Ni Hao... Returning to China to teach....

 Ni Hao!
After three years, Scott and I are returning to China this summer to teach once again.  We will be flying into Beijing this time around, spending a few days exploring there.  Then, we will journey to Xi'an to see the Terra Cotta Warriors, bike around the walled city, and maybe even visit a Daoist mountain nearby.  Onto Guiyang after that, to meet with fellow educators.  We will be teaching about 30 miles or so outside the capitol city of Guiyang with Bill and Ceci.  We are also hoping to reconnect with some of our former students from 2011 and 2008.

Pictured here are some of the phenomenally artistic bookmarks my students at East Lansing High School created as gifts for the Chinese students.  I asked them to select quotes about reading, writing, learning, etc.., illustrating the quotes as they would like.  On the flipside of each bookmark is a brief autobiographical sketch of the artist.  Students were encouraged to share their email addresses, inviting a communication with the person in China who receives the bookmark.  I begin each class period with the giving of a bookmark to one of my students.  I treasure being able to talk about the quote, the author of the quote, and the designer of the bookmark.

 The photos below are a nostalgic trip down memory lane.  These photos were taken during our 2011 journey to China.  If you would like to view previous blogs, check out www.mariannechina08.blogspot.com as well as www.mariannechina11.blogspot.com.  

We are looking forward to working with dear friends and meeting new teachers.  I believe we learn far more from our Chinese students than they learn from us.  In the process, we make friends for a lifetime and have amazing adventures.  This is the very best kind of teaching, which requires us to constantly think on our feet, to be blissfully creative, to collaborate with other teachers, and to honor the work that can be done when everyone brings both knowledge and passion to the classroom.  Life is indeed good...

Namaste,
Marianne/Bailing