Yesterday I accompanied the three Year Five (4th grade, so Zach's class) classes on a field trip. The kids have been studying Ancient Greece and its architectural influence. The purpose of the trip was to view various buildings and photograph, draw, and answer questions about what types of columns or patterns they view. We went to Puxi (other side of the river) and walked around The Bund which is the neighborhood right at the waterfront. This area houses many old buildings and historical sites.
So picture this: We are strolling through the streets - the noisy, air-polluted, construction-filled streets - and we reach an intersection. The adults flank the kids, wait patiently for the green walk sign, look both ways, again and again, and then begin to usher the kids across the street. Dozens of little 9-year olds. The automobiles, moped drivers, and bikers smile and wait for us to pass........
No! That would be America, or Australia, or Germany, or Indonesia (as the kids from these various countries assured me), but not China. In China, the game of survival of the fittest continues as the cars and other travelers attempted to shove their way right through the middle of the group of kids. We adults, all women, were like honorary traffic cops yelling unmentionables in a variety of languages. Suddenly I am missing those annual Quarton field trips to the pumpkin patch.
After visiting a couple old buildings, we walked a few blocks to a quaint little park for lunch. This small, circular park offered a respite from the bustle happening just outside its walls. As we entered I saw numerous groupings of Chinese retirement-age-looking people. Some were doing taichi, some chatting, a big group was watching a few men play cards for money. The most interesting part of this park, though, was the dozens of small bird cages with little chirping birds sitting on benches and tables and hanging from trees. The kids ran to look at the birds and the grumpy men quickly lowered the curtains down all four sides of the cages. Hmmm, I thought. Why can't the kids look at the birds? Are they worried the kids will scare them? I asked one of the teachers if the birds just stay in the park all the time, or if there was a shelter/shed they were placed in at night. She informed me that these birds were all pets and that this was a bird park! These retired folks walk their birds to the bird park where they can tweet away with their bird friends - while confined to their itty-bitty cages, of course.
One parting note: A friend of mine went to the Shanghai Zoo recently. I asked her if it was worth a trip. She said it was a nice zoo, but a little odd. "How so?" I asked. "Because they have dogs there - in cages." Those wild animals!
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