We finally landed in Beijing around 10:30 and made our way to customs. We cleared customs easily and picked up our bags. As we left the secure location, we met Kathy and Michael, two high school students and friends of Hannah waiting for us with a bus. It was about a 45 minute ride to the school where Hannah met us at the gate. She showed us our rooms and after a quick shower everyone was in their beds. Most of us ended up getting to bed about 2:00 AM Beijing time, but it felt like 1 PM to our bodies.
We were up and ready to go at 7:00 this morning, met for morning devotion and discussed the day ahead. We had a typical Chinese breakfast - noodles, soup, and a hard boiled egg. We met for the morning opening with the Chinese students and then went off to our classrooms to begin our week of teaching.
The St. Croix students had worked hard to prepare their lessons for the week and now had the opportunity to use them. They all did a nice job but realized that teaching children is tiring work!
The teaching coupled with the change in time zone (we are now 13 hours ahead of Central time) really took its toll on all of us. By the time the last class finished we were all ready for bed. We ate supper and went back to our rooms. Mr. Sievert woke everyone back up at 7:00 for evening entertainment so they could connect with the kids outside of the classroom and get a chance to know them better. That lasted for about 45 minutes and then we were all back to the dorms, showering and going to bed. I think the last person headed to bed about 8:30 and no one woke up until it was time to get up at 6:00 AM Tuesday morning.
We finally landed in Beijing around 10:30 and made our way to customs. We cleared customs easily and picked up our bags. As we left the secure location, we met Kathy and Michael, two high school students and friends of Hannah waiting for us with a bus. It was about a 45 minute ride to the school where Hannah met us at the gate. She showed us our rooms and after a quick shower everyone was in their beds. Most of us ended up getting to bed about 2:00 AM Beijing time, but it felt like 1 PM to our bodies.
We were up and ready to go at 7:00 this morning, met for morning devotion and discussed the day ahead. We had a typical Chinese breakfast - noodles, soup, and a hard boiled egg. We met for the morning opening with the Chinese students and then went off to our classrooms to begin our week of teaching.
The St. Croix students had worked hard to prepare their lessons for the week and now had the opportunity to use them. They all did a nice job but realized that teaching children is tiring work!
The teaching coupled with the change in time zone (we are now 13 hours ahead of Central time) really took its toll on all of us. By the time the last class finished we were all ready for bed. We ate supper and went back to our rooms. Mr. Sievert woke everyone back up at 7:00 for evening entertainment so they could connect with the kids outside of the classroom and get a chance to know them better. That lasted for about 45 minutes and then we were all back to the dorms, showering and going to bed. I think the last person headed to bed about 8:30 and no one woke up until it was time to get up at 6:00 AM Tuesday morning.
You can see pictures from the day at my Flicker account.
Next: Day 2