I will put this video on the network, so you can make a copy of it next Thursday when we are in a computer room.
Please if you haven’t completed the evaluation can you do this ASAP. Thank you.
Thank you to those of you who have completed the trip evaluation.
I have uploaded my 20 best photos (or photos that I thought you may not have) to www.photobucket.com. You can access and download these if you go to the website – the username is shanghai10 and the password is shanghai.
It would be great if you could choose your best 10-20 photos too and add these to the album. It should only take you 5 minutes and is the best way for us to all share our memories.
Thanks!
I trust you are all enjoying those home comforts now!
Thank you all again for being such a superb group of students to take away and for making it a brilliant trip. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed taking you.
As I mentioned earlier, please can you spend 5 minutes filling out this online evaluation of the trip:
Thank you in advance.
Well as the week draws to an end so does the blog. It is with an air of sadness that we have come to an end of a great journey that has tested us both culturally and geographically. We don’t see this as an ending but more as a beginning of a sustainable way of living.
After 7 exciting museums the day before (for Tom!) you can imagine the enthusiasm for visiting yet another one this morning! This museum however was one of the biggest and the most visually stunning inside and out. We were educated thoroughly about ancient Chinese coins, paintings, calligraphy, rocks, sculptures and costumes.
I’m sure everyone will agree with us when I say that a Subway has never tasted so good after a brain-challenging morning! Even though there was an irate Chinese man who got progressively agitated every time Mr Stafford placed another order!
Next for something everyone had especially been looking forward to…shopping! Chaplefield now looks like a small corner shop compared to the nine-floor monstrosity that we wondered around. After a coffee and a chat in Starbucks came Nanjing Road – very busy, very crowded. This was a road of shops where everything and anything was being sold. Instead of shopping we decided to draw even more attention to ourselves by dancing in the middle of the crowds. From the point of view of the public in Nanjing Road this must have been the weirdest thing they had ever seen! 14 English students and Miss Harris dancing to no music!
The Pudong district was very beautiful at night. Both the waterfront and Nanjing Road are something to behold at night. The streets and buildings were lit up as if it was Christmas! When we thought that the food situation couldn’t get any better, McDonalds was bestowed upon us.
As tonight is our last night we had an awards ceremony. This was incredibly funny, exciting and even loud before we got told to quieten down!
To round off (as this is the last blog entry) we wouldn’t have preferred to spend the last twelve days any other way.
Written by Luke Shalom and Tom Cappuccio
Day 11 was spent with some of our students’ Chinese partners. We split into four groups and below is a bit about everyone’s day:
Group 1: Tom Clarke, Rhiannon, Luke and Miss Harris
Dumplings, Mulan, Tai chi and KFC = pretty awesome day for Tom Clarke, Rhiannon, Luke and Miss Harris.
In a peaceful town an hour and a half away from the centre of Shanghai, we enjoyed a relaxing day in the apartment of our lovely Chinese host – Lili and her family. We learnt some basic calligraphy and how to make a mean, traditional dumpling (and eat them!). Tom, Luke and Miss also enjoyed some tasty yak meat sweets and tried some tai chi. The day ended perfectly with a good old fashioned KFC – with ice cream included!
Group 2: George, Joanna, Lauren Lee, Sam and Mr Quantrill
Feeling apprehensive about who we would be spending the day with, we were pleased when we met Johnny, Shannon, Vincent and their extended family. They were lovely, spoke little but good English and welcomed us with open arms into their home. After being shown photos of their trip to Disneyland, Hong Kong and Macau we sat down and had a lovely Chinese meal! Followed by some exercises in the park and a 2v2 basketball match. This allowed Vincent to show off his skills!
Then we made our way by bus to another local park. There we had eventful journeys on four seater bikes and cars and a slow journey on a boat. Once home we watched the television whilst the family got ready to make dumplings. We made them; Sam and Joanna were great at making them. They were lovely! We gave Vincent’s family presents and said goodbye.
Group 3: Kathryn, Tom Cappuccio, Lauren Templeman and Mr Stafford
We met up with Horris, our Chinese student, and his Mum, Sharon, who informed us in the car, after misunderstanding the question, that it was going to take 5 years to get to their house! When we arrived we were greeted by uncle number 1, Wallace. So, Wallace and Horris – that wasn’t confusing at all!
After a traditional English black and white film and kind of enjoying our homemade pork and vegetable dumplings, it was time to visit SEVEN museums – topics including wheels, crickets (insects, not sport!) and miniature sculptures…FUN! It ended with dinner round a table, probably the size of Norfolk, and Mr Stafford being called a beautiful man!
