Last Day in Beijing

We walked to the Forbidden City this morning after breakfast.  This is where the emperors of China lived and what a place it must have been.  There are 9,999 rooms to the place and courtyard after courtyard.  Each building or temple was devoted to something in particular...meeting with military leaders, rooms for the empress, married quarters for the Emperor,  places to offer sacrifices, places to reflect, etc.   It was huge.  We didn't have a lot of time to spend there so we basically walked right through the middle taking in the overall effect of the place but didn't have time to poke our heads into much of the side areas.  Only a few of the large center buildings had items in them to view but visitors couldn't go in.  We had to look through glass windows (that replaced the old rice paper windows) from the outside.  Unfortunately the light wasn't very bright in any of the rooms and the windows were hard to see through unless we had our noses against them and our hands shading the light from outside so it was very hard to see the items well from that distance.  The best room was the bedroom of the emperor and empress.  It had red everything...carpets, bed drapes, bed comforter, throne cushions, etc.  Red is considered a lucky color and one that wards off demons so it was really spectacular when combined with all the embroidery work that was in each piece.

From the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square is directly across the street.  We went through an underground tunnel to get there so we didn't have to play Frogger with the traffic. It was pretty cool to stand in such a historic place.  Military presence is definately felt there with soldiers wandering around and some marching in formation through while we were looking around. 

From there we took the subway (very clean and fast) back to the Pearl Market where we shopped on the first day.  We bought some more goodies and had a great time.  Probably one of our most memorable experiences today happened as we tried to get a cab back to the hotel.  There were six of us...us four, plus Zach and one other American woman in our group.  Zach hailed (or was ignored by) at least 50 cabs.  It was incredible.  A cab would pull over and Zach would show them the card for the hotel with directions and information in Chinese, then he would talk to them in Chinese, and they would refuse to take us for one reason or another--about to get off work, too far, too short, no reason at all, couldn't speak English, couldn't speak chinese, would take us but we would have to go "Off the meter" and pay per person (up to 18x the normal price), etc.  Having traveled to many places in the work, I was staggered by this.  It took us 45 minutes to get one cab that took 4 of us and shortly another cab brought the other two.  I have to give Zach a lot of credit for his hard work in getting us "home" safely.

Once back at the hotel, the kids didn't feel like going out for Chinese dinner so they stayed behind and had Pizza Hut pizza with Shaun who is still babying his tummy a bit.  I went out with the rest of the group to have Peking Duck.  The actual duck portion was preceeded by quite a few "dishes" which were really delicious.  Turned out that my final meal here was actually my most favorite of all.  Everything tasted great, wasn't spicy, and hit the spot for me.  I was sad that the others hadn't joined us.  We wrapped up the dinner with good conversation and a prayer.

Then it was returning to the hotel to pack.  All of us leave tomorrow at various times except for one American who will leave on Friday.  We were well cared for while we were here...from beginning to end.  The students we worked with were dedicated, enthusiastic, and so welcoming.  The staff of the school are truly amazing people who have a real calling to be in China teaching English and changing lives.  We would recommend this trip to anyone.  Be willing to teach and to learn, to share and to respect, to care and be cared for in return.

Gotta run.  Morning will be here before we know it and the alarm is set for 5:10 a.m.  We fly out of here at 8:50 a.m. and arrive in Anchorage at 12:40 p.m., I think, after more than 20 hours of travel.  Ahh, time zones and time changes.  

Hugs and kisses, DD.  We have missed you so much and have been talking about how glad we will be to see you again.  We hope you have had a wonderful time with Grama (and Papa even though he is gone now) and can't wait to hear your tales as well as share ours.

Beijing Again

We arrived in Beijing at 7:15 a.m. and had a quick KFC breakfast then 9 of us plus our wonderful guide loaded on a bus for the Great Wall.  The drive took almost 1.5 hours but boy was it worth it. Have you ever thought "I would like to see that one day" and then wonder if it will be all it is made out to be when you arrive?  Well, it was AMAZING, WONDERFUL, BREATHTAKING, and so much more to stand on the top of the Great Wall of China and see it go on and on into the distance.  What an achievement!  We had a stunning day of fairly warm weather, beautiful clear skies, and no wind.  We all had to take off layers to keep from overheating.  And since it is winter, the tourists were almost non-existent.  We could sit on stretched of the wall and not even see another group for 10 or 15 minutes.  We stayed for a couple hours and took a ton of pictures.

