Day 68 This school is somethin' else

I sit in amazement several times a week, so it can't still be the honeymoon phase for me.  I'm here to tell you, Beijing National Day School is somethin' else.  We are a campus of several schools, from primary school through high school.  We have Chinese students that attend the National Junior High & High School next door, and then our area is known as the International Department.  As I have explained before, the 650 kids enrolled with us are in grades 10-12 are in the AP program, IB (International Baccalaureate) program, or A level (Cambridge-UK) program. They are all getting a jump on their college credits while still in high school.

While we have some pretty incredible facilities already, (smart boards in every classroom- while teaching you just touch the 72" screen and pop between lecture notes, videos, websites, etc.), we will be undergoing a MASSIVE renovation this coming summer.  There are rumors that our school year may end earlier, as the intention is to gut this entire seven story building and restructure it.  We're talking a renovation to the tune of 65 million dollars and then some.  The Chinese are serious about building a bigger, better China- and they do it in a HURRY.  I have seen entire buildings deconstructed in one day, and new structures in place before the week is out.  It's crazy how fast things move here.  And. for the most part, it is done by Chinese peasant (migrant) laborers who work with hand tools.  They pass by me every morning on their way to work,wearing their hard hats and carrying their pick axes, shovels, and buckets of tools.  They ALL are wearing a smile- happy to have a job- happy to practice their "Hello's!" and "Good Morning's!" on this laowai (me), as I am happy to practice my Mandarin greetings on them :)

Well, the National School next door underwent their renovation last year.  Our two buildings are connected by a state of the art sports complex, complete with an indoor Olympic sized swimming pool, track, weight room, badmitton courts, ping pong rooms, and locker rooms.  The sports complex just opened in the last few weeks.  There may be more to it that I just haven't seen yet. I finally got back on the exercise bandwagon, and am now working out three times a week over my lunch hour. Throw in a hike on the weekends, and all the walking and stair climbing I do daily, and I am whipping this ol' body of mine back into shape. Yes, I know, 'round' is a shape- just not one I prefer to not identify with.  (And yes, I ended a sentence on a preposition- geesh :/)

After school today, we were given a tour of the National School's Fine Arts facilities which is seven stories tall, just like our building.  The director of the school wanted to assure the International teachers that big, beautiful changes are in the works for us, and to please be patient.  (I was not complaining, mind you!)  People, I was BLOWN AWAY.  I went to a high school with an incredible music department.  It was the rival of area schools, for the facilities we got to rehearse in daily.  But the things I saw today rivaled many, many high schools and even college facilities in the United States.

While the fine arts are some of the first programs to get slashed in budget cuts in the U.S., the facilities here would make you salivate.  They did me. These kids have no idea of the technology and facilities that they are exposed to on a daily basis as they learn about making music, dancing, performing in choirs or drama, painting, sketching, sculpting, photography, 3D art, calligraphy, and the like.  I am sure I am forgetting something.  It was unbelievable, y'all.  I wiped the slobber from my slack jaw and started snapping pictures...

First up, the classroom dedicated to Chinese calligraphy. All
middle school students must write their Chinese characters correctly.
I would like to learn this. Maybe in writing them, I would begin
to recognize them.  There are over 80,000 characters in the
Chinese language (Oh. Dear. God.), but I could successfully
understand 99% of the language if I could learn 3500 of
the more commonly used ones.  Twenty six letters of the
alphabet sounds waaaaayyyyy easier :/

On to the 'water color' room, where children learn how to paint traditional
Chinese water color paintings....

...like this one.

This seventh grade girl was painting a beautiful peony.
SEVENTH grade, people!  Ah-mazing.
Oh, there is a separate classroom just for oil painting.

This was one of the photography rooms.  Again, most of these were done
by middle schoolers- with the latest cameras, technology, and darkrooms.

