Going to the supermarket was an adventure in itself. They sell everything from fresh produce, tissue paper, air conditioners, to shoes and clothes. They had everything you could possibly need which is why the store is two floors. They sold live fish caught in the Yangtze River, pig ears, belly, feet, liver, jaw, tail, cow stomach (which we had for lunch from the school), and even frogs. They had every flavor of candy like raspberry oreos, coconut toffee candy, cucumber chips, and Mexican tomato chicken flavored lays. They even had a place you can cut your hair or get a pedicure in the supermarket.
At the request of Mrs. Conching and the 3C Students, here are some pictures of the various foods that we have eaten. As a person who has "specific needs" when eating, I have been thrilled to try different foods that I would have never tried in America. The food here is SPICY, so my allergies have never felt more clear in my LIFE. Ha ha. Here are some pictures of our meals here in Wuhan, Hubei Province and some from our stop in Seoul, South Korea: Some of the images below may be . . . Yes, those are FROGS chilling in their bath waiting to be bought for . . . a nice sauna. Ha ha. Actually, frog is sold by street vendors. In Hubu Alley, a famous street in Wuhan; the whole frog was served on a stick, much like a Popsicle. I have to work up the courage to eat this. Ha ha. Our lunch today (11/21/13) was beef stomach. At first I thought this was cut up steak or pork, so I was glad to eat it. I was enjoying my meal, eating what I thought was pork or steak, then the teacher came in and told me what it was . . . yeah. Needless to say I was proud of myself and even more proud of Ms. Frank for eating, or in my case trying, the beef stomach. This is the snack bar at Wuhan Changqing no.1 Middle School. IT'S LIKE A 7-11. They have got all types of drinks: sodas, water, coffee, lattes, etc. They also have GUM for the students. The snack bar sells hot foods as well as various baked goods for the students to purchase while at school. This past weekend, Ms. Frank, our teacher friend Ms. Emma, and myself tried deep fried bananas at Hubu Alley. This was an excellent dish. They have three sauces that go on top: 1. Apple Sauce 2. Chocolate 3. TOMATO SAUCE All three made this dessert even better. These are some of the snacks I found in the Supermarket near Changqing Garden. These are chicken feet and chicken leg pieces for people to snack on. My red flags went RIGHT UP, as I have some concerns about eating chicken with bone. I am sure this is super delicious, but this snack is just not appetizing to me. We had a good day today. Stephanie did an awesome job in adjusting as the classroom we were in did not have a projector. Lunch is SUPER GOOD here. The past three days, we have received two boxes, one with rice and the other with the main dish. The main dish is filled with vegetables and some kind of meat.
The boy's went to Hubei Provisional Museum today with a select group of 8th graders. They will certainly be learning a lot. Stephanie and I will be tying up loose ends, Stephanie is updating iPads and I am BLOGGING ha ha. Will update you tomorrow as we will be heading to the Primary School where Stevenson and Justin will be doing their service hours by tutoring the younger students in English. At Wuhan Changqing No. 1 Middle School, it is extremely different than what I expected. Their classrooms are big and can fit around 50 students. They are seated by rows and columns with two people sitting together side by side. The education and the expectations of their curriculum here to me is advanced than in America. As of now in their eight grade class, they learn Physics, Biology, English, and their version of Language Arts but in Chinese. Coming from a Chinese family I understand that education is the utmost importance in our lives. Here in China my exposure in this institution was far beyond my imagination. They learn about seven classes a day, but twice with one of their cores. Also, their teachers want to bring the best out of them no matter what. One example, was in their Mathematics class. Their teacher is very strict and demonstrated everything precisely. Doing so the students understood what the lesson was going to be on. The students seem very engaged in learning their current subjects. Their teachers are very caring on bringing everyone's maximum potential. They believe it is possible that with their strict curriculum, every student will reach their max potential in education. Understanding what they are learning is easy, being able to speak the language, but the way they learn is different. They have teachers that lecture them while in Maryknoll we have teachers that let us get engaged with our peers. The homework we get is moderately reasonable that we can get everything done in our own pace. Their homework from my understanding from other students take them about 4 hours. Seeing this and experiencing what they do makes me grateful that I live on Hawaii and learning the way I am now.
