Well, the academic team arrived in Doumen – a town that is part of Zhuhai City. It’s the same place that we led the teacher training program last year.
Our flight to Hong Kong was uneventful – even arriving a bit early. We took a bus to Booth Lodge – our very simple hotel on the Kowloon peninsula. We were in our rooms by 6:30 PM on Friday evening – exactly 23 hours from door to door. We ate dinner at a restaurant near the Temple Street Market – nothing too strange. We met up with Jana after supper. We walked back out to a Starbuck’s to chat. Jetlag caught up with most of the team there.
There were storms last night in Hong Kong. That – combined with jetlag – combined with three people in a room – combined with firm mattresses – meant for a not so restful night.
This morning, we met for breakfast and then spent some time talking together in the hotel coffee shop. A western breakfast is complimentary – and includes scrambled eggs, lunch meat ham, mini wieners, fried noodles, canned corn, rice porridge with scallions, Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, toast (wheat or white) coffee, tea, grapefruit juice, milk, and water. I’m probably forgetting something, but you get the idea. Everyone found something to eat.
We took a boat from Hong Kong to Zhuhai this morning. A smooth enough 1½-hour voyage, but I’m still glad I took Dramamine. We met Jumbo, Betty and Adam at the Zhuhai ferry pier. It was good to see them. And we were glad to let Betty know that many of her friends in America were thinking about her.
We ate lunch at a dim sum restaurant, where a few other education officials met up with us. We rested for a few hours in the restaurant while we waited for Jeff Sherlock to arrive by bus from Guangzhou. We about an hour drove out to Doumen.
This is our first night with our hosts. Jeff S., Luke, Susie and Valerie are all with the same hosts as last year. So, we are enjoying reunions. Nancy, Adam, Jana and Greg were dropped at about 6:00 PM to enjoy dinner with their hosts and begin to develop meaningful relationships. What a great opportunity for cultural exchange!
The camp during weeks two and three will indeed have 140 students. Jeff S., Greg, Jumbo, Adam He and I will be meeting tomorrow to think through the best strategy to approach this exciting challenge.
P.S. – By the way, there are two Adams and two Jeffs involved with this project. Adam He (Adam H.) is an education official in Doumen. Adam Drummond (Adam D.)is one of our teacher trainers from Huntington. Jeff Sherlock (Jeff S.) is a professor at Taylor University and the coordinator of our native English speaking team. Jeff Bleijerveld (Jeff B.) is an administrator in Huntington. I hope you can keep them straight as we describe what’s going on.
