China 2012

Today began with us going to the opening of a world wide educational conference. We were given headsets so that we could get the chinese translated into English. It wasnt the most exciting part of the intinery-it was only sprung on us at the last minute.

Following this we went and got the bus to take the long ride to the orphanage. It was broken up by us stopping to get lunch. When we arrived at the orphanage we were blown away by the friendliness and the curoisity of the young children all of which were orphans and most of which had heart conditions and many had other conditions also. We immediatly jumped into the experience and began to bond with the children. It seemed as though the children did not let their illness hold them back from anything as they were so joyful. Everyone was in agreement that it was a very important and enjoyable part of the trip. We were deeply saddened when we had to leave.

We then headed to the traditional tibetan restaurant which was decorated fully in traditional tibetan design. The food was very nice and only slightly different from the chinese food we’d had for the past two weeks, the main course was a leg of lamb and of course all the lads got a can of coke each. In the tibetan restaurant we were informed we would not be able to make it to the silk markets that day.  Then we returned home where we packed for our return back to ireland the next day.

As usual we started out the day with the blaring of our alarm clocks and hot water from the shower. We got dressed had breakfast and went back to our rooms to don our uniforms. We hopped onto the bus said hi to our bus driver who’s teaching himself English, and drove to the Hanban headquarters where we would spend the most part of our morning. A fair few of us fell asleep on the way as we were all wrecked, from the Xi’an weekend,the high level of activities and the general bant. So we arrived totally up for it and in perfect uniform to the institute. After posing for another bunch of group photos we went into the Chinese exploratorium, dressed in ancient chinese clothes, messed around with some instruments and got a certificate of participation from a weird machine. We moved into the next room and looked at a load of teaching resources for chinese and presentations of awards to various people and other confucius institutes around the globe. So then we left for the school and a wonderful lunch. At that point we had some free time so we played some football and some of us slept. Then we had a 2 hour Kung Fu session, with a Master to teach us. ‘t’was epic and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards we played football against the Danish students winning 4-1. Finally we had dinner and we watched a movie and chilled out for a while.

Today it was out of bed and down for breakfast at 7:30 again. Breakfast was popcorn chicken, unless you had bought your own cereal. Then it was back to the rooms to pack for the busy day ahead. We got on the bus and headed for Tian’anmen square. When we arrived at the square we had to pass through security before being allowed through. Our guide Jessica explained that the Square could hold around 1 million people. In the center of the Square was a huge monument for the fallen soldiers of China.( the revolution, WW2 etc.) and a huge flower pot that commemerates the foundation of the People’s republic of China. Afterwards we went into the Emperor’s home- The Forbidden City. We passed  in through the Meridian Gate and crossed over the inner Golden Water bridges and saw the Gate of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Central Harmony, hall of Preserving Harmony, Gate of Heavenly Purity and the Imperial Gardens. Don’t worry we took lots of photos.

Then it was back on the bus to a famous Peking duck Restaurant. They carved it up in front of us and it was extremely tasty. then it was back on the bus again Wangfujing Shopping Street ( China’s Grafton Street). We browsed through the designer stores but their prices were way above our spending limits. Just off it though was a side street with stalls selling beef, snake,starfish, squid and live scorpions on a stick. No one tried any though in case of food poisoning. We left and went back to the school for a bit of rest. Later we will have dinner in KFC and then to Carrefour.

Today started off with us arriving early in Beijing 7:13am . We went straight to McDonalds for breakfast. Then it was a quick stop off at the school to dump our belongings and have a quick shower. We had to dress smart, in our best attire on account of the fact that we were going to one of Beijing’s largest cathedrals, known as the South Cathedral – Nantang was built by Matteo Ricci in 1601. The mass was not dissimilar as it was said in English and we knew most of the prayers, as they were the same for the most part. There were two large statues in the Cathedral, one of Matteo Ricci and one of St. Francis Xavier. We then departed for lunch in a beautiful Cantonese restaurant. After a few pots of Chrysanthenam tea, and some gorgeous noodles we left for a large Clothing and Electronics market, in our coach through sheets of icy rain. Despite the elements, spirits were high, and wallets bulging in anticipation for our spree. 3 hours later, after various purchases of suits, beats and haggling for vans, we managed to escape (with the Vans) and high-tailed it, some of us actually in tails, to Dinner. 25,000 calories worth of sweet and sour pork later, we arrived to our dorm bloated and sleepy, only to find 6 blog entries awaiting. Good-night.

