Awards and Airpocalypse

In this final month reflection has caught up with me.  Describing my experiences here is like trying to tell a child how an apple tastes by showing him a picture of a seed.  As difficult as it is, I will share a few more adventures....

Our dragon boat team came, saw, and walked away with two awards!  Another team's captain commented that we had improved more this year than any other year.  Hard for me to tell, but despite the mere month of practice and weekend rains it seemed our team did better than expected. 

Perhaps you're asking yourself, "But Joanna, what did you win?"  One award was definitely for spirit.  I learned about this awards before the actual race, but the second one seemed to have been negotiated over the lunch break of the second day's races.  Something to do with international participation or general liveliness is my guess.  Our sizable monetary prizes were enough for our team to enjoy dinner together and reflect on the future of C.E.C.P. 

During the dinner I gave a brief speech about my work in Wuhan.  As much as I have worked to educate and document changes in Central China Normal University's Montessori program, there is still much work to be done.  There have been great changes this year.  Still a lot to be questioned and better researched, but I know the teachers are better capable of continuing this.  I will miss them greatly and be forever grateful for their service to children. 

Speaking of much to research, the main librarian of this University invited me to see the archives and explore more of the Boone Memorial School's history.  There were books on display which were brought to Wuhan by Mary Elizabeth Woods, (including several biographies of George Washington published in the late 1800s),  and a book of Common Prayers from the Episcopal church dating from the 1700s.  These books are displayed close to other famous pieces of the library's collection.  This includes an original copy of China's first constitution, (from 1912), and books from the Ming dynasty. 

Yesterday I took a final trip with C.E.C.P. to visit Chibi, a famous tea village.  It's history dates back to 1861where many French, Russians, Americans, and Japanese came to buy the bricks of tea which could travel easier and last longer.  We sampled 30-year-old tea, toured the factory, visited an museum dedicated to the intellectual collective period from the 60s and 70s, and learned the difference among green, black, and dark teas. 

the evidence

Recently the air quality of Wuhan has been referred to as an "airpocalypse".    The local news blames the farmers for burning the field leftovers all at once.  As we drove through farms and fields we searched for such evidence.  A few small piles were located and carefully documented.  We also passed by a text book factory to observe some real estate opportunities under their headquarters. 

the apartments for sale!

Just a few more weeks before bidding adieu.  Next year the kindergarten plans to open two more Montessori classrooms, (making a total of 6 out of 19).  Lots of planning still to do before I can finally say goodbye.