Found in Fishers

Let me introduce you to Emily

In one of my blog entries while in Beijing, I shared with you a touching experience I had meeting a 15-year-old high school student at the New Oriental School. Her name is Xiaoyi Lei. Xiaoyi Lei does not live in Beijing, but rather was there for 2 weeks participating in a summer camp language course at the New Oriental School. For the Chinese, this is a very expensive program at which students receive intensive instruction in English. It's a program that a family will make extreme sacrifices for in order to give their child an opportunity to receive support in learning the English language. In the class where I met Xiaoyi, there were 93 students!

College entrance exams are so incredibly challenging and competitive for Chinese high school students. A portion of the exam includes English. It is so important for them to do well on the exam that many high school students go to the school Monday through Saturday until 10 at night to study and get top scores on the exams. This is because only about 20% of high school students are able to go to college.

Xiaoyi was a very shy girl but she had one request of me. She wanted nothing more than an English name. How honored I was to be given the task to name this young lady. I gave her my business card and asked her to email me as a name was something that was special, and I wanted to think about it. I heard from Xiaoyi this week! She and I exchanged emails and I learned more about her. Xiaoyl likes to play sports; she especially likes swimming. She also enjoys playing the Guzheng, a Chinese instrument shown in this picture. Math is her favorite subject and she feels that she is a very good student. Xiaoyi told me that she spends long hours each day studying in order to pass the college entrance exam in a couple of years.

I have given her the name, Emily. After searching through names and their meanings, I found Emily was a perfect fit for Xiaoyi. Emily is of English origin meaning "to excel." What a great way to describe Xiaoyi and what I hope for her future.

Back Home Again in Indiana

Home! What a surprise when I ended up at home only to see my sister and her family, my nephew Nick, and my Mom and Dad all from Chicago waiting for me in Indianapolis. When I went up the sidewalk to my house I was a bit concerned that Juan acquired a new dog because I heard some barking...and it wasn't from one of the two dogs we already have. He also wouldn't let me go in through the garage. Worried that I was the proud owner of a new dog, I walked in and to my surprise I was being treated to some good old American food and my family in tow.

My brother-in-law, Pat, made ribs and there was a variety of my favorite salads...along with fish heads. Yes, fish heads! This time, though, they were Swedish Candy Fish heads. I laughed so hard. And they were delicious.

I am beyond exhausted today. I think every muscle in my body is aching. No doubt it's from a combination of the 14-hour plus flight from Hong Kong and my energy level being somewhat exhausted from the grueling schedule we kept in China. Thank goodness I have one more day to recover before I erturn to work on Tuesday. Yikes, I can't believe the time went by so quickly. I learned so much and can't wait to share all the information. But, how do I begin to share what I have learned this summer? I have so much to also share with my school corporation about Chinese education to benefit our Chinese language pilot program.

I would like to invite each of my faithful blog readers and new ones alike to continue to read our blog. During the next few weeks I'm going to share more details and insights from my China trip. When I got home each night on the trip, I quickly blogged our activities with little detail just to give my friends and family a chance to see what we were up to. After visiting 6 different cities and experiencing the culture of China, I would like to continue the sharing. Keep posted! And, to my fellow Fulbrighters, I expect participation in the comment section.

PS: Sarah, the trip was AMAZING!

My final farewell from Hong Kong

Today was our last full day in Hong Kong. The group decided to break up and do a variety of different things since we had a day off from organized events. I decided to hang out with Cathy and Jane. Cathy

Jane and Cathy wait to board our boat for the 2-hour trip to Hong Kong Island.

is a high school AP English teacher from Kansas and Jane is a 3rd grade teacher for at-risk students in Florida. We decided that it would be most appropriate for us to see Hong Kong from boat since the area started out as a fishing community. We took a boat ride along the shore for about 2 hours, checking out the landscape of Hong Kong and Kowloon Islands. What amazing architecture. Lots of money invested in real estate. Following our ride, we walked back to Lan Kwai Fong in search of a non-Chinese lunch. It was another very hot day - even hotter between the skyscapers - but we had fun going in and out of different shops. Our favorite was the Mountain Folkcraft Store. It was full of minority ethnic arts and crafts. I couldn't leave before buying a set of small baskets; they are adorable. I also bought a wooden cookie mold. It has a fish and lotus flower on it. It would have been used to make a bread-like cake as a treat for one's family.

