Reflections

Just over two weeks ago I zipped my suitcase shut and opened the door to a grand new adventure with nineteen teenagers and four confused adults. Time seemed to elapse at warp speed as our travels took us back in time and into the future. Ancient temples and pagodas were surrounded by modern and space-age buildings. Buses, cars, mopeds, bicycles, and pedestrians all vied for the same space somehow merging together like the landscape. We all learned how to assimilate and cross the street like locals. Thankfully, none of this can be seen on You-Tube as parents would have had to be rushed to hospitals in shock at the sight of us crossing against the light. We all wondered what purpose traffic signals and police officers served as the change of light from green to yellow to red made little difference in the traffic pattern.

Walking around Suzhou and running to trains and city buses gave our lower extremities a work-out and I will not even mention the unmentionable. Swimming in Hangzhou among the colorful umbrellas and warm rain will not be forgotten nor will our extended return home with the wayward bus driver. With backpacks slung on our backs we experienced China in a unique way. Lost students and passports all found their way back with lessons learned. Wrong turns and missteps became new experiences and more chances to use language both verbal and body. All of us around the world can communicate if we put our minds to it. When there's a will there's a way. If children are indeed our future, their ability to community in any language will be a great benefit.

As families go, sometimes siblings get along and sometimes they just tolerate one another. Being put into a family unit is not much different than being born into one except that after two weeks you can get rid of them. (On second thought, there is a big difference.) There were times of laughter, despair, anger, annoyance, and times of just being happy together. When one of us experienced illness or homesickness our family was very compassionate. When irritated however, kids will be kids. We were not able to choose our families, but I think friendships new and old were strengthened within our groups. Students who would not normally have hung out together had an opportunity to get to know each other.

Living with families afforded us all a chance to experience life locally. While some lived with an affluent family with a maid, others bathed in tubs without curtains and ate the same food day to day. Whatever standard of living of the family, they were all very accommodating and generous to a fault. Gifts received were sometimes beyond a family's means. I ate the best food ever and am currently going through withdrawals. Except for the bullfrog I enjoyed each dish offered, including but not limited to snails, eel, little fish, pigeon, duck, dumplings, pigs feet, chicken feet, beef innards, shrimp that stared and an array of vegetables I can't even begin to name.

I could go on and on about my experience with the 2009 China Research Residency but will opt to end it here with gratitude and thanks to my cohorts Kojo, Kevin, Woody, and Amy. Additionally, it was a pleasure having Pam Joyner join us in establishing a sister-school relationship with Suzhou High School.

The initiative to enroll our children in the Mandarin Immersion Program has been a commitment not always easy to accept. This has not always been an easy road but the pay off was worth it. Without such a strong family structure, CRR 09 would not have been the success it was.

I applaud all the students for their diligence and parents for encouraging their children to excel.

CRR09 Day 16, Thursday - Homeward Bound

In about one hour we will begin our journey home to Portland. We will do the time dance and arrive home before our flight leaves Shanghai. The kids are roaming the halls waiting to settle in and watch movies for the next 12 hours.

Yesterday, after good-byes to our host families and LiDa we had the opportunity to experience real China traffic. It was so bad the bus driver was teaching us new #@!*%! words. Through the "haze" we could glimpse the skyline of Shanghai. It is a city like no other. Kojo explained that Shanghai is an experimental ground for architects as no other city has the cheap labor force to which enables architects to explore architectural boundaries.

We spent the day walking the Bund and shopping on Nanjing Road. Kojo promised the kids a surprise in the evening and he did not disappoint. We went to an acrobatic performance and saw some amazing feats. One (very) young girls twisted herself into a pretzel. In the last act motorcycles entered a giant globe. First just one road around the sphere then another and another. When we thought no more could fit along came another. Certain that four was the maximum we were all shocked when a woman in black leather rode on stage! It was a very exciting.

See you later today!

CRR09 Day 14, Tuesday - Last Day in Suzhou

Today was our last full day in Suzhou. The students spent part of the morning doing an evaluation on the field studies and preparing short speeches in their family groups which were to be presented at the farewell dinner and dance this evening. However, just like the previous two occasions this did not happen. We were again disappointed because the students worked hard preparing for the event.
Hosford students then interviewed LiDa students, ate lunch in the cafeteria and finished up their science inquiry. We all gathered for a group photo then waited for the farewell party. Some students were able to go home with their families to change clothes while others walked the 15 minutes to the Jinlin Hotel and Restaurant. There was a variety of foods from around the world including, Korea, Japan, Italy, China, and the good ‘ol USA represented by green salad, deviled eggs, and mashed potatoes which were reported to be hen hao chi (very good).
Our hopes were up that we would finally be able to present our speeches but the microphones at the front of the room were just a tease. The Hosford coalition were presented with elaborate gifts which included, a book on LiDa with a photo of Kevin Bacon signing the sister school documents, a pen, a photo of the LiDa homestay kids, and a beautiful string of pearls. The gifts were over the top and we still can’t believe how generous all of the families and LiDa have been to us.

