Day 10 began with signing Memorandums of Understanding with Changchun University. Followed by lunch at the fabulous Goose Island Restaurant, a tour of the Special Education programs at Changchun, a massage from the students, observing the students carve eggs, and a beautiful dinner at one of my favorite places, the yurt.

Dr. Kathy Johnson is honored by Changchun University! I’m so proud of all the work that she has been doing in China over the last 17 years! I have a feeling this is the best year to come!!!

Joseph Jones signs a MOU between the Harkin Institute and Changchun University!

Another photo of Joseph Jones!

Rebecca Gaw signs a MOU on behalf of Iowa School for the Deaf!

We are very excited for the possiblities student and faculty exchange at ISD!

Terry Wilding sings a MOU on behalf of Minnesota State Academies for the Deaf and Blind!

We already had a blind student contact both Terry and I wanting to do a exchange!

Christine Sharkey signs a MOU between Changchun University and Delaware School for the Deaf!

Aaron Gutkze signs a MOU between ThinkSelf and Changchun University!

A world of opportunity awaits ThinkSelf in China!

Changchun University has an Art Gallery to display artworks by students. There were several pieces made with a variety of materials such as this one. The creativity and detail is amazing!

I loved this print! I believe the medium is oil and some type of paper or other material painted on the canvas to give texture and depth.

Another 3-D sculpture with some amazing detail.

Hand sculptures ostrich eggs!!! Magnificent work!

These fans were so beautiful! I want one!

Graduation Day!

So honored that we were able to watch students work. We also were able to buy one. Let’s go shopping!!!

Several students were sculpting these oval pieces of egg shell. I’m not sure if they used them on other art pieces or if they sell them as a medallion of some sort.

A few of the finished pieces we could purchase.

Plate scupting!

In another classroom students were painting frames to match the canvas. Pretty cool!

Goose Island Restaurant!

A very peaceful and fun place to have lunch!

I’m not sure I would walk those barrels.

Goose Island is a park like atmosphere with small ponds, local vendors and a restaurant.

Good-bye photo! Last day with Joseph and Martin!

bus ride to the Yurt Restaurant! I was so excited!

Our yurt for the night! It’s the same one as last year! Good memories!!! Too bad Dr. Hu could not join us again.

They said that they don’t cook peacock, but I don’t know maybe. 🤷‍♀️

Beautiful people, beautiful dinner!

Hey…what’s going on over there Reen and Christine. I’m sure Joseph is involved in some way. 😂

The China-US Education and Development Forum for the Deaf was a full day of presentations plus an evening performance by students who were either deaf or blind. During the all-day forum we had several presentations given by our delegation. Kathy Johnson presented and told her beautiful story of how she found her way to China. She ended the presentation with giving everyone a white rose in which they held up to simulate a garden of roses. Leah Katz-Hernandez shared her story of growing up deaf and her experience working with President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Terry Wilding presented on his experience being raised in a deaf family as well as his schools and program at Minnesota State Academies for Deaf and  for the Blind. Bakar Ali presented on the programs available to Deaf students at NTID, and Evon Black presented on programs available for Deaf students at Gallaudet. Dr. Zheng and I also presented on our Harkin Institute project, and Dr. Zheng shared her experience while living in the United States.

Reen is ready to interpret!

After a long day of presenting the group went to Chungchun University for an evening presentation. We would have never imagine such a beautiful performance by the students.

Eveyone was captivated by the performers!

The use of visual and spoken language with using hand signal to keep rhythm had me perplexed as to how they could follow the music. Definitely an area of performance we can learn from the Chinese.

Shawn was adorable interpreting the performance. I think the performers liked him too! They gave him flowers at the end of the performance. 💐

This was one of the performance that used hand signals to keep rhythm. There was a person at each corner of the stage and they were counting on one hand and keeping a beat with counts on the other hand. It was facinating!

The ASL and CSL interpreter together. I don’t know I think I will upgrade my interpreter wardrobe to include gold sparkles…😜

This piano performance was conducted by a student who is blind. There was a visual performance on the screen behind him that danced different colors and light to the sound of the music. It was so beautiful!