This evening, we decided to view the famous laser light show in Victoria Bay aptly titled, "A Symphony of Lights." For a mere 50 cents we took the ferry across the bay to Kowloon and watched the light show in front of the skyline. According to the Guiness Book of World Records, the Hong Kong light show is the

The laser light show "A Symphony of Lights" celebrates the energy, diversity and spirit of Hong Kong.

world's largest permanent show. It was not as exciting as we anticipated, but still fun. We topped the evening off with a final taxi ride home and chocolate sundaes at the hotel restaurant.

Sadly, I am leaving China tomorrow morning. I will say goodbye to my dear Asian friends and to the Fulbright-Hayes group. At the same time, I'm looking forward to being home, sleeping on a soft bed, and ordering a pizza. A special thanks to my blog editor, Juan! Big Brother in China did not allow me direct access to my blog so I had so send my photos to Juan for insertion into the blog. He also cleaned up the blog on the U.S. end as I often blogged half asleep because of my grueling schedule. I hope you continue to check in on the Found in Fishers site as I will be telling you more about the trip and posting plenty of pictures once I return and get back into my real world. Huítóu jiàn.

A view from the top

The Peak is Hong Kong's leading tourist attraction. At the top of The Peak, is Peak Tower, a wok-shaped building that many claim is the most photographed sight in Hong Kong.

After spending the day at Hong Kong University for a series of lectures on education and society in Hong Kong, the group celebrated with dinner at the Peak Overlook. The Peak is the highest part of Hong Kong. Located on Hong Kong Island, it provides the best view of Hong Kong. It was Gail's birthday so the group took the Peak Tram to the highest part of the city where we started the evening with some shopping before dinner.

The view was spectacular. We were able to see a 360-degree view of the city during the day, and again at night. We got to the top of the Peak on a cable-pulled tram that has been operating since 1888. It was facinating to see the beautiful scenery. At the Peak Overlook Restaurant, we enjoyed a delicious non-Chinese-food dinner. I had lamb with baked potato. Gail treated us to birthday cake and champagne. She also had small gifts for us as well. Gail wanted to be sure she purchased the cake as it is tradition in France - where she lived for several years - before returning

The Peak's wok rocks. So do the spectacular views from the rooftop observation aera.

to teach French in the Washington, DC area. The food was great, but the company was the best. We had a wonderful time talking about our adventures during the past five weeks. We also took the time to thank Dick, our leader, and give him a small token of our appreciation.

We have one day left in Hong Kong before we begin the journey home. We are unclear what we are doing for sure on Friday, but keep checking for the details. And Friday will be our first full free day since leaving San Francisco!

The view from The Peak at night. I always thought Chicago's skyline was hard to beat, until I saw this.

Law & Order Hong Kong style

An outgoing student at the Buddhist Sin Tak College. The school motto: To illuminate with wisdom and to manifest with compassion.

Just when I thought this trip couldn't get any better, we spent our first full day in Hong Kong. This day has become one of my favorites. It was very hot and humid, but the experiences were awesome. The day started with a conversation between our group and South China Daily Post Columnist Ben Kwok. It was a great opportunity to hear about the freedom of press in Hong Kong and the rise in media owners in the area. Next was a visit to the Buddhist Sin Tak College.

The Buddhist Sin Tak College is a secondary school in Hong Kong. It is different from any other secondary school we saw so far in China because the classes are all taught in English. It is a full immersion school for students in grades 7 through 12. Students who come from the primary schools to the Buddhist school receive instruction in Cantonese prior to starting secondary school. This school is their first experience receiving instruction in English. Therefore, we were able to observe a wonderful summer program that helps students learn to work with each other and transition to classroom instruction in English. What's really neat is that these summer classes are more manageable than most of the Chinese classes we have seen so far...only about 22 students.