Then we went to a Hot Pot lunch which consisted of two large pots of boiling water with chimney type metal structures in the center that contained charcoal to keep the water boiling.  Into that we dumped various meats, vegies, and tofu to cook.  It was pretty neat...kinda like fondu...Mongolian style.  This was developed by the mongols after they came to invade China.  They didn't have enough food to eat so they killed their horses and cut them up for food.  They wore metal helmets which they removed and used to boil water and cook the meat.  Thus Mongolian Hot Pot was invented.

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped in the Hutong (old) district of Beijing and went on rickshaw rides through the back streets.  We learned some more about the Chinese houses and how you can tell the class standing of a family just by looking at the steps and above the door leading into the houses.  I will write more about this later, but we are heading to breakfast and another day of sightseeing.  We leave for home tomorrow morning but will try to post again tonight beforehand.

Can't wait to share pictures with you DD and Mom!

Leaving Xian

Haven't been able to get on the internet for a couple day and this will be a fast entry because I am paying by the minutes to use the computer.

We arrived in Xian on Saturday afternoon after the bumpiest bus ride ever. We went straight to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. It was a fascination afternoon and we hope to read more about them when we return to the states.

The drive to the hotel was about an hour afterward. The Bell and Drum Hotel is just off a large plaza in Xian. The hotel accomodations were nice and the beds and pillows felt wonderful to sleep on after the rock hard ones in Pingliang. McD's, KFC, and Subway all within walking distance as well as the largest shopping mall I have ever seen (9 stories of sheer chaos).

Sunday started with a wonderful americanized breakfast at the hotel before breaking into groups to discover Xian's historic sites. We went to a Mosque, the Bell Tower, The Drum Tower, and some people walked to and on the ancient wall surrounding the city. Everyone gathered for games in the big plaza nearby and we drew an enourmous crowd. Dinner was "dishes" )plate of various Chinese food) at a restaurant within walking distance. When we returned to the hotel one of the OTC staff members collected copies of everyone's pictures to go through in the coming months and disseminate on disks (we added over a thousand...yikes....we have our own work cut out for us).

Today we gathered for breakfast and then had a final wrap up session with the students. It was very emotional to say thank yous and good-byes. After lunch at American places the students left on the bus to go back to Pingliang or wherever they live for Spring Festival Break.. THey don't return to school until March.

Now we have free time for a little longer before our final wrap up session with Dennis. His wife, Heather, flew back to the USA yesterday to be with her mother for surgery so she won't be with us for the rest of our trip. After dinner tonight, we board the train to return to Beijing. Some are flying out tomorrow after we arrive. The rest of us have scattered departures between tomorrow and Friday.

As soon as we arrive in Beijing we will be going to the Great Wall, then Tienemen Square, and the Forbidden Palace. It will be a long and wonderful day.

Don't know about internet access but we will try when we can. Please keep Shaun in your prayers...he came down with a stomach something yesterday and went ahead and started antibiotics. He is feeling a little better today but has a ways to go. Otherwise we ar doing fine. Tired but contented with our time here and full of stories to share...like Sullivan getting a plate full of icing shoved in his face by a student...but those are for another day.

DD, We love you and can't wait to see you on Thursday. Lots of hugs and kisses. Thanks again, Mom and Dad for taking care of her.

Last full day in Pingliang

Today was our last full day in Pingliang.  We studied Dumplings in the Language small groups this morning.  We talked about recipes and measurements.  None of the girls in my group had ever used a written recipe before...they just learned by watching their mothers and grandmothers and helping them in the kitchen.  A pinch of this.  A dash of that. After our dumpling cooking discussion, each student had to choose one of the writings from the week to share in the evening's celebration.  Each group had also put a haiku to a melody yesterday and had to practice that for tonight.  

Lunch was pork or beef "sandwiches", apples, and juice or coke at the Activity Center while we watched a photo slide show of the scavenger hunt.  There were some really fun pictures in the bunch.

