Hello, Everyone!
I have been busy catching up on things here at home and with work since the departure of the delegation from China. I will update this blog soon with more (terrific) photos and posts!
Have a wonderful day!!
~Ana
Yuchen (Ken) Jiang, the other students of the delegation and their chaperone (Jane)
Friday, August 15, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
What? No updates?!!
Hi Everyone!
We're out the door early again today - but have been having an extremely exciting and eventful week so far! I promise to update the blog with some great photos and news of our visit again tonight. We're off to San Francisco today - as Yuchen (Ken), his fellow delegates, and teacher (Jane) have an appointment for lunch with the Chinese Consulate! More later........Have a great day!!
~Ana Serena
We're out the door early again today - but have been having an extremely exciting and eventful week so far! I promise to update the blog with some great photos and news of our visit again tonight. We're off to San Francisco today - as Yuchen (Ken), his fellow delegates, and teacher (Jane) have an appointment for lunch with the Chinese Consulate! More later........Have a great day!!
~Ana Serena
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Ken-Chan - Days 7 and 8.
Yuchen actually did get quite enthusiastic once we arrived at UC Davis to drop him off for the conference. He met up with Jane, their chaperone, and another student and asked enough questions about the upcoming events that he had quite a cheerful and excited face on when we pulled away.
Apart from a wonderful celebration with my family for my 40th (yikes) birthday - the remainder of Thursday and Friday were somewhat quiet in our house without our "boy" here! He is due back Sunday afternoon - and I am certain I'll have much more to write as he recounts his experience at SLC!
On a side note - our delegation from China is causing quite the media stir. Jane Guo and Jenny (Shi Si) had an interview with the Vallejo Times-Herald. There has been some chatter about the visit in the Davis Enterprise and the Sacramento Bee - and our own local paper, the Daily Republic is due to come interview Yuchen on Monday. He'll be quite pleased to take home these articles to his family - who are already so very proud of him - and rightfully so!
Apart from a wonderful celebration with my family for my 40th (yikes) birthday - the remainder of Thursday and Friday were somewhat quiet in our house without our "boy" here! He is due back Sunday afternoon - and I am certain I'll have much more to write as he recounts his experience at SLC!
On a side note - our delegation from China is causing quite the media stir. Jane Guo and Jenny (Shi Si) had an interview with the Vallejo Times-Herald. There has been some chatter about the visit in the Davis Enterprise and the Sacramento Bee - and our own local paper, the Daily Republic is due to come interview Yuchen on Monday. He'll be quite pleased to take home these articles to his family - who are already so very proud of him - and rightfully so!
Yuchen (Ken-Chan) - Day 6 - Sharing what is on our sleeves...
Quickly - I have to recount the rest of Day 5 before I go on to Day 6- because it was truly one of those memorable evenings....and, I believe, underlines precisely why families like mine welcome perfect strangers, with nearly nothing in common, in to their homes for brief periods: for a brief chance to learn a little about eachother, for the opportunity to blend together as "one people" as opposed to different people from different places, and to experience a little bit of eachother's joy.
Lauren and my mom came over - as we anticipated. We didn't make a big deal over dinner - although, as usual, Lauren created some incredible little vegan dish to get her through the evening and made a meal for Yuchen (we find, like any growing young man - he is hungry pretty much any time we ask - which is often!). During the meal - Yuchen conversed with "Grandma" and Lauren, and learned some new things about eachother. Afterward, Yuchen dashed upstairs and came back down with small, beautiful gifts. He bowed slightly with a gift in his hands for my mom (Grandma Eva) as he said, "this is for you, Grandma!!". Then he gently smiled as he extended a gift to Lauren, as well! He has this very generous and kind spirit about him - it's truly touching!
On our way home from The City, we asked Ken-Chan about teen activities in China. We were interested to hear that, although he loves music, the students do not attend concerts or dances of any kind. He had never really danced! (Ooohh, Project!!) So in the evening - Clarisse & Alexann found their favorite hip-hop CD from a class they had taken - and proceeded to show their routine to all of us. Soon - with much encouragement - we were able to get Yuchen to join in and they tought him a short routine which he "performed" for our family! We were all laughing so much - especially our new friend - and he, as he is apt to do - got out his camera for "family photos". He showed us how to use the timer feature - so we could all get in the pics. After pictures, Lauren fire danced for us all. (If you are not familiar with this process - it entails watching your beautiful, young daughter spin chains with fully ignited fire balls on each end - round and round over and around her body - with, of course, a crazy-sounding vibe of techno-pop blaring in the background!!). Yuchen was extremely thrilled to watch the dance - although, with some concern, he asked if I would "please hold a large glass of water to throw on sister". Really good stuff!
