Recent Changes

When you start carving you need to worry the stone to get an indentation, after that? Well it's easy. We all had a full complement of fingers at the end. Everybody had the character completed on their stone and most were pretty good too.
There wasn't even a cut finger! All this in a bird hide in the Xixi wetlands Park. Are we good or what then!
What another great day! We visited the Silk Museum and did our tie dye activity. I was SOOO impressed with the results. There will be some natty neckerchiefs being sported throughout DB next week! Tying those little knots in the silk was a tricky job though everyone managed pretty well.
Shopping this afternoon. What an amazing variety of stuff to bargain for! Some hard bargaining going on and DBIS pupils getting into the swing of this bargaining lark, spitting out the Mandarin like real old hands. Hope you all enjoy your presents although I hear that some parents are rather hard to please and some brothers and sisters will have a choice of whether or not to accept the presents – there will be a home for them with the buyers if they don’t want to have them!
We have some fabulous dancers in Year 6! What a bunch of movers they are. No hesitating there the dance floor was covered. Our hotel staff was amazed and crowded into the room to watch. It was a really great disco guys!

Wednesday Night
The children of the Dragon Warriors, today they have changed into The Flaming Dragon :), have continued to have fun at our third day activities. They have worked hard on dyeing their piece of silk with beautiful patterns. They will certainly show you when they are back. Then they worked very efficiently at the treasure hunt. It took the winner only eight minutes to get all the answers done. They were a bit shy when they sat in the Year 6 English lesson of the Xing Zhi Primary School at the beginning. Then, one after another, they joined the activities with enthusiasm. They enjoyed playing a lot with the children later on. The most exciting program of the day was the Magic show. The children tried so hard to learn the different magic although they experienced some frustration. They have had a very busy day and now they are sleeping very well, I am sure. That is it for today.
Xie Laoshi
Thursday Night
Our day began with the plate painting at the pottery museum. Everyone has done very nice painting. Then Jemma and Nada did the sculpture with the clay when Megan, Melissa, Owen, George, Dino and Luke did the pottery. They were very keen to learn the skills to do it well and they did a great job. You will be impressed when you see their work. They were busy at shopping for their souvenirs in the afternoon. They bargained with great effort and they were so excited to tell me every time they got the things with the price they bargained. You should be proud of their performance. Moreover, everyone did their packing up so efficiently after the shopping. I was also impressed by their work at tidying up their room every day. Melissa has got the first prize at both tidying up and effort at doing her diary. They are the best group I have among my four Year 6 China trips. I think their parents should be very proud of them. I am sure that they are sleeping soundly now after their exciting quiz and disco night this evening.
We will be back tomorrow and I am sure that they will let you know in detailed about this week if they are not too tired. You should be looking forward to hearing from them.
On behalf of every child in my group, let me say, ’See you tomorrow!’
Xie Laoshi

Until tomorrow,
Mrs Jordan and Ocean’s 9
Thursday Night
So, we have almost made it to the end of our trip and we can’t believe how quickly it has gone! Mind you, we have been so busy that it’s easy to see where the hours went. As I type this, the children are well on their way to dreamland after an exhausting couple of hours at our disco and quiz night, where they learnt a number of different facts about the Year 6 teachers, including Mr Hunts’ prior success in music! This was followed by some excellent catwalk moves and dancing to the tunes provided by me (A.K.A DJ Jordan). I was surprised to see such energy, especially since we spent a long day biking, seal carving and shopping! Just one more day to go and then we fly them back into your arms and for a well deserved rest! I suggest getting the washing machine ready for the large amount of laundry that is coming your way…until tomorrow.
Mrs Jordan and ‘Ocean’s 9’

Tomorrow is the Silk museum and tie dying.
Mr Hunt
Thursday Night
Well here we are on the last evening and we have just had the most fun and fantastic disco/quiz night. I am absolutely amazed at how good the children are at dancing – when I was their age you would be lucky to get me to do a slide across the floor on the knees. Coordinated moves, synchronization, group tactics and that was just the boys!
Yesterday we went to the silk museum and took part in tie dyeing and the children produced some great patterns. We also visited a local school and joined in with their lessons and played with them outside. It’s great to see children playing together and the language barrier was just not an issue. Hopefully we will be able to forge some further links with them and build the relationship over the internet. We had an evening stroll along the west Lake and went back to the hotel for a magic show. Your children will be able to amaze you with their magical prowess. I tell you something though you would not want to play poker with Master Zhao.
Today was another early start and we set off to the pottery museum. I have some great video of the children working at the potter’s wheel and we will find a way that you can have a look at them. After that we had a very traditional Chinese meal at the Imperial Golden Arches Restaurant. We had a Hangzhao delicacy of fried potato, meat patties and a special drink made from a secret recipe which has been passed down from generation to generation. I believe they have several outlets in Hong Kong under the name of McDonald’s. We then set off on a marathon shopping trip down the street of earthly wonders. You will be amazed at the tasteful gifts your children have bought for you and their various siblings.
Tomorrow we have our final activity which is the bike ride through the wetlands. We have been busy chasing up the rogue socks which seem to have disappeared – where do they go.
Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow.
(Mr Hunt)

Wednesday Night
Wow! What a busy week Ocean’s 9 have had so far! Pottery, hiking, painting, visiting school children, magic, and more tomorrow – biking, seal carving, dancing, eating! There has even been time for some sleeping! The children are having a great time and I reckon will be sad to leave Hangzhou. There should be some photos uploaded for you to see and expect more to come.
Until tomorrow,
Mrs
Mrs Jordan and Ocean’s 9

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Wednesday Night
The children of the Dragon Warriors, today they have changed into The Flaming Dragon :), have continued to have fun at our third day activities. They have worked hard on dyeing their piece of silk with beautiful patterns. They will certainly show you when they are back. Then they worked very efficiently at the treasure hunt. It took the winner only eight minutes to get all the answers done. They were a bit shy when they sat in the Year 6 English lesson of the Xing Zhi Primary School at the beginning. Then, one after another, they joined the activities with enthusiasm. They enjoyed playing a lot with the children later on. The most exciting program of the day was the Magic show. The children tried so hard to learn the different magic although they experienced some frustration. They have had a very busy day and now they are sleeping very well, I am sure. That is it for today.
Xie Laoshi

View more presentations from stanhopekris.
Hangzhou 2009 Wednesday
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Hangzhou 2009 Disco 1
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Imagine the scene. A beautiful clear sky, a sunny drenched park, the birds tweeting merrily, herons striding majestically through the ponds and suddenly!
every time!!
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Looking forward to an action packed day tomorrow.
Mr. Loran
Well we have followed up an action packed day yesterday with an equally exhausting yet exciting day. Yesterday we were enjoying the beautiful city of Hangzhuo by making pottery, eating gorgeous Chinese food, a school visit and after dinner experiencing Hangzhuos finest magician. It really was a fantastically well organised day. Our guide is first class - which is hit and miss sometimes - and the over all running of the trip has been expertly put together. It was lovely to see the children interacting with the local chinese students - kids have a wonderful ability to overcome cultural and language barriers that adults find difficult to deal with at times.
So today - we have been biking around the local wetlands centre - sadly lacking in bird life due to the time of year - but a beautiful place all the same. We followed this up with lunch and shopping in the cities market area - a long street lined with ornate architecture and rammed full of junk...... I mean the finest trinkets and treats the parents will undobtedly cherish as gifts from their loving children......... that is if you have a daughter as the boys spent all of their money on magic tricks and toys!!! We are all having a lovel time yet looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow. Enjoy the photos.