A farewell haiku to China

Ben-
Hospitality
O Shanghai, Chengdu, Beijing
Always remember.

A second haiku of appeasement to mrs towery:

You tried duck, dumplings,
Rode gondolas fearlessly.
Thank you Chinese mom.

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Farewell to China

David- man that's a big wall! The weather was perfect and the duck was
tender but my favorite part of the trip remains going to the Chinese
school. Lol please pray for a safe trip back. And I can say with
regret ... This is my last blog ... So sad ...
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Farewell to China

Danielle: Bye China! We had a great Peking duck dinner last night for
our last meal in China. My favorite thing we did in China was visiting
the pretty garden in old town Shanghai and shopping and bargaining,
especially for pearls in Shanghai. What an unforgettable trip! Please
pray for our safety as we travel 14 hours back to America.

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Farewell to China

As we concluded our trip to China last night with the traditional
dinner of Beijing (Peking) duck, we each discussed what our favorite
part of the trip was. There were so many great parts- meeting new
friends, sharing the Gospel, and experiencing the culture, but my
favorite was standing on the Great Wall. China is steeped in history
and to be able to see and hear about it has been a history teachers
dream. I have been blessed in so many ways by this trip and I give
thanks to God for allowing me this opportunity. Please pray for our
long flight home .
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More Great Wall

Great Wall

Forbidden City

China

What a great day we had in Beijing. It was a blue, sunny sky and the
air was cold and crisp. We visited the Forbidden City and the Great
Wall of China. My pictures do not do it justice but I tried:)

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China

Danielle: I had an unforgettable experience in Chengdu! I was nervous
when we first arrived but Jade, my host girl was so helpful and sweet,
and so was her family (mother and grandma) though they couldn't speak
English. Jade translated for us. Ben, David, and I attended classes
at their school, though we could only understand English class!
Sometimes we 'skipped' class with our student volunteers to learn how
to play Ma Jong and Chinese chess, Tai chi, cook dumplings and eat
noodles and other yummy food off campus. I really enjoyed music class
where the students played traditional chinese instruments for us.
Outside of school, my dream came true when I got to sit next to a
panda! Jade planned many fun activities with me, such as karaoke with
her friends, hot pot restaurant with her family, and a traditional tea
shop. It was so sad when I had to say goodbye. She will be a friend of
mine forever!

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China

Ben- I've done so much this week, it's hard to know where to start! My
host family treated me so well, taking me out to eat hot pot, eager
for me to try everything, but understanding when the food was too
spicy for me (thankfully that only happened once!). Since they live on
the Chengdu sport university campus, one evening while walking home
they stopped, talked to a few students outside a gym, and turned to me
asking if I wanted to learn Kung Fu. The students showed me some
moves; I was not that good but it was tons of fun! I've also learned
Mah Jong and Chinese chess. There's so much to china; it's impossible
to sum it up neatly, but I can't wait to get back and show everyone
all about the trip.

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China

David- wow... What a week!! Whee do I even begin? This week with my
host family has been such an experience! The food has been super spicy
and the bathrooms have been ... Uhm ... Different but the best has
been living and bonding with my host family. I've learned a lot this
week about myself and others. I miss my friends and family but I know
that as soon as I get home a part of me will want to come back. The
pandas were awesome!!! Seeing them in real life was so cool...
Touching them was even better. Here at school they have recess still
and everyone is so good at ping pong... Go figure. But me and Ben
could keep up with them on the basketball court. Oh and also ... The
girls treated me and ben like complete celebrities. You would have
thought we were like Justin Beiber and Taylor Lautner on campus with
all the pictures we got asked to be in and all the girls that wanted
our email to find us on Facebook. Haha we hated the attention as you
could have guessed ... Okay maybe we liked it a little.:) Anywho over
all it was an experience of a life time...

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China

The students are at school all day today and we will see them tomorrow
as we fly to Beijing
I cannot wait to hear their stories
They will be doing an update for you on their experiences

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China

We had a great meal last night.
There is a real Tex Mex restaurant in Chengdu called Peter's Restaurant
He is a transplanted Texan and the students loved some home cooking. I
have never seen them eat so much food!
Today they are spending time with their host families
It will be exciting to hear what they did

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They also attended club activities. At 3:45 students pick a club of their interest and go got a couple of hours. Danielle went to Model UN but was called upon to talk about life in America.