Group 4: Sarah, Gareth, Katie, Ben and Mr Gardner
We met Amy, Micky and Ricky’s parents at the school this morning and they firstly took us to do tai chi. It was a truly unique experience that we all enjoyed. After that we went to the gardens of a hotel with a river running through the middle of it. It was great as it smelt of forests and the air was clean – not something very common in this city! Being asked if we were hungry, a starving Ben replied with an urgent “yes!” On the journey to Micky’s apartment we were treated to Chinese music. Her apartment was quite small and compact, but we felt really welcome. We were given bucket loads of food; noodles, pomegranate, pumpkin, tomatoes – the list goes on!
After lunch we tried to make some Chinese knots and then tried some family’s green tea. They were very tasty. We visited the local library in the evening before a delicious dinner and a sad goodbye to the family we’d had such a fantastic day with.
As you can see a very successful day was had by all.
Hello! Today it’s Lauren and Ben writing the blog.
Today we had to leave the hotel at 7:15. We had to travel by coach for 3 hours to get to the beautiful West Lake near Hangzhou. When we arrived at West Lake we had dinner at a famous restaurant. It was very posh (well posher than what we are used to). We were very happy to see that English weather does occur halfway across the world! After getting drenched we got on a small boat and travelled to a small island on the middle of the lake. After getting even more wet we travelled back on a bigger boat, where we told that we were going to a silk museum (yay!). As you can imagine we were all incredibly excited!
After a 30 minute drive we arrived at the museum. We were greeted by a nice lady who gave us an English tour. We found out how silk is made and then they tried to sell different silk kits. After a while in the shop we decided to watch an awesome fashion zone.
After the show we travelled back to Shanghai. On the way back we got stuck in a traffic jam and everyone was bored as iPod batteries died and mobiles desperately needed charging. Only a few people stayed awake, all the teachers fell asleep and most of us ended up having long kips in the 3 hours!
When we got back to Shanghai we decided to have some Western food at Pizza Hut! We were all looking forward to pizza as some people are sick of Chinese food. Over dinner we discussed what we were enjoying about the trip and after lengthy comparisons we came to the conclusion that most of us were missing normal food – so be expecting a lengthy list of requirements when we get home! After our fantastic meal we all went back to our hotel and got to bed early.
We all miss you lots – see you in 4 days.
Love Lauren and Ben xx
Hello everybody would just like to say if today’s blog is rubbish you can blame it on Matt Ashman and Ryan Rollins for requesting that we (Sam Creighton and George Coombes) write the blog for today. But on a more cheery note we’ve had a cracking day and we have some good news coming up later.
This morning we awoke with much confusion, fatigue and another brilliant ‘cough’ Family Mart breakfast, go Family Mart! After our fabulous pick’n’mix bread and energy drink we hit the road to the school. Our first appointment was making a big display of our two cultures in the shape of the China pavilion from Expo using leaflets from Norfolk, Dereham and Shanghai. We were in groups of 6, which consisted of 3 English students and their 3 Chinese partners. We all had a great time looking through leaflets of Norfolk and reminiscing about clean fresh air and open green spaces. Also George enjoyed himself by flirting with some Chinese girls and failing miserably! Also Sam was deeply upset by the fact that he shared his name with the dog in their English lessons! If you look at the photos I’m sure you’ll be amazed!
After lunch at our favourite school day restaurant we all did our presentations to different classes, with varying responses and respect levels and take a guess, just a wild guess which class me and George got? I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now, that’s right we got the group that sniggered and laughed at us while we were presenting and then took pictures of us on their phones. In fact even the teacher didn’t understand us! George asked her if he could ask the group a question which was followed by her telling the class that we would sing for them! What the hell, it doesn’t even sound the same! But just to rub it in Gareth and Clarkie got the good class and were treated like foreign gods! They got a clap after every slide and were given a teacher that was not just good at English but helped them out in the presentation!
Putting that aside, here’s the good news! We just happened to play a so called ‘Shanghai Champions’ football team. However this was no match for the Neatherd misfits, throw together football team! We played 6-a-side and started with a good old fluky English goal by the captain, Clarkie beast himself. A strike from just inside the half way line just managed to bobble over the line to everyone’s surprise while the goalie was still asleep. This was followed by a, quote, “international standard” and “amazing” free kick from Sam Creighton which curled its way into the far top left corner of the net! With an ore inspiring team talk from Luke Shalom we prepared for the second half. This began with another quick goal from Sam Creighton, which toying with the goalie was slotted into the bottom left corner! Sam and Luke then went on to perform the most amazing and long celebration ever combining every goal celebration we could think of that would fit into 10 seconds. However the Chinese didn’t go down without a fight and came back with 2 fairly quick goals. As nerves rose only another goal could settle the tension. What luck then that Mr Stafford decided now would be a good time to pop 2 into the back of the net. The next goal came from a penalty awarded to Sam. This was followed by another you guessed it Sam Creighton goal bringing his tally to 4 goals! The Chinese then were awarded a penalty after Luke ‘Shalominator’ decided it would be a good idea to practice some of the kung fu he learnt earlier on in the week against a defenceless, slightly wussy striker. Nan Yang then converted their penalty to finish the game a respectable 7-3.