On Thursday, July 31st - we took Yuchen to UC Davis where he will spend the next few days at the 4-H State Leadership Conference. He was looking forward to the trip - although when I asked him if he was excited, he responded in his thoughtful voice, "I do not know what will happen there, or what I will be doing, and therefore I do not have any feelings about it". I pondered what Yuchen said for a while that evening- thinking how we (or at least 10 of my very closest friends and I) tend to "wear our hearts on our sleeves", often giddy with excitement when even the smalles event is up and coming. I noticed the way Yuchen takes a carefully considerate approach to many of the things he does and says. He seems wiser than me at age 16, and, in this way....has reiterated to me the value of small, careful steps in life.
Lauren and my mom came over - as we anticipated. We didn't make a big deal over dinner - although, as usual, Lauren created some incredible little vegan dish to get her through the evening and made a meal for Yuchen (we find, like any growing young man - he is hungry pretty much any time we ask - which is often!). During the meal - Yuchen conversed with "Grandma" and Lauren, and learned some new things about eachother. Afterward, Yuchen dashed upstairs and came back down with small, beautiful gifts. He bowed slightly with a gift in his hands for my mom (Grandma Eva) as he said, "this is for you, Grandma!!". Then he gently smiled as he extended a gift to Lauren, as well! He has this very generous and kind spirit about him - it's truly touching!
On our way home from The City, we asked Ken-Chan about teen activities in China. We were interested to hear that, although he loves music, the students do not attend concerts or dances of any kind. He had never really danced! (Ooohh, Project!!) So in the evening - Clarisse & Alexann found their favorite hip-hop CD from a class they had taken - and proceeded to show their routine to all of us. Soon - with much encouragement - we were able to get Yuchen to join in and they tought him a short routine which he "performed" for our family! We were all laughing so much - especially our new friend - and he, as he is apt to do - got out his camera for "family photos". He showed us how to use the timer feature - so we could all get in the pics. After pictures, Lauren fire danced for us all. (If you are not familiar with this process - it entails watching your beautiful, young daughter spin chains with fully ignited fire balls on each end - round and round over and around her body - with, of course, a crazy-sounding vibe of techno-pop blaring in the background!!). Yuchen was extremely thrilled to watch the dance - although, with some concern, he asked if I would "please hold a large glass of water to throw on sister". Really good stuff!
On Thursday, July 31st - we took Yuchen to UC Davis where he will spend the next few days at the 4-H State Leadership Conference. He was looking forward to the trip - although when I asked him if he was excited, he responded in his thoughtful voice, "I do not know what will happen there, or what I will be doing, and therefore I do not have any feelings about it". I pondered what Yuchen said for a while that evening- thinking how we (or at least 10 of my very closest friends and I) tend to "wear our hearts on our sleeves", often giddy with excitement when even the smalles event is up and coming. I noticed the way Yuchen takes a carefully considerate approach to many of the things he does and says. He seems wiser than me at age 16, and, in this way....has reiterated to me the value of small, careful steps in life.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Yuchen - Oops - I mean "Ken's" Visit - Days 3, 4, & 5
Hello, again!
We must be having a ball - because I have not had a moment to sit down and write! I'll try to keep this brief - as there is so much to tell - and, well - if you're anything like me - you probably only have a few minutes......or less, to read this!
On Monday, 7/28 (Day 3) Clarisse, Alexann and I took Yuchen to Sacramento. We stopped first to watch Kung Fu Panda on the big IMAX Screen! Fun!!
Next we had pizza for lunch - Yuchen had not ever had it - and enjoyed it very much! We then headed over to the Capitol building. We took many pictures, including photos at the entrance to the Governor's office. He was in - but had a full appointment calendar and could not come out to visit (believe me - we asked!). After about 2 hours at the Capitol - we drove over to Arco Arena. Yuchen was extremely excited to see the place where "real NBA players have been". As luck would have it - we ran into a very kind Maloof Executive - Cody Furtado - who was gracious and generous with his time and took us on a private tour of the closed arena! Yuchen was in basketball heaven!