After lunch, one group which included Sullivan and Zach went to the orphanage with blankets that the students had tied earlier in the week.  The other group went on a walking tour of Pingliang.  The walking tour consisted of one American with a group of 3-4 students and each group had to go out for 1.5 hours.  My group took me to a large park in town.  It was really relaxing to just be outside for a while.  Barb's group did a quick walk through the park, went to a market, and then took her for ice cream.  She thought she has ordered vanilla ice cream with M-m's (that was her biggest mistake--we haven't seen and M-M since we left america) and what she got was literally bean ice cream with  red and green beans.  She said it was good and she threw it away.  One of the students saw her toss it and told her next time she would have been happy to finish it for Barbra.  I think that surprised Barb that ANYONE would eat that.  

Shaun bought some tea for my girlfriend, Debbie, on the way back to the Activity center.  She asked us to pick up $40 in black tea to bring back to her.  So, Debbie, if you are reading this...we taste tested black teas all week and went back for the one we liked best.  We did NOT buy you $40 worth because that would have been a small suitcase full.  But we did buy you a large ziploc bag full.  Will that be enough?  Prices here are soooo inexpensive compared with anything back home.  Barb bought an entire outfit at a store for the equivalent of $16 a couple days ago.

When everyone returned from the orphanage and walking tours, we made dumplings.  The sister-in-law of Alex, the government employee that overseas the activities of the Oasis Training Center, came with friends to help us.  She had the fillings and dough pre-made, and we just had to roll the dough, fill them, and pinch them closed.  Some of the girls were really amazing in the skills at wrapping dumplings.  We learned to do flower shapes, leaf shapes, etc.  It was pretty neat.  I only did about 4 because it is a two handed job, and my left hand wasn't too happy with the usage.  Sullivan, Barb, and Shaun made quite a few.  Zach said he had never been gifted in arts and crafts so his kinda came out like globs.  Everyone had a great time.  Then we sat down to eat.  While we had been out, the staff had decorated the center with red lanterns and new year's decorations to keep in our theme of the week of New Year's activities.

After dinner the students shared their songs and poems.  They did such a great job.  One student and one staff member had their birthdays today so a large three tiered cake was delivered with an elaborate icing dragon on each level.  It was really stunning.  After the cake break, the students put on a play for us.  One of the members of our group, Susan, had worked a little  on 4 out of 5 days teaching the students the play Rikki Tikki Tembo.  Barb had helped her all week as well.  There were songs that the whole group of students sang and their were a handful of individual roles.  I had deliberately not seen the rehearsals, and Shaun didn't see today's practice, so it was a lot of fun to watch how the whole thing had come together.  The students were very proud of their work...many had never been in a play before.

As the night wound to a close, we all gathered our gear from the Activity Center and went outside with our paper lanterns lit with glow sticks to walk back to the hotel.  Before we left the property , though, we gathered outside in buildings' courtyard and lit giant sparklers that burned for several minutes.  Each person had three to play with.  When all the sparklers were burned out, our processional headed for the hotel...about a 20 minute walk away.

Now we are all get packed up to leave for Xian tomorrow morning after breakfast.  I don't know if we will have internet access, so I will write again when I have a chance.

Lots of love to you, DD.  We think of you all the time.

Thursday in Pingliang

Today's language time was devoted to the subject of firecrackers...their origin, purpose, etc.  The students learned to write Haiku poems which turned out really nicely.  At lunchtime the whole group divided in half and ate at two different restaurants.  Shaun, Barb, and I ate at one while Sullivan ate at the other with the Zach.  When we go to lunch we sit around big round tables usually holding 8 or so people so there are usually 2 or 3 Americans among a group of Chinese students.  

After lunch we were again divided into groups.  One set stayed at the Activity Center to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics on DVD and learn Chinese knot tying.  The other group went to the orphanage in town.  We delivered gifts for the children for the school to hand out later and bananas to give to the older children and adults (the orphanage also houses adults that do not have family and are disabled in some way). Shaun, Barb and I went to orphanage while Sullivan stayed at the center.

After the orphanage we went to the silk tailor's to get the clothes that people had made.  One of Barb's dresses turned out really cute and the other one needed to be taken in and will be picked up tomorrow by one of the school's interns.  We also purchased some more silk yardage.

