On Thursday we took the Chinese Young People to Brighton, where they were able to have a visit at Brighton University and the Pavilion.
At the University we discussed with them about the educational oppertunities in England, as well as inquire what education is like in China. Though there are a few differences, the system is very similar. They all wished to gain a University education, while some even said that they then wished to study abroad afterwards. They are all bright and intelligent people that seem to know what career they wished to take when they are older. Some aspects of youth work was also explained to them; they seemed to be very interested in how youth workers became involved with young people and their behaviour at school.
We then travelled by coach to the Pavilion. While there, they also took a tour around the museum. After this, the Chinese young people were given free time to go shopping in Brighton.
After the free time, we all walked along the seafront towards the sealife center.
The Chinese young people seemed to really enjoy the sea life center; we got to watch the sharks being fed and the young people really enjoyed being able to walk through the glass tunell so that they could see the tank from underneath. Straight after we all walked along the pier to reach a fish and chips restaurant. They seemed to much prefer it to the Indian curry they had the night before.
Finally, it was time to head back to Worthing.
I’m glad that I was able to get involved with the Chinese young people’s return visit; after 9 months since visiting China, it’s allowed me to remember a lot of what I had seen and learnt when out there. I miss it a lot, and hope that I will be able to return soon. It’s also allowed me to look at England in a different way; as they ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over what they see it’s let me be able to view it with fresh eyes again.
So we’ve all been living our ‘normal’ lives for the past 5 days now, a complete contrast to how we were living in China. The disfunctional family has been taken apart with careful hands and now sits all around the county once more, missing each other but keeping in touch! If there’s one thing I really really miss about China it’s certainly the people I was with and the life we led. A spontaneous, suprising and satsifying sort of life where absolutely anything could have been round the corner and it was just about stepping up to the challenge and facing the dark.
Lara looks up at the blue skies
I think it’s really difficult when people ask, “How was China?” or “What did you do when in China?” because there’s so much to say and I often have absolutely no idea where to start! In an attempt to ‘put it simply’, I would say it was nothing short of an amazing experience that I am honoured to have been a part of. I am so glad that we were encouraged to wake up early every day to get as much as possible packed in to each and every single day. Despite the fact that most of us thought we were going to keel over and die on the first day when after a 9 hour flight and having been up for a further 6 hours before, we were taken to the stunning Great Wall of China and offered the chance to walk the infamous steps, it was certainly worth it.
Sunny but ever so cold!
I have learnt a lot about China from being a part of this process, and one of the greatest things I think I have learnt is their passion and respect towards their history. Whilst in China we were lucky enough to visit several historic sites and have guides who knew a lot about their ancestry. Personally, I found it all intruiging and the extent of the preservation of their history just as fascinating. If there is anything worth looking at in depth, it’s most definately China’s history and progression over time. The country has come an incredibly long way and with the help from the recent developments for the Beijing Olympics, the people stand confident and proud of what they have become.
Sun rise over the Birds Nest
The Chinese people’s way of life is, as expected, very different from ours. Simple differences like their style of eating – several dishes with chopsticks, to the most common ways of travelling – bicycle, motorised bicycle, taxi or 1yuan bus. There was always so much to learn, so much to see and we were very lucky that Ivan and Miracle were always willing to help us with any questions or queries to develop our understanding.
I would personally like to say a huge thank you to Jane, Hilary, Maralyn and Steve for letting me be part of this experience and for insisting that young people were a part of this experience. Thank you also to the Shandong Youth Federation for the amazing experience and for all their hard work and planning that must have gone in to it all. And finally, a massive thank you to everyone who took part for making the trip as amazing as it possibly could be. The group bonded so well and I think we’ve all made friends we will never ever forget. I miss you all and I can’t wait till we start organising a similar trip for the Chinese when they come over to England!
This is the first video ever produced by Josh who learnt to edit on the 6hr train journey from Qingdao to Beijing. You may experience some difficulties with the sound on this clip however it does work if you put all your sound dials to high. When Maralyn, the technical expert returns we can hopefully sort the volume. (hilary)
sorry i have not been blogging alot, been really busy .
so what do you need to know .. well life in china is different to the UK, not only are the people much friendler but there way of life is a lot slower then back home.
whilst i have been in jinan i have had an amazing host stay.. my host Mr White was a student at the shangdong university were he is studing to be a teacher. as he is living in student halls, we ended up spending the night with lara’s host family who cooked us dinner, they were very interested in the english culture, and were very excited when i showed them pictures of my family. the next daywe met up with his friends, who were also hosting members of the group and spent the morning atjinan zoo were i had the chance to ride a camel and see my first panda. also traveled to jinan springs before going off to have lunch. if i am honest i am getting SICK of chinese food and really want to tuck into a BIG MACor a ROAST DINNER.
on monday we spent the day at Shanqing world, were we took part in team building activites,the best part of the day was the water fight at the end of the day
we also had a welcome banquet where we were presented with more presents from are hosts. yesterday we travelled to the shangdong normaluniversity and meet up with students who gave us a guided tour of the campus, after exploring the uni we went of for lunch before going to visit the shangdong medical university, this was justas interesting as the first university we visited. in the evening my host mr White and james’s host asked if they could take us out to explore the city centre at night, the mixture of culture was amazing, young people hang out with old people, chav’s hanging out with emo’s there seemed to be no divisions between the groups and the town centre at night looked amazing!!!more attractive then any city centre in the UK ( see photos on blog ) the night time is when the city seems to come alive, and unlike young people in the UK people here dont need to drink to have a good time.
as for today well were do i start .. well my new job is as wake up call guy, this morning i was up at 6:30. we left are hotel about 8ish and drove to mt tai- shan. the mountain stands at 1500 meters, myself and a few other decided to climb the mt tai-shan we ended up climbing over 3.3 killometers up steps to the top of the mt ( see photos on blog ) i thought i was going to die !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! jane had to drag me up as after 1hour of walking my legs had gone to jelly !!!! it was one of those laugh or cry moments as we struggled up the last flight off stairs to the top known as heaven. after a tour of the top of the mt and a nice lunch we traveled down by cable car before getting back on the coach and driving to qufu the home of confucius … where we had dinner …. tomorrow we are visiting the temple of confuius as well as another university. right well there is a que of people waiting to write there blogs so im off ski now … hope your all ok back home and not missing meto much !!!!! ( dad i know you are really ) keep checking are blog for more info love josh xx
On Thursday we took the Chinese Young People to Brighton, where they were able to have a visit at Brighton University and the Pavilion.