On Tuesday, 7/29 (Day 4) - we took it easy in the morning and then took Yuchen out and about the city of Fairfield. We hit - the mall - where Yuchen was a little sad to discover that everything is quite expensive there - and many items are, well - made in China. He enjoyed looking around - but didn't buy too much. We'll have more shopping days ahead of us, I'm certain! We ended the day with a terrific picnic hosted by the 4-H Leader's Council. All of the exchange students, their chaperone from China, Jane Guo, and the host families were there. The exchange students seemed to really enjoy getting back together to compare stories and speak fluently to eachother. I enjoyed talking with Jane. She is extremely well-spoken and a very enthisiastic teacher! As I said - Yuchen has done a great job of mastering our language - and I know it can be a lot of work. He is very conscious of perfecting a statement before he says it - and searches very hard for the correct words to say. As a result - we've been blessed with such an ease in communicating with him - and he's exhausted by the end of the day from exerting so much energy! :) We truly appreciate his efforts!!
Today - Wednesday, 7/30 (can't believe it is Day 5 already!) - Rob took the day off and we headed to San Francisco with Yuchen - Uh, em - Ken.......well - let me explain....at the picnic last night - we discovered that one of the girls staying with another host family had chosen a temporary "American Name" to use - as her own name, Shi Si, can be quite difficult to pronouce in English and even in Chinese! (You're scratching your head at this point - because you don't know the pronunciation is similar to: Shhhhuh Szzchu....only much harder! :) Anyway - as we drove home, Yuchen said he thought he might like an American name, too. The girls and I bantered back and forth with some fun names like: James Bond (oh, too famous - Yuchen said) - or LeBron James (Oh, way too very famous) - or Philip Johnny Bob (the name of a book character's pet bunny). It wasn't long before Yuchen reminded us that the Chinese take choosing a name very seriously and think very carefully before doing so. A name must have strong meaning. So with a smile on his face - Yuchen said he thought we should "sleep on it" and let him know his new, American name in the morning. Of course, by morning, none of us had any ideas - except for Rob - he liked the name Ken. Clarisse looked it up and discovered it means good-looking and strong. Emphatically, Yuchen said, "yes, I think this is very good - a good name, Yes!!!" and so we call him Ken (or Ken-Chan). If we err and call him Yuchen - he gently corrects us. We've had a good laugh over it today - and Ken is enjoying his new name!
So - off we drove to San Francisco today. We went to China town. Okay - you might be scratching your head again at this point - but we Ken seemed quite excited to go there. He is extremely proud and knowledgeable about his culture and was eager to share information and stories with us - of course, with the help of some "props" all through China Town! With Yuchen's help - we found a terrific and very authentic Chinese restaurant and had dim sum and noodles. Quite good - quite different than what you'd get at Panda Express - and very enjoyable!
We headed home over the Golden Gate Bridge - a very beautiful site to see in its semi-foggy condition. We arrived home to find a basket waiting from my Dad (Dennis). Rob explained that it is a birthday gift as "Mama's" birthday is tomorrow....Without a word - our Dear Yuchen raced up the stairs and came back down with a beautiful, hand-carved fan. "I have a gift for you!!" - he exclaimed and I was delighted and very touched by his warm spirit and generosity!
We are home now - the house is very quiet....and we are waiting for Grandma (Eva) and Lauren to come home so we can spend the evening together. Yuchen has not yet met Lauren and I think they will enjoy each other's company very much. Every time we've taken a "family" picture - Yuchen states - "everyone is here except Lauren" - so I know he is anxious to make her acquaintance!
We must be having a ball - because I have not had a moment to sit down and write! I'll try to keep this brief - as there is so much to tell - and, well - if you're anything like me - you probably only have a few minutes......or less, to read this!
On Monday, 7/28 (Day 3) Clarisse, Alexann and I took Yuchen to Sacramento. We stopped first to watch Kung Fu Panda on the big IMAX Screen! Fun!!
Next we had pizza for lunch - Yuchen had not ever had it - and enjoyed it very much! We then headed over to the Capitol building. We took many pictures, including photos at the entrance to the Governor's office. He was in - but had a full appointment calendar and could not come out to visit (believe me - we asked!). After about 2 hours at the Capitol - we drove over to Arco Arena. Yuchen was extremely excited to see the place where "real NBA players have been". As luck would have it - we ran into a very kind Maloof Executive - Cody Furtado - who was gracious and generous with his time and took us on a private tour of the closed arena! Yuchen was in basketball heaven!
