Celebrating the 4th, Chinese Style!

Not being at home for the 4th last Thursday was difficult! We definitely felt pangs of homesickness throughout the day. But we tried to make the most it, Chinese style! We incorporated the 4th into our lesson plans by having our students color their own American flags--some with more success than others, although we tried to limit the colors to just red and blue some students found yellow, pink, green etc. making their way on their flags. Don't worry, the students with colorful flags still received a "good job!" and a space to hang their flag up on the classroom wall. We also played "Yankee Doodle" for our students and had them march and dance around to it. Charlotte had her students learn some patriotic vocabulary and practice tracing the letters of the new vocabulary. It wasn't clear if our students really "got" it, or the teachers for that matter, but we certainly enjoyed incorporating our culture in the classroom and the students definitely won't forget the colors "red," "white." and "blue" anymore.

Charlotte's student, Suzy, poses with the American flag in front of Charlotte's morning meeting message.

The flag was a hit! Charlotte thanks her Dad for putting it in suitcase.

Charlotte's student showing off his beautiful flag.

That night, although it was a school night, we treated ourselves to a night out on the Chinese town! We made our way by cab (only about $10 each way for a 30 minute ride - worth it for the convenience!) to a hutong in the Xicheng district. Hutongs are very traditional Chinese alleyways with homes, restaurants, shops and bars. In our neighborhood, there aren't any hutongs that we've seen - they're more common in the center of Beijing (we're on the outskirts). When we stepped out of the cab, we agreed that we really felt like we were in China! The hutongs were bustling with bikers, foreigners, locals, shop keepers, and a few of us in red, white and blue! The sun was setting as we were walking and since it was such a smog-less day, it was gorgeous. The bar/restaurant we were meeting friends at was called 4 Corners. We walked into a very quiet low-key place and were escorted upstairs were we had to take off our shoes and sit on the floor! It was very cool. There was another group of English speakers so we introduced ourselves and they were from all over. One guy we met was from Newton! Small world! We were given special menus since it was the 4th and they had typical American food. Jacky got a bacon cheeseburger which tasted like home! Charlotte, being a vegetarian, did not go for a burger but stuck with the delicious disco fries (cheese and gravy on top!) We had beer made in Beijing that tasted like Blue Moon - definitely a favorite of ours. We got to catch up with the friends we met last weekend, made new friends and enjoyed the upstairs room with a view and a breeze. The music was great from the speakers upstairs, but unfortunately we missed the live band that started at 10 because we had to head home to sleep for Friday morning. We said our goodbyes and headed back through the hutong to the main street to catch a cab. Little did we know that it would take us an hour to get one! Such a sour end to such a great night! But we finally got one, nodded off on our drive home, and were so happy climb into bed for the night. Definitely a different (firework-less) 4th of July, but absolutely one to remember! Hope you all enjoyed yours back home! USA!

The beautiful hutong we walk through - check out the clouds!

All smiles - happy to be in Red, White & Blue!

Waiting anxiously for a cab...!