Beijing's heaviest rainfall in 60 years

China's capital experienced the heaviest rainfall in decades yesterday.  It was reported that 10 people were killed as a result of the storm.  

The amount of rainfall ranged from 6.7 to 18.1 inches.  More than 500 flights were cancelled stranding over 80,000 people at the cities main airport.

You can read the whole story here.

Picture credit: Reuters Beijing

Patrick's Post

Apologies again readers.  It's been awhile since I updated my mother's blog.  I have a whole list of excuses... no internet this week, packing/cleaning for moving back to MO, and a 30 hour drive across the country.  I drove 13 hours today and am currently updating from Salt Lake City.  From now on, I should have regular internet access and will post any reports as I get them.

A special thank you to Becky... She pointed out a problem with the font color for a couple of the posts. Apparently they were the same color as the back ground.  My author screen looks different than the page you all see, so I had no idea there were parts you couldn't read.  Anyway, I think I've fixed that problem.  If it happens again and I don't notice, post a comment as those get forwarded to my email and I can fix it quickly. 

Saturday, July 21st

So we have a half day off today and rode a bus and a subway to get to the nearest Starbucks before we had to report to duty.  Although I loathe giving Starbucks my $$, my convictions have flown out the window when it comes to getting scrambled eggs.  They have a teeny whole grain bagels with scrambled eggs and white cheese with dill.  Three of us went...we had been planning this meal all week.  We got there at 7:30 only to discover they open @ 8.  Upon the store opening, we were saddened to learn they only had 2 of these tasty morsels.   Oh, what to do?  Apparently, the do not replenish their supply of items when they run out.  We split two bagels three ways and returned to campus happy!

Today's plan?  I will be supervising the production of TIP commercials.  Each small group will write, act, and film a commercial touting the benefits of TIP.  All their classmates must be in the production.  Tonight, we will have a talent show.  More on that with a later post.

We are one week away from packing up and returning home.  This has been quite a learning and growing experience which was one of our goals.

Until next post!

Marjie Post

If you are ever in China, you don't want to get sick or hurt in Beijing! I have a student, Dawn, who develop incredible pain at 11 pm the other night; she called herself an ambulance; another student, William, jumped in with her because he knew she should not go to the hospital alone. Turned out, she had kidney stones. William sat next to her bed all night and even paid her bill, about 700 yen (around $116) since she had no money.

William did not call the school until 11:00 the next morning to tell us what was going on. The Chinese staff here told William to come back immediateIy or risk being expelled; so he hopped in a cab and returned just as I was leaving to visit her at lunch time. He jumped back in my cab because he said I would never find her in such a large hospital, especially since I don't speak Chinese! 

When we got there, she was not in her bed and no one working in the hospital knew where she was! They only knew that she had left with her purse right after William left. Turns out, she was trying to find somewhere to buy porridge, the only thing she was allowed to eat. And get this--hospitals here do not feed their patients! Family and friends are supposed to get them food. This hospital, supposedly one of the best in the area, looked like a make-shift triage area from M.A.S.H.--all kinds of personnel walking around, wearing masks, looking busy, but no one helping the patients or even keeping track of where they are! Since William had been ordered to return to school, Dawn figured she was on her own for food and headed out into the streets to find it.

Food Game

Marjie and I have created a new game.  One of us yells out a restaurant and we start listing a full day's worth of menus. Panera??  Egg souffle for breakfast, soup for lunch with whole gran baguette and real butter, dinner....okay, kid Mac and cheese. Green tea, too!

Monday, July 16th

Just a quick note:  in the Chinese culture, saving face is very important so they have developed a technique of social lying to avoid losing face.  Over the weekend, one of the students left campus, a huge no-no.  She said she had to see about her sick son.  When she returned and a staff member asked her about the sick son, the student drew a blank, apparently forgetting the lie.  However, denied she had a massage even though the cupping marks were on her arms and legs.  Stuck with her false story until the bitter end.

Each day, my classes have an exercise in a famous fairy tale or famous speech.  Last week, I gave them the challenge to memorize the Gettysburg Address.  They had three days and tonight had an hour open for students to come say their speech.  Almost 30 accepted the challenge!!!  These brilliant people, who already have 12-hour days and many hours of reading, found time to memorize this speech.  Their reward??  A penny...which they are so proud of!  Not only did they memorize the entire speech but recited it with feeling and passion.  I was humbled, amazed, and honored!!

More apologies from Patrick

This apology, unlike the previous one, is preemptive.  Erin and my actual move day is today.  I do not believe I will have internet access at home (our new one) again until tomorrow at the earliest.  If I have time, i'll run to a coffee shop and check for updates from China.  It may be another day or two before you see more new posts.  So, my apologies for those daily readers who are on the edges of their seats anxiously awaiting the new posts. :D