On Tuesday, 7/29 (Day 4) - we took it easy in the morning and then took Yuchen out and about the city of Fairfield. We hit - the mall - where Yuchen was a little sad to discover that everything is quite expensive there - and many items are, well - made in China. He enjoyed looking around - but didn't buy too much. We'll have more shopping days ahead of us, I'm certain! We ended the day with a terrific picnic hosted by the 4-H Leader's Council. All of the exchange students, their chaperone from China, Jane Guo, and the host families were there. The exchange students seemed to really enjoy getting back together to compare stories and speak fluently to eachother. I enjoyed talking with Jane. She is extremely well-spoken and a very enthisiastic teacher! As I said - Yuchen has done a great job of mastering our language - and I know it can be a lot of work. He is very conscious of perfecting a statement before he says it - and searches very hard for the correct words to say. As a result - we've been blessed with such an ease in communicating with him - and he's exhausted by the end of the day from exerting so much energy! :) We truly appreciate his efforts!!
Today - Wednesday, 7/30 (can't believe it is Day 5 already!) - Rob took the day off and we headed to San Francisco with Yuchen - Uh, em - Ken.......well - let me explain....at the picnic last night - we discovered that one of the girls staying with another host family had chosen a temporary "American Name" to use - as her own name, Shi Si, can be quite difficult to pronouce in English and even in Chinese! (You're scratching your head at this point - because you don't know the pronunciation is similar to: Shhhhuh Szzchu....only much harder! :) Anyway - as we drove home, Yuchen said he thought he might like an American name, too. The girls and I bantered back and forth with some fun names like: James Bond (oh, too famous - Yuchen said) - or LeBron James (Oh, way too very famous) - or Philip Johnny Bob (the name of a book character's pet bunny). It wasn't long before Yuchen reminded us that the Chinese take choosing a name very seriously and think very carefully before doing so. A name must have strong meaning. So with a smile on his face - Yuchen said he thought we should "sleep on it" and let him know his new, American name in the morning. Of course, by morning, none of us had any ideas - except for Rob - he liked the name Ken. Clarisse looked it up and discovered it means good-looking and strong. Emphatically, Yuchen said, "yes, I think this is very good - a good name, Yes!!!" and so we call him Ken (or Ken-Chan). If we err and call him Yuchen - he gently corrects us. We've had a good laugh over it today - and Ken is enjoying his new name!
So - off we drove to San Francisco today. We went to China town. Okay - you might be scratching your head again at this point - but we Ken seemed quite excited to go there. He is extremely proud and knowledgeable about his culture and was eager to share information and stories with us - of course, with the help of some "props" all through China Town! With Yuchen's help - we found a terrific and very authentic Chinese restaurant and had dim sum and noodles. Quite good - quite different than what you'd get at Panda Express - and very enjoyable!
We headed home over the Golden Gate Bridge - a very beautiful site to see in its semi-foggy condition. We arrived home to find a basket waiting from my Dad (Dennis). Rob explained that it is a birthday gift as "Mama's" birthday is tomorrow....Without a word - our Dear Yuchen raced up the stairs and came back down with a beautiful, hand-carved fan. "I have a gift for you!!" - he exclaimed and I was delighted and very touched by his warm spirit and generosity!
We are home now - the house is very quiet....and we are waiting for Grandma (Eva) and Lauren to come home so we can spend the evening together. Yuchen has not yet met Lauren and I think they will enjoy each other's company very much. Every time we've taken a "family" picture - Yuchen states - "everyone is here except Lauren" - so I know he is anxious to make her acquaintance!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Yuchen's Visit - Day 2 - Putting Time in Perspective
Yuchen's second day with us - Sunday - has come and gone. Our family woke early, in anticipation of talking & visiting more with our guest. However, we overlooked the fact that 4 full days of traveling across thousands of miles might take its toll on a 16-year old boy - which it had! Yuchen woke - and greeted us all with a cheerful "good morning" - and was absolutely shocked when he realized it was 3:30 PM! We considered waking him earlier - but thought it might be best to let him fully catch up on his sleep - as we have LOTS planned for the days ahead!
