| Dear Parents,
Though it seems we have only just begun our year at SYA China, the days and weeks are just flying by! We have been blessed with blue skies for the most part until later in the week when the breezes stood still and the smog descended. A "lovely"-cough, cough white haze hangs over our heads. Thankfully, the winds will soon pick up and the blue skies will return as Autumn is the best time of year in Beijing.
Your children, themselves, feel time is flying by and cannot believe that in just under a month they already have such amazing stories to tell. In one group meeting in my office kids shared their impressions of Chinese parenting compared to the style of parenting they each are accustomed to. Some felt Chinese parents were too strict and harsh on their children when it came to study habits and achievement, but on further analysis realized -- well dare I say, that some of you too have high hopes and expections for their achievement as well. Let it be known that you would be so proud of your child. Each and every one is taking this whole experience to heart. They work hard, study hard, play when they can, sleep (ok maybe not enough) and eat (well maybe not enough). They are in great spirits except when bad news befalls them or there is a setback in studies or health.
The school is settling into its routine. Cocurricular activities have begun, class or settled, Beijing is more familiar, and life at home is more normal. The only disruptions this week are the preliminiary trials for the annual sports meet. See detail below.
Sincerely,
Frances Fremont-Smith 范老师 |
A DAY IN THE LIFE Kathleen Describes Her Day
Every morning I set my alarm for 6 am, convinced I won't hit the snooze as soon as I hear it, today I was wrong again. I wake up and no one else in the house is moving, but there's a different breakfast waiting for me by the door. This morning it was "Relish Convenient Bread," I have a feeling something got lost in the translation with that one. I walked to my bus stop and of course just missed my bus, not a big deal since it comes every five minutes, but still frustrating. As I stand waiting for the bus to come, Alex walks up behind me interrupting the dulcet tones of the Steve Miller Band. He and I happen to live at the same bus stop, but there are actually about six people who take the 104 to SYA, although we usually don't end up taking the same bus, and even when we do it's so packed we can't tell until we get off.
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| Kathleen listens to Bob present in English class |
It's Thursday, so I had the option to do Taichi in the morning but most of the people in my Chinese class spend that time studying for the two "ting xie", or dictations, that we have in Chinese daily. Today we all made skits to incorporate new vocabulary. In my group's skit, Dani invited the poor orphan children (Calum and myself) to celebrate Chinese New Year at her house, but Auguste was very bold in discussing his fake crush on our teacher Shi Laoshi. Our second Chinese class was much more benign, we learned how to say ADD, I think she was trying to tell us something. Our teacher explained the format of our next test to us and told us it should be quite easy because it was mostly tone marks. What native speakers don't seem to grasp is that tone marks are actually harder to memorize than characters because they seem nonsensical to us.
After Chinese there is a thirty minute break, today that meant a trip down to Mr. Bissell's (named after the former RD, just outside our school gate) for a mid morning snack, because fried chicken is always the healthy choice. After grabbing some sustenance we started studying for our English quiz in the small room. Here at SYA you socialize constantly, but never without sprinkling in frantic cramming. After conference time I had Chinese Tutorial. It's always rather enjoyable, it's just two people and we meet in the library and have a conversation in Chinese. Talking about motorcycles, ancestors and pollution can be so much fun that I forget I'm missing my free period two days out of the week. Although today I was made very much aware that having learned with a Taiwanese accent makes learning Chinese with a Beijing accent much more complicated. The fact that I learned traditional characters up until this year doesn't help either, but it is what it is.
History was wonderful, as always. Our discussion today was on bound feet -I am very glad I wasn't born in China in that time - I rather like my big American feet. They help balance my obscene American height. No matter how much I love history, it is always nice to go to lunch. Our cafeteria food could be better, but I'm not nearly as offended by it as others and don't mind eating it at all. The only bad thing about our cafeteria is that the tables only seat four and the chairs are bolted and attached. We still fit six. It's not the most comfortable arrangement to be sitting on the edge of two chairs, or half of one, but it's doable. Lunch discussion today consisted of Marine biology factoids, the merit of literature and of course frequent off color jokes.
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| COCURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
A Wide Variety to Choose From
Academics are very challenging here at SYA China and it is nice to balance those pressures with engaging cocuricular activities which bring the culture to life. This week saw the start of several of our offerings: Chinese painting, Calligraphy and Taichi and Martial Arts. For some of the activities the students arrive early in the morning and for others they stay on after school. Next week will see the introduction to Chinese traditional musical instruments, singing, yoga, Peking Opera and stone chop carving.
