Beijing, China

Wednesday Evening

In line to see the body of Mao at the "Maosaleum"

We had a great time today. We began the day with a stroll through Tiananmen Square on our way to the Forbidden City. Both places were packed with people. It was the second time to both placed for me but I have to admit it was much easier to take in today because the weather in the mid 70’s, about 30 degrees cooler than this summer when I was last there. I have embedded videos about the two areas below.

The Gate of Heavenly Peace

Video from Tiananment Square

Video of the Forbidden City

When you check out the rest of the photos you will notice some pictures with small animals on the edge of a roof. I included this because of represents the strong role that numbers play in ancient and current Chinese culture. The numbers of animals on the edge of the roof represent how important the building is in China. The higher the number the more powerful the person. The highest number one could have is nine; the only person who could have that number was the emperor of China.

One of the best stories that I heard today from the tour guide was that the Forbidden City had 9,999 rooms in it. That meant if a newborn infant spent the night in a different room each night it would take until their 27 birthday too spend the night in every room of the Forbidden City. Wow!

After our morning tour and lunch was over we went to visit different schools. I went with a group of teachers to the Beijing Language Middle School. The teachers and students were great. They start school at 8 am and finish at 4pm. When they get home they have about three to five hours a night. They do not participate in extra-curricular activities as American students do. Their main focus is on school.

Mr Steph particpating in a langauge lesson.

You think american culture has hit China?

Changing Classes at School

Kobe Brynat jerseys passed Yao's in sales this past year

They are under a lot of pressure from their parents and teachers to do well. We observed two classes and then had meetings with the English department. After school we spoke with some students and then went to dinner.

Students playing basketball

I want to thank my World History, Section 1, class. I enjoyed our Skype conversation.

Click here for links to more photos

Students can post comments without registering!

Shanghai and Beijing

Tuesday, Oct. 14th (Day 4) *

* if you checked the blog last night I added links to photos.

What a day. I woke up in Shanghai, China and I am sitting down writing this blog after taking a walk around Tiananmen Square.

Here is how the day went. After waking up in Shanghai we packed our bags and headed out on a two bus trip to a city called Jiangsu. It is a river town on the coast. Kinda of like a smaller smaller Venice, in China. We toured the city a bit by taking a gondala type boat through the canals of the city.

After the boat ride I sat and just chilled out drinking some green tea (no coffee and besides its bettet for you!) Myself and a few of my fellow teachers just sat by the canal and watched people.








Links to photos from Shanghai

After lunch in Jiangsu we tok the bus back to Shanghai and the airport. We took a two hour China Air flight to Beijing. I read for about a half an hour then snoozed. I am still adjusting to jetlag a bit. Remember I am 13 hours ahead of Memphis time.



Once we arrived in Beijing my roommate and I walked aroud the city for about two hours. The first stop was an area called Wangfujing Street. It is a major shopping area. I took a lot of pictures. We then walked through this open air food market were they were selling all kinds of really.., interesting foods. I took even more pictures of that. It is a real tourist area so that many regular Chinese people would not go there to eat.








We then found our way to the entrance to the Forbidden City, home of the Emperor of China for hundreds of years. It now honors Mao Ze Dong (Mao Tsa Tung). We walked all the way around Tiananmen Square (we got a bit lost) and after trying two different buses found our way back to the hotel.

Mr. Steph at the Heavenly Gate at the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square

All of us are excited for Wednesday becuase we are visiting schools in Beijing in the afternoon. We will meet with teahcers to hopefully set up partnerships for the rest of year. We will all tour the schools and visits classes! I look forward to it all.

I will try to Skype with you all again tommorrow.

The questions. Thank you Clarissa and Maggie M for you questions!!!!
First off Clarissa I will meet with students tommorrow and I will record their comments and questions.

Second, Maggie.., the price on bottled water varies. Around tourist spots its around 5 to 10 Yuan. Any place else its around 2 Yuan and less. What is a Yuan you ask. Well, a Yuan or RMB is the unit of currency in the Peoples Republic of China. Right now for every dollar you get @ 6.8 Yuan. So the answer to question is, a bottled water costs any where from a $1.50 t0 15 cents.

Links to photos from Beijing

Mr. Steph out!!

Shanghai, China (Day 2)

Monday Evening, Shanghai


It was a fun, informative, but exhausting day. After a hardy breakfast in the ballroom of our Hotel my roommate and I ventured outside to get some video of the the Shanghai traffic. You can see a great mixture of cars, scooters (both gas and electric), busses, and bicycles. For as many bikes as you see know this, there used to be much more. It is estimated that around eight thousand new cars a day are put on the street in China. They are/will be our biggest competion for fuel resources, particularly oil. Also keep in mind this video is from a side street and not a main one.

Video of morning traffic in Shanghai.

We started the days tour at the Shanghai Urban PlanningExhibition Center. We saw current scale models of Shanghai as well plans fo the next few years. Shanghai is hosting the World's Expo in 2010. The city is going through somewhat similar upgrades and improvements as Beijing went through for the Olympics. I took a very cool video of a digital film that takes one around Shanghai.

LINK TO YOUTUBE VIDEO I TOOK OF SHANGHAI

After the tour and video our group walked through one of the main city gardens to the Shanghai museum. It was great. I took a lot of pictures. The way it works is that if you see a slide then the picture that follows it what the slide just described.

