Minor aftershocks continued occasionally through the morning, but the local people don’t seem too worried. School continues and we joined them for a sports exchange, playing futsal in mixed teams, and learning how to use the Chinese yoyo (“Diablo”). After futsal, one of the students demonstrated the Chinese yo-yo: Then everyone got to try it…

So, it’s not even 8am and I was doing a taste tour of all the breakfast cereals I could find here, for a later review post when all of a sudden I thought I was getting dizzy or lightheaded. Maybe I should lay down? It quickly got worse. Is that a train? No. That is…

Picking up where we left off, Tuesday afternoon. Following lunch, we watched presentations by the JieShou students about various topics like the sports they like to play, why they wear uniforms (so if they do something bad in the neighborhood after school the school will be notified), popular snacks, what does school lunch taste like…

It’s Tuesday here and we’re off to do some community service at Minquan Elementary School, a 15 minute walk from the junior high school. The elementary school is enormous. 1500 students up to grade 6. That includes 2-yr olds who attend preschool here, too. First they gave us instructions in a “school history” room (where…

This morning was the big welcome ceremony at the school. The kids all took the stage to a packed auditorium. After some quick speeches by the teachers, each kids took the mic to introduce themselves. Then the kids exchanged gifts from Portland, with their delegation. After the ceremony we gathered in a room to break…

Step just outside our hotel and everywhere you look is another small restaurant, convenience store, 7/11, Family Mart, food cart, massage parlor, bar and more. It’s kind of overwhelming never seeing the horizon, with buildings creating towering canyons of billboards in every direction. Packaged snack foods are everywhere. The kids loved trying every exotic Dorito…