Music was definitely David's favorite.  They went to two English classes and studied caligraphy

It was a full day of classes for our students. That means 7:45 to evening time depending on when their host was finished with their school work.

Then it was off to a unique shopping where Ben bought out the tea store and Danielle bought a dress. She hopes you like it Mom:)

Later in the day we toured a museum and learned more about Chinese history

Our students were a hit at Chengdu School No 7 where they are attending with their hosts. This is the best high school in the province. They had an in-depth question and answer session with one of the classes and then sang Taylor Swift songs with them. 

David and his family

Danielle and her family

Ben and his family

Reflections of shanghai

Ben- we just got off the bullet train that travels about 270 miles per
hour. When we first got off the plane it took us 45 minutes to make it
to the hotel near downtown. The train did the trip in 6 minutes. It
didn't have rails like a typical train; they said it ran using
magnets. I remember learning about that in physics, but actually
riding on one is a lot more fun! Everything is just a blur. Now it's
off to meet our host families in Chungdu.

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Reflections of Shanghai

David- so much foooooooood! Mr. Howard never fails to order about 4
times more than what we need. In chinese culture that is a way of
honoring us. Bargaining was fun on Monday but bargaining with mr.
Keith is a whole new world. I enjoy the people but there is no doubt
that this part of the world needs Jesus just as much as our small
community does. Pray for this country . . . For these people.

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Reflections of Shanghai

Danielle: I am sad to leave Shanghai because I enjoyed it a lot.
Shanghai is such a modern city, it reminded me of Singapore. Today we
shopped for pearls and I got some great deals, after Mr Carmichael
bargained for me! I keep reminding myself I'm in China and how blessed
I am to be here!

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We say goodbye to Shanghai today and fly to Chengdu where the students are anxious and excited about meeting their host families. Shanghai has been a truly cultural experience. It is a modern, high tech, financial center city with a flavor of Shanghai style cruisine, New York Canal Street shopping, and a blending of both ancient (Yuyuan Garden) and new (Expo 2010) history. My biggest surprise so far is that everyone smokes! Whether you are in a restaurant, walking through a 400 year old garden or riding an elevator 100 floors up to one of the tallest buildings in the world people are smoking. I can understand the pollution problem now !! If I had to pick one highlight of the trip so far it would be our special tour of the old British consulate that was built in 1873. It is now used for Chinese official meetings. The architecture and decor were exquisite. The picture above was taken there . The painting behind the students was painted by a famous Chinese painter whose name I will not attempt because I could not do it justice.  Reflections from Shanghai will continue after I drag the kids out of bed;)

China

We also had some tasty dumplings and a something that looked like a
fashion handbag. I looking foreword to trying lots of new foods in
the next few days.

David- today I ate sooooo much! Chopsticks are becoming a lot easier
due to how much food they bring us each meal. Shopping was a blast
too. I've said "too much" and have heard "you too cheap" more times
than I have in my entire life! But don't worry family, I got a good
deal on your presents:) it's only day one and I already find myself
saying, this truly is a trip of a lifetime . . .

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The food on china is as much an adventure as anything else! Today at lunch we ate with a chinese four star general. He had some very tasty and very expensive- as we soon found out- tea for us. We ate in a room called the 1998 room because bill Clinton ate there in that year. The sticky rice was a challenge to get into our mouths. I think the chopstick-naturals had fun laughing at us. We ALS

Today we immersed ourselves into the Chinese culture. Danielle- the first thing we did was go to the Yuyuan garden over 400 years old from the Ming and Qing dynasty. It was beautiful! That is where we are in the picture. My favorite were the chairs made from roots of trees.

China

It is Sunday February 27 at 7:15.
We have arrived safely and are on our way to the hotel.
The trip was long but a relatively smooth ride.
4 movies 6 hours of TV and 2 meals!!

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San Francisco airport Our last hamburger for a while  So what are the students looking forward to the most in China? Danielle: pandas! David: chop sticks!! Ben- living with host family!!!