Blogging from China - Day 7

Day seven is our final day that I will be reporting back to let you know what we are doing. We leave tomorrow, but this is my last day with computer access. We spent today visiting high schools in Tianjin. We started our day visiting Tianjin Nankai High School. This high school is the birthplace of the Nan Kai schools. Tianjin Yaohua High school is a traditional Chinese High school whose motto is diligence, simplicity, loyalty, and honesty. There are 5200 students and over 400 staff members in the high school. Teachers teach three classes a day with 50 students in each class. School begins at 7:30 am and ends at 5:20 pm. All extra curricular activities occur after school. All students take the same classes. Students do not move between classes. Teachers move from classroom to classroom and each class last 45 minutes.

We then visited the Tianjin Experimental High School. It was established in 1923 and is directly under the Educational Committee of Tianjin. The first Confucius classroom in the world was set up by the Experimental High School. The length of the school day is the same, but there are only 25-30 students in each class. The Experimental High School is for gifted and talented students. Ninety Eight percent of their students are accepted into a University in China. (photos)

Our trip to China has been a once in a lifetime experience. Mr. Newsom and I would like to extend a special thanks to the College Board and the Hanban association for their sponsorship of this trip. China is a country with a rich history. The educators that have been our guides this week are wonderful people committed to providing quality educational experiences to their students.

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Even though I am the pickiest eater you will ever meet, I thought the last day I would share with you a typical menu from one or our meals. As you will soon see, our group was truly treated to a wonderful cultural experience through food.

Menu

• Six kinds of cold dishes
• Steweddrie mushroom with abalone sauce
• Prawintheshaprofpho enix tail with golden shreds
• The glutinous rice steams the young bone
• Pineapple ancient meat
• Crispgrain with salt and paper
• Spicy diced chicken with peanuts
• The black fries with the shelled fish shrimp
• Steamed tench with scallo
• Crispy chicken
• Boiling Vegetables
• Dessert
• Yangzhou style fried rice
• Vegetable soup
• Fresh Fruit
  

A typical dinner takes about 1 ½ hours. The food comes out in stages allowing you time enjoy your dinner.

Signing off from China for the last time...


Bob

Blogging from China - Day 6

Today was the first full day in Tianjin. We started the day with a boat sight seeing trip down the Haihe River. The Haihe River is the mother river of Tianjin. The river is a major source of recreation. There were people swimming and fishing in the river. The river is much like most of the water in China in that it is somewhat polluted. Everyone in China drinks bottled water.

Exercise is a major part of the Chinese people’s lives. They bicycle ever where as well as spend a great deal of time working out in the local parks. I have found the Chinese extremely friendly. They want to know just as much about us as we do about them. You can clearly see cultural difference between the generations of the Chinese. The youth look like they would fit into any major city in the United States.

We then traveled to the “Five Main Roads” which were a concession of the nine foreign powers and now is the major area for International Architecture. After lunch we traveled to the Tianjin Museum. The Tianjin Museum hosts over 200,000 pieces of cultural and historical relics. The museum allowed everyone to really learn about the industrial development that has taken place in Tianjin over the past 100 years

We ended the day with a formal banquet hosted by the Tianjin Educational Commission. One of the purposes of this trip is to establish relationships that may provide opportunities for English speaking Chinese teachers to travel to the United States and teach for a year at a time. Mr. Newsom is our group's leader and has performed the official duties anytime there has been a ceremony or a presentation.

On the search for food front…
My Chinese hosts are beginning to worry about me. They are trying very hard to find foods that they think I would eat. What gets lost in translation is that I have always been a picky eater and it matters not what country I am in at the time. We went to a Chinese Restaurant where they specialize in Western cuisine. As you can see in the photos, there needs to be some work between our cultures on what is considered Western. I am thankful that they are concerned, but they don’t understand the amount of food I brought with me and that I am really not going hungry. Word on the street is that there is a restaurant around the corner that has French fries. I will give you a report tomorrow on my efforts to find American food.

Update…I found some French fries…All I can say is they were great!!!!!

Signing off for now…Bob

Blogging from China - Day 5

We started the day with a trip to the Emperor's Summer Palace. It was home to several Emperors. I've sent back several photos so can see the beauty. Today the Summer Palace is a tourist attraction as well as a place for the locals to come and spend time with their families to relax, reflect and meditate.

We left the Summer Palace for our next city, Tianjin. Tianjin is China’s third largest population with just over 10 million people. Several of the summer Olympic games will take place in Tianjin. There is currently only one highway connecting Tianjin and Beijing. A new highway and a new fast rail system will open in the next few weeks for the Olympic games.

Tianjin has over 2000 K-12th grade schools. There are 45 universities in the city. We asked our guides who by the way are teachers in the schools that we will be visiting on Monday, what percentage of students pass the eight grade test and move on to high school. The answer is 90%. The other 10 percent go to vocational schools or begin to work in the factories for 80 cents a day American currency. As I learn more about the Chinese educational structure, I will be sure to let everyone know the similarities and differences to our educational system.

