Spring Festival

Last night, the Chinese teachers gave a performance or a sampling of what there Spring Festival is like. It seems similar to our Christmas. All the family members come home and spend time with each other. They also make jioazi--a Chinese dumpling filled with meat or vegetables.

The Chinese teachers gave an excellent performance, and they had even bought some jioazi for each of us North American teachers. I got to participate in the performance last night also. It was wonderful to work with them. Many of them know some beautiful dances--similar to waltzes. They are so graceful.

The older people in China especially like to dance. In the evenings, they will meet in the park and dance together. It's a beautiful dance, and the dancing helps them keep fit. One evening, I walked with some North American teachers and one Chinese teachers to watch their dancing. The Chinese teachers recruited one of the dancers to help me learn. It was quite an experience following the directions in Chinese, but by the end, I had the hang of it.

Tomorrow, we will travel about 2 hours out of Beijing to a place called Yu Shan Poo. It's a beautiful place with a large mountain and much to see. This is our last week-end here with our students. On Sunday, I will go to church with a few students and then we will go shopping. I hope to find one Chinese dress or shirt as a souvenir.

Thank you for all your thoughts. My room-mate is feeling much better, but has decided not to eat the food in the cafeteria anymore. Well, take care.