Pictured Past

I had some problems uploading my most recent post yesterday due to having a new laptop, can't figure out why. So, on my older computer am attempting here to put some photos to give the "flavor" of a trip to SW China. Enjoy!

(And by the way, the woman in the photo is Miss Chen, the principal of the school where Bridgett will give her lectures; the man hitting the bell is her boss, Dr. Feng who coordinates a number of schools in the megalopolis of SW China...a great man of great action. The Yank is myself at a glorious temple outside Zhaoqing, along with some beautiful mini scuptures on rooftops and entryways inside the temple. A BAT is a sign of good luck in Chinese culture.)

Return to China Once More 2011

October 17, 2011 Well, it is almost the 24th. of October when we are scheduled to leave once more for China. I say "we" because for the first time another special educator and teacher of the deaf will accompany me to China to do presentations there. Such a presenter is referred to as a "foreign expert" and one gives "lectures". So, off we go to the cities of Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Huaiji and Zhaoqing. I will accompany Bridgett to Huaiji to get her settled for the first few days and then leave for the University of Zhaoqing where I will give my two week course on the subject of special education and deaf education. Bridgett IS a real expert on early education and will present her work at Dr. Feng's school in Huaiji, a small city of a million people or so. It has been great coordinating with her. She has recently launched her new curriculum site "Carousel Curriculum" where her curriculum packages can be viewed and purchased, check it out. Bridgett also presented in Fiji last February for a month at the Gospel School for the Deaf there along with a number of other colleagues we have all worked with. It feels like we've all come "full circle" on this curriculum venture. This will be my sixth trip to China, I cannot believe it. It's been a lot of work but it will have benefits. We will return on November 15th. after three weeks in China. We hope some will check in on the blog. No need to leave a message, just check up on our progress should we have opportunities to do some postings there. I am bringing my brand new laptop computer so it should run a little more smoothly than before. Luggage weight has certainly been reduced as much of my work is now digital and I can leave many of the heavy papers at home. Will however continue to distribute books to needy kids and classes there and they do take up space and weight. Also, have developed some dynamite lessons to share with my students who will be seniors soon to go out on their internships. Timing is everything. Till we meet or communicate again soon, thanks for checking in on this old blog I've had going since 2007! Zai jien, good bye for now. Frank and Bridgett p.s. in case you were wondering, the picture at the top is not China! I just received it from a photographer friend in VT. It's not VT either, it is Petersburg, NY, one of the bordering towns to VT. She travels back and forth to VT from the City frequently. Thought it was timely to receive it today, such a serene scene. Enjoy!

May 22, 2011 continued

Welcome, and hope you enjoy the postings. I've done a few in the last week or so, make sure you see all of them! Zie Jian. Frank

If you wish to leave a comment I think you have to open an account with this blog. It is easy, but you don't have to. Bye for now. Frank Redmond, aka "Hong Qin Fen" (my Chinese name). SMH, LOL, ROFL. Enjoy!


I think this was a picture of an ice breaker with another group. Note the dark, long sleeve shirt I was wearing in a room that had to be 95 d. F., on the sixth floor, no elevator, well, actually there was an elevator but it was mostly locked when I arrived. It all gave new meaning to the Yiddish word "schvitzing".......sweating. Had to drink lots and lots of shway (H2O).



The guy on the left, named "Lemon" (English name), wants to be a special education teacher and was very enthusiastic about the new concepts I was presenting. He also assisted me to get to the bus station on the day that I left for the plane in Guangzhou. We continue to correspond.

Portia on the left, and Snow on the right were two of the translators / student assistants who helped with the course at Zhaoqing University. They are both sophomores and very very hard working.

Bonne was one of my translators at the Zhaoqing University for the course on special education / deaf education that I gave.

Found: One big American in an ocean of preschoolers. It was a fantastic day and experience!

Dr. Feng and I shaking hands for all the world to see. He is a Ph.D. and has written nine books. He gave me a copy of his latest, autographed in Chinese of course. He also directs four different schools, three preschool / kindergartens and one middle school. He was extremely friendly and has invited me back to provide more directions with curriculum.

I just had to have a picture of these hand - chairs. They gave one an uplifted feeling and new meaning to the expression "Slap me five!"

Miss Chen, assistant principal on left, Miss Kathy, head teacher on the right assisting me to tell the Story of Ping at the Huaji preschool / kindergarten.

"down the hatch"

Dr. Feng on the right, Miss Chen on the left...he is treating his bad cold with a specially mixed potion made just for him. A votre sante, gam bie! to your health.