Then it was back to the Activity Center to meet up with everyone for dinner.  Barb and I went out with an intern from the school, Helen, and a teacher that has just finished a term here and is heading home, Barbara.  (She is 72 years old and absolutely wonderful.)  After fried noodles (thick long noodles with vegetables) for dinner, we had some time to kill so we walked to Barbara's apartment nearby so we could see where the teacher's live.  Barb and I admired some small drawings on her wall, and she gave them to us.  Barbara has never married and has been working "in the field" her whole life.  She said that she just couldn't take/ship one more item home and that she was leaving these pictures behind.  She had picked them up while living her in China and had loved them in her apartment, but had no room for them back in Chicago.  They are sitting beside me on my hotel desk as I write.  They are two sketches--each one has an elderly chinese person and a child in some kind of interaction.  They are really neat.

Anyway, there was a sock hop after dinner which was a riot.  Now we are back in our rooms and I am hoping for an "early" night after sampling some more tea.

Hugs and more hugs to DD.

Wednesday or WetDay

Today was breakfast at 7 a.m. but then an easy paced morning after that.  The students were all working on Spring Festival (two week celebration marking the start of the New Year) cards to take to the caretakers at the orphanage tomorrow so the Americans did various things as they chose.  Shaun, Sullivan, and Barbra went to keep an eye on the students and help where needed. Barb assisted with the play rehearsal and then mostly helped putting together props and scenery.  I went to the shopping mall to see what it was like and to look for face masks.  Here most people where face masks of every color and style.  We thought it was because of air pollution and dust but we were corrected a few days ago and told that it is winter; they are worn to keep the faces from getting cold.  I picked one up to bring home and show Dharma.  When Barb found out the true use for the face masks she immediately started using the one I bought because it helped her keep her face warm without wearing a hat and scarf which might mess up her hair.  Ha ha.  Anyway, she said she needed to bring a bunch back to Alaska and start a fad there because it made so much sense for girls to wear them.  So at the mall (5 stories tall, square shaped with all the merchandise around the edges and a big opening in the middle where the escalators are and people can glance from floor to floor) I bought 10 more masks of various styles and two winter hats.  There is a grocery like Fred Meyer (but not quite) on the basement level where I bought Oreo cookies, a couple chocolate bars, and some gummy fruit snacks that are pretty tasty.  After shopping we joined the rest of the group at the Activity Center.

The sun has been out every day here and by about 10 a.m. it is beaming in the windows of the center.  To us from Alaska it feels like a pure piece of heaven.  We make sure to stand a little in the rays each day.  Today I didn't have an assignment to I pulled a chair to the window and a little glass cafe table and put my head down.  It felt so relaxing and warm that I fell asleep and woke up just before lunch time.  Boy do I miss the sun after seeing it here!

Lunch was back at the noodle place I went to a couple days ago that I enjoyed so much.  Sullivan at their with his group also.  Barb and Shaun went to other places.  The noodles were even better this time and I practically licked my plate clean.

Then it was off to the swimming pool.  Many of the students had never been swimming before so this was a big experience.  The school had taken them shopping for swim suits before we arrived and discussed hygeine, etc. with the students.  We went to the new 5 start hotel in town (we were suppose to have been staying there but something fell through so we ended up at this hotel--which is very centrally located so we have enjoyed it) to swim.  What a fun time!  

Hot showers afterward were followed by a 10 minute walk to a nearby farmhouse converted into a restaurant for dinner.  The rooms were heated by stoves and the chill never left the air. Dinner was nice but we were ready to get moving afterward.  We walked back to the 5 star hotel to catch taxis but only one showed up so we kept walking.  Here and there people were able to catch a single taxis passing by but there were very few because we were far out on the edge of town.  So our group kept walking.  Forty five minutes later when we had almost walked all the way back to the activity center we finally got a taxis to fit the last six up us still walking.  To be honest, we were having such a good time talking and singing and sharing that I was sad when the taxis showed up to take Barb, me and the four students with us back to the hotel.  The cute part was that as we talked in the back, the driver was talking animatedly with the student in the front seat.  We were enjoying the ride when suddenly the students were shouting that we had missed the hotel.  The driver quickly pulled over half a block away and the student in the front seat got out giggling.   She said that the driver said he had never seen Americans before and that he had really never had any riding in his taxis.  He said that all the English we were speaking sounded soooo sweet and that the students should listen and study hard to learn such a beautiful language.  It was because he was so pleased to be driving us that he missed our stop. Heather told us earlier in the week that no foreigners come to Pingliang and especially not Americans.  The only time Americans are seen are when they come to volunteer or work at the school.  So this was a real treat for this driver.