This was the room for learning how to sketch in pencil and charcoal.  In
addition to the complete collection of masterworks busts, they bring in
live models as well- for middle school and high school students. The work
these kids turn out looks like the work of an accomplished artist.  I couldn't
get over it.  For now, the schools goal is to keep the traditional Chinese arts alive,
They want the children to feel free to express themselves in creative ways.  I'd say so!
They also are preparing the 'best students' to attend prestigious arts and
performing arts schools all over the world.  These kids live and breathe the fine arts.
In the Chinese culture, it is an expectation to pursue some sort of creative art,
to develop a well rounded personality, good discipline, and strength of character.
I can't imagine being exposed to these kinds of resources, these types of talented,
creative instructors, when I was a child and teenager.  It may have set me on  an
entirely different path in my life.  I thought I had it so good at Concord High School!

This was one of many dance studios.  All were equipped with mirrors and bars.
There are four plays and musicals currently in production.  Each one of them
has their own rehearsal studio.  There were practice rooms for instruments-
entire classrooms dedicated strictly for brass, woodwinds, strings, harps, percussion,
pianos, or traditional Chinese stringed instruments.  There was a hall of individual
rehearsal rooms, and I heard a sixth grader playing a piano piece that blew me away.

On the tour, we were shown the sound booth and recording studio for the records made of student's performances.  They also had two 'combined band' rooms which serve as concert halls- not like any band room I have ever played in.  I also got to shake hands with the conductor of the symphony concert I attended at 'The Egg' a few weeks ago.  That was very cool, he was an intense man, like my high school band teacher, Joseph Beickman, only different. His name was Wu; he's Chinese, afterall!

There were two choral groups, each with their own rehearsal classrooms with risers.  If that wasn't enough, there were two additional drama rooms, with furniture and props for learning the craft of live theater. This was not to be confused with the two plays and two musicals that are currently in production.  These four rooms all had their own rehearsal space with furniture, props, costumes, stage lights, sound, etc. I can't wait to see Chinese kids perform High School Musical in December and Hamlet in January :)

There was an entire sewing room with crazy looking computerized sewing machines where students learn the trade of Chinese fashion design and traditional Chinese tailoring.  (There are tailor shops all over town, to get custom made clothing for pennies on the dollar).  Of course, the sewing students sew all of the costumes for the school performances, and I mean they are ELABORATE costumes.  I have not seen a costume room like that in most community theaters back home.  

Lastly, there was a room strictly for learning how to operate lights and sound for live theater.  It's what we theater junkies call 'the back of the house'.  Here the kids learn how to choreograph stage lights with sound effects, with vocals, and with music. The computerized boards for lights and sound and all the canned lights strung up in this stage room had to cost tens of thousands of dollars, if not more.  I am thinking, "Where did all of this money come from?"  And kids get 'to play' with this expensive equipment daily?!  I was thinking some of these kids will be disappointed when they get to college- if they plan to continue their studies in the performing arts.  Remember, the majority of these kids are being groomed for careers in medicine, engineering, science, mathematics and law- and yet, they have a Fine Arts facility that is mind boggling.  The whole tour and experience was seriously unbelievable.

As we toured all seven floors of this beautiful facility,
there was an unspoken reminder of the pressure to
excel that Chinese students feel...jump nets in the
stairwells of every other floor.  It's the Chinese way.
Sad face :(

G'nite, y'all.

Day 66- Chinese bonfire

I woke up to a beautiful blue sky, clean air day in Beijing!  You have no idea
how happy it makes me to open my eyes to see blue and not the typical Beijing
haze.  And to see the mountains so clearly? It's bound to be a good day :)

I had grading to do, and a midterm exam to write, so I forced myself to
stay to task until the mid afternoon.  My 'reward' (gotta love those operant
reinforcers) was to take a bus ride back out to Ba Da Chu temple.  The last
time I was there over Golden Week, it was raining, foggy, and cold.

As the afternoon sun was setting, we rode the cable car to the top of the
mountain for some views of the city.  It was clean and clear for miles :)

There was still a bit of fall color on the Western Hills
looking out over the lamasery.

As the sun was setting behind the mountain, the colors were beautiful.
This picture does not do it justice.  We were getting a bit chilled up top,
and were hoping to ride the luge down the mountain.  It had just closed, and
I missed my opportunity once again- dang it! We took the cable cars back down.