Another photo during the song performance by the student who is blind.

At the end of the evening all the performers honored Martin Esel, Kathy Johnson and our delegation on stage.

Back to the hotel for a dinner. Shawn is trying rooster head. 😮

The Lama Temple is one of my favorite places to visit when in Beijing. It is also known as Yonghe Lamasery which means “Palace of Peace and Harmony.” 

The site contains some of the most astounding architecture in all of China. The buildings display a mix of Han (Chinese) and Tibetan architectural styles. The temple was built in 1694 during the Qing Dynasty. Originally it was built as a residence for court eunuchs of the previous dynasty, but later was converted as a residence for Prince Yong (Yinzhen). In 1722 half of the residence became a lamasery for Tibetan Monks. The temple is home to both the Drum tower and the Bell Tower which I have mentioned in previous blogs. As I’ve said in previous blogs, this area is my favorite Hutong in all of China. The Lama temple is a popular tourist destination, but it is still a working temple. Many people visit the temple to offer up prayers and incense. I was so happy that the group was able to visit the Lama Temple. Unfortunately, Kathy and I were unable to join the group for the visit. Still too much work to prepare to meet with Hanban headquarters and our visit to Changchun.

Lunch was held at another beautiful Chinese restaurant in a private room with a large round table. Also joining us for lunch was Martin Essl and Richard Trappl. Martin Essl is the Founder of the Essl Foundation which founded the Zero Project and Richard is the Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna, Austria. Kathy and I met Richard when we were in Vienna attending the Zero Project conference. The outcome of our meeting with him led to Richard joining us in China and making a commitment to also work to include people with disabilities as a priority with his CI work. “The Zero Project, an initiative of the Essl Foundation, focuses on the rights of persons with disabilities globally. It provides a platform where the most innovative and effective solutions to problems that persons with disabilities face, are shared. Its sole objective is to assist in creating a world without barriers.” (zeroproject.org).

After lunch we all headed to Hanban Headquarters for a meeting. Hanban is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide Chinese language and culture to the world. The Hanban Headquarters has a small, but beautiful museum that displays the history and culture of China. They even have some era period clothing that you can try on and have your picture taken. It’s lots of fun.

The meeting with Madam Jing Wei was very positive. She understood the need for including people who are Deaf into global exchanges. She shared that she has a family member who is deaf.

After the Hanban meeting we headed straight to the airport. We had 6pm flights to Changchun. We were all exhausted at this point, but so much fun to be on a flight together. If you want to have a fun time on a flight always sit next to Shawn. I promise you won’t stop laughing.

Much to our delight when we arrived at the hotel there was a huge banner that announced the conference hosted by Changchun University and St Cloud State University. It was also the banner on every TV screen. So Cool!

After checking into our rooms there was a “late night” snack hosted by Changchun University for our group. When we got to the room we were amazed at the beautiful set-up with fruits, cookies and wine.

Kathy and I met with Dr. Ding, from Hanban, while the group traveled to the Temple of Heaven. We really wanted to bring the group to Shepherd’s Field Orphanage, because the staff asked if we could provide training on how to communicate better with the children who are deaf. Hanban has been very supportive of our work in Deaf Education so I feel positive we will be approved to go before the end of our trip.

The group had a great time at Temple of Heaven. Here are some pictures they shared with me.

We met the group after they finished touring the Temple of Heaven and started the 2-hour bus ride to the Great Wall.

Once we arrived to the entrance of the great wall of China we stopped for Subway sandwiches. It was a long walk to get to the trolley that would take us up to the great wall.

The trolley ride was amazing. You could see the great wall for miles and miles.

Once we arrived at the top of the entrance we still had a ways to walk before we actually climbed on the wall. It felt like a really long journey but it probably was only about a 20 minute walk. Once on the wall the site was just breathtaking. The thought of how much history had happened right where I was standing was amazing.

After being on the wall for some time we took group photos in our St. Cloud State T-shirts and started the trek back to the bus. 