Anyway, it is now the end of another day, and I am whooped.  Barb went to sleep almost an hour ago.  Sullivan is hanging out with Zach, and they are playing guitar with some of the students.  Shaun is reading and as soon as I finish I will join him while I sip my cup of tea.  Our time here has been amazing.  The students are all so wonderful.  The teachers here are really neat people.  The fellow Americans on this journey are tireless, enthusiastic, and uncomplaining.  What an awesome experience!

Love to all.  Special hugs and kisses and squidges to DD.

Tired Tired Tired

Today we started with a Language project about the Lantern Festival here.  We talked about the lantern festival and that in olden days riddles were written on the lanterns for entertainment value and hopes were written on lanterns as requests to god in the new year.  Everyone made large paper lanterns  in which will be hung glow sticks to our own lantern festival another evening.  Part way through the morning one of the other Americans came to me and said "I think Barb needs you."  I found her shaky with her head resting on her hands feeling dizzy.  Turns out she hasn't been eating much. All the food here is spicy.  Even when you ask for no spice, it is still usually spice by our standards.  I have asked her every day, and she has been telling me she is eating enough, but apparently she really hasn't and even she didn't realize the extent.  We immediately swung into action giving her fruit and goldfish crackers.  The teachers from the school broke into the stash of american food and gave her a jar of peanut butter and some ritz crackers.  Lunch was at the only fast food restaurant in Pingliang-Dicos.  The place serves only chicken, and the school made sure they had sandwiches free of spice.  I think all the Americans enjoyed having nonspicy chicken sandwiches, french fries, and soda...a little taste of home.  Barb had perked up considerably by the end.  She had also gone to a store nearby with a wonderful staff member named Michelle and bought a loaf of fresh sandwich bread and some jam to make sandwiches to take to future meals "just in case".  

After lunch we had a large group photo in  People's Square and then it was on to a scavenger hunt in the International Market (where nothing is international--just a cool name).  The students were broken in to small groups with two Americans in each.  They had never done a scavenger hunt, but it took them only a few minutes to get the idea of what we were doing.  We didn't have to buy anything...just take photos--getting a ride in a bike drawn cart, riding a broom like a horse, etc.  It was a lot of fun.  The hardest item for everyone was finding a Michael Jackson CD.  Who would have thought we would all the cheering to find one.  

Barb went shopping for some clothes with some students afterward, and then it was off to dinner.  Barb and I were in a group that went to a wonderful restaurant...that had no spice in their food.  Our table of 3 americans and 7 students polished off plate after plate of food.  It was delicious!  Shaun and Sullivan went with a group to a Muslim restaurant which had roughly the same food and which they said they enjoyed as well.  

This evening we went back to the Activity Center and watched Kung Fu Panda...or rather I slept through it.  I was sooooo tired.  Zach and Sullivan didn't watch it either...they went to a market near the hotel that Zach loves to wander through.  So here we are at the end of another day.  I am so tired, I can hardly see straight.  As soon as I am done with this blog, I need to contact our credit card companies by email because we are being refused at the ATMs.  We forgot to tell them we were coming to China.

Love to all who are following this.  Give DD a special love from us.

Monday with students

From breakfast at 7 a.m. until now at 9:30 p.m. we have been with the students.  It was a full day and I , for one, am really tired.  After breakfast at the hotel, we took taxis to the school's activity center where everything would center for the rest of the day.  Almost every morning we do language activities for three hours to help the students build vocabulary.  Chinese New Year is coming up in just a couple weeks so this week we are learning about various aspects of Chinese New Year and teaching the kids the English to go with the knowledge they already have from experience.  Today's topic was dragons.  They learned the English for the parts of a dragon (talons, spikes, scales, eyes, etc.) and drew pictures of dragons which they labeled.  They also learned about Cinquain poems (5 lines with each line have a certain number of syllables and a certain part of speech--one line is a noun, the next are adjectives, the next verbs, etc.).  Each student wrote a Cinquain poem on whatever topic they wanted and then illustrated the poem.  I got tapped to be a teacher for one of the groups of students; the rest of the family is helping in other groups.  