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| Early morning Taichi at school |
With the addition of these cultural activities, students have the chance to go further in depth in an area of the culture and arts that really fascinates them. It is also a wonderful form of relaxation after a pressurized day in the classroom -- or before the day even begins.
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| Calligraphy Class |
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BEIJING ALIVE Students Explore the City
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| Posing with Ms. Phelan at Summer Palace |
Last weekend was the first open weekend, meaning that students could head out on their own or in groups to explore the city. Here are some comments and photos from a weekend of perfect weather (unlike the present weekend) and fun!
Nathan wrote, "I went to the Ya Shou market with friends. It was amazing. I didn't expect it to be so thrilling. Who could imagine that bargaining would be that intense. Brice and I played a bad cop, good cop routine trying to get the price down. It was great, and after you bought the product at a great price you felt so happy."
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| Nathan and vendor happy after bargaining |
Will commented, "I went to the Confucian and Lama (Buddhist) Temple with my host family. It was great because I got to learn and experience two of China's biggest religions."
Megan told her story, "(At the silk market while bargaining, Gabby was particularly stubborn about a pink handbag, and lowered the price significantly. The enraged seller muttered these words in defeat in English):
"I hate you!" (the vendor was referring the fact that Gabi had successfully brought her so far down on the price on the bag-- not on her or her person)
Gabby, undeterred replied nonchalantly: "I'm American, I get that all the time." Meanwhile, my mouth was hanging open because I didn't know that Chinese people could say "I hate you" really. (me being narrow-minded)
The woman afterwards was very friendly toward us.
If there's a lesson to this, never assume that a nationality CANNOT say I hate you. When they do, reply calmly--Gabby proved herself to be a master bargainer."
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| Dress up fun! |
Drew wrote, "I went with Heather, Alex, and Tyler to the Summer palace. We took the ferry from the zoo to get there which was pretty memorable even though it was mostly filled with a lot of western looking tourists. We met this seven year old kid from Canada on the boat ride up who spoke fluent English as well as Chinese (his parents were from here) he was also one of the most precocious kids I've ever met and he made the boat ride fun and memorable. Once we got there we by accident walked the long way around from the entrance to the palace complex and got to see the non touristy parts of the grounds which was cool. We also met Ms. Phalen by chance and chatted for a while with her and got some great pictures of the Beijing skyline. We even managed to accidentally go home with Ms. Phalen's map so we got home with enough time to hang out at the lake near Heather's house, which we found out is a popular make out spot after dark. All said it was a great day.
Brice commented, "The most memorable moment for me was going to the Buddhist Temple. It was vibrant with many colors. Many Chinese people were praying to Buddha, which was pretty cool to watch. I liked how reverent everybody was."
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| Daniel and host mom at Art Museum |
Kai was observat and wrote, "Who would have thought that I'd come across eighty old men playing harmonica renditions of American children's songs? That they took it so seriously made me smile even wider."
Maya proudly commented, "Shopping in the silk market with some of my fellow SYAers was fun. All of the Chinese people were impressed by the level o Chinese that I can already speak Chinese."
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| Music in the Park |
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PRELIMINARIES FOR THE ANNUAL SPORTS MEET Events Take Place all week and weekend
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| Maya comes in first in heat |
One of the first exciting events of the fall is the annual sports meet held at the BNU #2 High School. It will be held on September 30th, the day before the long National Day Holiday. Leading up to the big event are the many preliminary heats to narrow down the contestants and events on the day. Many of our students are participating in the preliminaries with high hopes of making it to the finals.
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| Alesia finishes first in heat |
Maya, Alesia, Jay and others came in first in heat. Some tried their hand at shot put and medicine ball, but this year did not make the finals.
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| Jay comes in first in heat |
Others like Emma and Aimee amazed the crowd as the jumped with ease and backwards over the high jump. The local girls have been taught the scissors kick and go frontwards over the bar. For some with almost equal success.
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| Aimee exhilerates the crowd with her high jump |
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| BILINGUAL CORNER LAUNCH
Nearly 100 Teenagers Hang in Two Languages
For over 30 years, English Corner, both in and out of schools offered an opportnity for like minded young and old to get together to talk in English. As a way to build on this tradition in language teaching, SYA has joined forces with BNU #2 High School students and created the first ever Bilingual Corner. It launched on Friday afternoon.
