."

- Dick

Sunday July 11, 2010

2010-07-11T21:28:00.001+07:00

Thought for the Day:
(1) Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
(2) It's not about how to achieve your dreams. It's about how to lead your life.

On a lovely Saturday evening our team met for the first time at dinner at the Golden Spring Hotel with the mission of improving the English conversational skills of teachers from Yunnan Province. Our country manager, Baoli, begins her 2nd year leading this successful and popular program at Kunming Teachers College. All of the Volunteers are returnees and most have a teaching background but other fields such as medicine, law, business are represented. Each of the Volunteers made a brief biographical statement:

(1) Dick, a professor in Regional and City Planning at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, is a third term GV having previously taught in Poland and Rumania. A lawyer by training, he teaches environmental law. This is first program with GV in China.

(2) Carol, from Ithaca, New York, is the wife of Dick, and is a special education teacher with special interest in autism and developmental handicap conditions. Kunming will be the third program in which she and her husband have served.

(3) Junion, a teacher of business strategies at Pasadena City College, is from Diamond Bar, California, and returns to China as a GV for the second time having previously served in Xi'an 1998. He is a retired businessman and teacher.

(4) Kathleen from Los Altos, California returns to Kunming for her fourth summer to enjoy the teaching program and cultural enrichment experience in Kunming. She is a retired research dietitian and this is her fifth GV program.

(5) Martin, Kathleen's husband, returns to Kunming for his fourth summer and looks forward to improving his teaching skills in the great program at Kunming Teachers College. A retired eye surgeon, he is serving on his fifth GV program.

(6) Bob, from Summit, New Jersey, has served on three GV programs, in Xi'an, Ho Chi Minh, and Rumania. A retired high school teacher of business courses in New Jersey, he looks forward to teaching the English teachers at Kunming Teachers College.

On Sunday morning, the formal orientation began at 8:20 am with Baoli covering (1) The history of the Global Volunteer Program, (2) Philosophy of Global Volunteers,
(3) Team Building, (4) Policy and Guidelines, (5) Heath and Safety, and (6) Teaching Assignments. The team will be divided into three teams, each team teaching 16 to 18 students. The three teams compose: (a) Dick and Carol (b) Junion and Bob, and (c) Martin and Kathleen.

Baoli then reviewed the six Global Volunteers Policies, and 3 Guidelines for team member behavior.

An outline of the teaching schedule was given with daily teaching in the morning and cultural enrichment lectures for three afternoons of the first week, and field trip and speech festival for afternoons of the second week.

The team was then divided into four coordinating areas with one lead and one support person. These include:
(1) Journal managers: Dick (lead), Martin (support)
(2) Health and safety coordinators: Martin (lead), Bob (support)
(3) Free time coordinators: Kathleen (lead), Bob (support)
(4) Final celebration coordinators: Carol (lead), Junion (support)

After a delicious lunch at the hotel, the meeting was adjourned and met again at 5:30 pm where we dined at a local restaurant hosted by our local hosts from the Bureau of Education and Kunming Teachers College.

A full enjoyable day was experienced by all who look forward to beginning our teaching sessions in the morning.

- Martin

Friday July 9, 2010

2010-07-10T09:25:00.003+07:00

Thought for the Day: “And gladly would he teach, and gladly learn.”
This line is from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales—it occurs in his introduction to the pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. The pilgrim being described is a young student at Oxenford (better known today as Oxford). Chaucer clearly approves of him (he doesn’t approve of all the pilgrims). I thought this line could describe us, who come to China to teach and to learn. Pilgrims we may not be in any religious sense, but given the number of us who have come to China again and again, we may be pilgrims in a broader sense.

Chaucer’s band of pilgrims is decidedly a mixed bag of characters, which is a large part of the charm of the work. So I thought I would present a mixed bag of odds and ends of reading suggestions for this last journal entry.

In the Chinese tradition there are four classic works of fiction: Journey to the West, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Water Margin, and The Story of the Stone (perhaps better known as Dream of the Red Chamber). Read all of them. They all generously repay reading, but you should know they are all very long. (An interesting question is why works of classic Asian fiction tend to be very, very long.) For those of you who know and love Xi’an, you might be interested to know a little of the literary history of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. In the Tang dynasty a Buddhist monk, the Eminent Monk Xuan Zang, journeyed from Chang’an (present day Xi’an) to India and back, traversing both the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts on the way. The journey took 20+ years. Upon his return the emperor commissioned the building of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda for Xuan Zang’s use as a scriptorium, and there he and a crew of translators worked on translating the scriptures he brought back with him from Sanskrit into Chinese. Journey to the West is a work of fiction loosely based on these historical facts. Interestingly, the main character is not Xuan Zang but a mischievous, clever, street-smart monkey named Sun Wukong. In the novel Xuan Zang is reduced to a slightly dim, slightly spaced-out, incredibly naïve character.