We stopped for lunch on Lan Kwai Fong street. I was far too interested in walking around the area and taking in the sights, so instead of eating, a Starbucks

When the lights go down, the "in crowd" heads to Lan Kwai Fong Street. It's a must for night owls and people watchers.

had to tide me over. Cathy, Jane, and I walked around window shopping and checking out the area. It was very crowded. Lan Kwai Fong Street is a cosmopolitan area. It has narrow streets that are quite hilly. We frequently had to stop to watch traffic driving on the left side of the road. At night it is more of a party atmosphere on Lan Kwai Fong but it does have a wide variety of international cuisine. I guess the foreigners go there for the night life.

The most interesting visit today was at the High Court in Hong Kong. There, we met with a justice from the Court of Appeals. He was very candid as he explained the court systems in Hong Kong. What was really neat for us is that we were able to go to court today and witness a murder trial in action. Law & Order Hong Kong style. I was rather distracted by the judges. There were 4 and they had those funky fake white wigs kinda like George Washington. You should see what a Chinese man looks like with a white powdered wig. But, we were able to listen in to the questioning from the murder trial. The murder occurred in Hong Kong but the accused went to mainland China. It was apparent from the questioning that his physical condition was somewhat compromised when he was returned from the mainland. Something about a 30-pound weight shackled to his leg. Hmmm. I wish we could have stayed.

The MTR (Mass Transit Railway) is an efficient underground rail system that covers Hong Kong's major urban areas. Placed into service in 1979, the system carries more than 2.5 million people a day! To put that into some perspective, Chicago's CTA ridership is about 1.2 million people per day.

Our last group stop was at the Bureau of Home Affairs where we learned about youth initiatives. Not wanting to see a hotel room for too long while in Hong Kong, a group of us navigated the subway system over to Temple Street on Kowloon Island. Temple Street is a large street market. Not wanting to take anything less than my suitcase can hold, I bought some additional souvenirs for my family. Our hotel is on Hong Kong Island so our subway journey went under the bay. I am looking forward to Friday. We are thinking of a cruise along the islands. Keep checking.

Spaghetti and Hong Kong

How do you say "spaghetti" in Chinese? I don't have a clue, all I know is that there were no identifiable heads of any sort in the sauce.

Wow...I'm still trying to keep my jaw shut since arriving in Hong Kong so it doesn't look too obvious that I am a first-time tourist. I cannot even explain what I am seeing. It is so amazing. The sea of large and beautiful skyscrapers, the green mountains, the waters, the islands, and SPAGHETTI! After eating such a wide variety of Chinese food for an entire month, I have been craving spaghetti the past few days.

Enough people in our group have heard my request so tonight they graciously allowed me to indulge in this treat as we ate at an Italian restaurant down the street from our hotel. No lazy susans, no heads on the table, and no shiny vegetables. Just a big bowl of lovely spaghetti with cheese melted on top. I can honestly say that I was feeling full for the first time in well over a month. It was a lot of fun as the group discussed the different events of this journey so far and started to talk about what we should do on our free day this Friday.

The next two days are pretty full with a variety of events, but Friday is our free day. Many of us our planning a ferry ride around the islands outside of Hong Kong. It's pretty darn warm here; a big change from the cooler days way up north in Yanji. To get to Hong Kong we first took a two hour plane ride to Beijing, where we

Really...it's there...downtown Hong Kong. If you just squint a bit you can make out the skyline.

switched airlines to take a 4 hour plane ride to Hong Kong. We are going to have to be very careful walking around the city. Cars here drive on the left because of the British influence. This year is the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China. Each night we are able to see fireworks in the harbor. Looking forward to that tomorrow.

My last stop: Hong Kong

Today is our last full day in Yanji. We are departing for the Yanji Airport at 6:30 a.m. local to fly to Beijing where we will catch our flight to Hong Kong on July 17. Two gals will be leaving our group as they will not be traveling to Hong Kong. Terri will be visiting friends in China and Kara will be leaving on her honeymoon. They have been such a wonderful addition to our group. Terri is a media specialist from Iowa and Kara a teacher from Atlanta. Conversation with Terri was always great. She is a very knowledgeable person. I got to know Terri on the Great Wall. I will miss her calm personality. Kara is the group's "namer." She creates interesting names for our Chinese experiences. My favorite: BYOP. Bring your own Paper. In China, most public toilets do not have toilet paper so Kara would often reference those using the restroom after her BYOP as needed. Best of luck to Kara and her husband as they travel on their honeymoon. Kara was also the person who helped me perfect the art of squatting.