Today started off with us getting up early to get breakfast in the hostel and pack for the train journey back to Beijing. We then boarded a bus to the terracotta warriors replica factory where we learned how the soldiers were made. After a guided tour and many photos later we visited the gift shop and some people bought replicas of the soldiers. After lunch we went to pit 1 of the terrecotta warrior sight. It was amazing, huge and definitely a highlight of the trip. The sheer amount of soldiers was amazing. We learned that the Emperor responsible for it’s construction
(2200 years ago) united China for the first time and also instructed the building of the Great Wall.  We then visited two more pits of warriors and saw the different ranks. Afterwards we went to the shop and saw the farmer who discoverd the terrecotta warriors the 1970′s. At the time, he was only given 30 yuan by the government who took the land off him (30 yuan is about four euro). He now receives 3000 per month from the government plus all the profit he makes by signing copys of books. We then hopped on the bus again and went to a noodle restaurant which was nice. Then we returned to the train station and got back on the train and set off to Beijing.  Everybody enjoyed some pomegranate andd soon fell  sleep, after the busy day.

The day started off with the knocking of Mr O’ Grady on the door warning us that we would arrive in Xi’an in  thirty minutes, everyone began to pack and prepare for the day ahead. When we got off the train, we got a bus to the seven sages hostel- the sixth best hostel in the world! We then enjoyed a breakfast which was eaten by all and the lads played ping pong and began to settle into their rooms. The hostel was amazing with loads of things to keep us occupied, decent wifi and luxurious rooms- it was even equiped with two hurleys. We then got back on the bus, ready to explore the city walls. We arrived at the city walls and came upon two actors dressed in traditional warrior armour of the chinese army. Then we each got bikes, some singles and some tandems. The journey would take us on a 16km ride around the four sides of the city walls, it was amazing to look at all the traditional temples and watch the city. Then we went to pizza hut for a feast, everyone was starving and dying for some pizza. We then made our way to muslim snack street! It was a street full of snacks and stalls which sold food and just off it there was a market- which all the lads went to and haggled for hours. Afterwards goods and bargains were compared and everyone made their way to a famous dumpling restaurant. We got all kinds of dumplings. Then we went back to the hostel, playing pool games with other hostel-stayers and then crashing in our rooms.

Today started off with us saying goodbye to our exchange partners and exchanging emails and contact details, then all the lads made their way to the school for breakfast where we ate a feast because we were goign to walk the great wall later that day. After breakfast we got on the bus and met our tour guide , who told us about the great wall and its history. After a long ride we saw a breathtaking sight, the great wall, one of the great wonders of the world and a Unesco world heritage site. The wall stretches almost 6,000 miles across desert and mountains from east to west china. Its truly fascinating for its architectural grandeur and historical significance.  We all got group photos at the bottom, unaware of the obstacle we were about to face and in over 20 degree temperatures.. Many, many, many steps later all of the lads had made their way to the highest point on the wall. Many people were asking for photos with “the westerners” and we met other groups climbing the wall for different charities. After group photos at the top and many bottles of water we made our way down the steep steps at lightning speed. After lunch we got the bus to the spa and everyone was treated to a foot massage. It was an amazing relief after the great wall adventure! Then we rushed to the nearest food market and stocked up for the 12 hour overnight train journey to Xi’an. After getting through security in the train station we all feasted on McDonalds. The train station was huge. we then got on the HUGE train and got into our ‘sleepers, there was four to a sleeper and everyone got a bed, blanket and pillow. There was a great atmosphere on the train with chess games being played and banter being had with the teachers. Not many people got a lot of sleep that night as we had to be up early to pack our bags and prepare for the adventures to come in Xi’an.

We woke up really early today, showered and dressed smart, ’cause today was the first day of our home stay and sitting in on chinese classes. We began with Math and English, and covered a variety of others such as Politics and Chemistry. We did some eye excercises, which the students do twice a day, every day. Then we had lunch and got changed in preparation for our trip to the sports academy to teach English and Rugby, however we were pressed for time and we ended up being 45 minutes late. But despite this minor set back we ended having an enjoyable time and the guys really had a great time. Afterwards, we went to our homestays. Unfortunately our broadband speed isn’t the greatest here so pictures will be scarce for a while, but hopefully it’ll be grand.

Today we all woke up in our different homestay appartments, each of us having strange breakfasts and making our way to school for another day of classes. We arrived at the school by walking, subway, car and bus. Classes included chinese, english, politics and biology. After which we all went out to lunch with our exchange partners. After lunch we all made our way to the cafeteria to make roses out of flour-dough. Each of us made a rose and some of them gave theirs to other students in the high school. Then it was time for the big match between us and our exchange partners. The game started off with belvedere playing a blinder, and the chinese giving it their all. With scores from Stephen, Cillian and Cian we won the match with a score of 3-2. After the game there was a big celebration, with the players paying thanks to their wonderful coach Mr O’ Brien. After a quick pack of the bags all the students made thier way home with their exchange partners for the final night of the homestay.