We then went for a visit to a Buddhist Temple. There were a great deal people prayer to the Buddha to end their cycle of re-birth and achieve Nirvana. (Link to more info on Buddhism).

After lunch we went to the Yuyuan Gardens for a tour of the area. Remarkabley this visit is the only repeat from my study in China this past summer .

We then attended a perfomance of Chinese Acrobats, it was kind of a "China version of Riverdance". The stunts they perfromed were amazing and then they would have full scale dance numbers. Oddly very entertaining.

Tommorrowwe are heading towards a river town about two hours outside of Shanghai and then we fly to Beijing. In Beijing we are having a series of school meetings with Chinese teahcers and visiting their schools and classrooms.

Take a look at the pictures, by clicking on the link below. If you look through there is a chance to get extra credit and a free Chick Fil-A lunch if you answer the question that goes with one of the photo.

Remember if you have questions just write your grade, first name, and last name intitial and I will try to answer it.

Link to more photos and video

Mr. Steph out!!!!

Shanghai, China

Sunday, October 12th

After traveling for nearly 23 hours our group has arrived in Shanghai safe and sound. The trip was great and I got to get to know some of the fellow teachers a bit more. What else are going to do on a 16 hour flight. We flew directly from Atanta to Shanghao on a 777 run by Delta. It is a bit surreal to back in Shanghai so quickly. I just left here two months ago with my Fulbright group.

Once we arrived and cleared customs we retrieved our bags and then took the Maglev bullet train from the airport to the city. The speed of the train topped out at 268mph. It took us seven minutes to go over thrity miles.

The Maglev bullet train

After the bullet train we took a very crowded subway to downtwon area of Shanghai to go up in the TV tower and get some great views of the city. Afterwards we ate some diner at a river restaurant. We checked into the Astor House Hotel (Link to their Website). This hotel has a great deal of history and is one of the oldest buildings in Shanghai.

After getting settled I went with a couple of other teachers to explore the area. We eventually found our way to Nanjing Road, one of the busiest shopping streets in the world (Link to wikipedia site about the area). I took some video and plenty of pictures so check them out. Links at bottom of the page.

Shanghai has a pretty amazing and wild history. Things here really stopped hopping (both good and bad) when the Europeans moved into the area. Here is a link to an article about what exactly a "concession area" is.

Link to article about the history of Shanghai. (you will have to log onto to Encyclopedia Brittanica to see the article)

I have uploaded multiple photos and videos from the day.

Shopping on Nanjing Rd in Shanghai

Traffic in Shanghai at night

Click for a link to a photo album of the first day in Shanghai.

(Pre Trip) Memphis, TN

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Blog, “Hutchison School in China”.

My name is John Stephany and I teach 8th grade World History at Hutchison School in Memphis, TN. The curriculum of the class I teach focuses on China, India, Ancient Greece/Rome, and the Middle East. At the beginning of last summer I applied for a program with the approval and help of Hutchison School, Judi Centko (Outgoing MS Head and current Alumnae Director), Hollis Ligon (MS Dean of Students), and Dr. Melanie Rosebrock (Current MS Head) and was lucky enough to be accepted. The program is a two week study tour of China and Japan. As a member of this study tour or group will visit Shanghai and Beijing in China and Nagoya, Nara, Kyoto, and Osaka in Japan.

The Columbia University NCTA (National Consortium for Teaching about Asia) National Coordinating Site and affiliated NCTA Partner Sites (UT Chattanooga) from around the country are sponsoring NCTA alumni the opportunity to participate in a two-week study tour to establish class-to-class collaborative links with partner classrooms in these countries. The study tour is supported by funding from the Freeman Foundation. A few years ago I participated in a two week summer seminar sponsored by NCTA at the Croft Institute for International Studies at Ole Miss and as a result was eligible to apply for this study tour.

Here are the goals of the study tour as stated by the NCTA at Columbia University:

1. to provide individual educators with professional development opportunities that will help expand their understanding of East Asia through visits to China and Japan or Korea;
2. to explore ways for classrooms in the U.S., China, and Japan or Korea to be linked digitally during the school year for collaborative teaching and learning that will expand the horizons and mutual understanding of students in these countries.

I feel fortunate because as many of you know I was in China as part of Fulbright-Hays group project sponsored by the Confucius Institute at the University of Memphis for five weeks this past summer. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I feel blessed to be able to go back and allow more access to history and culture of China and Japan for my students.

This is blog is designed to allow access to my 8th grade World History class, the students at Hutchison School in Memphis, TN, and anyone who cares to visit to my two week educational tour of China and Japan.

What will be on the blog? Good Question.

I hope to post articles, photos, video, commentary, and general fun from the trip. It will also allow my students, and others, to comment or ask questions. Think of a hybrid, but not professional, blend of the Travel and History Channels, a sort of “Amazing Race”, minus the competition. I hope this blog will educate and entertain.

The picture below is an entertaining one from this past summer, I enjoy making light of myself

Suffice to say, climbing the Great Wall is taxing!

I will apologize in advance for grammar, spelling, and syntax mistakes. I tour is packed with site seeing, school visits, and information sessions. My time will focused on those items and not as much on editing skills, sorry Mrs. Lawrence. I am not a professional writer or photographer, so please understand. The real work and utilization of this experience will be back in the classroom for the students as we utilize any partnerships our group hopes to establish.

So stay tuned and I hope WE all learn something useful.