Days 1-7 | Days
8-14 | Days
15-21
Day 1: June 20
Author: n/a
Location: Somewhere in the sky
Wake up, put your toothbrush in your bag, and head out to begin the journey
to China. Students meet in Chicago's O'Hare Airport and fly together to Beijing
Day 2: June 21
Author: n/a
Location: Beijing
Students arrive in Beijing and are met by the rest of the staff. They receive
the initial orientation and catch up on rest.
Day 3: June 22
Author: Averill
Location: Beijing
So...on to first reactions to China:
Surprising everyone did really well with the food, even Ally! After we ate a huge Chinese meal with a ton of different dishes she exclaimed, "I like
rice!" Libby found it a little strange to be eating vegetables for breakfast,
but she handled the situation well. After the biggest "continental" breakfast
of our lives, Brent came to give us an orientation. Post
orientation we headed to lunch at another Chinese restaurant (go figure) and
then to the Summer Palace. Ha...ActionQuest, you thought you were the only ones,
but we were actually shipmates today too. We paddled around the lake in the Summer
Palace. Interesting enough, we were also asked several times by the Chinese
if they could take pictures with us. Dwayne was a favorite. This was also where
many of us got to experience our first squat toilet...yippeeee! Hand sanitizer
is a must in this country. After summer palace we headed to Jenny Lou's market
to stock up on snacks (crunchy bambams beaker!) and Cason was soooo excited
about seeing western food that he bought about 10 boxes of chips ahoy, digestives,
and crackers! Yes, dinner was another Chinese meal. Some of the kids saw the
hospice for the first time and then we headed back to the hotel to prepare
for tomorrow's trip out to the country!
We will try to update the blog as frequently as possible, but it may not be
as possible until we return to Beijing. Zai Jian until then!
Day 4: June 23
Author: Brit
Location: Limng
Today we drove from Beijing to Liming. At the bathroom break, the bus had problems
so we waited at the rest stop for awhile. I found it interesting that when we
were sitting at the rest stop, every Chinese person who walked by blatantly starred
at us. When we arrived in Liming, the food was totally different than we expected.
Everyone is looking forward to our first day of work tomorrow.
Day 5: June 24
Author: Libby
Location: Liming Family Orphanage & Rehab
Center
Today started with a big reality check for everyone. A baby was dropped off in
a cardboard box outside of the orphanage. We were all impressed by how
quickly the orphanage got it ready for a trip to Beijing to get medical care.
At the orphanage playing with the kids seemed difficult because of the language
barrier, but I was amazed to see every child and every Lifeworker playing happily
with no trouble at all. Even though these kids are disabled, they are all so
happy and full of life. From one simple "hello," they would have the hugest smile
and start laughing.
LW China Podcast #1
Cason calls in the first-ever Lifeworks China audio update. Travel tribulations, unexpectedly pleasant accommodations, the first rural meal and some great first experiences mark the first update from the group.
Day 6: June 25
Author: Ally
Location: Liming
Today was my first day working at the rehabilitation center. Though we still
worked with children that have similar disabilities to those at the orphanage,
the work was very different from the activities yesterday. Instead of playing
with the children through games and arts & crafts, we helped out performing physical
therapy and teaching English. At times, it was difficult to handle all the children
crying of pain - but I was amazed by their resilience and ability to smile again
after each exercise.
Day 7: June 26
Author: Bridger
Location: Liming
Today was my 2nd day at the Liming orphanage. After we ate breakfast, where me
and Dwayne drank the entire apple juice, we went into the main courtyard and
helped feed the kids their breakfast. After the kids were done eating Ally went
with some of them into the playroom while the rest of us went into the arts and
crafts room with a few of the older kids. I hung out with (forgive the spelling,
I'm not sure how its supposed to be) Tien La La. She gave me a banana as a gift
and we ate sun flower seeds while making bracelets and she sewed. Alice, Emily,
Amy Lee and I all played hacky sac with a home-made birdie that would normally
be used to play badminton. After a while we were called into the main building
where we helped feed the children their lunch, then we headed back to the room
for our lunch. We rested in the girls common room, like normal, and then went
and played with the kids until the other group who had been at the Rehab Center
for the day. Overall we had a busy and fun day! I cant wait 'till tomorrow.
Days 1-7 | Days 8-14 | Days 15-21
