A little late, but news from China

The school year ended with a lovely celebration and luncheon.  The children reviewed the sounds they learned this year and sang several songs in English and Chinese.  We all enjoyed the salads and deserts provided by the parents and, by popular request, I made our Shepherd’s

Pie.  Of course I was busy and took no pictures, but hopefully some of the parents will email me some and I will share them. 

For the next month I will be in Asia and will try to keep you updated on my trip and the work we are doing here.  First of all the flight is long, but thanks to my hosts, I flew business class and Delta has done a great job of improving the 12 hour flight experience for the business customers.  Not only was the food delicious, but also the seats totally recline into a personal flat bed and they provide pillows, upgraded blankets, and a personal filled toiletries bag for each customer.  I watched several movies, read for a while and slept a few hours, which is unusual for me, as I normally cannot sleep on the plane.

When I arrived in Beijing the owner of Kiddie Academy greeted me with roses!  Cathy Chen is always very gracious and it is a pleasure working with her to help her teachers and others learn more about Montessori education.  We loaded my three—yes three—suitcases into the car and arrived at my hotel about midnight Beijing time.  I was reminded again what a spoiled American I am when I was told that the main which for the central air is turned off at night because it is cool at night and we can just open the windows!! 

Well the window opened about 3 inches and of course there were no screens and in order to get any cool breeze I had to leave the curtains open!!  After 2 pretty cold showers I did fall asleep for a few hours but was awakened by the sun pouring in through the windows at 6:00 am.  At this point I am thinking I must find a translator soon who can help me communicate to the hotel that I need AC at night--are there no middle aged women in China who wake up hot in the middle of the night?!

June 1 is Children’s Day in Beijing and most of the schools had programs for the parents—Kiddie Academy is no exception, but I thought I would be going to the school to begin setting up the classroom for my lectures so I dressed very casually—in work clothes.  My mistake.  When Joanna, one of Cathy’s English speaking teachers, arrived to be my personal escort for the day, we immediately went to a different school where they were having their program.  Once there, Cathy asked me to please address the parents and assist in presenting some of the gifts.  My first response was to decline and apologize for my appearance, but she insisted and I felt God reminding me that I was there to serve. Not only I am I current president of the Montessori Institute of America, but considered a kind of dignitary coming from the US—it is very humbling and I want the Lord to use me however He chooses while I am here.

I was introduced to all the parents (about 200) so I could bring greetings and congratulations from MIA and the US.  I was then honored to select the winning raffle ticket for the largest prize and present it to the winning parent!  After the program, I had my picture taken with each of the nine classes of children, their teachers, and their parents!  Hopefully no one notice the bleach stains on my ‘work pants’!

Once the program concluded, we were off to the school and we began the task of preparing for the class of adult students who will begin on Monday.  Kiddie Academy has a large meeting room where the students can sit in desks on one end of the room, Michelle (my friend and translator) can face them in the middle, and behind us we can set up the model rooms.  The first space we create is a model infant home environment that I can modify as the lectures progress.  I change it from a newborn room, to an older infant room to a care giving room as I teach the students about the child at each of these stages. 

Once we finish the prenatal and infant work, we transform the room to a toddler home environment and finally to a toddler care giving space. In this way the students can not only see the different environments, but also they can see how to modify an existing space to accommodate the needs of the growing child.

Our first task was to carefully clean the room, move out or rearrange the existing furniture and plants and begin locating the furniture needed to set up the infant environment.   Not only was Joanna a great help, but several of the teachers where at the school and all eagerly moved furniture, swept and mopped the floor and carried furniture from all over the school so I could set up.  Truly many hands make light work, and these people, many of whom I met last year, are always so kind and helpful.  We finished in just over an hour and this afternoon I will take the materials I brought to finish setting up.

As I mentioned it was Children’s Day, so when we went to Pizza Hut for lunch we waited over an hour, but it was a good opportunity for me to observe Chinese children with their parents!  After eating we came back to the hotel where the air was working and the man from the hotel fixed the wi fi so I am now connected!

All in all it was a great first 24 hours in Beijing!