Another great day!

We had been told last night that we would be going to a park today to see "plants and animals." I think we were all a bit "punchy" as we all thought it seemed hilarious. So we were expecting a quieter day with some sightseeing and then a visit to a school. Well, nothing about this trip has been quiet, so I do not know why we thought it would be. We arrived at the Yangzhou zoo and walked the beautiful grounds and made our first stop at the Panda! There was one large adorable panda relaxing and enjoying a tasty snack while we all watched. There were also two Red Panda's next door. We noticed while we were walking that some of the older children from the orphanage were walking with us. (I had not realized that this park was directly behind the YCWI.) We continued walking and arrived at a large open area and were greeted by women in costumes, orphanage officials, the news media...you understand by now. There was a stage with a large banner that read "Spring Roots Emotional." We were asked to sit in the chairs in front of the stage and our day began. We had lion dancers, puppet shows, yoyo demonstrations, more puppets, people spinning sugar into intricate animal shapes, paper cutting, kite flying etc. The event was presented as a cultural event for the children to have an opportunity to learn some traditional Chinese arts and crafts. At one point during one of the lion dances, children were brought into the group and danced with the women, wore their costumes, waved their scarves, etc. Our girls tended to be in the shy group, not wanting the focus of attention on them, but of course we made them dance for a few photo opportunities. The park was set up with stations surrounding the outside, so the children were free to choose the activities they were interested in. At one station the children put their handprint into some sort of clay and then wrote their name. These were going to be fired and then used to build a wall at the new orphanage. We were thrilled that our girls names will forever be part of the new building complex. Another station was demonstrating how to make Yangzhou Fried Rice. We then had our lunch at the park and ate all of the fried rice! After lunch we toured the New Oriental school, a very large boarding school with 3500 children in the first through 12Th grade. When we arrived we were greeted by student volunteers and led into their performance auditorium. We were treated to a music and a dance performance. Then the children went on stage to learn some Chinese and receive welcome gifts from the school and children. Each child received a hand made art poster or drawing along with a traditional Yangzhou papercut. The principal of the school came on stage in an athletic short set carrying a torch. He told us that he ran the Yangzhou leg of the torch relay in China and that the torch he had was the actual torch that lit the Beijing Olympic flame. Each of the girls took pictures carrying the torch. We then met our volunteer student for a tour of the buildings. Our volunteer was Penny, a 13 year old girl from Yangzhou in the 7Th grade. She spoke English very well, but was very quiet. She told us that she went to school from 7 Am until 9 PM every day and only went home every two weeks for a weekend. She does not study music or art in school because there is not enough time. Her favorite subject was English and she hoped to study English in America some day. Diana and Penny exchanged email addresses, so hopefully they will become pen pals. We saw the gymnasium at the school, the room with about 20 ping pong tables (The only sport Penny participates in) the basketball gym that my Will would scream for, and some science classes. We also saw the "canteen" that seated the students all at once and the dormitory where the girls lived four to a room. They have to hand wash their laundry and they hang it dry on their balcony. They have no television and are allowed no free time except for two days per week. It was a very interesting learning experience. After the tour we met Penny's parents and they drove us to their apartment. Although I had been nervous about the food, the 30 minute drive to their house was much more frightening. I do not think they use the lines on the road here. The swerving and the changing lanes, and the scooters, bikes and people all seem to intertwine. I can not believe we were not in some sort of a minor accident along the way. We sat down and there were not enough seat belts. Luckily Penny offered to change seats with Diana so she did wear one! Her father is a senior manager for manufacturing for a company similar to Amway. They just moved to Yangzhou in August from Guangdong Province. Their home was a fifth floor walk up with two bedrooms, an office, a kitchenette, dining area and living area. They also have a five year old son who speaks English very well and was quite entertaining. While Penny's parents made dinner I played with dinosaurs and read Dr. Seuss to Stanley. We had a very simple meal of vegetables, rice and soup (they were cooking "vegetarian" for me....if you recall from my earlier post I am a vegetarian this week.) Then I was offered some homemade prune wine! Of course I accepted and thought it was very good, it was sweet and fruity and had a kick! We took several photos and made some small talk while the girls played some games together. After dinner they drove us back to the hotel. We were happy to have this experience with a family from Yangzhou. Unfortunately my cell phone does not seem to be working when trying to call numbers here in China and I missed the opportunity to visit with Emmy Mignano's son, Andy. Andy is teaching at the New Oriental school, we knew he was teaching English in Yangzhou, but did not know which school he was working in until after we got home from dinner. It would have been fun to see him at work! Backc at the hotel we were all sharing stories and our experiences were all very different. Karen and Emi sang Karaoke, one family had fireworks, and Lilly ate some sort of "bird feet." I am sure I will hear more tomorrow. Ours was much more quiet and reserved which was perfect for Diana.
We are all once again so amazed at the time and effort that has gone into planning our events to make everything special and meaningful for the girls.
I can not believe tomorrow is our last day here in Yangzhou. We will do some sightseeing and then have a Farewell Banquet. We are also supposed to meet Guangjie!
I stayed up way too late last night working on the blog, hoping to get to bed a little earlier tonight!