Then it was out to lunch.  Pingliang is famous for its noodles of all types.  My group had fried noodles (didn't look fried but I was told they were) with vegetables and meat.  It was delicious.  Hot tea is served at every meal except breakfast when they actually serve nothing to drink.  We bring our own juice or have to ask to hot tea.  After lunch my group went to buy face masks (like surgical masks that loop around the ears).  The people here all where them over their nose and mouth to keep their faces warm.  We thought they were because of pollution, but we were corrected on that account.  (In the evening I explained this to Barbra who immediately borrowed the one I bought to keep her face warm on the way home from dinner.  She said she plans to buy a bunch and start a new fashion statement in Alaska.  They come in all colors and designs.)  I also bought caligraphy paintbrushes.

When we returned from lunch the group started learning a play which they will perform at the end of the week.  It is a Chinese story but they have to learn it and the songs in English.  During a break from rehearsal, the students and Americans made tied blankets for the orphanage in town.  Barb and Sub have made these blankets so many times...including recently for our Operation Blessing before Christmas,  that their group tied 6 blankets!  While all this was going on, I went with Heather to the International Market to buy props for the play and ink to use with the calligraphy paintbrushes.

Dinner was out with the students and then back to the hotel to play American games.  Shaun and I played LIFE...which took a lot of time to explain to the kids and read all the spots, etc.  They seemed to enjoy it but it sure does require a lot of English skill.

So that was our day.  Another American is here to use our computer to check in with his children.  He is a widow and retired and excited to have been on this trip.

Hugs to DD, Mom.  Thanks for all you are doing.  We miss her and think of her whenever we are shopping or out and about.

First day with students-Sunday

This morning we gathered for a Chinese buffet breakfast.  Boy did the break hit the spot and the hard boiled egg.  The rest we picked at but seemed to fill up sometime.  Then we left for the activity center of the school where we had a brief worship service and then walked over to the school for a tour.  The school is on the top floor of a wing of the vocational high school in town.  It is considered the lowest high school because none of the kids will go off to college.  They consider having the American English School or Oasis Training Center, formally, a great asset to their school.  OTC has roughly 65 kids in the program 42 first year and the rest second year.  They have 4 classrooms and an office that they occupy.  The school holds the largest English Library in the provence and there are less books than in the playroom of our house.  This is a BIG need for the school that we are thinking of exploring how to help with when we return home.

Last night Barb and Deb went to the silk shop and ordered a couple of dresses for Barb and bought some silk for Deb to make something for DD.  A couple of the 2nd year students translated for them.  Last night we met the 1st year students (the ones we will be working with) for the first time.  We played a fun game where thy had to run around and match different facts about people.  Then Deb and I went out and shopped for water, toilet paper (they only give you maybe a 10th of a roll every day) and candy bars :-).  The hotel informed us that the hot water would be turned on at 6am for us to take showers and be down at breakfast by 7am.         

Good luck DD

Dd, 

We miss you, but you looked great when we saw you today on the computer.  You sound like you are really doing well with Grama and Papa.  Just wanted you to know that we will be thinking of you as you do your first official swim meet today.  We are so proud of you.  No matter how you rank, remember that if you do your best that is all that matters.  Be sure to let us know all about your experience.

Love you.  Love you!

Trip to Xian and Pingliang

We left Beijing by train on Friday evening at about 9 p.m.  Getting to the train was quite an adventure.  We took a bus from our hotel (after having a dinner of fried and boiled dumplings at a restaurant down the street) to the train station.  We all collected our bags (17 of us) and headed for the train station front doors.  Now picture this...hundreds of people at any one time straining as a literal mass of bodies to fit between two barracades and through a single set of double doors into the train station.  Once inside the doors, a person has to immediately lay all that they have--purses, bags, groceries, whatever--on a screening conveyor belt.  The belt shoots the luggage through the machine and out onto the floor on the other side where everything starts piling up.  Meanwhile the owner of said items rushes through the screening device and dives upon the pile to try to gather their belongings.  Unfortunately once through the screening devices there is only space for about two people to stand to collect their gear between a column and the pile.  I literally had to jump over two women trying to dig their stuff out and make sense of how to relocate all their items so they could walk away.  I stood at the end of the pile and just started pulling out every bag that I knew belonged to our party (one handedly of course) and lining them up as quickly as I could around the other side a partition.  It was CHAOS!!!  Once through this initiation process, there was plenty of room to gather and regroup and make sure everyone survived.  Our host, Heather, actually had gotten shoved to the ground in the push and some stranger snatched her up by her coat hood so she wouldn't get trampled.  She was shaken but okay.  Thank goodness.  From that point we had to take long escalators up to the next floor to get to the waiting lounge---another huge room with a sea of people--then out the doors on the far side and down escalators to get to the train.  Our tickets were checked no less than 4 times before we had even gotten underway.  When Heather said "Don't lose your ticket or else" she meant it.

