Group Update from Beijing:

General Trip Report

The trip is a blast! The kids love it! On their weekly evaluation, everyone said they are having enough food, sleep, rest. They want more snacks! But that is up to the student leader of the day, so we will fix it. We are having so much fun meeting Chinese people around Beijing.

Basketball and ping pong have been really fun! We have played both just about every day. We are doing great on the court. Joelle and Harper and Tanisha are awesome. Brandon is the star. Jacob is really good too. They attract many by-standers everytime they are in the game. Alex and Cole are good too. I guess actually everyone is good! Cole made many game-changing shots for our team. He is money!

Forbidden city was wonderful - we also went to the clock exhibition and the students were amazed by the Chinese/European clock work. One clock had a Chinese man writing calligraphy on a piece of paper every hour. One clock was an elephant dragging a chariot and every hour the elephant would blink its eyes and wag its tail. The elephant would drag the chariot (which had soldiers on it) around the room. The clocks at the Forbidden city were simply amazing!

Qianmen and Tiananmen Square were wonderful as well. Harper was able to bargain T-shirts down from 50 to 15 yuan. That was truly great! Brandon is a real hero - he even got a discount on a bottle of juice. He got it for 3 yuan while everyone else got it for 4. That was amazing!

The Great Wall was simply wonderful. Our group made it to the top and we all sang songs while walking down. That was one of the highlights of our trip so far. Everyone was so tired, but we had so much fun there. Alex was so cool. He stayed behind to walk with March and Joelle. At the end we had lunch on top of the Great Wall, wrote postcards home and took pictures with Chinese children. It was such a wonderful day. We also had a movie night. After tutoring, everyone gathered in the girl's room to watch Role Model and eat Chinese noodles. That was totally great!


Chinese Class Report

Chinese class is great! Our teacher is funny. She's really nice and the kids love her. We have learned a lot in the past week--we do about a week worth of regular class in a day. The kids are fantastic. Tanisha, Sebastian, Alex, and Jacob have a real gift for picking up Chinese quickly. Brandon is the hardest worker: he comes to tutoring session right on time and leaves late. He is always there and comes to March and Amy before class for help. Harper and Joelle are super-awesome in Chinese class. They already know some Chinese, and are completely willing to help the other kids with their Chinese. They are truly great and really go out of their way to help others. Cole is rock-solid and working hard towards mastery. We are really having an wonderful time, and can't wait till Daphne joins us.

Overall, the group is really bonding. Kids have no problems with each other. We are open and kind towards each other. Everyone is living up to the Full Value Contract (WM note: an FVC is a group-generated social contract that attempts to elucidate all the things that group members want to be part of the group culture, for instance, "We will strive to be open and kind towards one another," etc...). We are always on time and doing great! We always eat together. Even after March and Amy give the group the opportunity to eat on their own, the group choose to stick together and have dinner all together. The group has started to order their own meals in restaurants. The students write journals, wake each other up in the morning, remind each other to go to sleep at night, carry the medical kits, monitor the Full Value Contract, help lead the daily activities, and figure out directions for the group. These kids are doing a lot of wonderful work. We just can't wait for Daphne to get here...!!!! WE ARE ON TARGET!

Shopping Report and Slick Bargaining Story

Okay, Brandon got a Rolex watch for 100 yuan. Then Cole borrowed that watch to go to the next store, where he told them his friend got it for 50. Therefore the store gave him the same watch for 50. Then Brandon brought Cole back to the first store and told them what happened. The store was then obligated to give Brandon another watch for free!! Brandon's general bargaining strategy is: if the money can cover up the object, then it should be able to buy that object (WM note: if anyone has any idea what that means, please fill us in). Jacob also got a nice pair of Jordan 11's for 14 USD!

Student Notes

Brandon - Master shopper. He can get everything cheaper than everyone else. Even March and Amy are amazed. This kid has got talent. By the way, he is really good at basketball too.

Jacob - Fit and energetic. Never tires at doing anything. He can go with the group all day and play 3 hours of basketball at night and then come to the tutoring session. He is funny and everyone loves him. He loves laser pointers

Cole - Brandon's partner in crime on the shopping scene. Great at getting things cheap and can make shots when you need him to on the court. Kind and nice to everyone. He is the brother you wish you had.

Sebastian - Cool sense of humor. He is so serious sometimes but things coming from him just put a smile on everyone's face. We just wish we had met him earlier in life. Great person all around.

Alex - Really really cool kid. He is so considerate of other people's feelings. He is always helping out. He never avoids work. Chinese people think he is Michael Jackson. A lot of them want his picture. Everyone loves Alex. He is the glue that holds the group together.

Joelle - Strong, intelligent, and adventurous. She is not afraid to go after you on the basketball court. She can hit her shots and is really nice to everyone. She often helps others during Chinese class. Her love for learning is truly admirable. She can carry heavy loads.

Harper - The nicest person you'll ever meet. She is super cool and super nice. Everyone loves her. She is not afraid to speak her mind but understands kindness and honesty. She is wonderful and helped the leaders out a lot during the ice breaker games and the early stages of our group's development.

Tanisha - Beautiful and smart. Chinese people can't get enough of her. Had one Chinese lady offer her son to her in marriage. Random Chinese people walk up to her and tell her she is beautiful. Tanisha is now officially the most photographed person in China. She is gifted in Chinese and a killer on the basketball court.

That's the update for now, it sounds like the Bridge China group is having a fantastic time! And check out the pictures from the Great Wall, first week of Chinese class, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. The slide show is a bit small - just click on the picture to see a larger view.