Dr. Feng had a bad cold, so he, Miss Chen and I stopped at a Chinese apothecary store so he could get a mixed brew to treat his cold. I felt bad for him, but he seemed happy to get the potion and drank it right there. This young woman is using a hand held scale to measure out the ingredients. It seemed to be an old family business and a great experience for me to see the actual process of Chinese medicine in practice.

I think I will try to post more than 5 pictures this time.

Third post, May 22, 2011

I just love this picture of Miss Chen. She is the assistant principal of the preschool where I was giving presentations. The preschool is only two months old and has 100 students. The plan is to build up to 500 students as well as open two other schools in the district. I've been invited back for more presentations. I loved the light, the setting and the subjects during the visit to the temple / pagoda in Huaji.

I took this picture in the fashion of our friend Connie who does all sorts of photography. It was on the wall of a temple we visited in Huaji...iconographically beautiful in its one-ness.

This little girl is the daughter of the head teacher at the preschool / kindergarten I gave presentations to in the city of Huaji (hwah-gee). She was very funny and animated in the restaurant and put on a command performance for all of us.

The charge of the light brigade.

These kids just came charging down from a high hill out of nowhere. See the other pictures for explanation. I had a "Lord of the Flies" feeling when I took in the whole experience.

Second Post of the Day, May 22, 2011

One of the joys of childhood I guess......being one with Nature.

These kids with the leaf crowns were so cute I had to have a picture taken with them. It was a "zen" moment for me for sure and hopefully for them meeting a big foreigner such as I.

This was one of the most ethereal experiences I've ever had inside an enormous cave near Foshan, Guangdong Province P.R.C. I took lots of pictures and it was tough picking the cave ones for the blog as I was totally on visual overload with this cave. I've been to Carlsbad Caverns in the USA and some in Ireland which were way underground. This one was so different as you were inside and seeminly outside at the same time it was so huge. Definitely one of the highest highlights of my trip. Wish you were there.

Closeup of the "shaman" in the temple outside Zhaoqing.

This picture on the left is a close up of the man at the temple who is kind of like a "shaman". Dr. Feng had some personal questions about homebuying and he paid this man to do a reading of some kind. He posed the question, Miss Chen, I and Dr. Feng went to tour the temple which included burning of a huge paper lantern in the ovens and setting off a very long string of firecrackers to ward off evil spirits and finally to burn some large incense in honor of their ancestors. The "shaman" was a heavy smoker as you can see from his stained fingers. Nonetheless, he was very nice and we all enjoyed some refreshing tea while waiting for his suggestions to Dr. Feng. I absolutely loved the experience as I felt they kind of let me in on some very intimate Chinese folkways / customs. (checked it off my bucket list!)

Only three weeks after returning from China, attempts to upload more pictures!

This is an example of Ancestor Worship, one of the major spiritual exercises in China such as Daoism, Taoism, Confusianism, Buddhism, etc. etc. This was at a wonderful temple outside Zhaoqing where there is a story about a mother and her two daughters afloat on a river in China. I did not completely understand the story, but she garnered great reverence from all who were visiting. I was able to say to Dr. Feng "Ta shir ma ma de Zhong Guo" and felt good about that. He agreed.

Part of an icebreaker using toilet paper...must tell something interesting about yourself for the number of sheets you take, e.g. three sheets = three interesting things about you.

I know, the same 3 translators, bu this time in class. See Frank, see Frank sweat. It had to be 100 degrees in the classroom but somehow got through it. Each book except for Miss Nelson Returns is part of my presentations in one way or another. Work, yes, fun, yes!

We stepped outside for a picture with bamboo background I liked. Thumbs up for all of us!

After at delightful farewell lunch, the three translators wanted a group picture. The tall girl named Kah Kah was not a translator however, but all wonderful young women (sophomores).

Despite the mic being "in my face", I thought it was a cute picture from the presentation at the "Number One " middle school in Zhaoqing. You know, 15 mins. of fame!

This is not going well. I will attempt again today to upload some pictures. I will do five at a time and then start a new "post" and will try to annotate each picture. Here goes........

These three lovely Chinese sophomore students at Zhaoqing University were my translators for the two week course as well as other activities. Their names are Portia, Bonne and Snow. They were a tremendous help to this old mei guo ren.

David in above picture is from Mexico City and got us all up dancing as this class at Nanjing University was learning about Central and South America(s). He did a great job.

