Tag: China

I am becoming a little self-conscious about my size. I am a little taller than the average U.S. male and weigh more than I should, but here people look at me. I started to notice this yesterday.

It started during our visit to the Forbidden City. They asked us to wear these strange hats so that the tour guides could keep track of us in the crowds. I started to notice that the hats brought a great deal of attention to our group and people were taking pictures. Chinese tourists with their personal cameras, people with nice video equipment and some professionals who seemed to be there to film what we guessed was an ad spot started pointing their cameras at us. Actually, I soon realized that I was generating more than my fair share of photo opportunities. The hat does look pretty funny on me and I started to feel like I was the leader of visitors from another galaxy. I now have a collection of pictures of people taking pictures of me. I started walking over to those with expensive digital cameras and asking if I could have a look to see what their pictures looked like. We compared cameras – it was great fun.

My second “size” experience came later last evening. We were shopping for bargains in a place called the Silk Market. The sales persons are extremely aggressive in presenting their goods to tourists. I am not a great shopper under any circumstances, but having salespersons grab me to make me stop walking was pretty extreme.

The one line that did get my attention – Big Buddha – We got size fit you too!

I have decided to pursue my diet which much greater vigor once I get home.

Great Wall

Today was really the last day of our trip and the only day the entire group spent as tourists. The destination was the Great Wall.

Even though the site has become terribly commercialized, the Great Wall is still very impressive.

Walking the Great Wall is strenuous, but we did very well. Check out the following photo.

We took this picture on the way down as a way to show just how steep the incline is. There is also something else impressive about this picture. Moving up and down the wall is a great physical feat – the steepness quickly leaves you winded. The steps, when there are steps, are sometimes twice the height you might be used to in walking the steps in your home. This said – notice what Cindy is carrying. The vendors are everywhere and somehow manage to haul their wares up the path. Despite the struggle to get up and down Cindy had to shop.

You buy it, you carry it was my policy.

We get up at 4 in the morning for the long journey home. I will probably put together one more post on this trip and then it is back to technology and teaching.

Our Internet access has worked great, but we have encountered one “issue”. Cindy was trying to write about our viewing of Tiananmen Square when we visited the Hall of the People and was attempting to locate the proper spelling. She found that the entry in Wikipedia was “reset” when she attempted to load the link provided by Google. I am guessing that situation is peculiar to our location and you will be able to access the entry.

We visited again today.

Our guide provided the following explanation. The students were protesting corruption. As more and more individuals joined the protest, Beijing was in chaos. The Chinese people value harmony and tranquility and the situation was dire as services were shut down. The government had to move to restore order. Things are much better now and the government has taken action against those who are corrupt. The country is gradually becoming more open and this is a good thing.

The Internet has played a significant role in change. Our guide says that he can use the Internet to find out what he needs to know even when there is nothing in the newspapers or on television.

Just a few additional comments related to the school visits. Schools take great pride in school accomplishments and share such information in ways that I would not have expected. For example, I would not have assumed that middle or high schools would develop elaborate glossy pamphlets to promote the special qualities of that school.

On those special occasions when visitors are present, the commitment to teaching and the skills of both students and teachers are showcased. Visualize a demonstration classroom with ample room around the walls so that chairs could be added for visitors. A special camera focused on the teacher’s work surface displays this surface on a large monitor so that vistors could get a good view of the lesson materials the teacher is using (the visiting teachers who saw this described it as something like watching a cooking demonstration using technology so viewers could get a close look at what the chef was doing – I am guessing it was a document camera).

Visualize the last time you were in a middle school for some type of open house. You would likely have viewed samples of student work and perhaps special musical performances offered by the students. The teachers may have introduced or directed the presentations of the students. How about a ballroom dancing exhibition provided by the teachers? How about a runway fashion show set to music presented by the male teachers?

It is the last example that gets me. Can you imagine a building administrator addressing the staff and explaining that it would be really great if the male teachers would put together a fashion show and that they might want to start early so they could select some cool music and practice their cat walk routines? I would love to see the looks on people’s faces.

I have been trying to figure out what this type of approach is about. Perhaps it has something to do with valuing learners and showing a commitment to the content. We might promote dancing as a form of physical education, but what about getting in there to develop and then demonstrate a commitment to the same skills. Perhaps it is also about sharing something personal about yourself with your students and their parents. I think it is an interesting idea, but under no circumstances that I can imagine could I see myself in a fashion show.

We visited the Temple of Heaven today. These special areas appear to serve as gathering places for the elderly who meet and engage in a wide variety of recreational activities – etc. cards, Tai Chi, dancing. The activity that caught my attention was the group of individuals practicing the writing (calligraphy) of the formal Chinese “characters”. They use water to write these characters on the concrete. The guide told us how many characters there are (10,000 of which most know about 4000 if I remember correctly). I love the following image and have been attempting to generate a suitable title (e.g., Life long learning, No one cares if I peak at the answers now).

This entry will be brief because I am tired. If possible, I did want to generate one entry during each day of our visit. We had dinner this evening in the Great Hall of the People. It was a unique experience, but we got back to our hotel late. Cindy updates her blog when she travels and she did her entry first. Now it is my turn and things are starting to get a bit fuzzy.

One initial observation – among the people who talk with us here, there seems to be an interesting ability to focus on positive things and avoid processing contrary information. We are staying in an upscale hotel and must be reminded not to drink the water. It strikes me as strange that I have great high speed Internet access and have to remember not to pick up the glass and fill it from the tap.

The smog which I assume is one by-product of a tremendous economic up turn must also be a significant health hazard.

I am thinking that the opportunity allowed some to exercise greater personal economic freedom is the reason for the perspective that much more is now possible. By the way, there is a plan to fix the smog problem in time for the olympic games. I was trying to imagine what it would like to run a distance in today’s conditions. The solution is simple – move the large industries that produce pollution out of the city. Not simple to accomplish, but they think on a grand scale here.