The train itself was quite charming.  The kids and us were in a cabin together wide enough for two narrow bunk beds and space in between to simply walk into the room but nothing more.  Walk in and sit on a bunk.  No space to do anything else.  There was a small half table under the window with bottled water.  The bunks each had a pillow and comforter and headphones and a TV and a small reading light in the wall.  We were all tired (except Sullivan who claims to never be tired) so we played a card game and then retired for the night.  Music is piped into the rooms and you can't turn it off, change the station, or adjust the volume.  The lights on the train are turned out at 11 p.m. and the music goes away.  We all debated setting alarms and decided not because we knew we would hear other people getting up.  It didn't matter.  At 7 .m.  the lights came back on and music began playing again.  I am not sure why, on a train with no space to move, we needed 1.5 hours to wake up and get ready to disembark, but that is train riding Chinese style, I guess.  Just after the music starts the porter comes by offering cups of tea or coffe for essentially $1.50 each.  We took her up on the tea.  It tasted refreshing after the long night.  One of the other women in our group lives in Beijing.  She baked fresh bread and gave each cabin one.  We broke it open and thoroughly enjoyed the zucchini bread we found inside. 

Once the train arrived in the station we walked to a charted bus to drop all our luggage.  Breakfast was at McDonalds.  That was fun and the kids really enjoyed it.  Barb didn't eat much at the dumpling place so she was pretty hungry.  We fed 3 adults and Barb full breakfast meals for about $8...gotta love those prices...and we were informed that McDonalds is considered an expensive place to eat.  Had our second experience with squatty potties...at least there was an abundance of toilet paper.  (let me give you one of the most important tips if you ever come to China...stock up and bring lots of toilet paper!!!  There is almost never any.  Even at the hotel we were provided enough for the first potty upon arrival and then had none all night.  Good thing I packed some.)

From McDonalds it was back to the bus for our drive to Pingliang.  Heather told us the drive would be about 5 hours.  Well, she must have never had this driver...he made it in less than 4 hours.  Shaun sat in his seat at one point leaning into the aisle and watching out the front window.  When he finally sat upright again, he leaned over and said "if you sit and watch that it is the scariest thing the way that man drives".  Shaun wrote to his mom and told her "the bus ride was wild, the driver was passing people left and right and blowing his horn for people with animals to get out of the way. He played "chicken" with vehicles from tiny cars to semi-trucks." When we arrived in Pingliang, we were talking to another staff member who agreed that driving in China is the craziest thing.  She said there are hardly ever any accidents, people don't take being honked at personally, nobody gets stressed out by the weaving and speed, etc.  This is just the way it is and everyone rolls with it.

The ride went by quickly as Sullivan and Zach played the quitar, Barb chatted and read, I read and napped, we all watched scenery go by.  This area is very dry.  I don't know how anything grows and everything is covered with a layer of brown dirt/dust.  We passed small villages that had homes dug into mountain side caves as well as houses along the roads.  The strangest thing we encountered were dozens and dozens of overpass bridges that literally went nowhere.  The road we were one was a brand new interstate road.  For the most part it was a smooth and easy drive.  So when the road was built they also built these overpasses...but connected them to NOTHING.  Just an overpass with a 1-2 story drop off on each side.  It was just weird.  We were told this was in anticipation of future progress but some of these were little places and some were so close together that it made no sense.  Even in Eagle River, we only have three overpasses and we are a pretty progressive and busy little place. 