Emma, Brice, Eric and Veronica are co-captains of Bilingual Corner along with 4 others on the Chinese side. They met on Monday afternoon and created their plan for Friday. The weather and the fact the school held a parents' meeting in the room they had planned to use, did not deter the students from an afternoon of crazy communication and fun.
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| Bilingual Corner Co-Captain Emma |
Have you ever tried a 3-legged race? Well what about a 7-seven legged race. Oh my, the strategy to get from one end of the room to the other with so many brains, arms and legs involved. Incessant laughter abounded.
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| View from above |
A race was held -- be the first to get to the other side of the room and then answer the question right and have a chance to win a prize! - The Chinese students came up with the question - -"If the "early bird" catches the worm, what does the "old bird" do? mmmmm.....
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| 6-legged race |
What a great way to spend a rainy, Friday afternoon. Now with memories to share and faces to recognize, more and more connections will take place between our students and our host school.
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SYA CHINA and THE ENVIRONMENTSpeakers Inspire Students to Take Action on 10.10.10
This week, students were able to learn about environmental movements taking place in Beijing and around the world with two visiting speakers, Carissa Welton, Founder of Greening the Beige and Jah Ying Chung, China Representative for 350.org. Both gave presentations and inspirational talks on what is happening locally and around the world at the student level. On 10.10.10 the Great Green Initiative will take place in cooperation with 350.org , Greening the Beige, Friends of Nature, Golden Bridges and other organizations. On that Sunday and leading up to it, students will group into teams and have a race to collect the most "white pollution' around the city. Teams of artist will then take the "trash" and turn it into art. Environmental projects will take place across the globe on 10.10.10 to push forward actions that will help reduce climate change as well as raise awareness of the need for bold energy policies world wide. Anyone can create an event and host one in your community. Sign up at www.350.org/oct10
Students were also excited to be able to attend a special lecture by Jane Goodall commemorating her 50 years of research at Gombe National Park in Tanzania. |
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| Shao and Tang devoted to SYA |
MEET SHAO AND TANG
Living History in Our Midst
It is wonderful to be able to introduce to you this wonderful couple Ms. Tang and Mr. Shao who devote so much of their time and energy to make sure that our students have a clean and pleasant atmosphere to study in at SYA.
One of our longest staff members Tang was introduced to SYA by her cousin who is a good friend of John McLoughlin, early RD and present SYA Board member. Tang had just been laid off from her factory job 90 minutes south of the city and was in need of work, but when she heard that the job would mean working for Americans, chills of fear went down her spine. The propaganda she had heard over the past 25 years led her to believe that if you work for Americans you were either a spy or a traitor. She took the job anyway, primarily because she met John and he was so genuine and kind.
But let's back track a little. Tang Fuling, 唐富玲，was born in Beijing July of 1948. She was a bright young girl and studied at the prestigious #12 Girls School run by missionaries. She excelled in math. In fact she was at the top of her class and ready to head to the MIT of China called Tsinghua University, when the throes of the Culture Revolution changed the course of her life. She was sent to the countryside in Shanxi Province where she spent 3 years planting and harvesting sorghum. In fact, she was lucky it was only 3 years. Her father had connections and she was able to use them to get his daughter closer to Beijing by transferring her to an electrical transformer factory in Baoding as an electrical engineer. She would work there for many years, raising her young daughter on her own because her Beijing residence card was dismissed during the cultural revolution and though her husband, Shao, was a Beijing resident, she was not allowed to live with him as shou would not be able to find work in the city. Her father suffered greatly during the cultural revolution and even though 1977 was the first year the college entrance exam was introduced back into China, Tang knew that emotionally she was not able to put herself out there and take a chance on the examination and follow with her university dreams. Those dreams were gone and she strove for a quiet life without strife or suffering.
And what about Shao? He too was born in Beijing in November of 1947, not far from where Tang was born. He loved to write and always practiced his calligraphy, even to this day. Shao Jiushu, 邵久树，(which interestingly means everlasting tree) was fortunate to enter the Air Force as a young man where he was a mechanic of airplane engines. He was an officer in the Air Force, when Mao's number two man Lin Biao was killed in an airplane crash. Given the period of time and the fact that so many thought it was a conspiracy against Mao, all Air Force personnel in Beijing were let go and sent home, without reference or job. Shao found himself having to get a job wherever he could in the early 1970's and that landed him as an engineer in a textile factory for the next 28 years.
