China Trip: Summer 2008: Hubei University Day 5

Today we had a field trip. We went to visit Wuhan Senior High School. It is an interesting school. The campus actually holds both the Wuhan Middle School, and the High School. The Middle School is made up of about 1,000 students and it is a private school, whereas the High School (grades 10-12) is a public school and there are about 2,000 students in the High School.
The campus was amazing. The students even more amazing! We first met in the conference room (that looked very much like the conference room at Hubei University...I'm starting to think this is a standard type of room in all places like universities or government meeting places....(probably fashioned after something in Beijing). Anyway, we had a few speeches, some introductions, and then a short power point slide show about the school. I asked to save the power point to my flash drive, that I keep with me at all times here....and have saved several power point presentations from various teachers...etc. We then went and met the students. Each of us had about 2 students to be our guides and to talk with us, and to ask us questions and to answer our questions. My two students were juniors in high school. The were delightful!

The spent more time asking my question than I did asking them questions... and I loved the fact that after they learned my name, they didn't call me "Paul" or "Bi Fei" (my Chinese name), or even "Mr. Beavers"...nope...they called me "Beava" YUP...you got it! "Beava"....I LOVED it.

The two on the ends were my two girls. Mickey to the left and Cindy to the right.

So all kinds of questions; "Beava, what do American students think about North Korea, what do they think about Japan, what do they think about South Korea?" "Beava, do American students get enough sleep? Do they worry about their grades? Do study another language?" "Beava, how do American students feel about the large earthquake here?" "Beava, who is your favorite Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, or Zhou Enlai?" "Beava, who is your favorite American president?"

WAIT A MINUTE!!!!! I couldn't come up for air...this went on for about 2 hours or so. Even when we all came back together in the auditorium and the head master was doing a Q/A period...they never stopped talking to me. They made it very clear that they didn't care for the head master of the school...and even let me know when some of his answers were "lies." Does their openness surprise you? Don't let it. This is China. Don't believe all you read in the western press. Sure there are some things that need improvement in China...lots of things...but human rights and freedoms are way beyond anything you have ever heard in the western press. I've seen and heard it first hand...these people speak their minds. This is NOT old COLD WAR Soviet Union communist control...this is something very different. These girls (Their names I forgot to mention are Mickey...or Li Danqing, and Cindy or Wang Xin)... were told by their teachers to be VERY frank with us when they spoke with us. It was a wonderful surprise...and again...it wore me out to be honest! They were talking all the way to the bus.... I have some great video of their telling me that they do NOT get enough sleep, they are pushed too hard by their parents and teachers, and they don't like it! At the same time, they know they need to work hard and do their best, because they plan to do great things and make great lives for themselves!

Even though we only spent a few hours with these kids, some of our American teachers actually teared up when we were leaving...it is very easy to understand why...they were completely charming and delightful kids. As we drove away, we followed the Chinese custom of continuing to wave until the kids were completely out of our site. I like that custom.

We then came back to campus and had lunch. Then a nice long hour and a half NAP! We were worn out from the visit this morning.
After lunch and the nap, it was time for our only class of the day...Chinese Painting. Our teacher was our old buddy from the first day at lunch, who sat with John and me and laughed at us the whole time. He doesn't speak a bit of English, but he sure could laugh with us! He is great! Mr. Hu Zhiyoung. We tried our hand at painting grapes and birds. Some of us did our own thing as well...so I have some bamboo added to my not-so-great attempt at birds....and I added a limb with pink blossoms to the birds as well.

The horse hair brush is very HARD at first, so you must use your teeth to break it up and loosen it for painting.

Wu painted the work below.

After that we went to dinner, and enjoyed another birthday celebration for one of the participants from Memphis, Deb! (the 2nd birthday we've celebrated). They bring out a HUGE cake with lots of candles on it...the cake is unreal....this cake had a hard chocolate top, and then white choc. wings coming up out of the middle...and birds all over it...then little chocolate nests with chocolate syrup inside all the little nests....it was something else). The birthday person gets a song, and then they say a few words, and then make the first cut into the cake...as soon as that happens the serving girls quickly grab the knife and start cutting the cake and serving it to everyone...starting with the birthday person!

We then went to the other side of the campus near one of the gyms and watched/participated the Chinese fan dancing. It was pretty humorous when all tried it, but outstanding when the ladies (of all ages) from the community who come out to do it (as a type of exercise I think...sort of like people back home do line dancing sometimes) for exercise. Everyone had a good time and a good laugh...and lots of sweat...with the humidity being about 85% we were all dripping wet!