It has been a wonderful experience here in China with all of your students. I am looking forward to going home tomorrow but good byes are never easy.

Zai jian So long for now.

CRR09 Day 13, Monday - Suzhou High School

This morning our breakfast included mian bao (Chinese bread), small cherry tomatoes, and thinly sliced ham that we wrapped in lettuce. I enjoyed my java fix while Isadora had a cup of sweet milk.

We arrived at school around 8:15 expecting to have a signing ceremony celebrating the newly formed sister school relationship between Cleveland High School and Suzhou High School. Pam Joyner (VP at Cleveland) worked diligently on her speech as students waited to translate and then practice. While this was happening, Kelvin was interviewed by two school journalists.

After gathering all the troups from various shops around the school we walked to Suzhou High School. We were greeted by the staff and sent directly upstairs to meet with the principal and our high school partners. Just like our Welcome ceremony at LiDa, schedules did not allow us to have an official event. Kojo and Pam Joyner met privately with the school dignitaries to sign documents and have some discussion. Our students had worked hard on various speeches and unfortunately their work was for naught.

Suzhou High School has a history of over 1000 years with ancient statues and stone tablets throughout the grounds. With 3000 students is more resembles a college campus than a high school.

While the students were taken around town by their partners we visited the Master of the Nets Garden with our high school guides then had a fantastic lunch with the school administrators. We could barely get up from our chairs after many delicious dishes. Still full from lunch we were treated to a most magnificent banquet just a few hours later.

Tomorrow is our final day in Suzhou and I know there will be many tears.

CRR09 Day 7, Tuesday - Shanghai

Tuesday morning brought us to our first field study without guidance from the tutors. My family met at the KFC outside the Suzhou train station at early hour of seven. We purchased our round-trip tickets on a previous excursion to insure we would all be on the same train in both directions. This was a good thought. Perhaps I should have insisted that I hold all of the tickets. Upon arrival one of the students realized that she did not have her ticket. After some panic and discussion a new ticket was purchased and we found the waiting room. Fortunately, train fare from Suzhou to Shanghai is not expensive ($3.50) and the first crisis was resolved. The fast train delivered us to Shanghai in about 30 minutes with a top speed rate of 222KPH. Watching the landscape pass by at that speed was a little disorienting at times and I took notice of the little bag in the seat ahead of me. The “hard” seat car was very roomy and would have been a first class cabin up in the air.

My group had little trouble navigating the streets of Shanghai finding the many doorway shops along the way. It was slow going as everything was a potential bargain. Most of our time was spent wandering Shanghai Lao Jie (Shanghai Old Street) with its traditional shops selling antiques, crafts, fish in little plastic bags, tea, and novelties (junk). Starbucks was our meeting point should anyone get misplaced. We tried local snacks and Kelvin found an addiction to Shanghai cream puffs eating them all the back to Suzhou.

We walked across the “Bridge of Nine Turnings” named for its zigzags which is supposed to keep demons away as they are afraid of corners. The only frightening things we encountered were the thousands of tourists both foreign and domestic. We were supposed to enter Yu Yuan, the Yu Garden but were told by more than one person that Yu Yuan was not a separate place but was the entire market place area we were in. Kojo set us straight upon our return but could not fault the kids.

Our return home was a little complicated as the lost ticket once again gave us a challenge. Not wanting to separate our group Lisa and Jet tried to exchange the new return ticket purchased in Suzhou for one on the same train as the rest of us. The ticket machine broke just when they were next in line so an exchange could not be made. Starting to panic the kids decided to ask people if they would swap their ticket for the one we had on a car five minutes later. After many failed attempts, a young woman came to our rescue and said she would take our ticket. We were all very thankful and relieved for a second time. The rest of our commute was uneventful returning us to LiDa and our host families on schedule.

It has been a joy sharing a host family with Isadora. Not only is she not shy with the language, she is not afraid of trying new foods. Here she is trying to figure out how to eat a shrimp still in its shell. Don't worry Elaine it is quite proper to use hands! Isadora is a great interpreter and she does not laugh at my attempts to speak Chinese even though she has had plenty of opportunities!