The other three works have equally interesting backgrounds, but I digress. In my last journal I mentioned the early Chinese historian Sima Qian, the founder of Chinese historiography. (Remember? He chose to be castrated in order to continue working on his magnum opus.) His history has been translated and is well worth reading. Probably the best modern translation is a selection (this work too is very long) titled Records of the Grand Historian, translated by Burton Watson.

There’s a wonderful tradition of poetry in China. Her earliest named poet (the Chinese Caedmon) is Qu Yuan, connected to the Dragon Boat festival and the eating of zungzi by a not very reliable traditional history. One of the best ways to sample this tradition is Stephen Owen’s anthology - An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. Owen is one of the very best scholar/translators of Chinese poetry working today, and his anthology is sensitively constructed with very helpful brief comments and historical contexts. There is an especially rich selection from the Tang dynasty, usually thought to the golden age of poetry in China.

Switching periods, if you wish to read about modern China’s history, Jonathan Spence’s The Search for Modern China, while often used as a text in college history classes, was not written as a textbook but as a popular history. Hence it is quite lively and very readable. The book begins with the Ming dynasty and moves forward through Mao’s time.
For a very different book about a small piece of modern China, I cannot praise George Kate’s The Years that Were Fat highly enough. Kates lived in Beijing from 1933 to 1940 and loved every minute. His book is at once an evocation of a Beijing we can only dream of and his intoxication with it. Once you read this book you will never walk through Beijing again without thinking of Kates and, if you’re lucky, catching a glimpse of the Beijing he knew.

And if you want to be completely au courant with Chinese literature and culture, there is a listserv based at Ohio State University’s Modern Chinese Literature and Culture Resource Center which distributes materials on those topics and occasionally veers into politics too. See http://mclc.osu.edu/rc/LIST.htm. (Disclaimer: MCLC is publishing a translation by my colleague Wang Dun and me.)

Finally (I bet you thought that word would never arrive) here are two modern novels. John Hersey, born in Baoding to Chinese missionary parents, wrote a novel titled The Call about an idealistic young American who came to China early in the 20th century. Despite the title, he didn’t come as a missionary but as a worker with the YMCA. The novel is an interesting personal view of Chinese history in a very turbulent period. And Yu Hua’s To Live is another novel about an equally turbulent period, from Liberation into the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Zhang Yimou made this into a movie (and was banned from movie-making for two years) in which one can catch glimpses of both shadow puppets and Gong Li.

I’m almost out of time, and I haven’t even made the transition from the Oxford of Chaucer’s time to the University City of 2010 Kunming. I’ll save that for another journal.

- Michael

Kunming Teachers Performence - Creative and hilarious!

2010-07-09T16:46:00.004+07:00

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/3JOICpxkXac/

This is the closing ceremony for our program in June 2010. See how talented and creative the local English teachers are! We volunteers are so proud of them.

Now, can you tell if the "old lady" is played by a female or male? - It's one of the male English teachers from the volunteers class!! Enjoy!

Thursday July 8, 2010

2010-07-09T16:38:00.006+07:00

Thought for the day: This is the true joy of life; the being used up for a purpose, recognized by yourself as a mighty one. - George Bernard Shaw

It was the final day of a memorable three weeks for Team # 184 in Kunming. As one volunteer said, “On the second Monday, it looked like a long two weeks ahead, and then suddenly, it’s over.” Indeed the last week has gone quickly and so on our last day of class, we strive to do just a little bit more to send the teachers home with improved speaking skills, new English words and renewed spirits.

After class, our last “friendship activity” was a convivial lunch with all the classes at a local restaurant, including multiple, delicious dishes, some toasts and the ever-continuing photo opportunities.

The Closing Ceremony (aka Final Celebration) was both – ceremonial and celebratory. There were the speeches by the dignitaries, certificates for each teacher and showers of appreciation for us volunteers. The celebration continued with an exuberant performance by each class, ranging from a spoken comedy skit to songs and dances.

Then the hard part comes – truly having to say “ZAIJIAN” to these warm and wonderful people who live halfway around the world from us but have become a part of our hearts. How much did they learn in this past three weeks? Did we help them? Will they speak English at all back home in Pu’er city and the surrounding counties? We don’t know. But as China Country Manager Wang Baoli expressed in a quote in her closing remarks, “I may not remember what you said. I may not remember what you did. But I will always remember how you made me feel.” Hopefully, both and we will depart with that feeling of friendship and good will and what better gift to exchange as we head home.

- Betty

Wednesday July 7, 2010

2010-07-09T16:34:00.001+07:00

Thought for the day:
Today’s mighty oak is just yesterday’s nut that held its ground. - Anon

We climb the stairs to the building where we teach, bound for our classrooms. I know that I’ve reached the fourth landing when I see the portrait of old Zhang Heng. I proceed along the balcony, past portraits of heroes of modern China. Revered today, were they considered, in their time, to be nuts? When did they receive recognition as visionary leaders, or scholars or poets of China?
I turn a few corners, pass the portrait of Bei Duo Ven (ah, so! a German composer familiar to all Westerners) and know that I have reached my classroom and the eager Chinese from Pu’er, of these three weeks.