Well…on the food front it was…can you guess?…wait for it…Chinese for lunch and dinner. Yesterday’s cheese pizza is a fading memory. So it’s back to the pop-tarts and peanut butter and crackers for me. Good news though, the area in and around our hotel looks a bit more promising for the exploration of food. Tomorrow will be a day to find a place so I can begin eating from time to time.

Still loving those pop-tarts...Bob

(Blogging from China - Photo Gallery)

Blogging from China - Day 4

Day Four from China:

The adventure to the Great Wall of China was truly a once and a lifetime experience for several reasons. First, words cannot express the true brilliance of the wall. It was overwhelming to think that the Great Wall stretches over 5600 kilometers in length. The final reason that the Great Wall will always be a memorable experience is because after climbing up what seemed to be an endless number of steps, I’m sure the soreness I feel right now in my knees and legs will linger for several days.

We left the Great Wall and traveled to the Ming Tombs. There are 13 Ming Tombs but only three are open to the public. From the Ming Tombs we traveled to the Sacred Way. The Sacred Way was the most peaceful place we have traveled to date.

The Chinese culture is steeped in rich historical traditions. As a former history teacher, I spent a great deal of time telling students about historical events and the places they occurred. Seeing China and experiencing its culture and people has provided me a perspective that can only be achieved through observations.

Good news from those individuals that are following “what in the world is Bob going to eat in China” subject. Lunch today at was a traditional Chinese restaurant. However, the group voted on pizza for dinner. They say it was for my benefit, but I think they were all growing a bit weary of Chinese food for the 8th straight meal. So for whatever the reason, I ate dinner for the first time since I was in China. Cheese pizza never tasted so good……

Tomorrow we leave Beijing for Tianjin.

Bob

(Blogging from China Photo Gallery)

Great Wall photo courtesy of Fred Hsu (Wikipedia:User:Fredhsu on en.wikipedia).
Ming Tombs photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons User: Ofol.

Day 3 - Blogging from China

Day Three from China:

We started the day at Peking University, which is one of Beijing’s 65 universities. Peking University was established in 1898. Peking University is one of China’s oldest universities. Our group was there to hear a lecture on Chinese history. Professor Kristofer Schipper from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences was the guest lecturer. Professor Schipper outlined in detail an account of Chinese History and allowed our group to ask questions ranging from historical perspectives to current policies of the Chinese Government. Today was graduation at Peking University. I have attached a photo of the graduates. Their students look just like ours and the smiles on their faces are not unlike those of United States students.

We left the university for lunch (comments to come later…). After lunch we went to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. The rich history of the Chinese people is clearly visible when you are able to experience these cultural and historical treasures. If the photos from these get published on the blog you will notice a haze in each picture. The pollution in Beijing is noticeable, as well as disturbing. In an attempt to reduce the pollution, the government has restricted vehicle use to every other day for those who own cars. I am not sure if we will ever see the sun while in Beijing. It will be interesting to see how the air quality impacts the Olympic Athletes.

Now for the food….. Well today I will retract one of my previous comments I made on Day One. I stated that I like everything chicken. Well as you can see in the photo, there is one chicken and its head that I could not eat. I will say that every meal begins with 5 to 6 appetizers and then anywhere from 7 to 10 courses. According to our interpreters, eating out in a restaurant is considered a special treat. I will take some photos of an entire meal to give the readers some perspective. Since I came well prepared not to eat, I brought with me a bag of candy. I passed out Reese’s peanut butter cups to our Chinese hosts. They all range from 25-30 years old. It was their first Reese’s they had ever had. That was my contribution to cultural exchange.

Jerrod has a TV endorsement for Subway. After this week in China, I should be on every Pop Tart box in the United States.

Having a great time in China….


Bob

Blogging from China - Day 2.

Day Two from China:

As I sit here at the end of the day eating my Pop Tart (my eating for the day will be covered in a later paragraph), I have to say it was an eventful day for our group. We began the day attending a celebration at The Office of Chinese Language Council International. Their mission is to promote the Chinese language and culture throughout the world. We were able to tour their building and browse through their language materials that they provide to schools. If you would like to learn more about the efforts of the Chinese educators, you can go to www.hanban.org .


The afternoon was our official greeting from officials of the Chinese Government. Dr. Zhou Ji, Minister of Education of China, was the keynote speaker. Our meeting was in the Great Hall. The great hall is adjacent to Tiananmen Square. We will be touring Tiananmen Square tomorrow. American students studying for the summer in China performed for our group. We left there and attended a dinner and cultural celebration from Chinese high school students. The Chinese culture is very rich in its history and ceremonies. The student’s performance was the highlight of the day.

