Nationwide activity to build up the health

The title for this post is the news article's title, not mine. The Government decided the students should get more exercise a few days ago, so here are the students getting more exercise! Read the two articles below and check out their dates!

Nationwide activity to build up the health

Updated: 2007-04-29 15:19

Pupils play during a nationwide activity aimed at building up the health of youths in Hefei, east China's Anhui province April 29, 2007. The education ministry had urged schools nationwide to pay more attention to sports and lighten children's burden by reducing homework and increasing exercise.

Children getting taller, less healthy

(Agencies)Updated: 2007-04-26 08:59

Chinese children have grown taller and heavier in recent years but their health is getting worse, a senior education official said on Wednesday, criticising pressure from parents and teachers to study.

"The inappropriate educational concepts, which put study ahead of anything else and impose great burden on pupils, have seriously affected their healthy growth," said Liao Wenke, an official in charge of youth development. "The endurance, strength and lung capacity of the children continue to fall - and rapidly, especially in the last 10 years," Liao told a news conference.

The average height of children aged seven to 18 had increased by up to 1 cm in 2005 from 2000, and the average weight had also risen - but the performance in sports had declined. "Obese schoolchildren are increasing in numbers swiftly, and the percentage of myopia remains high," he said.

China now has the world's second highest myopia rate among schoolchildren, blamed in part on too much study, and obesity among the young has become a major health concern. Chinese parents and teachers pressure children to succeed at an early age, with holidays and leisure time often sacrificed for homework to ensure success in college entrance exams.

The education ministry had urged schools nationwide to pay more attention to sports and lighten children's burden by reducing homework and increasing exercise, Liao said. President Hu Jintao also emphasised the importance of sports for children this week, urging local governments to use "healthy competition" to shape Chinese youth.

Links for these articles and more pictures:

Nationwide activity to build up the health - http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2007-04/29/content_863745.htm

Children getting taller, less healthy - http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/26/content_860412.htm

Planning

I like to plan. I like to make a plan. I like to think about planning. I like to implement the plan.

Interesting planning methods and ideas of some of the schools in China:

1. Plans are rare, often things are done on the spur of the moment.
2. Plans are subject to change at all times.
3. If you have plans with a friend or colleague and someone more important (especially from work) asks you to do something, you should change plans immediately and all will understand.
4. Schools sometimes schedule the classes around holidays. There are major week long Chinese holidays that have exact dates and everyone knows them, yet many schools will schedule the semester without regard to these dates. Then the week before the great vacation, the school announces they will need to make up the classes they will miss during this holiday.
1. Spring Festival - Chinese New Year is on the Lunar Calendar (which is scheduled for the next bazillion years).
1. May Day - Labor Day is May 1st to 7th.
2. National Day - Celebrating the new People's Republic of China is October 1st to 7th.
3. Some links: Public Holidays, Golden Weeks, Traditional Chinese Holidays
5. Schools know about when classes will begin and end for next year, but this is not decided until a few days before actually starts.
6. Any day of the week and any hour of the day is perfect to have class (any age level), except during meals: 7:00-8:00am, Noon-2:00pm (this allows for the all important nap), and 5:00-7:00pm.
7. And now there are major cultural differences between the students and teachers in China.
   
   • health
     
   • technology
   • beauty
   • homework
   • advertising
     
   • diploma or no wedding, work, or driver's license
   • hair length
   • heft
     

Here are some plans I am working on:

1. Running the Great Wall Marathon in less than 4.5 hours - photos
   
2. Reading 1 book every 2 weeks
3. Practicing Chinese for 30 minutes to 1 hour each day
   I'll finish Pimsleur before the school year is over and then Rosetta Stone this summer. Next school year I'll translate/practice/memorize John from the Good Book - Easy-to-Read Chinese Version for the modern language usage.
   
4. Posting to this blog (at least) once every 3 days
5. and then some...
   

太不好意思了

太不好意思了

太	太		tài	highest / greatest / too (much) / very / extremely
不好意思	不好意思		bù hǎo yìsi	feel embarrassed / be ill at ease / find it embarrassing (to do sth)
了	了		liào	look afar from a high place	瞭
	了		liǎo	to know / to understand / to know
	了		le	(modal particle intensifying preceding clause) / (completed action marker)
	了		liǎo	clear	瞭

不好意思 = bù hǎo yì si
This is one of my new phrases! I just used it tonight when I dropped some food from my chopsticks onto the table! I learned it today and used it today. I have been practicing speaking Chinese for a while now, but don't often have the opportunity to use all that I learn. Seems strange, but it is true. All our students want to speak English, so we don't often get to speak Chinese.

Here are few places you can look up Chinese words: http://www.xuezhongwen.net/chindict/chindict.php
http://www.mandarintools.com/
http://www.zhongwen.com/

Shiyan Map

I have made a Google Map for our city, you can click the following link: Shiyan Map

If you would like to add something or have questions about this map, just let me know. You can share the link with your friends and family.

Thanks for Remembering me and visiting my blog!

Inspiration

This site is all about INSPIRATION - what is it that inspires me, you, us, to do this thing called life? So, I'll be writing from my perspective... just for me, and you get to listen in
... let's keep it our little secret.

I stink at blogging. I try to write something regularly, but I always think it must be perfect. The art of the blog is to just write and let the mind share the stories wanting to get out. So this is my aim from now on.

I like that this site has spell check as I type, at least my errors won't be in the spelling department if I watch the screen as I type.

My frustration with the blogs I have had is that they were for Jaime and I ... I feel like this limits me. I need to talk about us and our events, which is good, but I am more self-centered when I write. Did you notice how many times I said "I" in this paragraph?

Anyway. We are here in China and happy to be serving Him.

Here are some of my inspirations:
1. Our Father is my greatest motivation. He has given me so much!
2. Jaime
3. Challenges, difficulties, adversity*
4. Running The Great Wall Marathon
5. Exploring Shi Yan on bike and Google Mapping the finds
6. Learning Chinese language and culture
7. Sharing with others
8. Being the best I can be for Him

#3 "Challenges, difficulties, adversity" - are sometimes good things, like marriage, relationships, and everyday life - other times these challenges are monstrously scary and life threatening. Learning to be content daily, while searching for greater understanding and deeper intimacy in life is a great struggle, but by no means is it negative. It can be a little draining, a little mundane, and this brings about the challenge of finding the great and wonderful in the little and seemingly insignificant moments that make up the majority of our lives.

Dad is always on and in my list, as well as Jaime. These two are constants in my life and they are inspiring, supportive, and ever encouraging. Sometimes it is awkward knowing where to place them and how to label them, because they consume so much of my world.

Life is best when there is a goal, a hope, and a long the way there is some mystery to solve... I am ever searching for more questions.