How minor seem my puny efforts to guide these teachers of English, these young acorns struggling in the dark of the Forest, in bettering their spoken English! Yet, with enthusiasm and persistence they try to follow and engage in a discussion of the lectures they’ve heard in the afternoon sessions, such as the one last Friday, on Teaching Methods. They try an activity in which they break into small groups, look at flash cards with words of all kinds, and construct stories, using all of the words on the cards dealt them. Please, my little saplings, reach out and offer your ideas in English! At the conclusion of the project, the Scribe for each group reads a story that is imaginative and amusing.
We all laugh together.

One of the suggestions to the teachers from Lecturer Zi Gusheng was to ask their students to name, in English, every item in the classroom. I discover that these teachers do not know the English words for blackboard, chalk, eraser, ceiling, loudspeaker, flagpole and uniforms.

Later in the morning, they shriek with delight, playing “The Flyswatter Game,” competing to be the first to swat the correct word written on the blackboard, running forward at full speed in their high heels. The plural of “man” is...? The plural of “foot” is ...? Will the person wielding the blue, or the green flyswatter win a point for her team today?

This morning is the last chance for the four Speakers representing our class to practice in front of us. In the afternoon comes the Speech Festival, programmed with twenty Speakers. Will my four improve their English pronunciation miraculously by this afternoon?

Afternoon comes. Topics range from “My Teaching Experience in my Village,” to “Maintain a Sense of Balance,” to “What I am Getting from this Training Program.” Lines from other Speech topics that stay with me include: “Love is just a thread in the Quilt of Life” and “Money can buy you a clock, but not Time, and “Money can buy you Medicine, but not Health.” Every Speaker has prepared well, with thoughts clearly expressed and pronunciation better than I had expected. The Hostess, with considerable nimbleness and skill, introduces each Speaker and then briefly comments on what we have heard, after each Speech. There is even an attractive graphic projected on the screen upstage, with each Speaker’s name in English and Chinese and his/her Topic.

And very shortly, it is back to distant Pu’er for these teachers of English. We wish them all the best in continuing to grow, despite the dry or thin soil in the remote villages and towns in which they find themselves rooted. They will be the mighty oaks that nurture their young charges and model oral as well as good written English.

- Dixie

Tuesday July 6, 2010

2010-07-06T08:37:00.000+07:00

Thought for the day: It's frustrating to be at that age when you are just beginning to understand some of the questions and realize that you will never know any of the answers. Anon.

This rather ordinary day in the life of our nine volunteers started with our usual 7 AM buffet breakfast. A combination of western and eastern delicacies which includes a noodle bar where one can construct one's own custom flavored dish from the large selection of meats, vegetables and condiments and have them cooked as you watch. There is also an omelet station. "Omelet" in name only since a major triumph is successfully getting a pair of scrambled eggs with less than a cup of oil.

After the reading of the previous day's journal, we, after some prodding, sang through (melody only, the words were held over until lunch when we all agreed we would be more awake) the number we volunteers will present to the assembled multitudes at our closing ceremony.

The teaching morning in our class went generally as expected: rehearsing the four speeches that will represent our class in the Speech Festival; preparing our contribution to the closing ceremony; and, going over vocabulary items to prepare our students for the lecture that my teaching partner, Jim, will be presenting this afternoon. The most unusual moment occurred when, after distributing a list of ways of representing large numbers (million, billion, giga, etc.) which included the Chinese equivalents, we noticed what appeared to be some dissension among our English teacher students over one of the Chinese characters that appeared on the list. The character used for giga (billion) they showed us, is not the archaic character that I found in my previously trustworthy iPhone English-Chinese dictionary, but a character that looked at first remarkably like a capital G. It took some moments before I realized that it looked like a G because it was a G. As the nimble and experienced teachers we are, we turned this incident into a "teaching moment" that illustrated the dangers of relying on single sources, and the need for fact checking.

After lunch, Jim gave his presentation, "The Changing Population in American Schools". He illustrated his talk with charts of demographics, photos of American faces representing our "tossed salad" of ethnic groups, and even a few photos showing the Chinatowns of America. From all accounts, Jim's talk was well received and stimulated considerable discussion.

The day ended with our usual multi-dished banquet in our private dining room in the hotel. Our leader, Wang Baoli distributed questionnaires about our China Global Volunteer experience for each of us to complete before we leave at the end of the week. It's hard to believe that we will soon say farewell to our teammates and to the 15 or so members of our respective classes.

The likelihood of seeing any of these Chinese teachers of English ever again is vanishingly small. How sad.

Respectfully submitted,

Leon