Since the park was closing, we only had time to quickly visit
the Lingguangsi Temple, which towers over the other seven
temples in this park ('ba da chu' means eight great sites.)

Once again, people were offering up their prayers....

...to the three Buddhas representing the past, present, and future.

This guy was on his iPhone.  I think he was looking
up his prayers to recite.  Or maybe he was just
checking his data plan.  Or texting his wife to say
he'd be late for dinner.  Who really knows?!

As darkness was settling in, these little girls were 'playing'
in the candles.  So cute :)

While this typical Chinese family of three were sharing
a more somber moment.  Perhaps thinking of a loved one?

The air was heavy with the smell of
burning incense.  

We tempted our fates when we returned to town, and had dinner at a new restaurant
(new to us, that is).  We chose it as the place was full, and they had a picture menu,
hooray!  Even with pointing at pictures, it was a game of charades ordering with
the waiter.  No less than three servers got in on the act.  Well, out of four entries, two
were delicious, one was ok, and this one (above) was NOT fit for human consumption.
We thought we were ordering potatoes- it was some kind of gelatinous nastiness.
If you are squeamish about textures, you couldn't eat this either.  It was loaded with
MSG, too.  Bleckkkkk.  I found out at work the next day it was a canned rice tofu.
Even my Chinese office mates don't care for it, either, and they eat all sorts or weird things!  

On our walk on the way home, there was quite the fire flaming up on
the sidewalk!  I couldn't tell what they were burning- propaganda of
some sort?  Who knows?  I figure it's the Chinese equivalent to the
bonfires we have back home in Indiana :)  Anybody got any marshmallows?!

G'nite, y'all!

Day 65- Hemp Village to Gubeikou Great Wall

Early Saturday morning, we set off with Beijing Hikers to do another section
of the Great Wall.  I was hoping to catch the last of the fall colors here.
We left the Beijing haze...the AQI was already over 200 and climbing.
The air seemed to clear a bit as we arrived at the Hemp Village where
we began our hike.  While some hikers stayed 'masked up' for the hike, I
did not.  I sometimes feel like I cannot get enough air through my mask!
Hemp village is a TINY run down agricultural community.  Still,
children were playing, and farmers were setting about their daily business.
All farming is done by hand, though you occasionally see a donkey helping
with a plow, or carrying the harvest in baskets and bags.

Things are very much done 'the old fashioned way', including the
grinding of wheat or corn into flour- pulled by a donkey.  I saw a
wrinkled old peasant farmer, his skin leathered by the sun.  He had on
his sun hat and was carrying a sythe for cutting down the corn and he
was wearing a big grin on his face.  I hate that I didn't get his picture.
He looked like the typical Chinese peasant worker- humble and happy :)

This was an abandoned old farmhouse, where one half of the
home was stables for the livestock. The baskets in the foreground
were connected by well-worn tree limbs that would have rested
across the donkey's back.  The interior of the 'house' was lined
with newspaper- for insulation.  It was a step back in time.

As we walked through the prairie grass, and headed up the trail, we got
our first glimpse of the day of the Great Wall.  It was a long hike up!

But we made it!

This section of the Gubeiko Great Wall had nine towers
we went through.  Some of them we lingered for
snacks, drinks, pictures, and to catch our breath :)

Other towers were in disrepair, and we had to go around them.

Lots of walking- up and down- 12 km in all on today's hike.

It was Ali and Eric's first trip on the wall, and it was
fun to share the experience with them...

We also enjoyed the traditional Chinese meal that followed after the hike. Jo,
on the left, was one of our trail guides, and the couple next to her were
from England and Poland, respectively. It still strikes me strange when I
hear a Chinese person speak in a British accent, but many of them here
learned English from British instructors, lol. The girl above is a German
teacher at another school here in Beijing.  In fact, she was offered the
position at BNDS, but selected another International School here instead.

It was a gorgeous day for a hike, and there was still a
little fall color left.  I miss the fall colors from back home.

Though it was hazy, it was the last of the warmer weather, so it felt great to be outside :)
It was wonderful to stretch my legs once again, breathe some cleaner air, and
enjoy the last of the sunshine before the winter haze and smog settle in for good.