This was my 1st visit to the wall and it was amazing! I LOVE China!

After leaving the great wall we drove back to Beijing and went to the Haidilao Hot Pot restaurant. Hot Pot is always so much fun! It took three tables to accommodate our large group for dinner. The food and conversation was great!

Our first presentation day meant a long day of work, but it was also very rewarding. First we went to Beijing Normal University (BNU) for an all day seminar. BNU has a Research Center on Chinese Sign Language and Braille. It was a wonderful day of knowledge sharing. Dr. Gu shared with our team, an update on their work with standardization of sign language. From our team, Terry, Rebecca and Christine shared a presentation on teacher development in the US. Shawn, Reen, Dawn and myself gave a presentation on interpreter education. Aaron Gutkze and Leah Katz Hernandez both shared their stories on growing up deaf. It was a great day. 

Here is a picture of the amazing team of interpreters!

After a full day at BNU we hurried over to the U.S. Embassy for a panel forum discussion with Joseph Jones as the panel moderator. Panel members included Terry, Evon, Bakar and Leah. There were over 100 participants in the audience.

The first day for the delegation began with an orientation and safety session. After the session, we left to go shopping at the Pearl Market.

After the Pearl Market we went to Bai Hai Park. 

The group was able to take a boat ride through the park.



After the boat ride we took a long walk through the city.

After the park we walked through the Hutongs and went to the private residence of Dr. Hutong and learned how to make zongzi. Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food made ofglutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo, generally ofindocalamus tessellatus species, sometimes, with reed, or other large flat leaves (wikipedia).  

After making the zongzi, we took a rickshaw ride through the hutongs.

We arrived at a restaurent in the hutongs called Dali restaurant. The food was great and the atmostphere was even better.

What an exciting and busy day! The delegation is arriving but not all at the same time. Coordinating pick ups and schedules was an intensive process. We spent the morning planning who would pick up which group of delegates. We also found out that there was an interpreter conference being hosted in Changchun during the time that we would be there. Our wonderful coordinator, Erin, made some calls and we got invited to attend. Since we were adding yet another conference we decided we would go shopping for a new suit jacket.  We headed to the Silk Market and ended up at a small shop that custom makes suits and dresses. It was a lot of fun negotiating what we wanted and how much we wanted to pay for it.

After shopping we had coffee at a local cafe and decided that Kathy and Bakar would go sight see at the Summer Palace and Erin and I would go to the airport and pick up the delegation.

The group was arriving at different times in different terminals. Erin and I split up and she met Xuan, Aaron, Shawn, Dawn, Reen and Christine arriving at Terminal 2 and I went to Terminal 3 to meet Terry, Evon, and MJ. Leah and Rebecca arrived much later so we sent a driver to pick them up from the airport. Getting through customs and baggage claim takes a while so we were there for about 3 hours. What an awesome feeling to see our group walk through the international arrivals line. As we were arriving from Terminal 3 and walking to the bus the Terminal 2 group arrived. Yay!!! AARON!

The hardest part about arriving in the middle of the day is that we needed to keep all the delegation members awake. They can’t even nap. If they do, then jet lag will hit really hard. The best way to stay awake is to walk. We gathered outside of the hotel with Caroline and Xuan to walk to dinner.

For dinner we walked from the Jiangui Garden Hotel to a restaurant called Yu Xin Chuan Dish 渝鑫川菜. This restaurant is located in the Chinese Opera house. A traditional Chinese meal made it a beautiful start to our delegation.

After dinner everyone was exhausted. We walked back to the hotel and everyone settled in for the night. It’s going to be a great couple weeks!

We spent the entire day working on the delegation schedule and our presentations. I was in the lobby restaurant on FaceTime with Elise, and a woman walked in and saw us signing. She asked me if I was deaf. Then she looked at Kathy and said I saw your picture with Xuan. What a small world! Caroline is deaf and is from the Netherlands. She is traveling the globe for two months. It was a fortuitous meeting!

After checking out of the hotel we checked into the Jianguo Garden Hotel in Beijing. Now we feel like tourists. This hotel is an Americanized hotel complete with breakfast buffet.

