Field Trip

Cameron's class went on a field trip to the Tianjin Science Museum.  After an hour drive we arrived.  Unloaded the bus and headed inside.  Mr. Czaster told the kids to all stay on the first floor but they could go do whatever they wanted.  I was a little nervous about this but it actually worked out well.  They are in 3rd grade.

On the bus.

The Tianjin Museum.

In line waiting for the tickets.

Can he lift himself?

See the coffee cup?

Racing balls.

At 10:15 he rounded everyone up and we headed to the movie.  We had no idea what the movie was.  It is the kind of theater where the entire ceiling is the screen.  The kids were excited and thought it was cool.  Everyone found a seat and we were ready.  The movie was Fly Me To The Moon but the entire thing was in Chinese.  Luckily it was the shorter version and was about 40 minutes long.  Very annoying.  Plus, the movie was making me, and a lot of others, feel queasy because of motion sickness.  It was like we were too close to the screen so we couldn't focus on what was going on.  Hard to explain but it was weird.  AND after the first 10 minutes an older Chinese guy and his  grandson sat next to me and they talked almost the entire time.  I think the grandpa thought he had to explain every little thing.  Annoying.

Waiting for the movie to begin.

After the movie we all went to explore the second floor.  Rachel and a couple of the assistance from the school went to McDonald's to get the food.  They took Rachel's van.  At 12:00 Rachel called me and said it would be about 30 minutes and to let Mr. Czaster know.  He was planning on leaving at 12:15 but we stalled.  At 12:50 we were still waiting.  Mr. Czaster finally decided we would go to the park and just meet them there.  All aboard the bus.  We found the park and walked back to a shady area to eat.  At 1:30 ish I finally got the call that they were at the park.  4 of us adults walked out to help carry the food in.  4 boxes of food and drinks. 

Cameron's big brain.

My cyclops son and a twin.

Little hard to pedal a square wheeled bike.

My unicorn son.

Now the real disaster starts.  Trying to pass out 26 student lunches when they were able to order whatever they wanted was a nightmare.  No one could help pass out because the list was written in Chinese.  Ms. Jessie wasn't saying the order out loud either.  It was frustrating for me.  At last, everyone had their food and were eating.  At 2:00 we loaded the bus and headed back to TEDA.  We arrived at 3:04.  School gets out at 3:00. 

Waiting patiently for food.

Finally eating.

A note about the lunches:  I mentioned the kids could order whatever they wanted.  One kid got a chicken sandwich, nuggets, fries, pop, and a blizzard.  Another got a fish sandwich, chicken wings, 2 pops, and a blizzard.  I could not believe this.  Some got ice cream and a pie for dessert.  Not only did this add to the nightmare of passing food out but it was also a ridiculous amount of food.  Kids should not be allowed to order anything they want from McDonald's to this extent.  Cameron stuck to a cheeseburger, fries, and a Sprite.  He only ate half of the fries too.  Can't blame him...soggy and cold.  It was crazy. 

After we got back to school we got in the van and went to Subway to get sandwiches to take to the Wall with us tomorrow.  I then decided to stop and get money at the ATM.  We stopped at the bank by Opus.  On the way there we realized the air conditioning in the loaner van was not working.  It was HOT.  While I went to get money Mr. Xue tried to figure out why the air wasn't working.  He couldn't figure it out.  (I told him he better get a different van for tomorrow). I jumped back in the van and the traffic was terrible with cops everywhere.  No one was moving.  We had to open the doors because we were melting.  We sat there for about 10 minutes then heard sirens.  A motorcade of police cars and buses drove by.  They shut the streets down for this????  Not sure who the people were but they must have been important.  Finally able to move we stopped at Times to get chips then went home.  Finally!