2009 Beijing: Day Two
Making Memorable (and Beautiful) Music
After a long and good night's sleep, we awoke to a huge, delicious breakfast buffet spread. One gluttonous member of the group ingested so much food that she commented, “I couldn’t snap the button on my pants.” Directors Jenny and Brigitte rehearsed the two plays “The Magic Brocade” and “The Jade Stone” with their respective acting ensembles in the morning in preparation to our visit to the children at the Cochlear Implant School on Monday and Thursday.
With well-rested bodies, well-fed tummies, and high spirits, we were on our way to visit the students in Beijing No. 35 High School. With open arms and warm hearts, the students in the JinFan Chinese Traditional Music Orchestra welcomed us and treated us to a most amazing performance. Sheehan performed the role of translator. Not only did they make beautiful and moving music with their traditional Chinese instruments, they even taught the 16 Poly students how to play their instruments. The Poly students sat side-by-side with the No. 35 High School students and learned to play “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” on the gu-zhen. After the gu-zhen lessons, the Poly students went outside to the basketball court and cheered on the No. 35 High School team as they won the district championship. Then we came back to the orchestra room, which was then set up with a new set of instruments, young-ching, chung-yuen (also known as the “Chinese guitar”), pi-pa, er-hu, traditional Chinese drums, cello, and keyboard synthesizer. The musicians performed the pieces that they had performed last summer in the Great Hall of People (next to the Tiannamen Square and Forbidden City) in celebration for the Summer Olympics. Then several students performed for us different character roles in the Beijing Opera and taught the Poly students how to use their falsettos to sing the Beijing Opera; Cameron discovered that he has a talent for singing Beijing Opera! By now, the music has bound us as one and we could not hide our excitement when the students offered to teach us how to play the drums—the same ones we had seen on television in the last year’s Olympic Opening Ceremony! Sara proved quite adept at picking up the rhythm and patterns of the drums. The resounding sounds of the drums, the joyous laughter of the students from both China and U.S., the huge smiles on every person’s face, students and teachers alike—this is why we do trips like this. This is why we want our students to meet and learn from their fellow human beings from a different side of the world. As the principal of the Beijing No. 35 High School said so eloquently when he came to visit the students, “Music knows no national or cultural boundaries.”
After our drum lessons, several Poly students said that they have found what they want for their birthday gifts! Blaine was able to share his dancing talents with the PS 35ers who looked on in awe and disbelief over his moves. We then went to the outside courtyard, where one of the Beijing Opera teachers taught us the movements from one of the famous opera scenes. It was such a beautiful scene: the Chinese teacher demonstrating and giving instruction in Chinese, Mrs. Ulmer and Miss Gu translating Chinese into English, Poly students executing the movements as instructed, and Mr. Caragher recording this entire scene from all possible angles. One memorable moment came when 40 students (from both schools) are walking through their movements; at this point the students kick, and Jenny gives such an emphatic kick that her shoe goes flying—landing somewhere north of the Great Wall. There were no reported injuries. While Jenny was doing her Nikita Khrushchev and threatening “peaceful coexistence,” Derek was one in the drills with his new friends from PS 35. The students had such a wonderful time that they literally could not stop smiling and laughing. When it came the time to say goodbye, it took another 35 minutes for the students to say their goodbyes, exchanging e-mail addresses, talking about the most recent movies they had watched, taking photos with one another, and asking the chaperones whether they could stay longer. It was so hard to leave this wonderful and amazing group of people. As the bus pulled away from the campus, we waved and waved and waved until we could no longer see their smiling faces and waving hands in the air. We were humbled and honored by their generosity; we were moved and touched by their music and friendship. PS 35’s music program usually practices on Sunday, but because the school has midterms next week, today was suppose to be the students' day off. However knowing we were coming, the students came in for five hours to work with us. This is why we are here, to make human connection, to learn from one another, and to appreciate the beauty of humanity. After our visit, our fabulously knowledgeable guide David Chen took us to a Muslim noodle house where the noodles were handmade right on the premises. After cleaning up our plates, we went back to the hotel and listened to Sheehan and Sarah’s presentation on Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City. We shared what we had already experienced during the past two days, and we could hardly believe our good fortune to be in Beijing China and to meet these amazing people. After the sharing, Mrs. Ulmer took the students to a nearby convenience store where we found cookies, ice cream, and all sorts of yummy treats. We learned how to navigate the Chinese traffic as pedestrians, and with our loot in hand and smiles on our faces, we walked back to the hotel and headed to bed.