After our English Club this afternoon, Stephanie and I decided to take the boys to do a little sightseeing. We ended up going almost the entire length of the Pink Metro Line, connecting the Hankou and Wuchang Districts of Wuhan. We ended up touring Optic Valley, considered to be the technological hub of Wuhan. Coming out of the Metro, you enter a huge circle, filled with cars. Crossing the street in China is like FROGGER, YOU GOTTA MOVE FAST!! Huge buildings line the circle and at night, all the lights come on for everyone to enjoy. We ended up having a beef dinner and got the boys back home safely. Hope you enjoy the blog. Stevenson will be writing about his educational experience here in Wuhan. Thanks again everyone for your prayers and thoughts. It has been life changing living in the Zhang's household. The entire family is very kind and friendly to me and making me feel like a part of their family. Communication is very easy because Mike and Li (The son and father) speak very good english while the mother is learning. They are trying to teach me the Chinese language while I learn about their norms and customs. They take off their shoes before they go inside the house but then they have slippers for inside the house. They took us sightseeing to the Wuchang Riverbeach, Wuhan University, East Lake, and Hubu Alley where they had many different types of authentic Chinese foods. The food is delicious and they always make sure that I have enough to eat. All the meals are prepared by the mother, made family style. In every meal there is beef, pork, or fish and they like all their food spicy. I tried many different interesting types of food like pigs hand, lotus root, homemade dumplings that we helped make, and even straight sugar cane that you bite out of. An average day in the life of a Chinese Middle School student would be to wake up at around 7, eat breakfast at home that cooked by someone in the family then either walk or bike to school. School ends at around 5 (they have a two hour lunch with fifteen minutes between classes) then they go home and do homework until dinner is ready. After dinner they go back and finish their homework and then they have free time for about an hour and go to sleep at around 10 P.M.
Good Morning Everyone,
Thank you to all who have started to follow our blog. Later today, the boys will be putting their experiences in the classroom on this blog as both have been experiencing the Chinese style of education. Which is CERTAINLY much different from our style of teacher. This has been a great experience for myself, I have seen various styles of teaching and with Ms. Frank's expertise of teaching English to international students, the class management WAY DIFFERENT, ha ha. As some of you know, I have a fear of certain foods, but I have been doing well. I ate little deep fried fish this past weekend, which was SCARY at first. The food is very tasty here, but also VERY SPICY. Later today, we will be taking both Stevenson and Justin to dinner at Zhongshan Park. Pictures will be coming soon. Thanks again for all of your prayers and support, Kris Ms. Frank and I traveled with Ms. Emma, a teacher here at Wuhan Changqing No. 1 Middle School, and another German exchange teacher to see this wonderful museum. Much like the Smithsonians in America, there were numerous exhibits detailing the long history of the Hubei Province. Here are some of the pictures below. Early pottery from the mysterious Etruscan society in early Italy. A relic detailing the legendary story of Oedipus and his sons battling to their death in the deep & interesting life of Oedipus, the man who killed his father to be with his mother. An old porcelain vase. The blue and white porcelain was famous with specific dynasties ruling China. Beautiful paintings and calligraphy works were on display. Qi Baishi of Xiangtan of Hunan Province, is the artist. There were numerous scrolls depicting rural life and the atmosphere of the country. It is said that Qi Baishi's paintings began a new chapter in Chinese calligraphy & art. Here are some pictures of Wuhan Changqing No. 1 Middle School. What I was impressed with was the amount of students moving around the school in excitement. Every student is eager to learn. The snack bar was like a small super market. Justin & Stevenson are requesting something like this at Maryknoll ha ha. We are winding down the day now and will begin tomorrow with a new set of students.
It was certainly an interesting day. The school bells are music, rather than actual bells. The students are SUPER excited about english. One question today was, "Why do you have many Asians?" Ha ha. We showed them a video about Maryknoll and they were shocked to see blue skies and "Asian students". Ms. Frank did a nice job of explaining how America is a "melting pot" of individuals.
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AuthorKristopher Kern, Vice Principal of Student Life & School Culture of Maryknoll School Archives
August 2014
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