Today was a fabulous last day. First, squad went to the Jade Factory where we learned about the different types of Jade and how to distinguish fake Jade from real Jade. That was pretty cool. After lunch, we headed to The Great Wall of China. Unfortunately, it was a little hazy, but it was still magnificent. I mean, we stood on something that's 2,000 years old. It was more difficult to climb than Tai Shan because the steps on the Great Wall were about twice the size. So, for short people like me, climbing was a struggle. Even though I didn't end up climbing a lot of the wall, I still enjoyed climbing the part that I did. The fact that I was on the wall at all was unbelievable. The rest of the group who did climb a lot of the wall seemed to have had a good time and took some great pictures. We also reserved a brick where we wrote "Chex 2015" and signed our names. After that, we unexpectedly went to a tea tasting, which was pleasantly delicious. Normally, I'm not much of a tea drinker, but the tea was so good. I enjoyed it a lot, and ended up buying one of the teas, which was the fruit tea. It tasted like warm fruit punch and it was cool because we got to eat the dried fruit that was used to make the tea. We finished our day off with some McDonald's. Most of us ate it, but I didn't because I can only eat French fries. So, Adam kindly took me to get another meal that I could actually eat, which was great. It was nice to eat altogether for one last time. I honestly can't believe that today is our last day here. None of us want to leave because we've had such an amazing time together. No words can describe the adventure we've all had together. We've been to Qindao, Qufu, Xi'an, and Beijing all in two and a half weeks. We've done something that most people never get to do in their lifetime. We've all learned so much about China and its rich culture, made so many new friends, and become so close. I can easily say that I have a second family now :). Sadly, all good things come to an end, but I'll never forget this experience and the amazing memories that were made.
Today we finally visited the highly anticipated Dandelion School. Before our trip to China we watched a documentary and studied on The Dandelion School in Beijing so it was really interesting to finally see it in person. The Dandelion School is the only non- profit primary school in Beijing (grades 7th- 9th) that offers an education to the children of migrant workers. Children of migrant workers do not receive some benefits that the average Chinese citizen would get. The Dandelion School helps out these families. All the students at the school were adorable and excited to learn and play with us.The students were learning about animals in English class so we each drew a picture of an animal and broke off into groups to help them out with their english. The school itself is incredible and we were all very impressed by the hope and ambition the students, volunteers, and teachers all had. A few of us talked to the volunteer English teacher about her expirience there during her gap year and were all really inspired by her story. Overall it was incredible to see how a good education and school system can transform the lives of children. The Dandelion School is currently undergoing construction for a new school down the street because the current building is in such poor condition that it is becoming dangerous for the students. If you are interested in making a donation to help the process, you can visit www.crowdrise.com and search for the Dandelion School. -Natalie Gorman April 12th, 2015 Today we visited the Temple of Heaven after the Forbidden City, and to be honest I didn't really know what to expect. I really knew nothing about the Temple of Heaven. Only when I visited did I learn how fascinating it really is. The Temple was a temple exclusively used by the emperor on four occasions each year to communicate with the sky God. It was only for the emperor-so at the times the emperor wasn't at the Temple it laid empty or only with a few servants to clean it. I found the obedience to one great force (the emperor) so interesting. Their obedience to the Emporer was so strong that they made a beautiful temple and left it just for him-to only use four times a year. I guess it could be compared to Obama in the White House, in the fact that he's "given" a house-but it's certainly not as exclusive as the Temple of Heaven was. The most moving leg of the Temple of Heaven journey was as we were leaving. We walked down a corner of this long patio near the temple and there was a mid sized crowd of old Asian people singing and dancing and clapping. They were all smiling, and singing in unison. The only lyric I could understand was "Wo I Ni" which is "I love you." It turns out they were singing cultural revolution songs. They were all singing in unison and just had such a captivating, hopeful andl happy feel. Their unity made me feel wonderful to be a human being. I inched closer to the crowd and stood on the outskirts and clapped along with them while a Chinese woman clapped and sang in the center of the circle. I started to cry I think because I was so touched by their togetherness and unity. I can't really completely place why it made me cry, but I think it was just so beautiful. Standing watching them; a teenage girl watching elderly Chinese people sing songs from their historic past, the wind blowing slightly-made everything seem so surreal and raw. I thought about how quick life goes by and how quick this trip went. It was astonishing how some of these elders singing lived through the cultural revolution and now, here they are, singing