Well, here it is two weeks after returning from this China trip and I can finally upload some pictures. The chip in my camera was not cooperating so had to try a different method with my son in law's equipment. I was gone from April 12th. until May 3rd. and took a lot of pictures, some I will share here. They range from Nanjing Universityhttp://nanjing%20university/ to Zhaoqing Universityhttp://zhaoqinguniversity/, a preschool in the city of Huaji http://huaji%20china/ chinaand a middle school in Zhaoqing called the Number One Middle Schoolhttp://number%20one%20middle%20school%20zhaoqing/. Hope you enjoy, and I will try to annotate a bit here and there. Thanks for looking!

Apology for April 2011 postings...

Well here it is in May and I still have not posted anything on the Blog as I could not get it to open at all in China. I tried several times with no luck at all. Also, I think my camera has been through security too many times (as in "x-ray") and would not upload the most recent pictures. So, I've posted a few more from last fall here.

The pictures above range from some shots taken at the Gao Chun special school that has about 135 deaf and "mentally challenged" students; presentations given there in the fall. Also, the fellow with the candles works at a place in Nanjing called the Ark. They supply church candles for churches all over China. Sister Maria Zheng coordinates that program and does a great job. I visited there in October and just recently returned mid April to give a presentation about autism and mentally challenged curriculum ideas. I used Gary Sundberg's VB MAPP approach for the autism as well as some testimony from an autistic woman who explained so much about the handicap in a very personal way. There was much agreement among the staff there with what I presented. In the picture where I am making the open handed sign, it is the sign for bread (bao) in Chinese sign language. Uwe Brutzer brought me there for a nice visit one day. About 10 deaf young women have been trained as bakers and opened a bakery there in the city of Changsha.

When I can finally upload some recent photos from the trip of April 12th. to May 3rd. I will do so. I flew into Shanhai and took the "fast" train to Nanjing. Stayed in Nanjing for about four days and first day visited Miss Becky Mitchell's class at Nanjing University. She teaches communication in English there and invited me to see her two hour class about traveling around the world. That night the students were giving their required two hour presentation on Mexico and Central America. So, we had a fellow from Mexico and a woman from Columbia who spoke in turn about their countries. They also provided some of their favorite foods such as salsa, bread, and some kind of potato soup that was wonderful. David, the fellow from Mexico is an excellent dancer and got everyone up dancing to some exciting music that was kind of like flamenco......lots of fun. There were about 45 students in the class. I had major jet lag and it was hot and humid, but totally enjoyed the experience. Miss Becky is a phenomenal teacher from Utah. Last fall and just recently I helped to prepare her students in sign language to be able better to communicate with the students at the Gao Chun special school. She conducts a fundraising program called Sunshine and just recently went there to provide both the students and faculty from Nanjing University with the experience of American food and games / culture. Afterward she sent the most wonderful email summing up the day's events.

The presentation at the Nanjing school for the deaf went very well. I gave a one hour demonstration English and "language" lesson using the popular book Miss Nelson is Missing with accompanying follow up worksheets such as graphic organizers, Venn diagrams, compare and contrast overheads. The students were great and very enthusiastic. We discussed a few comparisons of deafness in American schools and their school in general. Then we moved to another room where I gave a two hour presentation to the teachers, mostly from the English department of the school(population 500 students). Collin and his colleagues took me and the translators out to a wonderful lunch in a locally very popular buffet style restaurant.

On April 16th. I flew from Nanjing to Guangzhou where my friend Weco met me at the airport and put me on the bus for Zhaoqing University where I was scheduled to give the two week course about deaf education and special education. The next day I met with the three new translators to preview all of the materials. I was scheduled to give six two hour classes to one group. As it turned out, it was switched to three groups of about 135 students in each group, English and education majors. So, as I told the dean later in my exit interview, all of those students only received one third of what I had prepared. Nevertheless, I've been invited back to give the course again in September, this time to seniors who will be going out on their internships soon. The dean, a very nice man, informed me that the Chinese govt. has now mandated that any local district having 300,000 or more people must have a new major of special education at the local university beginning this year. I certainly felt like I was at the threshold of something great with great potential. The future for me is bright there for sure.

In the meantime, not to rest up too much on the middle weekend, I received an invitation to give a preschool / kindergarten presentation in the city of Hua Ji (hwah - gee), about a 2 1/2 hour drive outside Zhaoqing that Saturday. I was told there were "hot springs" there everyone wants to try. So, off I went with lots of materials not knowing what to expect. Fortunately, we met at a restaurant the night before to create a neat outline and we kind of winged it during the day as the needs arose. Dr. Feng picked me up Friday night at the university. I thought he was "just" a driver. Turns out he is the former CEO of the university, a Ph.D. and has written nine books. I was astonished. He now directs three pre and kindergarten schools as well as a middle school in another city. The school I was at is only two months old, already with a population of 100 preschoolers. They will expand to 500 total in that building alone and then proceed to open two more. So, we moved on from Where is Thumbkin to Itsy Bitsy Spider and Open Shut Them most of the day. The parents and I had some nice meetings and I've been invited back for the fall. I highly recommended a good friend here who has just published her preschool curriculum. It would certainly enrich what is / is not going on in those preschools.

