More tours of schools today. First stop was an impressive "experimental" school that was brand new (although originally started in 1959) with amazing facilities. More watching a 7th grade English class. This teacher only had 2 months experience but she was very good, as were the students. Next stop was another school, but we had to grab a quick lunch as we were starving. Our host kept apologizing for the "fast food" but it was as good or better than any top Chinese food in LA. Then the tables were turned as we were in a "free talk" class, so the students got to ask us questions (and vice versa). We're trying to get data to help in the design of some lanugage software. They wanted to know about the American educational system. China's schools are very different...students are in class all day 6 days a week and often on Sunday if they are preparing for exams. And uniforms are the rule. But the kids were very interesting. Oddly my American hubris was showing, as I had assumed that they would want to visit American and find out about our country. Turns out that really isn't the case. They watch American movies and some TV shows (Friends? egad), but the reality is that the world does not revolve around the US. Lesson learned. Lots of lessons learned in this trip. I'll never look at things the same again. On many different levels. I can't wait to continue some discussions in a new light, and maybe start all over again. Time will tell.