songs from the past and being watched by a young Westener who would soon be their age. It was a really thought provoking,amazing thing to witness. I'm excited but very sad for our last days in China; it feels like it's the first day we landed. Time really does fly. Breana Del Gatto This Saturday has to have been the most interesting part of the trip in my opinion. We saw the great terracotta army, eight thousand tall clay figures, each unique in their style, protecting emperor Shi Huang Di. This is known as the 8th wonder of the world and now I understand why. As I observed these figures, I could see the uniqueness of them. One had a beard, one had a mustashe, and one depicted a handsome man, while another was ugly. I imagined the struggles of the artisans as they propped up and sculpted the eight thousand figures. Their lives depended on it. The massive project they participated in is historic. After the warriors, we ate dinner and went on an over night train. As soon as we walked in, we knew we were in for a long night. The crowded halls prevented us from getting all four people into the tiny rooms. Our massive suitcases could barely fit into the room. Later, as the train started moving, the air conditioning stopped. The temperature went up by what felt like 1000 degrees. It was horrible being in the top bunk, as I was. Science says heat rises. One can see this theory proven by being in the train car overnight. As the night went on, there was a short party in my train car, then everybody struggled to go to bed. Finally, after taking a shower in my own sweat, I had a short "rest" and then it was morning. We stumbled out of the train, disheveled, ready for the day ahead. This Saturday has to have been the most interesting part of the trip in my opinion. We saw the great terracotta army, eight thousand tall clay figures, each unique in their style, protecting emperor Shi Huang Di. This is known as the 8th wonder of the world and now I understand why. As I observed these figures, I could see the uniqueness of them. One had a beard, one had a mustashe, and one depicted a handsome man, while another was ugly. I imagined the struggles of the artisans as they propped up and sculpted the eight thousand figures. Their lives depended on it. The massive project they participated in is historic. After the warriors, we ate dinner and went on an over night train. As soon as we walked in, we knew we were in for a long night. The crowded halls prevented us from getting all four people into the tiny rooms. Our massive suitcases could barely fit into the room. Later, as the train started moving, the air conditioning stopped. The temperature went up by what felt like 1000 degrees. It was horrible being in the top bunk, as I was. Science says heat rises. One can see this theory proven by being in the train car overnight. As the night went on, there was a short party in my train car, then everybody struggled to go to bed. Finally, after taking a shower in my own sweat, I had a short "rest" and then it was morning. We stumbled out of the train, disheveled, ready for the day ahead. -brandon delgatto Today was another exciting day in Qingdao, despite the gloomy, rainy weather. We had one class in the morning, but afterwards we drove to the Qingdao brewery to learn about the history of their beer. I personally do not know a lot about beer, so it was quite interesting to learn about how to make it. I never realized how culturally significant it is to Qingdao. I learned that they have a beer festival in August for 2 weeks, and the first Qingdao beer festival began in 1991. I also didn't know that the Germans were the ones who set up the first Qingdao brewery in 1903. The Germans owned the brewery for 13 years, then the Japanese took over until 1945, and finally the Chinese claimed ownership. So that was very interesting and new to learn! There was also this really cool 'drunk room' that was slanted at an angle, so when one went inside of it, made he or she feel like they were drunk. It was actually very funny because we all could barely stand up, and it actually made my head feel dizzy! After the brewery, we went to lunch at a restaurant and ate at one large table all together. It was the first time that we used a lazy Susan to help us serve all of our food, and it was actually really helpful! They should be used everywhere because it is much easier to simply spin the wheel instead of asking someone to pass something to you from across the table. We ate some dumplings, noodles, and broccoli. I did enjoy the broccoli because it was warm, yet crunchy and the flavor of the sauce was not too overpowering. I could not eat the outside of the dumplings, but I did like inside of the meat ones and the mixed vegetable and meat ones. However, I did not really like the cucumber and egg dumplings because I personally thought that the cucumbers didn't taste very good with the egg. Another exciting part of the day was going shopping at a Chinese market. This was very different because the market was very crowded with more things than people. There were so many products everywhere, and it was overwhelming. I did purchase a new journal, since I'm running out of room. It was a lot of walking around, but it was a unique set up that I had never seen before. When we returned back to school, Felix, Breana, CoCo, Brandon, and I decided to play basketball with some Chinese students. It was three of them against the five of us, but they still owned us. It was my first time actually participating in a physical activity with the other Chinese students, so that was exciting for me. I can't wait for what tomorrow will bring!