Finally, at the end of my stay in Zhaoqing I was invited to give a presentation at the Number One Middle School in Zhaoqing where the children of a couple of people I know attend. The group was about 200-300 middle school students who were quite enthusiastic. I was amazed at how well they spoke English. The topic was "Living and Learning in American Schools". I outlined in general what students learn here along with a good dose of extra curricular activities as well as American culture in general (music, dress, issues, etc.) It was very well received but of course I got the very common questions about how much money do I make, how old am I and why am I so fat? Other Chinese adults I know inform me there is no insult intended, just very high levels of curiosity expressed in awkward English phrases.

Until I can get the photo problem fixed, I guess that will be all for now. It was great to go, but also wonderful to come home. The trip back was an absolute nightmare and when my family picked me up at Logan airport I was so blurry eyed I hardly recognized anyone including my grandaughter, daughter, wife and car! The joys of travel. Till next time..........adieu.

Countdown to 2011

It is about five days to go before I leave for China and the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Zhaoqing. Still preparing a number of presentations which will all be worth it and I look forward to seeing familiar as well as new faces there. The presentation at the Nanjing School for the Deaf came through! I will give a one hour "English" lesson to the students to demonstrate some language learning strategies. Then, I will convene with the teachers for the next two hours to present an overview of curriculum and language development strategies for students with hearing loss. The Nanjing School for the Deaf is the oldest national school in China (there have been other schools founded by missionaries, etc. and are somewhat private) with a student population of about 500. So far the staff I am in contact with have been extremely nice. I met some of them last fall at the Gao Chun Special School and they were very impressive and quite focused on providing a good education to their students. The translators will be provided...three in Nanjing and three in Zhaoqing at the university there. I hope to hear from some friends from the USA during the next three weeks. Until then, God bless, and zie jian (good bye). Frank

Changsha Special School for the Deaf and Blind Presentations October 2010

Off to China Again, 2011!

This will be my fifth trip to China, leaving April 11th. to May 2nd. A friend from the Columban Fathers said I've gone to China more than any Columban Father ever did (I chuckled). It took a while to get back into my account here but am happy to be back and posting once again. Last fall, mid October to early November I did some presentations in various places. EACH was my favorite, it's so hard to decide. Anyway, flew into Hong Kong, took bus to Guangzhou, met Pan Wei Cong there and he put me on the fast train to Changsha, about a 450 mile trip. Ordinarily it takes 4 or 5 hours, it only took one and a half hours. Train was going over land about 205 miles per hour. Gave a two day presentation at the Changsha Special School, about 45 staff members, 135 or so deaf and blind students. Got on a plane to Nanjing a few days later and gave a one day presentation at the Gao Chun Special School, about 95 deaf and 30 or so mentally challenged students; staff of about the same, 45 - 50. Loved Gao Chun and was invited to give another presentation at the Nanjing school for the deaf, oldest national school in China with about 500 students. That one is in the works. Also in Nanjing, gave a presentation to students at the university on international sign language as well as paid a visit to "The Ark" run by Sr. Maria Zheng, a nun, for autistic and mentally challenged students, about 85 or so. This spring, will return to Nanjing via Shanghai and then on to Guangzhou and the University of Zhaoqing. In Nanjing will help to prepare university students to work with the clients at the Ark and then give a presentation to the staff there at the Ark on language development and autism, current diagnosis and intervention methodologies. Leaving Nanjing for Zhaoqing University, will begin to give a two week course there on the topic of special education and deaf education. I know this all sounds confusing, and it is! I've been working at it for weeks to prepare. Much of the content from the fall presentations can roll over into this spring's, but the course has been pumped up with lots more content, there is a lot to it, but I enjoy it all. In China I am so fortunate to get help from so many people: Becky Mitchell from Univ. of Utah, translators Luo Li, Aloe and Amelia, Weina, Jeff, Shane, Pan Wei Cong, Dawn and her husband Dr. Lin, etc. etc. There are so many great people there. I hope folks can post here once in a while and now possibly I 'll be able to pick it up again in China. Cheerio! Frank