Yuchen speaks English very well. He has much to share, and uses an electronic translator to help bridge the gaps when he is unsure of words or expressions. This has helped our ability to communicate with him immensely! He is extremely proficient in his knowledge of computers (although he has only been using them for about 4 years!). We have been using the laptop to help us communicate - often showing eachother pictures and words to get our points across. Yuchen helped us download a language translator on the computer - and we are now able to translate English words into Chinese symbols! As a result - Yuchen was able to log on to a chat center used by his family. His mother, father, aunt, and grandparents were on line and we had conversations with them all! Yuchen's mother and aunt, and I have web-cams and so we were able to see eachother! So here we were - on a Sunday afternoon in California - visting with Yuchen's family - thousands of miles away in Ji'An City, China! Clarisse showed Yuchen's mother two of her latest school projects (a fully detailed, handdrawn map of China and an "ancient" Chinese seismograph she made from clay); Alexann brought down one of her teddy bears to show on camera. Yuchen's mother was delighted to see them and "chat" with the girls! Yuchen's youngest cousin - aged 1 year - was being held by his doting grandmother in the background where his aunt was online. We could see the child's smiling face - and his enthusiasm as he tried to "hug" the computer when he saw Yuchen & Alexann! So cute!!!!!!
It was an amazing experience for us all!
Later - as we talked and visited with Yuchen - he remembered he had brought some materials for us about his school. We were astounded to discover his school was founded in the year 1241! Yuchen spoke enthusiastically about the history of Bailuzhou Senior Middle School and many notables that have attended there. When Rob and I explained that our whole country is only a fraction of the age of Yuchen's school - he exclaimed with much pride, "China has 5,000 years of history"......this was really and truly humbling and enlightening all at the same time!
Yuchen speaks English very well. He has much to share, and uses an electronic translator to help bridge the gaps when he is unsure of words or expressions. This has helped our ability to communicate with him immensely! He is extremely proficient in his knowledge of computers (although he has only been using them for about 4 years!). We have been using the laptop to help us communicate - often showing eachother pictures and words to get our points across. Yuchen helped us download a language translator on the computer - and we are now able to translate English words into Chinese symbols! As a result - Yuchen was able to log on to a chat center used by his family. His mother, father, aunt, and grandparents were on line and we had conversations with them all! Yuchen's mother and aunt, and I have web-cams and so we were able to see eachother! So here we were - on a Sunday afternoon in California - visting with Yuchen's family - thousands of miles away in Ji'An City, China! Clarisse showed Yuchen's mother two of her latest school projects (a fully detailed, handdrawn map of China and an "ancient" Chinese seismograph she made from clay); Alexann brought down one of her teddy bears to show on camera. Yuchen's mother was delighted to see them and "chat" with the girls! Yuchen's youngest cousin - aged 1 year - was being held by his doting grandmother in the background where his aunt was online. We could see the child's smiling face - and his enthusiasm as he tried to "hug" the computer when he saw Yuchen & Alexann! So cute!!!!!!
It was an amazing experience for us all!
Later - as we talked and visited with Yuchen - he remembered he had brought some materials for us about his school. We were astounded to discover his school was founded in the year 1241! Yuchen spoke enthusiastically about the history of Bailuzhou Senior Middle School and many notables that have attended there. When Rob and I explained that our whole country is only a fraction of the age of Yuchen's school - he exclaimed with much pride, "China has 5,000 years of history"......this was really and truly humbling and enlightening all at the same time!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Yuchen's Visit - Day #1
What an amazing experience - already! We met Yuchen at the University of California Cooperative Extension program. He traveled from Ji'An City, China by train to Beijing (a 19-hour ride!) - then flew from Beijing to San Francisco (11 hours) non-stop. He and the other 5 delegates, plus their adult chaperone (Jane) arrived in Fairfield at 3:30 PM. All were excited and it was an eventful first hour.
We brought Yuchen home and visited with him. He speaks excellent English, having taken an English class for over 6 years - and our communication has been a great learning experience. Clarisse and Alexann seem to be quite at ease talking with Yuchen - and they've been conversing through the evening.
We all certainly have one language in common: BASKETBALL!! Yuchen is quite good - although he is humble to say so - and he played a couple of games with Rob and the girls tonight.
Much more to share in the days ahead......
Cheers!
We brought Yuchen home and visited with him. He speaks excellent English, having taken an English class for over 6 years - and our communication has been a great learning experience. Clarisse and Alexann seem to be quite at ease talking with Yuchen - and they've been conversing through the evening.
We all certainly have one language in common: BASKETBALL!! Yuchen is quite good - although he is humble to say so - and he played a couple of games with Rob and the girls tonight.
Much more to share in the days ahead......
Cheers!
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