\

G'nite, y'all!

Day 62- taking risks

Sometimes you just have to take some risks...  I have often told clients over the years that love doesn't come without risk.  You have to be willing to put yourself out there, and then hope for the best :) Much of life is a risk really...have I made the right decision?  Am I doing the right thing?  How do I even know if it is 'right' at all?

I've been taking some big risks lately, some of which the outcome remains to be seen.  No doubt, leaving my home, my job, my family, and everything familiar, to step on to planet China was a HUGE risk.  So far, in spite of some hardships and challenges, it seems to be working out for me here.  I have had some moments when I feel like I get 'confirmation from the universe' that I am right where I am supposed to be, at this time in my life.  Today I had one of those moments...

Let me back up a few weeks....

One of my challenges in making the change from teaching at the college level to high school is that I need to move away from a straight lecture format.  I now have two semesters to cover the same amount of material as I had in just one semester.  I have five 45 minute periods over the course of the week, where I previously had one two-hour fifty-minute block meeting once a week.  I have so. much. more. time. to really explore topics in psychology.  It is more of a marathon now, rather than a sprint. It has led to a whole different way of teaching, for me.

For starters, these students have many more questions.  It takes me longer to explain concepts because the terminology is so unfamiliar to them.  Given that these are Chinese national students, it often takes learning several vocabulary words to get to the original point I was trying to make! Throw in shy, giggly, hormonal, teenagers and my days keep me smiling :)  Add to the fact that I am far too outspoken and brazen for them much of the time, and I am sure they don't know what to make of me on most days.  Clearly, I am wayyyy toooo American, but that can be a good thing, right?!

I just finished the unit on personality.  I talked about the various paradigms of psychology; their theories of personality formation and how to measure personality accordingly.  They got the 'sex talk' when I discussed Freud's five stages of psychosexual development.  We made Rorschach inkblots in class. (That was a fun day- messy, but fun.)  The students wrote skits and performed Freud's twelve ego defense mechanisms. We took the Myers-Briggs, and looked at their personality profiles.  We then spent a day looking at careers that fit their personality type (they are seniors in high school, and I am an old guidance counselor, after all).  We talked about Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Carl Rogers' unconditional positive regard, real self/possible self, and authenticity.  Because we finished with the humanists, I knew what I needed to do to wrap up the unit.  I needed to show Dead Poet's Society, and it was going to be a tough sell.  It took me weeks to get permission from the administration to show the film.  Given the content, I understood their concerns.  Fortunately, where everything in China (it seems) is copied from somewhere else, getting a bootleg copy of the movie was the easiest part, lol.

If it's been awhile since you've seen the movie, there are a number of psychological themes; social conformity, self actualization, archetypes, genuineness and authenticity, and self-actualization.
The movie is set in the 1950's, when the primary parenting method was authoritarian. when "Father Knows Best."  Authoritarian parents demanded respect and obedience from their children.  Parents issued orders, and children were expected to follow those orders without question.  Parents had high expectations of their children. Strict rules were set, and were expected to be followed. And parents punished harshly with little reason or explanation.  Children had no voice, and very little choice in the matter, if at all.  In short, the parenting style of the American 1950's is still very much the Chinese way here today.  Add to the cultural norm of having only one child, and ALL parental expectations are placed upon that one child.  It can be a pressure cooker environment for an only child in this culture, and I already have seen that on the faces of these kids.  The fact that they are in school daily until 10 pm every night is more than enough pressure by itself. Throw in the pressure of perfect grades, the highest of test scores, and the expectation of being accepted to their 'dream college', and I have seen more than one student crack already. (The SAT's were just two weeks ago.)

Still we forged ahead, and as they closely watched the movie (they were enraptured), I closely watched them.  Late in the movie, the main character, Neil Perry, commits suicide, as he is unable to stand up to his father, and the life's plan his father wants for him.  He discovered his passion in life, to become an actor.  However, his father expects him to attend Harvard and to go to medical school. His father tells his son of the 'many sacrifices he made' for his son to attend Welton Academy.  The overbearing father makes a point of telling his son that he has been given opportunities that he (the father) never had.  All of the guilt simply adds to the pressure, and eventually Neil breaks.

