This morning,we woke up late since there was an alarm clock malfunction. Turns out that my travel alarm clock makes louder noises when you set it than when it goes off in the morning. Not only that, but it only goes off for a minute. Greeeat... we had to rush to get ready for breakfast in the hotel. We were there a few minutes late, but we still had time to eat. Our breakfast was the exact same spread of food as last night- chicken feet and all. After
breakfast, we went to visit a local school in the area. As we were walking, we saw this big square gray building with a few tiny square windows in random areas. Megan commented that it looked like a prison, and everyone agreed. There was even a guard in uniform and an iron gate. To our surprise, we entered into the building's courtyard and through the gate: this was the school! We split up into groups of 2 or 3, and were paired with a class. Shelby, Brandon and I were all put with a class of about our age. The girl who spoke the best English was called Scarlett/Charlotte. (I called her Scarlett but looking back it was probably Charlotte with an accent.) She was very nice, and her class was funny. The classroom was just the same as any American one, lined with desks and a chalkboard with the subjects being addressed that day written on the board. One boy in the front offered us gum so we accepted and thanked him, until we found out that it was Scarlett's! We all laughed during the visit at whatever someone said, but there were many awkward pauses in between. They would say something in Mandarin and laugh and we would be clueless as to why they were laughing. This was their first time ha
ving people visit their class from another country, and this was the first time we had been visitors, so we were both learning from each other. They asked us if we had any boyfriends or girlfriends because as I found out later, they can't date until they are in college. We sang songs for then and they had this one girl sing for us. Her voice was so high and sweet- she was singing Beijing Opera and was actually very good! They had us copy out their school's name in calligraphy on the board and then graded how well we did it. I got an A+**, Shelby got an A+*, and Brandon got an A. The I wrote out the name of our school, and taught them how to pronounce it. After that it was almost time to go so they gave us little gifts. I got two coin purses, and a wrapped gift which turned out to be a Rubix cube. I gave the cube to Brandon while Shelby unwrapped her present. It was this cute little chopstick set. She was really pleased with it. Then all the students had to go outside for their morning exercises. As we walked down the stairs with them, one of the girls in the class came up and hugged me. She exchanged contact information with us and ran to catch up with the rest of the class. I was surprised and really touched that we had made such an impact. We walked outside to see their morni
ng exercises. At first, this man yelled something in Mandarin and they all snapped into position on the field. I was surprised, but as the exercises continued, they started doing this dance, kind of like the electric or the cha cha slide. During these exercises I talked to these little seven-year-olds there named Abby and Madison (at least those were their English names). Madison was very good at English, even at such a young age. I asked if she knew any more languages and she said she knew some French. I was so surprised at how studious these seven-year-olds were! She asked if I knew another language, so I told her that I was learning Spanish. She was confused, wondering why I needed to know Spanish! It was only when she made the connection that the U.S. is right above Mexico that she understood. It wa
s very cool to see all the similarities and differences between the two school programs. Since China operates through the tracking system, it is much more competitive and they focus on staying with other world powers. In America, public schools are very laid back, and many people take their education for granted. I think our schooling system has something to learn from the way China's education program is set up. I don't believe that the system should be changed too drastically, but students in America need to understand that people in other countries are getting a much better education, and could possibly take their future jobs away from them. Something similar between the two education programs is the standardized testing. We take SATs and ACTs, while they have Examinations. It helps decide where you go to college, and is a way to find your learning level compared to the rest of the country. The people and the way they act is still the same regardless of living halfway across the globe. There are still funny, interesting, shy, quiet, loud, and friendly people here. Before they finish their exercise, we all decided to jump in and try to do the dance too! I'm pretty sure we all looked really lost, but it was so much fun!
