China - Day 10

Today we talked about our Innovation Day and Eco-Product projects.  As we introduced ideas to teachers who had never imagined that such things were possible, we showed a video from Innovation Day with our now 10th graders.  As much as the Chinese teachers enjoyed watching them and listening to them, we also loved seeing those faces and hearing about the great things they are doing. At the same time we were getting messages about the Women's Marches happening in the US.   To hear of fellow teachers and past students (DG and MH to name a couple) have the freedom to rally made us so proud to be Americans.  We also listened to these teachers practice their final presentations and realized that we did make a difference for them as they had for us.

After classes - and some games of Uno with the kids - we set off on an adventure to the Emperor's Summer Palace.  Originally we thought it would be too cold but we bundled up arriving there at about 5 PM and 30 degrees. As you begin to walk in through the buildings you realize it is a huge park built for the emperor's entertainment - almost 1.1 square miles with 3/4 of that being a giant lake.  Our guide, Ming, said it takes about 5 hours to walk around all of it.  Dusk was beginning to set in when we arrive and we left in the dark.  The lake which is man made was iced over and there were many skaters enjoying the evening.  When they dug it out they used the dirt to make the hills surrounding it.  It was an amazingly tranquil and peaceful place and we really enjoyed the hike and fresh air.

After dinner which was again amazing, we graced our friends with our sing along of American 70s hits.  I wonder why they turned the radio up??????