Our delegation coordinator also arrived while we were checking in. She has been fantastic with helping us to plan a schedule that helps us to meet our delegation goals. She is Awesome! My new favorite person is ERIN (Yan Lei)!

The first delegate arrived, Bakar Ali. We all went out to eat at Molly Malone’s for dinner. Molly Malones is a British style pub in Beijing. It is located in the Legendale Hotel. The hotel is modeled after hotel architecture from Europe. The lobby is absolutely stunning, and so is the city light up at night.

Our agenda for the day was to meet with some of our strategic partners and prepare for the arrival of our delegation. Our first stop was Beijing Normal University (BNU). Kathy’s relationship with BNU goes back to her dissertation days in 2003 when she was conducting qualitative research on deaf education in China. BNU has been conducting research on Chinese Sign Language (CSL) in the hope to develop a standardized sign language for the country. We met with the Director, Dr. Gu Dingqian to prepare for a conference they are hosting on Tuesday the 19^th. Last year our delegation met with Dr. Gu’s team and consulted on sign language development and interpreter education. There is a growing need for interpreter education in China. Currently there are 6 Interpreter Training Programs (ITP) in the whole country, and Dr. Zheng only recommends 2 as being quality programs. Not having qualified interpreters poses lots of barriers for people who are deaf in China. The conference BNU is hosting on the 19^this to learn more about deaf education and setting up ITPs. It was a productive meeting and we were able to outline the conference agenda.

Fortunately our next meeting was in the same building at BNU just on a different floor. We met with Dr. Hong Chengwen to discuss supporting a follow up conference that will focus on technical signs in STEM education. We hope to bring a few experts from the states this Fall to help facilitate knowledge sharing in this area. The meeting with Dr. Hong was so much fun. He had an electric tea board on his coffee table in his office. He made tea for us and we chatted for about an hour. He then invited us to lunch.

We also met with the US Embassy to plan for a forum they are hosting on the evening of the 19^th. There already have about 100 people registered to attend. The forum will be have four of our delegates on a panel discussing deaf education and it will be moderated by Joseph Jones. We mostly discussed the use and set up for ASL voice interpreters,  ASL interpreters, Chinese spoken language interpreters and Chinese sign language interpreters. It will definitely be a learning experience for the Embassy.

When we left we walked to Starbucks then took a taxi back to our hotel.
On the trip we saw a motorcycle that a dog sitting on it with the rider. It was quite a sight! We tried to take a picture but just couldn’t get the right angle.
Seeing animals in odd places has been a frequent occurrence in the last few days. We’ve seen dogs on rooftops, cats on rooftops, and birds tied to front doors.

When I woke up the first thing I did was run up to the rooftop to see the view. Words can’t adequately describe the view of the spectacular and brilliant Bell Tower and Drum Tower. These picturesque structures stood massive over the Hutongs standing as a permanent reminder of ancient China. Originally built as muscial instruments the towers later served to announce time. I hope we have time to tour the towers.

I was amazed that we remembered how to get through the alleys and streets back to the lobby. We had taken so many turns to get to our room I thought for sure we would get lost. Once you are in the hutongs, it’s almost like a maze before you find an exit to the street. The path to the lobby was still a long walk but it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. In fact, it was beautiful and serene….so peaceful! Here is a picture of our alley! It looked much scarier in the dark. 😂

As we passed by the park next to the drum tower people were doing Tai Chi.

Back in the lobby we dined at “Toast,” the hotel restaurant. It featured a rooftop patio area. The perfect place to start off the day. 

After breakfast we walked to the main road and tried to hail a taxi. A taxi stopped, we showed the address printed in Chinese and he waved no and took off. A second driver stopped and said “no, too much traffic.” Kathy offered an extra tip and he said 200RMB. NO WAY!  Finally a third car stopped and we offered 100RMB to take us. SCORE! 

