It's almost time......

Hey, everyone.

I'm about to begin my travels, and I am getting ridiculously excited--especially to dance in London at the Laban Institute (my favorite Columbia dance professors studied here!), visit my old friend Mike Dickson (yes, the son of my favorite Superintendent, Dr. "Don't Open the Refrigerator" Dickson),  dive into the Cold War at Cambridge (the website boasts '800 Years'--is that even possible?), and, of course, meet up with my friend and Chinese language teacher, Hayley Herford, to explore CHINA and talk with as many people as possible! (Yes, Hayley speaks Chinese..... and is very modest about that.)

If you don't already know, Hayley and I wrote a proposal for a course called "Culture Through Movement: China."  That's "Culture Through Movement Colon China" thanks to our good friend and colleague, Nate.  The idea for the course came to us while we were attending a contemporary Chinese poetry conference in Boston with a couple of Lindblom students--Michelle & Jazmyn. (The perks of being a school librarian--I get asked to attend poetry conferences in Boston!) Much of the poetry was written by Chinese people forced to relocate due to industrial and housing development, the building of Three Gorges Dam, and the 2008 Olympics. 

Hayley and I brainstormed and came up with CTMC--a course that uses movement mediums (poetry, calligraphy, sculpture, dance, tai chi, film.....anything that moves really) to explore Chinese language and culture. More specifically, CTMC asks students to examine the ways in which artists use their medium to comment on  social issues in China. Our focus is development in China. Some of the questions our students will explore:   is there value/danger in modernization? how do communities balance development with cultural preservation?  what factors influence government decision-making?  to what extent are people involved in decisions that affect their lives? how do artists influence decision-making? (Yes..the old government teacher in me is getting a little crazy.)  Well . . . Alan let us run with our idea, CPS approved the course, and Fund for Teachers granted us a fellowship to study and explore China. Boom, boom, boom. 

In Beijing, we'll visit the Dazhalan hutong (traditional neighborhood lane) that we learned about in Michael Meyer's book The Last Days of Old Beijing. One of my favorite lines from the book comes from longtime hutong resident Old Zhang, who, speaking of his protest against his own forced relocation says, "This is not about money, this is about Justice."  He is fighter. Meyer wrote us and said we can still "eat the world's best noodles at Soldier Liu's" and perhaps meet some of the book's principals.  We can only hope.

We'll meet with urban planning and language professors at Tsinghua University in Beijing, visit a secondary school just outside the city limits, and, of course, explore Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Great Wall (on my birthday, in fact)!  I am also hoping to catch a dance class at Beijing Dance/LDTX. Glorious!

Next, we are on to Chongqing to begin the journey down (or is it up?) the Yangtze and through the Three Gorges Dam--experiencing this massive project, taking in the landscape, and visiting with people who have been relocated. After that, we have a couple of days in Shanghai. (Take a second to look at these alarming photos at a construction site in the city. Thanks, Andy). 

This is where Hayley and I split, and I am left to my own devices. (Hayley has placards ready to tape to my forehead..."Take me to the airport, Please." "Where is the bathroom?"  "Do you wanna salsa dance?") I fly to Guangzhou for the Guangdong Modern Dance Festival . Allegedly, all the revolutionaries come from Guangzhou.  I am hoping to see some revolutionary modern dance in this southern city. Ha. Finally, I jaunt over to Hong Kong before returning to Chicago--just in time to start the new school year. Woo-hoo!

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your comments! And I will see you soon. (Sorry about all the exclamation points--I'm just really excited!!!)

Katie

Oh, and. . .  I'll try to tweet, too.  https://twitter.com/kcterry

Here is a map showing the places Lindblom teachers, students, and principals are traveling over the summer. My route is pink!

View Lindblom Summer Travels in a larger map