Friday, 1-15-10

Today we had an orientation meeting to find out all of the things we should and should not do here in China.  Just like our culture China has some rules to follow.  For example they told us that we must not talk to everyone that talks to us and it is OK to tell them no.  They said there is some crime here and they will try to steal your money if you do not pay attention or they will try to give you counterfeit money.  The money here is interesting because for every US dollar they give us almost 7 Chinese Yuan (pronounced you-en).  So Leola students,  if we have 35 US dollars how many Yuan do we get?

They are taking us to a grocery store to buy some snacks and water. If I am allowed to take a photo to share with you I will do that.  Leola students,  we can only drink bottled water- do you know why?

Here are some photos of our hotel.  The light is much more beautiful in person, but here is a photo where you can see the cranes on it.  Leola students- If you are in Mrs. Lizak's class maybe she can tell you about the story of the 1,000 cranes.

The photo of the lady today is of Shiyan (pronounced Shee-on).  She is a lawyer here in China that specifically does adoptions.  She speaks English very well and she is a lot of fun to talk to and learn about China.  She will be traveling with us to Shanghai to help us do things like paperwork and she aslo makes sure we know where to go all of the time.