The movie was powerful to my students, as I knew it would be,  They identified with much of it- they are seniors in high school, are attending a boarding school, have parents who have made sacrifices for them to be here, and they feel tremendous pressure to succeed.  They are also bright kids, and they were able to identify the humanistic themes in the movie. We spent a great deal of time today processing and debriefing.  It was good.  Very good.  And it was totally worth the risk.

G'Nite, y'all!

Day 60- creature comforts

It's my two month anniversary in China today; boots on the ground for sixty days already.

It's been bad air days for several days running now- all
through the weekend and today.  The AQI was up over 323
indicating 'severely polluted'.  Down at the US Embassy,
is was over 400 which is a red flag 'hazardous' warning.

When you see the locals out and about masked up, you know
it must be bad.  For me, I wear my mask anytime it goes
over 200.  At an AQI of just 100, I lose my mountain view :(

I know now why they pay us Westerners so well here.  You don't realize how important clean air, clean water, clean food, and good sanitation is until those most basic of things are in question.  It's interesting, in the last twenty years, building a 'bigger and better China' has improved the quality of living in many ways.  We have heard several times that the opportunities for Chinese, and the ability to acquire wealth is better than it has ever been.  But the overall happiness of the Chinese people is not good, we are told.  While they have money, and many now can travel and own cars, they are most unhappy about no longer having clean water, clean food, and most of all- clean air.  I would have to agree with them on that part- I miss the bright blue skies- the joy of taking a nice deep breath of fresh air.  When I have to deal with the bitter cold winters, and the even worse dirty air, I wonder if this job, my salary, will really be worth it?

As I was walking home, snaking my way through the rush hour traffic, a song popped in my head.  I couldn't think of who sang it, but the chorus went something like this, "...sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe just to love you.  All I need is the air that I breathe...."  Can you name that tune?  I had to look it up when I got home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7duPNQCp-w4  It's a blast back to 1974, lol.  (The Hollies :)

So what's a girl to do to soothe her headache, itchy eyes, and sore throat from all the smog???

Make some comfort food to remind her of home- chicken noodles, real
mashed potatoes, fresh broccoli, and bread with butter.

I ate myself into a carb coma, happy and fat as a new pup, put on my bright red new house slippers (only in China could I wear slippers as bright red as these!) and watched the Colts take it to the Bengals on NFL Rewind.  Not a bad way to spend an evening, if you ask me.

G-nite, y'all!

Day 58 Yonghe (Lama) Temple

On Saturday, 10/18, we ventured across town to see the Lama Temple.

It was built in 1694 during the Qing Dynasty.

It survived the Cultural Revolution and was reopened
to the public in 1981, still before my friends Kirsten
and Jeannette were even born... geeez, I'm old.

While it was once the Imperial Palace during the 1700's,

it now serves as a lamasery for Tibetan Buddhists.

Thousands visit daily to light incense and say their prayers.

In the Hall of Harmony and Peace, they pray to the three bronze statues of the
Buddhas of the Three Ages; Kasyapa Matanga (past), Guatama Buddha (present),
and Maitreya Buddha (future).

Or perhaps they come to simply contemplate the mysteries
of life, like Len.

Though I am a Christian, I appreciate the architecture, and their peaceful nature.

And the random statue of a dragon-turtle thing :)

I enjoyed watching father and son at the prayer wheel.

What a beautiful place.

This was in the Exoteric Hall, I believe.

The main attraction in the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses,
is the 26 m tall statue of Maitreya Buddha, the Buddha of the
future.  It is carved from a single piece of sandalwood.

After our visit there, we headed to a pizza festival.  Did someone say
pizza???  It was fabulous- all kinds of pizza and beer vendors to choose from.

It was well attended in a plaza, with live music, too :)

And, of course, there were pizza tossing demonstrations!

We had a good time :)  

Until the pollution kept climbing, and we had to mask up :/
Such is life in Beijing...but still, it's a good life.
Who doesn't love a good pizza afterall?!

G'nite, y'all!