When we finally said our heartfelt goodbyes, (Zai Jian in Mandarin) we left to go see the Forbidden City. When we got off the bus, I didn't realize at first that we were in Tian'anmen Square! It was so vast and huge that it took a moment for me to spot the building wi
th Mao's portrait hanging over the entrance. Almost immediately people came over to us, trying to sell postcards and watches to us. We used the phrase that David had taught us on the bus: "Boo Yao." It means "I don't want," and will deter vendors from pursuing you. Almost immediately they backed off of us- we were so surprised that it had worked! One guy even smiled at us, happy that we knew enough Mandarin to say that to him. I learned a lot of pretty cool facts about the Forbidden City while visiting there. They had these big black cauldrons there that would be filled with water just in case the wooden city c
aught fire. Even in the winter, they had the water heated so that it was liquid enough to be able to use. As I walked through the city, I was amazed that this jewel was hidden from the public for so long. I thought that the yellow tile roof and red and green walls were very intricate, but I was still surprised to hear that it took a full year for just one side of a building to be painted! At the end of the city, there are some gardens tastefully arranged near Longevity Hill. David had brought a hackey sack to play with, and soon the game became the popular thing to play on the trip. While in the airport, we would play hackey sack. When we were waiting for tickets, we would play hackey sack. Everyone got pretty good at it, even me! Anyway, we ate lunch at this really nice place that also sold pearls. The lunch was one of the best meals in Beijing, probably because that was the first meal that they served w
atermelon as a dessert at. We went downstairs to where a bunch of tanks with freshwater clams were. A man showed us how to tell the difference between saltwater and freshwater clams, and then he split one open for us. There were about 30 pearls all hidden inside! We each were given a small pearl, and headed to the store. Before letting us look around, they showed us how to tell the difference between a fake and a real pearl- if you rub them together, they should create a fine white powder without
damaging the pearl. I ended up buying 4 pearl necklaces for 90 U.S. dollars altogether- a really good price compared to the price I would get for them in the States. Once we had all made our purchases, we went to a tea store. We sampled four different types of tea: Oolong, Puer, Li Chi, and Jasmine. They also had these fascinating tea cups with black dragons on the that would turn red as you poured your tea into them. I bought some Puer tea and an image-changing tea maker for my dad and stepmother. All in all I spent about 115 U.S. dollars, but I did get most of my gift spending done that day.
This morning,we woke up late since there was an alarm clock malfunction. Turns out that my travel alarm clock makes louder noises when you set it than when it goes off in the morning. Not only that, but it only goes off for a minute. Greeeat... we had to rush to get ready for breakfast in the hotel. We were there a few minutes late, but we still had time to eat. Our breakfast was the exact same spread of food as last night- chicken feet and all. After 
breakfast, we went to visit a local school in the area. As we were walking, we saw this big square gray building with a few tiny square windows in random areas. Megan commented that it looked like a prison, and everyone agreed. There was even a guard in uniform and an iron gate. To our surprise, we entered into the building's courtyard and through the gate: this was the school! We split up into groups of 2 or 3, and were paired with a class. Shelby, Brandon and I were all put with a class of about our age. The girl who spoke the best English was called Scarlett/Charlotte. (I called her Scarlett but looking back it was probably Charlotte with an accent.) She was very nice, and her class was funny. The classroom was just the same as any American one, lined with desks and a chalkboard with the subjects being addressed that day written on the board. One boy in the front offered us gum so we accepted and thanked him, until we found out that it was Scarlett's! We all laughed during the visit at whatever someone said, but there were many awkward pauses in between. They would say something in Mandarin and laugh and we would be clueless as to why they were laughing. This was their first time ha
ving people visit their class from another country, and this was the first time we had been visitors, so we were both learning from each other. They asked us if we had any boyfriends or girlfriends because as I found out later, they can't date until they are in college. We sang songs for then and they had this one girl sing for us. Her voice was so high and sweet- she was singing Beijing Opera and was actually very good! They had us copy out their school's name in calligraphy on the board and then graded how well we did it. I got an A+**, Shelby got an A+*, and Brandon got an A. The I wrote out the name of our school, and taught them how to pronounce it. After that it was almost time to go so they gave us little gifts. I got two coin purses, and a wrapped gift which turned out to be a Rubix cube. I gave the cube to Brandon while Shelby unwrapped her present. It was this cute little chopstick set. She was really pleased with it. Then all the students had to go outside for their morning exercises. As we walked down the stairs with them, one of the girls in the class came up and hugged me. She exchanged contact information with us and ran to catch up with the rest of the class. I was surprised and really touched that we had made such an impact. We walked outside to see their morni
