I again apologize for the slow updates. I had hoped to fill in everyone daily on the events of the trip, but the internet service at the hotel is truly atrocious.
We started this morning off a little more tired than the day previous. Most likely the jet lag will be the worst these next two days and then ease off just in time for our return to the States. We went to the breakfast buffet and again ate more than our fill.
Our first stop was the Temple of Heaven. Mrs. Wagner already explained a bit in her post on the main website, but the history of this complex (and all other sites we’ve been to), is highly interesting. I’m not sure I’ll be able to relay it accurately, but make sure to look it up online!
For my part, I throughly enjoyed visiting the temple. The building is set on grounds that act as a park for the locals. Locals come here to practice dancing, tai-chi, and odd work-outs that could be described as a mixture of both. Upon entering the grounds, we were able to watch a group of people practicing the tango!
Walking through the gate and seeing the temple towering up ahead was a wonderful sight. The building was absolutely beautiful! It’s crazy how the Chinese were able to construct such an awesome structure! We were given time to walk around and take a few pictures. I can not say enough how much I love spending time with this group! Other kids might take everything as a joke and not appreciate the reverent qualities of such a place. The same could not be said for band students. They were wonderfully respectful and completely soaked everything in.
Brianna and I were both asked to take pictures with locals again! Shaun purchased a Chinese hacky sack and a circle formed with many of us playing (or attempting to play).
We then traveled to another part of the complex. We passed a group of older woman practicing some sort of dance exercise movement and a few of our members went to join them! Needless to say, the older women were much, much more graceful!
After walking around the area, I came back to my group to find a group of Korean students huddled around us. They all had their cameras out trying to take pictures of us. At first it was a group shot and then certain students asked some of us to take pictures with them. A few girls approached some of our guys and then ran away squealing when they got pictures. I myself was asked by a (very handsome) Korean guy! Steven, who is a Korean student at Valley, was most popular. Dozens of girls asked him to take pictures!
We then visited a pearl factory and shop. We spent quite a chunk of time in there, but many of the kids were able to purchase authentic Chinese pearls for their mothers! We had lunch at a buffet before returning to the hotel for some downtime.
We then returned to the school! I’m really enjoying getting to interact with such a different culture. Again, I was struck by how similar the Chinese kids are to us. When we arrived there, they played their field show for us. As I looked around, I saw about eighty kids being hit by extreme cases of nostalgia. We all suddenly were brought back to this past season. I definitely miss being on the field in formation. The Beijing 57 band played very well and we all cheered them on!
We began with an hour of music. It was a bit of a challenge for our directors to figure out a way to explain some of the musical terms, like “sizzle”, that we use, but again we made it work. You’ve probably heard this tons of times in regards to this trip, but music truly is a language by itself and fortunately one we can all speak. We practiced Aztec Fire and Crown Imperial before splitting off into sections. This gave everyone a chance to communicate with each other into smaller sections.
After music hour, we practiced outside with Todd. It was similar to the practice the day previous, but I could visibly see how the Chinese and Valley students started adapting to working with one another. It’s quite sad that we only get one more practice.
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