A mutual friend introduced Shao to Tang and soon after they were married, though they would spend the next two decades living on opposite sides of Beijing.
When Tang joined SYA China in 1998, she found herself in a work environment that she never thought possible. One where she was respected and did not need to live in fear of criticism and political movements. As time went by she enjoyed watching the students learn, and learning herself - about human nature - about relationships - about international perspectives. Tang commented that, "When the students arrive they are all so young and have to adapt to so much. When they come back to visit years later they are grown and mature and I love watching that process happen."
In 2001, Shao found himself without work. Tang never imagined her dream could come true that she and her husband could work together. SYA China was growing and Mr. Bissell, the RD, saw that the school could actually benefit from hiring Shao; and they and we have never looked back.
For Shao, who always has the students' interests at heart, covering for them should they miss their time on work duty (cleaning boards etc), when asked how he would describe SYA, he thinks long and hard. The silence goes on for a while, when he finally sums it up with one word, "TRUST!" SYA trusts him and with that trust comes respect, and with respect comes caring and devotion. In Shao and Tang, we have two incredible personalities that are devoted to our mission, our work and our students. The are piece of living history for us all and a reminder that you must look long and hard behind the surface for you mind just find a diamond or two!
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LEARN CHINESE
ke4wai4huo2dong4 课外活动
COCURRICULAR ACTIVITIES |
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BIRTHDAY
THIS WEEK |
ONE BIRTHDAY GIRL
Sweet 16! Veronica - Queen for the day!
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CONGRATULATIONS!
We have our first GOLD MEDALIST from the Annual Sports Meet. Congratulations go to Aimee Oschner for winning Gold in the high Jump event. Far surpasing all the others she was also given the opportunity to beat the school record. Just a hair off of the record, Aimee awed the crowd with her agility!
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| PARENT DECEMBER TRAVEL |
SYA China has a special offer of 500RMB per night at the Holiday Inn Deshengmen. This includes free internet and breakfast for two. This hotel is just around the corner from our school. We can help you make reservations or if you do this yourself don't forget to mention School Year Abroad.
Please let us know what your plans are as you begin to formalize your travel.
REMINDERPackages and letters make a big difference. When they arrive it is like a holiday celebration. Remember, no matter how often you skype or talk on the phone there is nothing better than receiving a letter --or even a package -- when far away from home.
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FAN LAOSHI, THE COOLEST THING HAPPENED!
What did Heather think was cool this week? |
Heather has a story. Heather has several stories, several times a day. Heather has a host little sister named Tuan Tuan. I think we will feature Tuan Tuan next week. But for now - a Heather AHA moment!
" It was the coolest thing Fan Laoshi!!! I was on the bus (mind you most of Heather's stories come from her ride on the bus) and this college student (all her stories refer to college students - but we really don't know -- so maybe better to write -- attractive young man) notices that my backpack is huge and I am being excessively crammed into the bus. He starts talking to me and helps me get my pack off and we start a conversation in English. Time flies by and he asks me what stop I get off at and as soon as I answer he tells me it is the next stop and we barely have time to get to the doors through the jammed crowd. He takes my bag and just like Moses, he manages to part the sea of people for me so that I can disembark the bus. He hands me my heavy bag and waves goodbye! WOW! The other best part of the day was describing this whole event to my teacher Tie Laoshi during my tutorial class later in the day."
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SADNESS AND HAPPINESS
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This week saw a few too many tears as life took a sad turn for two of our students.
Gabi lost a friend and classmate this week in a tragic accident. Our condolences to her and the family of this young boy who lost his life too soon.
Max's host family lost its dog of nine years suddenly this week. During the few weeks Max has been here the dog has been a constant companion. The host family and Max were devasted. Dogs are as much a part of the family here as anywhere.
On a happier note, I only just learned that Gabi's family wanted her to enjoy the companionship of an animal and brought home a puppy! How cool is that!
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| Jewish Holidays in China |
Last weekend and this weekend many of our Jewish Students and non Jewish students celebrated the high holy days together with expatriates and locals. Best wishes to all our families as these holidays come to a close. Next week we will have a report of the events by our students.
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| MATH CORNER |
Our math teacher, Mr. Pettus, writes:
Surveys show that most Americans get the wrong result when asked the question
"Divide fifty by one-half and add twenty-five. What is the result?"
However, no Chinese student gets the incorrect answer of fifty that most Americans get.
What do you get? Can you explain why? Mr. Pettus can.
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