We settled into our hotels and had a couple hours to ourselves before meeting again for dinner.  We walked a few blocks to a restaurant.  We had a private room and sat around 2 large round tables with giant lazy susans in the middle.  Then the dishes began...they order at least one for every person at the table and set them all on the lazy susan.  We spun the tray to try all the dishes.  It was a wonderful experience!!!!  The food was so great...some spicy some not...but a huge variety.  The evening was capped off with a surprise for Zach and Shaun...a birthday cake!  Zach had his birthday (or rather skipped all but 4 hours of it because we "lost" his birthday ont he flight over) on Thursday and Shaun had his on Friday.  The cake was delicious but the best part was the candle.  It was the huge pick plastic thing with a candle in the middle.  We sang happy birthday and then the candle set off a sparkler which then turned out to ignite a bigger flame and the plastic fell to the sides revealing a ring of smaller candles on the ends that then spun because of the heat it generated and music began playing.  It was the coolest thing we had ever seen on a cake.

Now we are back in our rooms getting settled and ready for tomorrow.  We are booked every day from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. so there won't be time to write much.  There are 18 people total in our group of volunteers to work with 45 students.  Our contingency from Alaska has supplied 3 of the 4 men and all of the teenagers.  We are also almost 1/3rd of the whole group.  Makes us feel like we are already making a contribution.

So that is us for now.  Oh, thanks for all the prayers about my arm.  It is doing much better today.  I have been diligent about asking for help.  One of the people on the team found a sling for me to use.  And I am feeling so much more confident that I will survive well on this trip.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.

Heading to check on the kids and go to bed...night all.

First day in Beijing

It has been a busy day.  Can't write much because we are leaving for dinner and then the train.  We went to the Temple of Heaven today which was really beautiful which I will write more about later.  Lunch was at Kentucky Fried Chicken.  The soda and fries tasted like home but the rest was very different.  The afternoon was spent at the Pearl Market...4 floors of bartering for everything under the sun.  SO MUCH FUN.  Gotta go.  More later when we can.

Hugs to Dharma. (We bought you some fun stuff today.)

Debra

It is just past 8 a.m. here on Friday morning in Beijing (3 p.m. in Anchorage onThursday).  Just wanted you to know that we arrived at our hotel about 6 hours ago--approximately 30 hours after leaving our home.  The trip went really well and everyone remained in high spirits.  We're just a bit groggy today but we're off to enjoy seeing some Beijing before we leave on a train for Pingliang, China this evening.  We will arrive aty our final destination sometime tomorrow late afternoon/early evening.  I miss DD so much already.

Please keep my arm in thought.  Yesterday as we waited in the plane to put our ags in the overhead I must have simply twisted wrong when I turned to ask Shaun a question with my hand resting on a handle and this "Thwang" wnet off in my forearm at one of the graft donor incision sites.  It brought a yelp of pain from my lips and tears to my eyes.  The pain has continued ever since  I iced it for most of the flights took pain killer, motrin, etc. but I really need thoughts that nothing serious is wrong.                   

Today's the day

Just dropping in a quick note to make sure this is working. Dharma is tucked in bed after some cuddle time and promises to wake her up for one more round of hugs and kisses before we leave. Shaun is catching a few zzzz's. Barb is curled up on the couch watching TV. Sullivan is making the most of his final hours on the XBox. And I am busy running around taking care of all the last minute things...like going to Wal-Mart at 1 a.m., starting this blog, changing gerbil cage bedding, etc. You know, all the crazy things that moms do while everyone else pretends there is nothing left to do. Ha ha.

I am glad that everyone is chilling out because we have a long trip ahead of us. We won't arrive in Pingliang until late Saturday afternoon (which is Friday night Alaska time). Pingliang, China is in northern central China, northwest of Xian-if you happen to know where that is. So that makes three days of traveling...WOW! Probably no internet during that time so don't expect any new posts until the weekend...if all goes well and we find we have internet access. Supposedly we will have it here and there during out time in Pingliang so hopefully doing this blog will work.

Expect everyone to do a little posting. We'll try to identify the author so you know whose perspective you are reading. Could be very different from Sullivan to me!

Keep us in your thoughts. This is such a tremendous undertaking and I am feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment at the thought of making the trip and keeping everyone well.