Hi Chris!  Thanks for your daily messages!!  And I love getting the messages
that you forward from my friends.  All of them really make my day.

To answer some questions about what exactly we are teaching here:
There are four of us, teachers, here from San Luis Obispo County.  We are
teaching Chinese teachers, who for the most part teach English to middle and
high school students. We each teach four periods in the morning.  Lucy is
teaching about the United States and the students are participating in a
simulation of a trip across the U.S. In small groups they had to decide what
kind of vehicle they would travel in, what supplies/luggage they would take,
and what route (they begin their journey from a west coast city and travel
to the east coast).  Each day, they travel and pull "fate" cards that make
certain events happen.  For example, one group today ran into bad weather
and experienced a flood.  Marlene is using children's literature and poetry,
plus folk art, to teach English.  Lynne is teaching literature unit around
"Sign of the Beaver."  This is a chapter book about a young settler boy who
befriends a Native American boy.  Through this, she is teaching the elements
of literature, history of Native Americans, and, of course, English
vocabulary and fluency.  In addition to teaching English and instructional
methodologies, I am teaching about American culture, using homemade video
footage of different settings:  restaurants, airport, school, DMV, medical
clinic, furniture store, grocery store, etc. Yesterday, we studied American
food vocabulary and watched video footage of Chris, Marlene and I eating at
Hudson's Grill (a restaurant in San Luis Obispo). Today the students were
involved in simulating an American restaurant.  They worked in small groups,
taking turns being the server.  They used American menus that I had gathered
and brought with me, and took each others' orders.  They had great fun and
really enjoyed looking over the menus.  I took some pictures and I hope they
turn out well.  In the afternoons, we team teach for two periods.  We do
songs, dance, journal writing, and activities that require much interaction
in English.  Today, the students took each other on a "blind walk."  They
had to lead their partner around (who was blindfolded) and  give
instructions in English.  They were having a ball.  It was a great stimulus
for oral English and also for building trust and friendship between the
students.  I got some of this on video.  Later, we sang songs, including the
"Hokey Pokey."  They love it!!  They are so enthusiastic.  I can't wait to
show the video of these wonderful people.

Tomorrow we are going to Beijing again (for the day).  We will tour the
inside of the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, (both at Teinnenman Square)
and we will go again to the Hard Rock Cafe.  Every minute of every day is
planned for us.  We have very little time to relax.  It is very tiring, but
a great experience.    This morning we took our first Tai Chi class.  Our
teacher was amazing.  He was so graceful and balanced.  He was beautiful to
watch.  He used to be a chemistry teacher here at the high school.  I
believe he is retired now.  We were a pretty sorry looking bunch, but it was
wonderful. We will continue to have lessons every morning at 7 a.m.  I have
also been jogging a little at the track here. It is a primitive dirt track,
300 meters around.  I go at about 5:30 a.m., because that is when it is
coolest and the fewest mosquitoes (they are really out in the evenings).
The air here is so thick with moisture and so very polluted.  Visibility
cannot be more than a couple of miles, if even that.  I remember when we
first landed in Beijing from the U.S.  It looked like the weather would be
cool because the air looked foggy (kind of like Morro Bay).  But the moment
we stepped out of the plane, we were choked by the stagnant, warm, moist SMOG!

Well, I will go for now.  Continue writing and encourage others to write me
also!

Love,  Sally