"Wherever we go is home." crccstraveler's Profile

Warning for adult VT members: The purpose of this VT page is to share the travel experience with young children, because of this the writing and picture captions may seem a bit simplistic. All of the travels will be real, but for the children they will be mostly virtual. If any tips are written they will be directed to how the children can extend their virtual experience rather than on practical traveler's suggestions.

Of course, all VT members are welcome to visit this site. If you see any mistakes or have any suggestions please send me a comment.

The guessing contest is over. And the winning answer was CHILE.

Mrs. White's class second grade scored the most points. (Mrs. Everett's first grade and Mrs. Sheffield's fifth grade came in second and third.)

Follow the trip by coming to this page and then clicking on the "Chile". I will try to send dispatches about my travels and search for the prizes.

A friendship gift from a Chinese calligrapher

CHINA:
Calligraphy is an artistic type of writing used on special documents or in pieces of art. It does not refer to the meanings of the words. Instead the beauty is suppose to come from the form and style of the letters or how the words are written.
Pictographic writing can be especially beautiful.

A Chinese expert writer of calligraphy was asked to make a sign for our school in Chinese. We expected to pay him for his effort. He painted what you see to the left. Upon seeing it at our school Kuniko our friend from Japan declared, "That is the beautiful work of a master." She said that even in Japan it is hard to find such beautiful calligraphy. She thought that it must of cost us a lot of money.
When we tried to pay the man, he refused to take any money. He said it was a friendship gift for the children of the CRC.

Do Tibetan Chinese know about Chinese cookies?

Curiously two of the things most Americans think of as Chinese: "Chinese Fortune Cookies" and "Chicken Chow Mein" were actually created in America. When Chinese Fortune Cookies were first introduced to China they were sold as "American Good Luck Cookies". I have read that just like in America these cookies became popular because of the little piece of paper with the message of good fortune inside.

Personal links between CRCCS children and other countries.
It is a long way to travel from Florida to China, but still the daughter of our music teacher has visited China, and the son of the CRC school principal just returned home after living in China teaching English for 3 years. There are only a very few Chinese people living near us in Florida, but there are many people of Chinese heritage in the United States. Many of them no longer speak Chinese. Still they may preserve some Chinese customs. Perhaps the most famous is the custom of parading large cloth, paper and wood dragons when celebrating Chinese New Years.

Did Marco Polo see this?

Marco Polo was an Italian merchant. He traveled to find things to buy and sell. In the thirteenth century he was able to visit China. He was one of the first Europeans to travel into China in hundreds of years. He learned that there were many things in China not yet seen in Europe. He wrote of his adventures and this caused great new interest in China. This was over 600 years ago.

Perhaps the most famous American traveler was Mark Twain. He wrote a humorous book about his travels to Europe.

In the world, the exchange of ideas, science and technologies is one way that people can help each other. Now that China has re-opened its doors to the world it has begun to experience a boom in its economy. This means that more things are being made in China to be used throughout the world. Because the workers can make more, they can earn more money. This in turn allows the families to buy more modern things.

More people are learning about China. And the Chinese are learning more about the rest of the world. This is good for China and the rest of the world.
There is only one world and China and the USA are two big parts of it.