2010-06-24 China - Jingzhou Elementary School

Today was a visit to the Jingzhou Elementary School that Viking has sponsored for the past ten or so years. We were greeted by a drum and bugle corps, lining the walk on each side. Many students came to shake hands or give a "high five". Then there was a dance performance with singing, and after the very warm welcome we went to the classroom to be entertained by more singing. Then the teacher told the children to get out their English lesson books, and each of the students got their own personal English tutor. My student was pretty good; he was a third-grader, and the lesson book had had a lot of phrases and number exercises. We went through the numbers to 20, then the alphabet, and then phrases. It was an enjoyable morning, and hopefully the children will be more favorably disposed to Westerners as they get older.

Note: If you'd like to contribute more to the School Fund, I got this information from Viking:
"Thank you for your recent online inquiry.
If you would like to make a donation to one of the children or to the school in general you can use the account information found below. Each child requires about 200 US dollars for school every year. This would be an excellent amount if you were looking to sponsor a child for one year, but we would appreciate any donation you would be so gracious to give. You can do a money transfer directly from your bank to the account below. If there is a specific child name you would like the amount to go to specifically, be sure to make a note of this.

Jingzhou: (for VRC school #1 and #2)
Payee: JING ZHOU SHI SHA SHI QU JIAO YU JU
Payee bank: BANK OF CHINA HUBEI JINGZHOU BRANCH
Account Nr: 18305208093014
Swift Code: BKCHCNBJ600

Best regards,
Viking River Cruises
877-668-4546"

After the school visit and return to the ship, we set sail for Yueyang, enjoying more scenic cruising.

There was an interesting lecture on "China Today" that told us what China has been doing in the past 30 years or so, after Mao died and the more progressive Chinese leaders took control. We heard about the "one child" policy, and how it has changed many aspects of everyday life. The change from a closed country to a much more open policy has been evolutionary, and continues today. Education has become an important goal for the future advancement of China on the world stage.

Later we learned the rules on how to play basic Mahjong the way the Chinese do; it is a universal pastime, especially among the older people. We did not learn how to score, just the basic moves and strategies. If you are interested in the Chinese rules, they are here. Other countries have different rules (written and unwritten!); see here for more.