Kate our writer for today w/ her new Chinese friends.

Saying goodbye after 2 night homestays, lots of photos...

We visited the Shiji Jinyuan School, a brand new school in a brand new suburb of Kunming. Rachel played the flute and Jackie twirled the baton and the whole AACE group sang the Vermont State song, pictured here.

Kindergarten Teachers performed the Tibetan Long Song of Kangting.

Senior Grade one students performed the Dai Ethnic Minority Dance. There was also a musical performance on the Chinese xylophone and a hip hop performance by senior grade two (10th grade) students (no photos).

Kate writes:

Today we began bright and early, or at least I did. At my homestay we woke up at 5am to eat breakfast and exchange presents. Saying goodbye was harder than I had imagined. I really lucked out with Amy – my host sister – because not only did she speak English very well, but she was also hilarious. I felt that if I lived here we would be friends.

Amy’s grandparents live with them and wherever they went you could feel enormous respect surrounding them. In America, usually this would be different; most teenagers probably wouldn’t have such respect for their elders. This was one big cultural difference I noticed; their grandmother was at the center of the family.

We visited another school today, Shiji Jinyuan School. This one was particularly nice, brand new; the students as usual were very outgoing. I think I’ll always remember a boy of about twelve who gripped the edge of his desk, eyes bulging, and screamed “I love you” to me in front of his entire class. For some reason this was a more frequent encounter then one would think. The students, girls and boys alike, flocked to Russell, Alicia, and me repeatedly saying, “you’re so beautiful” taking photos, and touching our hair (Alicia’s “golden” hair in particular). Whenever this happened I thought of a movie we watched in AACE class about a Chinese woman making her nose pointier and her eyes wider using surgery, to make herself more “beautiful.” I have wide eyes and a pointy nose and it seemed to me that the Chinese people I've met think this is more beautiful. The grass is always greener on the other side [and we do that in the US too, skinny fashion models, bulging muscled guys, dark suntans, bleaching your hair blond or dying it black, we all want to look different than genetics allow.]

We finished off the day with spicy Thai food and a stroll around Kunming near our hotel. We ate ice cream and walked. The air was warm even though it was almost nine o’clock. I like China.

...and last minute hugs.

At the school we were treated to several performances by students the Kindergarten danced...

Primary students performed the umbrella dance.

	A martial arts demonstration.

We visited an art class for young children...

Mr. Blomgren, BUHS Art teacher and department head demonstrates his skills.

Mary Greene received two gifts of art work from two students at the school.

where they painted watercolors.

Here's a music class we visited, again elementary grades.

The kindergarten rooms were spacious and had a sleeping loft for naps.

The olympic symbol showed up in the presentation of a delicious lunch prepared for us by the school.