Shaoshan-Day Trip

November, 18, 2008

Today, I accompanied all of the Junior 1 students and their teachers to Shaoshan, a town about 2 hours Southwest of Changsha. The day started early, and in typical Chinese fashion, the time I was supposed to catch the bus changed from 6:30am to 7am to 7:15am over the course of 3 days. Well, that's China for you. No worries.

There must have been about 1,000 students packed onto about 20 tour buses with their teachers and the tour guides. I am on a high from all the attention I received. After starting the morning off singing Ricky Martin's "Cup of Life" over the buses loudspeaker, (I was forced to sing, happens a lot here: singing and dancing), I received my very own, complimentary stuffed animal.

The rest of the day, I spent time practicing my Chinese with the 11 and 12 year olds, including one of my favorite students, Harry Potter. He is 12, has a scar just like Harry, is adorable, can speak excellent English and wants to attend, MIT, Harvard and Yale. Again, he is 12. So, what if my Chinese skills are only at a 3rd grade level, the students are patient and love talking to me. I had about 50 offers to sit with students at lunch, but had to turn them down to sit with some Chinese teachers.

As is custom, we engaged in a beer over lunch and a smoke afterwards. Yes, I did take the cig., but in the immortal words of #42, I didn't inhale.

Shaoshan, is famous because it was the hometown of Chairman Mao Zedong. Chairman Mao is adored and revered here long after his death in 1976. Even though he was responsible for the murder of thousands of people during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960's, that little dark piece of Chinese history has been nicely swept under the rug. Mao statues and posters are everywhere. His propaganda is sold at souvenir stands through out China.

It was in Shaoshan, where Mao got his start, and I spent the day walking around his childhood homestead, the Mao museum and the house of Li Shaoping (who was one of the founders of the Communist Party of China). This was all on the school's dime! I love field trips.

I may try to go on another one next week if I can get out of class. This time with the Junior 3's. After getting home, I hit the gym, did some work, and talked to some of the people I have gotten to know there. Anyways, the real test now is to bear down and study, study, study Chinese. Also, I have to start planning for my 7 weeks of vacation. God, that is a long time.

Today was great.

Cheers!