The twins were the first of our kids to attend a language academy elementary school. For the past 9 years they have been studying Mandarin for an hour a day. This lengthy study is rewarded with a trip to China in their 8th grade year.
The trip they took was part of the YES program (Young Envoys Scholarship) which helps bolster relationships between China and the US. The program they were sent to was in Beijing, and they studied Traditional Chinese Medicine. I couldn’t have been happier with both the choice of city and the choice of study.
First, there are many aspects of Chinese Medicine I believe in, most prominently the philosophy that everything in the body is related and it’s important to strike a balance. Western medicine with all of it’s glories often treats the symptom and not the cause which bothers me.
They learned about acupuncture, cupping, Chinese herbs, hot and cold foods, and Baduanjin – a traditional Chinese health exercise similar to Tai Chi.
They also shadowed at Jingshan Middle School. Later, his teacher wrote and told me after Sam introduced himself to the group, a girl pointed to the girl next to her and said to Sam, “I wanted to tell you she says you’re really handsome”
And did lots of shopping.
Here is a video of both of them bargaining in China…
They used the subway to travel many places around the city.
They also went to eat lots of amazing foods. Dumpling and noodles, Hot pot, treats like milk tea and (yikes!) McDonalds McFlurries and Dairy Queen, Peking Duck, and special rice noodles from the teachers hometown.
The Summer Palace. Which was Sam’s favorite spot of the entire trip.
Also the Forbidden City.
They also visited the National Museum of China, the Birds Nest, and QianMen, an iconic landmark street in Beijing famous for its restored Qing Dynasty-style architecture, shops and food.
They visited Tiananmen Square. While they were there the Chinese State leaders were welcoming the President of Mozambique to the Great Hall of the People and they got to see the fanfare – guards everywhere and cannons blasting.
My favorite part was hearing they visited The Great Wall. I think a big part of it was the amazing video Aaron compiled that made me really feel like I was right there with him.
While the twins were away we were down to one kid. We were able to say yes to many invitations that we normally wouldn’t have if we around keeping us tethered to carpool duties and copious amounts of shopping and cooking to fuel their growing bodies.
We were able to say yes to an invitation to see Micheal McIntyre at the Chicago Theater. We said yes to pickleball at Grant Park. And we attended Ben’s school’s annual Gala, of which I am president of the parents association.
Adam also took me out to many dinner and lunches, taking the opportunity to lighten my cooking load even more. Kameya, ZaZa’s pizza, Bongo Room, Blue Door, Maggianos and Robert’s Pizza to name a few.
I also took the extra time as an opportunity to do all the bigger chores I can never seem to get to. I donated 11 boxes and 6 bags of old clothes, also readied 2 bags of cleats for the AYSO cleat exchange, redid Ben’s closet, hand washed every cushion on the couch, and with Adam help deep cleaned the top of our kitchen cabinets. My project list is still huge but at least I I was subtracting for once instead of just adding.
The twins are back now, but not for long, stay tuned for many more adventures coming soon!
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