Today we visited two schools. One was a primary school that taught in Chinese. The other a high school that taught in Korean. We were able to get additional information about how language is taught in China. We concluded those meetings with our farewell luncheon to the people of Yanji, particularly of Yanbian University. The best part was the entertainment. Many people tooks turns singing and reciting poetry. And of course, wine was flowing. Simon, one of our Chinese guests, loves to enjoy wine.

We have made many good friends in Yanji, a smaller community that has allowed that to be successful. As we traveled to each city, we learned something different about each region and gained new friendships. Bright and early tomorrow we will be leaving for Beijing. From Beijing we will be traveling to Hong Kong. I am excited to see how much Western lifestyles have influenced Hong Kong.

The Korean Ethnic Community of Yanbian

Today was a fabulous day! I'm not sure if it's the smaller community feeling or the people in general but the Yanji area of Yanbian is just amazing. We are grateful to our friends in Yanji for taking care of our

Our group outside the Yanbian College of Foreign Languages.

dear companion, Nancy, who is ill and traveling back home today to Washington, DC. We hope that Nancy is feeling better soon and we are praying that the doctors in the U.S. can find and treat her illness quickly. The people here have jumped right in to take care of us. One young man helped get her to the hospital. A wonderful teacher, Gloria, from Yanbian University, sat with Nancy the entire time at the hospital so that she would not be alone and could translate for her. We have truly been blessed by their kindness and honored to call them our Chinese brothers and sisters. We also said a tearful goodbye to our Chinese guide, Mr. Zhai. He escorted Nancy to Beijing so that she could fly from there directly to DC. He has been our rock and has a great sense of humor; both of which are needed with such a rigorous schedule. How lucky we are that he crossed our path.

This morning we went to the Yanbian College of Foreign Languages. There we met with a variety of teachers and the President of the College of Foreign Languages. They were so forthcoming in helping us understand the Yanbian area and the large ethnic Korean community that resides here. You can see the Korean influence on the streets and through the food that we have been eating, a little spicy (and it included dog). Geez, I hope our two home-bound pooches aren't following this blog! Many of the people we have met are tri-lingual Chinese ethnic Koreans who speak Chinese, Korean, and English. It was very interesting to hear the options students have in this: Attending Chinese or Korean schools, and that they have the option as an ethnic minority to take the college entrance exam in Korean.

At the Yanbian Arts Theatre we watched a traditional Korean flower dance. The ancestors of the Korean ethnic group here migrated from the Korean peninsula from about the late 17th century, mostly peasants fleeing from their oppressive feudal landlords. The Koreans are very fond of music. They sometimes sing and dance to the accompaniment of drums and flutes in the fields or on construction sites.

Tonight's highlight was a traditional Korean song and dance show at the Yanbian Arts Theater. We had marvelous seats to see the beautiful costumes and hear Korean music. Midway through the show we were served rice wine. Sorry, not brave enough. Besides, we toasted so much during lunchtime that more alcohol was not in my picture tonight. I cannot believe we only have one more full day in Yanji. I would love to stay here longer and highly recommend that everyone put Yanji on their places to travel list. Wow!!

A visit to Korea, sort of...

Everybody sing along now: "I'm on the top of the world, looking down on creation, and the only thing that I can see..." is South Korea.

What a day! We went to Korea. Well, sort of. I saw Korea but I didn't get to put my foot in the country. Today was a culture day. We took a 4 hour bus ride south of Yanji to the Changhai Mountains. Along the way I was able to check out the Chinese countryside. What a contrast to city life. As many oxen pulling carts today as bicycles. Once at the mountain we started by going up, thank goodness not by walking...or that was what we thought. We exited bus #1 - the bus that took us to Changhai - then walked to bus #2. Bus #2 took us to a row of four-wheel drive Jeeps. Six of us

"Hot Spring Eggs" are a local favorite. The hot springs have temperatures over 140 degrees!

fit into a jeep that climbed the side of the mountain with such speed I swear I was at Six Flags over Yanji! Our tires screached around each corner as Janie encouraged the driver to go faster. He turned the radio higher and kept going faster. Poor Kara in the second car was fearing for her life with the wild driving and was feeling quite queezy on top of the mountain. I was worried at one point but noticed that none of the green guard rails looked dented...yet.

