Xi'an Arrival

We started out on the train, which was fine since we were all together and not moving any luggage, which is decidedly different for me this time around since I did not "pack light". I bunked in with 3 nice kids who didn't seem too freaked out by me being there.

I really must say how impressed I have been with the kids. As most of you who know me know, this is saying alot. I am not easily impressed by anything. They have stomped around China, tried everything to eat that was put in front of them, played games with people at The Temple of Heaven. (a great story -- watch this space) and dragged their stuff through the Beijing and Xi'an train stations, something requiring courage and athleticism. No joke. And, to put a word in for the girls, never mind the ladies' rooms in China.

So we get to Xi'an, off the train and join a throng of people heading out into a workaday world of drizzle, noise and city traffic that makes Boston drivers look like old ladies. the kids get tossed into a bus, adults into a car and we all head out to the school where the kids meet their host families. It is not yet 10AM.

Once we all got to the high school, it got really hard. The kids needed to split from our group to go with their host families who are Chinese. There is more to tell about the details and nuance of this, but suffice it to say, everyone's comfort level shifted dramatically. There were tears, a near fainting spell, and real trepidation, and this wasn't even from me.

Yafei, George and I had lunch with the school head in the teacher's lunchroom. The head speaks no English, but the teachers who are assigned to help us do. We were shown to our rooms and I unpacked. Yafei and I each have our own little suite -- a bedroom, bathroom with shower head in a stall and small kitchen with a sink and fridge. It's a little worn, but really fine.

Later in the afternoon, we visited the kids to see how they were settling in. we were surprised in some cases to see who had recovered from the initial shock, and who hadn't. I am glad we went around to check on them; I think all of them were glad to see us. This is big deal for these kids who are so sheltered and who have their parents do everything for them including getting them up for school in the morning. I was surprised how few of them brought alarm clocks. Who did they think was going to wake them up? Anyway, I am sure this entire experience is going to be something that really changes many of them; I thought that before, but I am really seeing how that is the case now that we are here.

Students are staying in these frighteningly gaudy and high end apartments in some cases, and middle class residences in others. Sleeping accommodations (all have a private room) range from formal king sized bedrooms with flat screen TVs all their own to a cot set up in a side office.

After all this, which took 3 hours, Yafei, George and I went to an "informal" dinner (meant men wore jackets, not ties) in FANCY restaurant by head guy and head woman of entire Gaoxin system (not just our school) That is a whole other story. I can thank a story from Korea my dad told about 8 million times and Gran Burton for how I got through a formal meal with mandatory red wine (which I managed only to pretend to drink, even when toasting), shrimp with heads on sticks and some other things. We ate in very fancy separate dining room with a flat screen TV that, for the entire time, was playing a Chinese movie with shooting, car crashes, and serious kissing in it. No one seemed to notice this.

We were given gifts. Yafei and I got a pink sparkly Chinese lady blouse (WHEN am I going to wear that?) and Beijing Olympic T Shirts. Hope mine's a men's medium. Also, we were served this very good juice/vinegar beverage (sounds weird, but it was really good) and it was clear Y and I really liked it. Mr. Sheng, who made and received several phone calls during our dinner, made a secret phone call somehow and had his driver pick up two cases of it for us which was waiting for us in his chauffeured car when we left dinner. We had been being driven around all day by Madame Jiong's car and driver. She is the head of Gaoxin system.

After dinner, the driver dropped George off at his hotel, and us off at a HUGE store (think Walmart plus major grocery chain) and Yafei and I went shopping for stuff like a towel, alarm clock for me, cleaning stuff . I bought hand laundry soap with a kitty cat on it. Have no idea if it's good or not -- wanted the kitty. I was a major spectacle in that place as was Yafei as soon as she spoke English to me or as some combination of English and Chinese.

And now I am back here again. I need to go to bed. Tomorrow: first day of school.