ng exercises. At first, this man yelled something in Mandarin and they all snapped into position on the field. I was surprised, but as the exercises continued, they started doing this dance, kind of like the electric or the cha cha slide. During these exercises I talked to these little seven-year-olds there named Abby and Madison (at least those were their English names). Madison was very good at English, even at such a young age. I asked if she knew any more languages and she said she knew some French. I was so surprised at how studious these seven-year-olds were! She asked if I knew another language, so I told her that I was learning Spanish. She was confused, wondering why I needed to know Spanish! It was only when she made the connection that the U.S. is right above Mexico that she understood. It wa
s very cool to see all the similarities and differences between the two school programs. Since China operates through the tracking system, it is much more competitive and they focus on staying with other world powers. In America, public schools are very laid back, and many people take their education for granted. I think our schooling system has something to learn from the way China's education program is set up. I don't believe that the system should be changed too drastically, but students in America need to understand that people in other countries are getting a much better education, and could possibly take their future jobs away from them. Something similar between the two education programs is the standardized testing. We take SATs and ACTs, while they have Examinations. It helps decide where you go to college, and is a way to find your learning level compared to the rest of the country. The people and the way they act is still the same regardless of living halfway across the globe. There are still funny, interesting, shy, quiet, loud, and friendly people here. Before they finish their exercise, we all decided to jump in and try to do the dance too! I'm pretty sure we all looked really lost, but it was so much fun!
When we finally said our heartfelt goodbyes, (Zai Jian in Mandarin) we left to go see the Forbidden City. When we got off the bus, I didn't realize at first that we were in Tian'anmen Square! It was so vast and huge that it took a moment for me to spot the building wi
th Mao's portrait hanging over the entrance. Almost immediately people came over to us, trying to sell postcards and watches to us. We used the phrase that David had taught us on the bus: "Boo Yao." It means "I don't want," and will deter vendors from pursuing you. Almost immediately they backed off of us- we were so surprised that it had worked! One guy even smiled at us, happy that we knew enough Mandarin to say that to him. I learned a lot of pretty cool facts about the Forbidden City while visiting there. They had these big black cauldrons there that would be filled with water just in case the wooden city c
aught fire. Even in the winter, they had the water heated so that it was liquid enough to be able to use. As I walked through the city, I was amazed that this jewel was hidden from the public for so long. I thought that the yellow tile roof and red and green walls were very intricate, but I was still surprised to hear that it took a full year for just one side of a building to be painted! At the end of the city, there are some gardens tastefully arranged near Longevity Hill. David had brought a hackey sack to play with, and soon the game became the popular thing to play on the trip. While in the airport, we would play hackey sack. When we were waiting for tickets, we would play hackey sack. Everyone got pretty good at it, even me! Anyway, we ate lunch at this really nice place that also sold pearls. The lunch was one of the best meals in Beijing, probably because that was the first meal that they served w
atermelon as a dessert at. We went downstairs to where a bunch of tanks with freshwater clams were. A man showed us how to tell the difference between saltwater and freshwater clams, and then he split one open for us. There were about 30 pearls all hidden inside! We each were given a small pearl, and headed to the store. Before letting us look around, they showed us how to tell the difference between a fake and a real pearl- if you rub them together, they should create a fine white powder without 
damaging the pearl. I ended up buying 4 pearl necklaces for 90 U.S. dollars altogether- a really good price compared to the price I would get for them in the States. Once we had all made our purchases, we went to a tea store. We sampled four different types of tea: Oolong, Puer, Li Chi, and Jasmine. They also had these fascinating tea cups with black dragons on the that would turn red as you poured your tea into them. I bought some Puer tea and an image-changing tea maker for my dad and stepmother. All in all I spent about 115 U.S. dollars, but I did get most of my gift spending done that day.
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