This in from Darcy Chase:

"Ni Hao from "Chengdu 2" (Madame Leff, Mrs. Chase, Courtney, Kathleen, Molly, Penny, Ji Gu, Doug, Avery, Shea and Erick)

Today we all got up and had one last breakfast at the King's Joy Hotel. Everyone gathered up their clothes and recently purchased gifts and carried stuffed suitcases down to the lobby and boarded the bus for the airport. At the airport the two Chengdu groups and the Chien group said goodbye and parted ways. Chengdu 1 and Chengdu 2 traveled together by plane for 2.5 hours.


After claiming our bags, Chengdu 2 proceeded toward a crowd of smiling people holding signs. Bouquets of flowers were presented as host families welcomed their Gould students.


We all posed for pictures outside of the airport.

The ride from the airport allowed us all to see that spring has arrived here in Chengdu! ()It was nearly 60 degrees when we stepped off the plane.) Red and yellow flowers adorn every corner and look especially nice complemented by the hundreds of red paper lanterns hanging from
every tree.

After the students spent a couple of hours visiting with their hosts, everyone met at a lovely hotel for a welcome dinner. Our hosts had arranged for the electronic sign on the entrance of the hotel to read " Warmly Welcome the Student Delegation of Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine America". We were so proud of our students- they were all dressed nicely, conducted themselves well and chose to use chopsticks even though forks were available. Molly remarked "I'm a traveler, not a tourist!"


Molly, Kathleen and Courtney sat with several Chinese students. Whenever we looked their way, everyone was smiling, talking and eating. Kathleen's host mother came over to meet the teachers. She was so enthusiastic about having Kathleen and had already chosen a Chinese name for her American "daughter." Avery enjoyed the meal with his host brother and host parents. Doug and his his host brother seemed to hit it off right away. Molly's host sister has just started college and the parents both teach at the school we will be visiting.

Shea's host sister told us how handsome he is. Erick and Ji Gu's host brothers had to go back to school for evening classes so the host parents brought them to the dinner. The boys had traveled by pedicab to the hotel. Erick told us he had already enjoyed a nap, Chinese snacks and even a hot shower - although he found he was taller than the shower! Penny and her host sister were chatting away all through dinner. After the buffet dinner, students dispersed with their host families for the evening.


We teachers walked down the street and found the "Trust-Mart" which is the name of the Walmart chain here. The aisles were filled with dozens of unfamiliar snacks and there was a huge, open bin of rice. We were trying to find water and a Chinese clerk tried to help us but did not understand us even when we used gestures. We were the only non-asian faces in the whole place.

Mr. McKnight is here with us and has been busy taking photos. Tomorrow there will be an official welcoming ceremony at the school, followed by lunch and a city tour and shopping in the afternoon. We are very curious about this school of five thousand students and 500 teachers. We will post more tomorrow.

Wan An! (that means goodnight in Chinese)"