After our light sporting activity we decided that an hour of table tennis would be a great way to warm down before getting changed for our teacher presentations and drama and dancing performances in front of a large number of important looking Chinese grownups and a few kids. The presentations were mediocre but the drama and dancing definitely impressed! Apart from a few slips in timing the drama went well, especially George Coombes’s acrobatics on stage. However, I have to say he did then let the side down by backing out of the proper dancing and joining the loser macarena crew! Sam and Clarkie definitely stole the show with their jaw dropping ‘Dynamite’ routine (not that we’re biased or anything!).
For tea we went to our regular favourite Chinese restaurant. Basil aka Mr Stafford and Clarkie, ate the restaurant out of business…again!
That’s all for today, hope you enjoyed our blog. See you all soon.
PS- Oh, and hi mum(s)!!
To begin the day, we were allowed a much needed lay in and we were awoken at 8:30 (yippee) the day continued with cupcakes and juice for breakfast, our normal healthy routine. Followed by a short, but hectic bus journey to the museum, Miss Harris received her birthday present, much appreciated English Tea, and a scarf!
We arrived at the science museum, and waited for our tickets. Shortly after receiving these, we entered. After the waiting for the tickets, more waiting was the last thing anyone wanted to do, but yet again the teachers decided to have another fun meeting as to where we could all gather for lunch without anyone getting lost, as we were allowed free reign of the museum! This meeting took a while, as the location was changed several times for our benefit of course! Once decided where to meet, we were set loose. Enjoying our freedom, we visited exhibits such as wild animals and spiders; we also delved into the history of robots, challenging them to a friendly archery contest… of course the robot won.
Lunch was not so odd today, we could choose from the set meal what we wanted which was a nice change from the ‘help yourself, spinning table in the restaurants’. The western style food went down a treat. Refreshed and satisfied, we were set free once again (twice in one day, who would have thought this would happen?!) Most of the students and teachers wanted to cease the opportunity of having a sit down with a 3D film playing. The most popular choice was “sea-life in prehistoric times” however by the end of a short 18minute film, which we were all warned was in Mandarin with no captions, all of the teachers and majority of the students were fast asleep; not understanding a single word.
After the museum we continued the day with another short bus trip, travelling to the MASSIVE Oriental Tower, of course another group photo in front of the tower was needed. Walking hastily, towards the tower, a mixture of emotions was occurring; some scared, and some loving the thought of eating 259 metres in the air, whilst revolving! Although we British like a good queue, this was taking the absolute Michael; however the queue moved swiftly, as the lift was crammed with 30 people. When we got to the top entering the revolving restaurant, we all ran for a seat facing the city but were disappointed to see we weren’t moving at quite the pace we hoped we would, instead it took a while to notice a change in scenery!
The meal went down well with all, even enjoying a good English salad for once (yes we miss green food!), and many eyes were bigger than bellies when it came to the dessert section with chocolate and many other cakes as far as the eye could see (heaven!). With full stomachs, and many pictures with Chinese people later; it was time to leave. Before we came down to ground level it was time to visit the first level, with a glass floor! Countless screams and screeches later we were all sad to leave, but looking forward to a little nap on the bus home to the hotel. The nap was definitely in need as we finalised our dance routines with Miss Harris for the performance for Nan Yang Middle School tomorrow – yay, thanks to Miss Harris we all actually look quite good! All in all, we had a brilliant day, hope you enjoyed it Miss, and cannot wait for what tomorrow brings!
P.S. – Please feel free to write as many comments as you like, pointless or not! As we would like to beat Sarah and Lauren for comments on yesterdays blog entry to take the lead! (Thanks MumJ )!!
Another day started in China with waking up to the sound of honking horns and alarm clocks. The day started off much like yesterday; we were woken up at 6:30am and were ready to leave by 8am after another Family Mart breakfast. We started the day off by visiting Nanyang High School, where we enjoyed a fun packed morning.
We were warmly welcomed into the school by many of the teachers and another lovely message sign, much like that of Nanyang Middle School. Before we could enjoy the fun parts of the morning, we watched an interesting presentation, including everything you would want to know about the High School. We then got to observe morning exercises, which consisted of the entire school gathering on the playing field to dance to some funky music: and don’t forget about Mr Quantrill’s charming speech about strengthening bonds and societies by multicultural learning. Our hosts were also kind enough to offer us several presents, they gave everybody a small, gold, badge. On top of this, they gave our school a book of stamps they created when celebrating their 100th birthday, and the Nanyang High School prospectus.
