Love Me Do

Today was our final full day in China. We started our day at the Shanghai World Financial Center. The building has 101 floors and stands over 1600 feet tall. In 2009, the building was recognized by Guinness World Records for having the World’s highest observation deck and having the highest hotel as the Park Hyatt Shanghai occupies Floors 79-93. Standing on a glass floor, I looked down on the cars below. They were so small that they were not even the length of my fingernail when I held my hand out. I look forward to sharing pictures once I return home.

 

We were given an opportunity to spend time on a self-guided walking tour in downtown Shanghai. It was beautiful. The sidewalks were lined with trees. Buildings soared all around and yet, it still managed to feel open.

 

Our next stop took us to a Middle School in Southern Shanghai. The students were very friendly, each wearing their red scarf and listening intently as their teachers spoke. One class had a boy and girl class leader stand and recite a welcome to us in English. Both welcomed us to “our very beautiful, very modern school.” I could not decide if this was their feeling or if they were simply reciting what they had been taught. The building was very clean, if a bit old. It had its own water purification system that the Assistant Principal proudly showed us. The students worked from workbooks with the teachers teaching from the front of the room. Like the school in Beijing, cameras were also mounted in their classrooms so that the teachers and students could be observed. When given the opportunity, the only question the students had was asked by a young lady near the front of the room. She wanted to know if any of the Americans could speak Chinese. Sadly, we could only parrot a few phrases we had learned while here. The Chinese students begin learning English in the first grade.

 

For dinner, we again sat at a round table with a Lazy Susan that was constantly replenished. While I have enjoyed the food, I am looking forward to adding variety again to my diet. It seems that we have had the same meal every day for every meal for the entirety of our trip. I am sure that some dishes were present for some meals that were not for others, but they are running together now.

 

We ended our day with a Riverboat cruise down the center of Shanghai. The buildings come alive at night, lit with neon and splashed with colors. Walkers were everywhere enjoying the night air. We were told that as almost all city residents live in apartments, they are out and about throughout the city more than we might be because they do not have their own yards to enjoy.

Somehow I have wound up using the titles to Beatles’ songs to title each day’s entries. Today I chose “Love me do.” It really does not have anything to do with a person. It has to do with the powerful feeling that consumes me now. I cannot wait to get back home, to the U.S. While here, I have seen policemen on every corner and solders posted throughout the city. I have been unable to access Facebook, Youtube, or Twitter to share pictures or updates with friends and family. Access to my blog was blocked on the second day of my journey because I simply shared that we had visited Tiananmen Square. China is beautiful and the people we have met were awesome, but I have within me a new appreciation for our home and for the freedoms we enjoy. To my country, please allow a sappy, homesick patriot to borrow the words of four Brits and say, “Love, love me do. You know I love you. I'll always be true. So please, love me do.” As a nation and as a people, we have been blessed.

 

It will take weeks to process all that I have experienced. I am so grateful to EF for providing this trip to our State for the State Principal of the Year. It has been amazing. After seeing how hard the Chinese are working to become a global force, I am more convinced that our students must be fully prepared for life in the 21^st Century where they will have to compete with Chinese students (and others around the world) for the best jobs, collaborate with the Chinese on work teams made-up of multiple nationalities, and successfully communicate across cultures and backgrounds.

 

Thank you for sharing this journey with me. Thank you to my colleague who has been posting my blogs each day. (I’ll explain our process after I get back home.) Thank you to our school staff who have taken care of CHS in my absence. Finally, thank you to my family for being so understanding during the chaotic weeks leading up to our school’s first Graduation and my flight to China hours afterward.