Connor Gonzalez-Falla Today was our last day in Qingdao, and it was hard for all of us to say goodbye to the families who hosted us, the friends we made, and the school that brought us all together. But if the frequency of taking far too many selfies on always-connected phones has taught us anything, it's that we're grateful for modern technology so that we can all remain in touch despite being on opposite sides of the world. We thank our hosts for their unbelievable and selfless hospitality; without them, this trip would not have been as profoundly life-changing as I know it has been for all of us. As Qingdao Number 58 waved goodbye to us, we started the next part of our journey by flying to Xi'an, the ancient capital of China. There, our tour guide took us to bike on top of the city's 600-year-old defensive wall -- which was beautifully maintained and offered great views of Xi'an -- and then to a hot pot dinner. It's unbelievable to think that at the end of tomorrow we will already be on our way to Beijing, the last stop of our trip! -Adam Recently, I was introduced to a line from a Rilke poem which states, "Let everything happen to you.......beauty and terror." Rilke's words have proven wise during this experience in China. Beauty-China is a stunningly beautiful country with kind, generous and hospitable people. People who are eager to share their lives and who have allowed us the opportunity to do the same. Terror-being here has reminded me how frighteningly far from home we are, how disorienting a foreign culture can be and how a heart can ache from missing those we love. As our group spends our last few days here, I'm grateful to have shared this experience with such an extraordinary group of young people. Gabe Goodbye Qingdao No. 58! Today was our last full day in the Qingdao school. The past two weeks have flown by. No one can really believe that we're actually leaving tomorrow! We spent the morning relaxing around the school, and in the afternoon we had a performance, which was a little hectic because we weren't given many details about what kind of performance we were supposed to be giving. The Chinese students put on a few dance routines and sang. It amazes me how talented the students at this school are. On our side, I recited a Chinese poem, Connor played a song on the piano, and Breana gave a farewell speech. We also sang "Rhythm of the Rain" and "You've got a Friend in Me" as a group. Afterwards, we had time to chat with the students and take pictures. At first I was confused by why so many people suddenly wanted to take photos with me, but then it sunk in that today was our last opportunity to make connections with the Qingdao students. We've had such an amazing time at Qingdao No. 58 that today we had very mixed emotions; on the one hand, we are excited for the rest of our trip, but on the other we don't want to leave Qingdao. Tonight's farewell banquet was especially bittersweet. We've come to know our host students, their classmates, and their families so well that it's hard to imagine that we won't be able to see them again for some time. For me, this experience has been invaluable. Living with a host family has given me the opportunity to see China in a way I would never get to experience otherwise. It's allowed me to understand what life in China is really like, rather than seeing it through the lens of a tourist's eye. I definitely won't forget a single moment of my stay in Qingdao: the delicious food my host family made for me, playing sports and doing karaoke with the students, creating traditional Chinese art during class, visiting the city's landmarks and markets, seeing the excited and friendly looks on the students' faces when we talked to them. Leaving Qingdao is sad, but I've made so many memories here that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Now I am looking forward to continuing our adventure in China when we travel to Beijing and Xi'an to see some of China's most famous and historical sights! -Hanna Our last day on our 3 day trip to Qufu was great. We all went on a tour to various temples for Tai Shan Gods. The entire tour was very interesting and informative, and while we walked around, I found the traditional Chinese architecture and natural scenery breathtaking. There were so many beautiful trees and flowers starting to bloom, paired with the lavishness of Chinese architecture; the curves of the roofs, the bright colors, and the patterns. What really caught my eye was the calligraphy carved onto the wood. It was meticulously well done, each character popping out from each building, colored with golden paint. Another place we saw more calligraphy was in a rock believed to have been carved more than 4,000 years ago. Each faint character of the ancient Chinese language could still be seen, and it really blew my mind to zinc about how something this old was still in existence being able to be viewed by the public today. China has such a rich history and culture that we all got to see in our trip to Qufu, so it was nice to get away from the bustling city atmosphere of Qingdao for awhile to see some more aspects of traditional Chinese culture and history.
Today we climbed Tai Shan (or Tai mountain) to the Temple of Heaven for lunch, and then to the summit. This is known as the greatest mountain in China, even though it isn't the tallest. Once we got there the decision was made to have Connor take a gondola to meet us at the top because of his torn acl and the amount of climbing we were about to do. The rest of us took a bus halfway up the mountain so that we only had to climb 3000 stairs instead of 6000. Those 3000 stairs were on a very steep incline, so needless to say we were all tired. It took us about 2 hours to climb, which really impressed me. At some points I considered giving up and questioned why I didn't just take the gondola with Connor, but I climbed every step and eventually reached the top. Even though it was very tiring, getting to the top was so rewarding and the view was gorgeous. It led us to finding a really cool spot on top of some rocks that had an amazing view. We took the gondola down so we got to see the mountain and the city of Tai an underneath us. It is so cliche, but the work was worth the reward. I'm so excited to see what tomorrow brings us. -CoCo Steinthal Today was our first real Saturday in Qingdao so we got to experience some of the weekend activities our hosts do. Our host sisters Janice and Lin took Peyton and I to a Qingdao amusement park that seemed to be a Chinese version of Disney Land. On our way there I was expecting the amusement park to be something like Darien's Hindley Happening. When we got there however, the park was giant and had so many different kinds rides. Also it surprised me how many people there were, and how nicely dressed everyone was for an amusement park. The people looked like they were all ready to go out to a nice dinner. The intensity of the rides also surprised me. They were similar to some American rides, so I was familiar with them. We went on a total of 5 rides. Each one was different in there own way, and some had longer lines than others. My favorite was definitely a flying simulator that took us on a "flight" around important cities in the world. All of the people screamed with excitement every time the seats shook or titled. Some other rides included a slow ride underground that was themed for the Terracata Warriors we will see next week. Another ride was themed of a mountain in Tibet, and the others were fun and scary roller coasters. When we were ready for lunch it was hard because there wasn't a lot of selection, so we were very pleased that Janice brought many snacks with her from home. At the end Lins father picked us up and everyone fell asleep in the car during the ride home because it was so tiring walking around the park! We had a great time and bonded a lot during the excursion. Tonight, Peyton and my host families are taking us to a traditional Chinese "hot pot" restaurant. According to my host sister Lin, we will put vegetables and meat in hot pots to eat. I am very excited and cannot wait for another great night in Qingdao! Helena Nicholls |
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