At the Ford Foundation we met with an amazing woman named Elizabeth. She is American, but has lived in China for 20 years. her life story was so interesting.  We had a great meeting and discussion about how grantees could be more inclusive of people with disabilities. Sharing our work is always so energizing and motivates me to want to do more. I seriously love doing this work!!!

One of the BEST things to happen to China……Starbucks!!!! At least for me! There is a Starbucks on every block, or so it seems. After Starbucks we wanted to shop for a few snack items. On our walk we randomly came upon a lovely city park, Ri Tan. There were so many children laughing and playing, mostly with one or both grandparents. We could hear music so we followed it and came upon people dancing in the park.

No China visit would be complete without a visit to Wal-Mart. It was equally as  overwhelming and big as U.S. Wal-Marts. It was such a busy morning with so much walking and that was all before lunch. 

We met with Huke for lunch. I met him last year at a Beijing Union University (BUU) conference. Huke is a professor at BUU. He knows some ASL because of his time in the US studying at Gallaudet University. It was a lot of fun. I love connecting with the Deaf community and learning more about what’s happening. I also got to meet Kaizi who will be assisting with Chinese interpreting on this trip. Such a sweet young man! 

It was such a long day….our feet hurt and we were still exhausted from our trip. But…the evening ended so beautifully.  We were able to meet with Joe Wacker, Principal of Minnetonka High School. He and Kathy go way back and have been on many China delegations together. It always fun to run into a Minnesotan all the way in China.

We arrived in Beijing late Wednesday evening, June 13th right at sunset. It was a good flight with no delays. Landing and deplaning in Beijing can sometimes take a lot of time. It took about 15 minutes to taxi to the gate. Fortunately once we were off the plane, customs and baggage claim were a breeze. We were so happy to see our driver and start the 45 minute ride to the hotel.

By the time we got to the hotel it was after 9pm. The hotel entrance was located at the end of an alley. I knew I was going to the Hutong area, but little did I know that Hutong is a Mongolian word for alley. As we neared the end of the alley, suddenly a little piece of paradise appeared in the middle of the darkness. The hotel’s logo is a cat and pleasantly we were greeted by this cute cat upon entry to the lobby.

The Orchard Hotel is in the middle of the historic Beijing Hutong area. This charming area of Beijing is in walking distance to Forbidden City and Tian’anmen Square. We checked in and had to walk several blocks away to get to our room. After 15 minutes of dragging our luggage through the dark streets we entered an alley that was even darker and stumbled through to pull our luggage over a broken and uneven walkway. When we finally entered our room we were exhausted and needed sleep but were pleased with the dwelling.

To our delight the space included a rooftop patio! The Drum Tower and Bell Tower stood large and grand from the view on the patio. It was so dark on the rooftop, but in the lobby we brought some candles, cheese and crackers, and wine  so that we could enjoy being outside. Even though it was a difficult hike to the room we loved the area and feeling that we were getting a real sense of the culture. It is definitely our new favorite spot in Beijing! 

Travel days to China really do consume all of your energy, but once you arrive it’s always worth the hassle of the airport and long flight.  Finally we were able to relax on  this rooftop right in the center of Beijing. It was surreal! As we sat on the patio exhausted we were both in awe of the fact we traveled half way around the globe to be here, in this place, this haven of beauty. Filled with immense gratefulness we were able rest soundly.   

It’s official! Let the delegation begin! I am looking forward to making memories and forging new partnerships and opportunities.  My goals for this delegation are:

1. To learn more about Chinese Sign Language, the deaf community, and sign language interpreters in China.
2. To meet people in China who are deaf and learn how they live, work and engage with the broader community.
3. To serve as a resource to the professional community regarding  deafness research and knowledge of Best Practices in the field of Rehabilitation.
4. To personally learn about the rich historical and cultural contributions of China to the world to enrich my understanding of the Chinese Deaf community.

Kathy and I just finished our first leg of the journey and will be boarding for Beijing soon. We are loaded up with caffeine and ready for the 13 hour flight.

“Never doubt that a small group [or two people 😂] of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

We are both looking forward to sharing our stories with all of you. Stayed tuned….next post will be from…BEIJING!