It was silly of me to think that any Chinese destination would not include steps. As soon as we exited the jeeps we were let off to a set of very steep stone stairs that needed to be climbed to get to the top of the mountain. Not wanting to be a wimp, I climbed away and saw a very breathtaking view of China and Korea. The Changhai Mountains border Korea. It was such a lovely sight. So different from the cities we have seen during the past month. The rock was rather soft. Much of it was pumice. And you couldn't miss the Fulbright group today as each of us was given a hot pink hat to wear so that the guide could keep track of us.

After the mountain we went to the waterfall. The walk through the woods was spectacular. The highlight was a hot spring. "How hot was it?" you ask.

Several of our group looking fetching in their cheap yellow rain gear and striking pink hats. As they say in China: "Eye yah!"

It was so hot that they were boiling eggs in the water to sell to the hikers. The weather was rainy for a brief period of time, otherwise it was a perfect weather day. There was a slight breeze and it was cool outside. It was actually kind of nice to wear a coat for the first time in China. A break from the 98 degrees in the cities. Being north was helpful as well. After a 4 hour ride back, the group agreed to skip dinner tonight. We had some business to attend to with an ill traveler, and then there was Gail, who fell just before boarding the bus and is now icing a fat lip. Hopefully I can report on some tasty meals tomorrow.

It's Friday the 13th and we are in Yanji

We have arrived safely by plane to Yanji. What a change in weather, and no pollution! It's been a couple of days since I was able to update you so let me catch you up.

Li and Zhao welcomed me into their home. They are a young Beijing couple. Both are teachers and have PhDs in biology.

On Wednewsday, July 11, the group had a very informative lecture at the Ministry Of Education in Beijing follwed by a trip to the Capitol Museum. Both were wonderful. That evening was the highlight. We went to the Poly Theatre to see the Taiwan Dance Company called Cloud Gate. It was truly amazing. These talented dancers combined the beautiful music of Asia with modern dance. My favorite was this one dance called "Spring." At the end of the dance, little pink showers of flowers dropped from the ceiling onto the stage. Truly a wonderful way to end the day.

On Thursday we went to the American Embassy. We didn't get to see anyone famous but did learn about the role the Embassy plays in China, specifically with visas and cultural education. That evening I had a home stay. Dr. Huan Zhao and his wife Dr. Xu Feng Li were my hosts. They are both biology teachers at the middle school level. A young couple living in a beautiful flat near the 2nd Ring Road in Beijing. When I arrived at their home they asked what I would like to do with them. My request: Live a night as if I was a Beijing resident. They did just that. We started at their favorite restaurant and had "real"Beijing food. It was really good but they were unable to translate the names for me. I did not particularly like the seafood tofu but I did give it a try. After dinner we walked for about an hour and ended up at this amazing park. We had so much fun talking about schools and teachers. We watched many senior citizens exercising and walking. They got me to get on some of the park equipment as well. It was really fun. I was very tired so it was a treat when I heard we were taking the bus back to their house. That was interesting. I got quite a few stares being the only Westerner on the bus. Chinese people like

Our arrival in Yanji. Given all of our luggage, they had to send a bus for the group. It was like a clown car at the circus trying to get everyone in with all their luggage.

to look at American "big noses." Back at their home we sat together and continued to share stories. When it was time to go to bed I was amazed at how much bigger the home was than I could see. I had my own room and my own bathroom with a shower and a Western toilet! We slept with the windows open and the breeze was refreshing.

I am now in Yanji. Yanji is on the northeastern part of China near South Korea. We had a delicious welcoming banquet. Okay, I didn't taste the rabbit, sea cucumber, quail eggs, cow stomach, or spicy food but I did try some other good food. Tomorrow we are off to the Changbai Mountain. It is about 3.5 hours away and on top we can see Korea. We have fabulous hosts and I am looking forward to this place!