Everyone is feeling the effects of the 13-hour time difference today. The jet lag has caught up with all of us.

The day starts off with a western breakfast. For me that is the best part of the day. By now the entire group is well aware of my eating habits. They are all taking bets on whether I will lose more than 10 pounds this week. Even though I do not like Chinese food, those in the group continue to go on about how good the food has been. Today’s menu choice that I just could not eat included sautéed honey bean and yellow fungus and celery. Those at my table said it was delicious. I will just have to take their word on that. I have sent a few pictures of the food.


In one picture you will see what I thought and was told by the group as a Chinese cheese stick. Come to find out it was fried sweet corn. As I took a bite the entire table got a big laugh that they had tricked me into taking a bite. The other picture is a fish with it eyes clearly focused on whoever was brave enough to eat the fish. The hand in the picture that is just about to dive right in is Mr. Newsom.

Our Chinese hosts have been very gracious. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures.

Hungry in China…..

Bob

(See more of Bob's photos here.)

Day 1 - Blogging from China

The following is the first in a series of blogs posted by Dr.Bob Morrison, Mansfield ISD Deputy Superintendent, from his current educational tour of China.


Day One from China:

Mr. Newsom and I arrived in Beijing at 4:00 am on Tuesday morning. There are over 400 educators from all over the United States going through this week’s activity. Since we are coming from both coasts and arriving at various times throughout the day, the first day’s activities are sight seeing and trying to get you adjusted to the 13 hour difference in our time.

I think on the first days post it would be appropriate to let everyone know who is sponsoring educators from around the United States to China. The Chinese Bridge for American Schools is our host group. The College Board, who is the organization promoting college readiness courses in MISD and throughout the United States, is in partnership with our week's activities. There will be times of cultural experiences throughout the week, as well as several visits to local schools. This is especially exciting for all the educators in the group. I am interested in how other countries reach out to their students and make academics a priority to students.

For those who know me and my eating habits, I feel a blog describing my experiences with the local food would be entertaining. Let me back up for those that don’t know me that well. I am one of those people who could eat pizza (Mama’s), burgers (The General Store in Rendon), and fried chicken from just about anywhere on any day and be completely content. So it matters not what country I am visiting, finding something that I will naturally want to eat would be difficult. My mother always told me that I would grow out of it. I will be turning 45 this year and she is still waiting. Additionally, I don’t like my food to touch or remotely being mixed together. I joke with those who know me and tolerate my eating habits, that my stomach is divided into compartments so it never touches even after I eat it. So everyday, I will attempt to tell you of a dish that I tried, as well as those that there was no way I would give it a try.

I am looking forward to sharing my as well as our group’s adventures and observations. The Chinese people have been wonderful and are outstanding hosts. I believe this will not only be a tremendous learning experience, but will provide opportunities to understand how education is impacting the global world.

Dr. Bob Morrison

Photo of Tiananmen Square courtesy of Shizhao.

Blogging from China

One of the most common assignments in the first week back to school is to write an essay titled "What I did with my Summer Vacation." Mansfield ISD Superintendent Vernon Newsom and Deputy Superintendent Bob Morrison will have a great answer to that question this fall.

Newsom and Morrison are currently traveling to China on an educational trip. While there, they will visit Chinese schools, meet with Chinese school officials, and other activities. They will be touring as guests of Hanban (Office of Chinese Language Council International) to learn about Chinese culture and language. Their trip comes on the heels of the Mansfield ISD's announcement of a Mandarin Chinese program for 2008-09.

Dr. Morrison will be blogging about their daily travels in China. Stay tuned here for those updates. Here are a few fun facts until we hear from Dr. Morrison...

What is the date and time in Beijing, China?


Population of China: 1.4 billion
U.S. Population: 304 million

Read more about China here.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user: user:snowyowls/gallery.

2008 High School Graduations

This is a great time of year for MISD. We've just completed another academic year and we have the pleasure of sending students out into the world. Some will go on to higher education or trade schools. Some will serve our country in the military. Others will enter the workforce. Whatever there paths, it is our hope that the lessons they've learned throughout their careers in the Mansfield ISD have had a positive impact.

The smiles on the faces of the graduates says so much about why teachers and administrators work in education. We congratulate our graduates and wish them all well in their future.

Graduation Schedule
(Note: Photo Galleries will be available later this week)

Thursday, June 5, 2008

• Alternative Education Center (AEC) - 7:00 PM
  Willie Pigg Audtorium - Photo Gallery
  

Monday, June 9th, 2008

• Mansfield Timberview High School - 2:00 PM
  The Potter's House - Photo Gallery
  
• Mansfield High School - 7:00 PM
  The Potter's House - Photo Gallery
  

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

• Mansfield Legacy High School - 2:00 PM
  The Potter's House - Photo Gallery
  
• Mansfield Summit High School - 7:00 PM
  The Potter's House - Photo Gallery