Today we awoke to a new day in Beijing and the fourth day of our trip. Our schedule for the day was a lot more formal than previous, roll on the uniforms. The first item on the agenda was to meet the principal and to be formally welcomed to Renmin High School. We were shown a video in which we were informed all about the school, links that they have established and accolades they have won across the globe. It was a seriously impressive introduction and left us all in awe. Then we showed a brief video of Belvedere in which the school was well showcased. The principal then asked us a series of questions about Belvedere from what subjects we did to how long our school day lasted. After the meeting finished we witnessed the flag raising ceremony in the main yard of the school. This was a truely eye opening event in which five thousand students were lined up in perfect rows to witness the raising of flag, Ross McNallyaddressed the massive crowd proudly and thanked the school for its warm hospitality. Ms. Redmond then followed suit with an excellent speech about how our school hoped this trip would establish further links between the two schools. We were then shown around the school and were able to visit two classes which were dancing and choir, it was an interesting experience to say the least and it gave us our first insight into Chinese education. We were then taken out to lunch by the school, to a nearby restaurant. We were joined by two teachers who were able to explain valuable information to the restaurant staff such as peanut allergies and how we weren’t great with spices, surprise surprise. We had a very nice meal consisting of duck, sweet potato, chicken, spicy beef and seafood tofu. After we had eaten we headed back to the school to do some Chinese calligraphy with Mr. Dow. It was quite difficult to get the hang off and required a firm hand and patience. Some of us actually began to get to grips with it, others however should probably stick to the Roman alphabet. The teacher also taught us about different forms of the calligraphy such as official and running, it was good to experience another aspect of Chinese culture. Once the session was finished we headed back to school for some free time, during which most of us played football or slept. Finally we ate dinner and a small group went to the local super-market for supplies such as water, jellies and coco pops. Tomorrow is a very big day as we meet our exchange partners and have our first night of home stay. The next couple of days will be hectic with the over night home stay for two nights and our trip to Xi’an, will shall fill you all in when possible.

Today started out with a bit of a shock, we woke up at about seven o’ clock. We ate popcorn chicken for breakfast and eggs with fetuses in them.  We then went to district 798 (the art district)- the district was named after a military compound from the 1950′s. We saw all kinds of art, from pictures of dogs at war to a giant bird cage. The district was huge and we only got to see a section of it. For lunch we went to ‘lakers pizza’ for a taste of home. After a couple of group photos later, we got back on the bus and went off to Beijing zoo. The zoo was packed and had pits for toilets, which was a bit of a culture shock. The whole group then went to the panda park, it was pure “pandamonium”. The conditions they were in were terrible, they were mainly concrete and for most animals they were too small. We broke up into smaller groups and to have a further look at the zoo. After the zoo we returned to the school and were given free time. Some of us played football with other chinese students and some stayed in the rooms, at 6 o’ clock we all went to the ref for dinner. For dinner we had some more popcorn chicken and had a conversation with a chinese man. Then we went to the musical evening put on by the school which was very long and very good. Then we got the bus back to the school, wrote up our reflection journals and got ready for the day ahead where we have the opening ceremony.

Sorry about the lack of photos but we are having problems uploading them. Hopefully it will be fixed by tomorrow.

We all arrived at Dublin airport in the early hours of the morning with the adrenalin of finally going to China. We checked in and boarded the plane that would take us to Abu Dhabi.
On board we indulged ourselves in the movies for show on our 11 inch personal screens
The first flight felt like an eternity. But even eternity had it’s moments.
The heat of the United Arab Emirates struck us dumb as we got off the plane. Boom. We got food, in our 15 minute window  and managed to peg it to our gate, where we learned magically our flight had been delayed 30 mins. We hop on the plane, get into the seats, and welly into the Pepsi. The chess tournaments took off in tandem with the plane, despite lighting storms, and finally after 7 and a half hours of arduous travel and insomnia, we landed in the People’s Republic Of China.

After our accursed 7 hours on a plane with hardly any sleep, we landed in Beijing. We were then tortured by the fountains behind us and the toilets right infront of us, with customs acting as a barrier between us. We were then picked up by our zealous and friendly crew from the confucious institute, Tony and Jane. We got on the bus, and on our way through Beijings suburbs we saw many sights like the olympic park and a cool temple. At last when we thought that our toil had ended we had to get an elevator to the rooms. After that we all got our kit on and played a huge football match with some of our new chinese friends. We then had some dinner and headed off to the carrefour, to buy some drinkable water. After that most of us passed out in dairy queen, with melting oreo waffle cones on our clothes. Then we went home, then to bed, then we wrote this. Night.

EVIL ALARM CLOCK One more day and then were off, off to the Peoples Republic of China. Remember to get that last minute packing done lads because there will be no time for it tomorrow when we arrive at the airport at 6:15am trying to recover from that damn alarm clock that woke you up so early.