Zaijian, Linhai!

Today was our last day in Linhai. Time flies when you're having fun! The jet lag is long gone, strangers have now become friends, and we changed our palates for Chinese food... or, as our Chinese freinds would say for that last one, kaiwanxiao! Just kidding! :)

We spent our last day at the high school, which is a fitting farewell. In the morning, we had classes: English, Chinese papercutting, and Chinese calligraphy. All 3 classes were good ones to have on the "last day of school."

Ms. Vivian Tang taught our English class. She has been with us throughout the trip. Vivian is from Taizhou and studied English at the university. Vivian said our accents were difficult to understand- she speaks Australian English :) It is very funny talking to her and hearing HER accent. Anyway, she did a very good lesson that was not a language lesson at all; she taught a geography/history lesson about Linhai and made some comparisons to the United States. She did her homework- she knew the year that Ohio became a state (1803) and when Cleveland was founded (1796). Very few of OUR students knew that! Linhai's Old City Wall, or Southern Great Wall, was built during the Jin dynasty, some 1,300 years before Cleveland existed. She compared the size of Zhejiang province (like a state) to Kentucky; however, it has the population of Alabama, Pennsylvania, and California COMBINED. The population of Linhai is 1.09 million and growing rapidly; the population of Cleveland is just below 500,000 and falling... thanks, LeBron. She shared the exports of Linhai and what the province is known for (yao mei, oranges/tangerines, seafood). After her presentation, the students interviewed one another to learn about their hometowns. It was an engaging class.

Next was papercutting. The teacher spoke Chinese and showed us some very intricate designs. We had the opportunity to make two paper cuts and the students realized it is much harder than it looks. The paper is like tissue paper and you must always think one step ahead so you do not ruin the patterns.

Unfortunately, I was a very poor student and not interested in the lesson at all. My Blackberry was passed back and forth across the back row as we awaiting LeBron's announcement. We tried to avoid an outburst when we heard the news... and that was tough. It was pouring outside and "The Decision" was added to the long list of Cleveland sports heartbreak... cutting out designs in paper just wasn't going to cheer us up. Huefe (Joe's partner- NO idea how to spell his name- no American name) told me that now I have to start cheering for Kobe or Wade, his favorite players. I said no way and asked him why not Yao? His answer: he is slow and boring. I think I'll stick to the Browns for now.

After paper cutting, we learned Chinese calligraphy. Our Chinese classes at Chagrin do this. Our teacher is actually an English teacher at the school, so he walked us through the steps. The brush strokes must be made a certain way and in a certain order. It definitely takes patience to practice this art! I liked it a lot, but, as always, I had no idea what I was doing. Mike, Nathan's host, told me that my writing was better than his, but I was just copying the script on the wall above the board. I think I wrote something about Huipu High School? The teacher gave each and every student a personalized paper, a nice way to end the morning.

After lunch and a break, we came back to the school for some basketball! Students could play if they wanted to- and 7 did. We played two games and yes, we DID play against the school teams! We split up into two teams for two different games. In the first game, Joe, John, Sam, Thomas, and I played against their boys team. We played against two of their best players from Senior 3 (the top level, like varsity senior year) and 3 players from Junior 3 (like freshmen). Huipu is known for their basketball- so these guys were tall and very good! The first few minutes they shot the lights out and at one point we were down 10. They could run the floor very well and jumped over us for rebounds. But we are Chagrin and we rallied back. With some outside shooting and a few offensive boards, we tied the score at 24-24. They scored then their coach (who was reffing) called the game. We decided it shouldn't count and it was a tie :) We were all very tired and very sweaty... gross.

In the next game, Kelsey, Tina, Maddie, Blair (Thomas' host), Huefe (Joe's host), and Mike (Nathan's host) took on the girls' Junior 3 team. It was a physical game! Blair and Mike kept knocking girls over (accidentally... we think) and Maddie is feisty! However, it was the same result: a 14-14 tie, then game over once they scored again. It was so much fun. We took a lot of pictures with the guys after the games and Sam & John played a little 2-on-2 with their guys as well.

I had a very interesting conversation with their basketball coaches, with Vivian as the translator. They couldn't understand how I was a coach without a certificate or why I wasn't a PE teacher. All coaches teach PE classes there and had to get a certificate, like a degree, to coach each specific sport. They also have NO concept of student-athlete. I told them that students must meet a certain grade point average to play because school comes first. Some of their players, however, were recruited for basketball. The coach asked if the best player was failing, would I still put her in? I told him absolutely not, because it was against the rules, and he looked at me like I was crazy. It is so interesting because Huipu prides itself in academic success, yet they really make exceptions for their basketball players. I guess it is a lot like the NCAA, but it makes me wonder about what these high school students are learning.

After quick showers at home, we were off to the farewell dinner at the International Hotel in Linhai. It was a wonderful evening of speeches, toasts, good food, great company, and gifts. The students all received the Huipu High School track jackets was a parting gift, which was a VERY pleasant surprise (I'm a little jealous). We took TONS of pictures after dinner. I think I was in more pictures tonight than I have been at any wedding or graduation. Why the parents wanted me in the host family picture with them is beyond me and my cheeks still hurt as a result.

This is plenty for tonight- my thumbs start to hurt after a while from typing on this phone! In response to Carole's comment earlier, I am sorry that there are no pictures to post as we go along, but I am glad that you are using your imaginations. I will set up a Snapfish account for everyone to put their pictures on after the trip. Also, we had a photographer/videographer with us EVERY DAY who will be giving us a DVD with everything. We will get copies of that distributed as well.

We leave early tomorrow morning for Hangzhou (pronounced Han Joe). It is a little over halfway between Linhai and Shanghai. Vivian's husband told me at lunch that it is famous for "West Lake and the beautiful women." Um... yeah. I'll let you know what it's like when we get there. There are several temples and pagodas around West Lake that I would love to see.

TGIF!