CRR09 Day 12, Sunday - Tiger Hill

Fresh dumplings greeted me this twelfth morning of the trip. Woody joined us for a cup of coffee and off we went to Hu Qiu Shan/Tiger Hill. Hu Qui Shan is home to the leaning Yunyan Ta Pagoda. The seven-storey octagonal pagoda was built in AD 961 and is said to be sitting on top of the legendary grave of He Lu, King of the Wu dynasty during the Spring and Autumn period (770-464 BC). He is also the founder of Suzhou and his statues can be found around the city. Before its recent modernization, Yunyan Pagoda could be seen for miles from every direction. Now, one can see glimpses through the many high rises filling city streets. The upper portion of the pagoda was struck by lightening and re-built 300 years ago. Tiger Hill also contains many gardens including the beautiful Banzai garden which is home to the annual banzai competition.

Lunch today consisted of sweet and sour pork, ma-po tofu, noodles, eggplant, steamed egg, local river fish, and many vegetables. Fully satiated and rested we were ready to shop. Woody was scared at the thought of shopping with us so he escaped back to his hotel. Our host girls also returned home to do homework leaving the rest of us on our own. Not going into detail, let me just say that shopping was successful . Some alteration can be made on the spot while other more complicated changes are done overnight in the store workshop.

After a dinner of fried rice, soup, and many vegetables we had a lesson on cursing in Chinese and English. Many words were spoken that I will not repeat here. As the saying goes, “What happens in China stays in China.”

CRR09 Day 11 Saturday, Tai Hu Lake

Today Isadora and I spent the day with our family and Amy and Megan's family. Woody also joined us for a day of sightseeing and food. We started our day going out for breakfast which began with a climb up stone stairs. The restaurant was very modern with a wall mounted monitor that sent our order directly to the chef. It was helpful to see pictures of what we were about to ingest. I was familiar of course, with chicken feet but did not know about pigeon. The small bird was quite tasty with a crispy skin and very tender meat.

We visited Tai Hu Lake which joins three provinces. It is the third largest fresh-water lake in China and looks more like an ocean. Tai Hu is famous for its fragrant tea plantations. We stopped on the roadside to find young leaves but the bushes had already been harvested. All along the road vendors sell fruit grown on the islands and tea leaves are roasted in giant woks.

We went to the farthest of three islands in this area and wandered the ancient streets in Mingyue Bay. According to the wooden sign posted outside the alleyway the first street we traversed was built in the 35th year of the Qing Dynasty (1770). It is often called the “checkerboard” street because of the more than 4000 pieces of granite used to pave the road. A drainage system was built under the street so that one could “wear your beautiful embroidered shoes in the rain.”

The first house we entered was the Huang (Wong) Ancient Hall over 200 years old. The compound was very ornate with teak carved furniture and railings. The bas relief stone carvings on the eves were well preserved depicting everyday life scenes. The four museums houses we entered were interspersed among inhabited family homes. A woman tried to sell us roosters as we passed her in the alley.

After Mingyue Bay we had a lunch of snails, fish, a variety of vegetable dishes, noodles, rice, soup, and a dish of pork fat and fermented grass we put into bao zi/bread. I have yet to be disappointed with any meal I’ve eaten here in China. The food is everything I had hoped it would be.

The rest of the afternoon was spent sightseeing on the islands. Tai Hu Lake is very picturesque and we saw dozens of newlyweds posing for photos. We got a kick out of the Chinglish translations along the water walkways; one our favorites was “Be aware that life if precious. Danger. Deep water. No swimming.” After reading the sign Amy tried to push me in the lake! Another favorite was, “Mindsecurity, Cherish Livers.”
Heading back into town we stopped to see the world’s largest Ferris wheel that had flashing lights that changed colors and advertising in the center ring that also kept changing. The girls were disappointed that they could not ride the wheel as it was not yet open to the public having just had a trial run earlier in the day. Next we drove to the city civic center modeled after the Bird’s Next in Beijing that was built for the 2008 Olympics. The newly built “Little Bird’s Nest” was very spacious containing an IMAX theatre, movie screens, live performance halls, restaurants and huge open spaces. Out by the water we launched a red lantern into the night sky carrying our worldly wishes to the heavens.

We set a red lantern into the sky after making wishes along the waterfront then headed to an international dining street to find dinner. While searching for a meal that Meghan would eat Woody and I spied the Trailblazers and Rockets playoff game through a restaurant window. We all decided that this would be our last non Chinese meal.

Very happy and exhausted we drove home and went straight to bed so that we would be well rested for a day of shopping the next morning.