Today Michael had all day meetings away from the hotel. While the older children were in the children's program making fans and flying kites, Sophia and I accepted an invitation to join some other spouses of Fulbrighters on an outing to the Temple of Heaven. This Ming dynasty temple is one of the largest in China. The buildings are wooden, but have been recently restored with vividly detailed repainting of the details and were quite lovely. This is where the Emperor would perform ceremonies to pray for a good harvest. There were a number of groups of amateur musicians playing together and singing traditional music.
Tonight we had an official dinner with member of the Chinese Ministry of Education, which was a nice banquet -- not too formal. The kids did very well back at the hotel with the orientation staff and tomorrow morning I must stuff everything we have unpacked -- which unfortunately is everything -- back into our suitcases for the trip to Xiamen. We are sorry to say good bye to the other Fulbrighters and their families, especially the family who is going to Xi'an and whose 11 yo son has been Thomas's buddy. We'll just have to visit and see those terra cotta soldiers after all. I'll post when we figure out our internet in Xiamen. I think I may be having trouble with comments on the blog - I screwed it up when all the commands were in Chinese. I am working on it.
4 comments:
Ann I have enjoyed your trip so far almost as much as I am sure you all are. I am so glad Mary sent me your blog address. Makes me want to come to work. (I don't have a computer at home, so can only read it on the three days I am here.) What an adventure for all of you and Helen finally made it to real China. Frank must have been delighted to see what a beautiful little girl she has grown to be.
Janet
Your blogger is set up for comments like this:
any comment anyone posts will mean that you'll receive notification in the form of an email
then you have to approve that the comment can be published
then it will appear on your blog
it's done as a safety precaution to prevent people from graffiti-ing your blog with spam. it's also nice to get the email notifications of comments, so you can keep track of people's responses.
you're doing a great job with the blogging, ann! i am totally amazed at how well you're doing; pictures and everything. you go, girl!
Good Afternoon Ann,
Sounds like everyone is having
a good experience. The photos,
art pics and commentary are great.
Loved the photo of Thomas in his
glasses and glad to hear that
Huan-huan is becoming acclimated
to living in China. Keep 'em coming.
linda
I am excited to hear you guys going to Xiamen, My wifes family is from Xaimen and I have been there 4 times.
Bob
Wenxiu
LID 14 March 2007
Post a Comment