Back
With well-rested bodies, well-fed tummies, and high spirits, we were on our way to visit the students in Beijing No. 35 High School. With open arms and warm hearts, the students in the JinFan Chinese Traditional Music Orchestra welcomed us and treated us to a most amazing performance. Sheehan performed the role of translator. Not only did they make beautiful and moving music with their traditional Chinese instruments, they even taught the 16 Poly students how to play their instruments. The Poly students sat side-by-side with the No. 35 High School students and learned to play “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” on the gu-zhen. After the gu-zhen lessons, the Poly students went outside to the basketball court and cheered on the No. 35 High School team as they won the district championship. Then we came back to the orchestra room, which was then set up with a new set of instruments, young-ching, chung-yuen (also known as the “Chinese guitar”), pi-pa, er-hu, traditional Chinese drums, cello, and keyboard synthesizer. The musicians performed the pieces that they had performed last summer in the Great Hall of People (next to the Tiannamen Square and Forbidden City) in celebration for the Summer Olympics. Then several students performed for us different character roles in the Beijing Opera and taught the Poly students how to use their falsettos to sing the Beijing Opera; Cameron discovered that he has a talent for singing Beijing Opera! By now, the music has bound us as one and we could not hide our excitement when the students offered to teach us how to play the drums—the same ones we had seen on television in the last year’s Olympic Opening Ceremony! Sara proved quite adept at picking up the rhythm and patterns of the drums. The resounding sounds of the drums, the joyous laughter of the students from both China and U.S., the huge smiles on every person’s face, students and teachers alike—this is why we do trips like this. This is why we want our students to meet and learn from their fellow human beings from a different side of the world. As the principal of the Beijing No. 35 High School said so eloquently when he came to visit the students, “Music knows no national or cultural boundaries.”
After our drum lessons, several Poly students said that they have found what they want for their birthday gifts! Blaine was able to share his dancing talents with the PS 35ers who looked on in awe and disbelief over his moves. We then went to the outside courtyard, where one of the Beijing Opera teachers taught us the movements from one of the famous opera scenes. It was such a beautiful scene: the Chinese teacher demonstrating and giving instruction in Chinese, Mrs. Ulmer and Miss Gu translating Chinese into English, Poly students executing the movements as instructed, and Mr. Caragher recording this entire scene from all possible angles. One memorable moment came when 40 students (from both schools) are walking through their movements; at this point the students kick, and Jenny gives such an emphatic kick that her shoe goes flying—landing somewhere north of the Great Wall. There were no reported injuries. While Jenny was doing her Nikita Khrushchev and threatening “peaceful coexistence,” Derek was one in the drills with his new friends from PS 35. The students had such a wonderful time that they literally could not stop smiling and laughing. When it came the time to say goodbye, it took another 35 minutes for the students to say their goodbyes, exchanging e-mail addresses, talking about the most recent movies they had watched, taking photos with one another, and asking the chaperones whether they could stay longer. It was so hard to leave this wonderful and amazing group of people. As the bus pulled away from the campus, we waved and waved and waved until we could no longer see their smiling faces and waving hands in the air. We were humbled and honored by their generosity; we were moved and touched by their music and friendship. PS 35’s music program usually practices on Sunday, but because the school has midterms next week, today was suppose to be the students' day off. However knowing we were coming, the students came in for five hours to work with us. This is why we are here, to make human connection, to learn from one another, and to appreciate the beauty of humanity. After our visit, our fabulously knowledgeable guide David Chen took us to a Muslim noodle house where the noodles were handmade right on the premises. After cleaning up our plates, we went back to the hotel and listened to Sheehan and Sarah’s presentation on Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City. We shared what we had already experienced during the past two days, and we could hardly believe our good fortune to be in Beijing China and to meet these amazing people. After the sharing, Mrs. Ulmer took the students to a nearby convenience store where we found cookies, ice cream, and all sorts of yummy treats. We learned how to navigate the Chinese traffic as pedestrians, and with our loot in hand and smiles on our faces, we walked back to the hotel and headed to bed.
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