We then encountered a tour of school by a handful of very well English speaking last year students, who told us about everyday routines and a random goat! Next, we were fortunate enough to have a short science lesson with the schools resident celebrity teacher! Not only is he a fantastic teacher, but also an inventor – a bit of a crazy one at that. In his time, he’s created many extraordinary inventions including; a toilet that creates electricity when flushed, a robot designed to give people flowers and a sound powered water feature. We all feel like we’ve met a mad scientist!
Following this, we went back to Nanyang Middle School and visited the restaurant we ate at previously. Subsequently, we met up with our Chinese friends, with whom we’re working with for our project, where we answered questions and talked about hobbies, families and general everyday life. Geography and Music lessons followed, where we discovered the differences between Chinese and English lesson structures, before our own teachers Mr Stafford and Mr Gardener taught their own Geography lesson to a small class of 64. This was in order to give them a taste of lessons as we know them.
Those of us sitting at the back of the coach were lucky enough to experience Luke’s…unique rapping skills, whilst those at the front experienced Tom (Clarke) and Miss Harris’s kiwi accent.
For dinner tonight we had a very traditional Chinese meal of… McDonalds. Everybody here had a slight desire for Western food, something I think many people wouldn’t think they’d say after enjoying so many Chinese take aways back at home. Overall we’ve had yet another fantastic day, filled to the brim with new and exciting experiences. Even our adventurous food choices were thoroughly enjoyed!
By Sarah and Lauren T
(P.S. A quick hello to all our family and friends back in England, especially Class 3 from Brisley Primary School! Thank you for all your lovely messages!)
Before we start we would like to say a huge and happy birthday to Mr. Quantrill! We hope he enjoyed his present of an alarm clock which also tells you the temperature (which peaked at 34oC – are you jealous?)
Bus rides, canals & funky costumes pretty much sum up today’s events!
The day started, compared to yesterday, with a lie in until 6.30am (woop woop!) followed by a two hour bus journey out of the busy city to a small tourist town called Tongli. Having being told we were visiting a small village, we were surprised to find a fully functional bus service & what seemed like hundreds of small shops. When we arrived, we were greeted with supersize golf buggies (awesome we know!) to take us into the centre where we planned to see many tourist sites, including 2 gardens, 4 bridges & a very large manor house.
But before any excitement could take place, the teachers had to have a long, boring & tedious group discussion about risk assessments (yay!). Finally, after this very gripping conversation, they came to the conclusion none of us were going to commit suicide by jumping overboard. We were allowed on the boat ride! Although short it was sweet: allowing us to see and take in the culture of rural China: washing clothes in the river; having very little to do and desperately trying to sell tourists small gifts in order to make any money.
Next was another short, yet sweet visit to one of Tongli’s beautiful gardens; here we saw another example of traditional Chinese vegetation and an exhibition of ancient Chinese beds. Although fascinating we were rather keen on eating! Making a swift exit and journey to another Chinese restaurant we were relieved to satisfy our hunger. However, what can we say, the food was … interesting; with many of us expecting to see it again later that evening!
After dinner, while walking through the old, clean streets we decided to buy sixteen traditional Chinese straw hats, normally seen on gondoliers. While fascinated by the round, shallow and unique design we decided a ‘photo moment’ was needed. However, obviously picking up on our wave lengths were twenty or so, Chinese visitors. Suddenly we all turned in to Nicole Kidman and Huge Grant wannabes!!!
Twenty minutes later we made our way to the second gardens of the day to dress in traditional Chinese gowns and robes, turning us into princes, princesses, kings and queens. While a couple of people decided to duck out of this fun and memorable experience (… sucks for them!) the rest of us awkwardly stumbled around the gardens, trying to avoid the exquisite trains, keep our balance, maintain the heavy head garments and look incredibly cool all at the same time! (May sound easy but ha you try!) After an hour of this royal experience a quick pop to the shop and a visit to the loo-trough (a.k.a. Chinese toilet) we left to visit a 1920’s individually crafted Chinese mansion. Here we saw some of the best paintings ever (… yes, even better than the Mona Lisa.) We all thoroughly enjoyed this visit; with one student stating “A great place to have a house party!”(Invitations will be sent out shortly!)
After this tiring yet pretty awesome day, we found ourselves back on our trusty super sized golf buggies heading back to the bus; arriving back at the hotel two hours later. Then a quick fifteen minutes ‘freshen-up’ and we were off to have, guess what? CHINESE!!! However, with a twist, tiramisu for Mr Quantrill’s birthday with an extremely annoying yet immensely hard core singing flower candle (…note to mums, we want one!) When dinner was over we strolled back to the hotel; worked for an hour and then crawled into bed ready for another “good night sleep” (Rhiannon’s still not entirely comfortable on her camp bed!)
All in all we had a great day with a variety of new experiences plus a new funky hat and quite a few laughs.
By Rhiannon & Joanna (We miss you Ellie!)
