For our second Thanksgiving in China, Rich and I followed Stacia's basketball team to Beijing for the Great Wall Tournament hosted by the International School of Beijing. We witnessed some great competition between teams from Osaka and Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai. Unfortunately, the team from Thailand couldn't get out of their country to attend because of the airport being shut down from the protests. Eighteen family members of the girls all attended to stomp, clap and cheer the team on to their 3rd place finish in the tournament. We parents had a blast together hanging out between games, taking a couple of side trips, and sharing meals. The host school even put on a wonderful Thanksgiving feast on Saturday night for the players and coaches. They even extended an invitation to the Concordia parents to join in. The turkey meat was cut off the bird and placed on my plate - boy was that moist! It was a fantastic trip and we were able to enjoy it without worry as the other kids had Rich's mom to stay with them. We sure appreciated that opportunity - Thanks Carol!
We also had time to visit the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube olympic buildings.
I just had to include this view of the Forbidden City from the hill top pavillion. It is meant for you to see the incredible pollution of this great city.
Rich and I took a side trip Friday morning to a beautiful park across the street from the Forbidden City. Several of these pavillions were placed on top of a hill in the park. It is winter there like in Detroit but the weather turned out great as the sun came out and warmed everything up.
Stacia and her team accepting the Jade vase trophy for a third place finish.
Stacia and her teammate being recognized as "All Wall" tournament team players
Stacia's team waiting for the end of the tournament Thanksgiving feast to begin.
And the season has just begun.....
For our second Thanksgiving in China, Rich and I followed Stacia's basketball team to Beijing for the Great Wall Tournament hosted by the International School of Beijing. We witnessed some great competition between teams from Osaka and Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai. Unfortunately, the team from Thailand couldn't get out of their country to attend because of the airport being shut down from the protests. Eighteen family members of the girls all attended to stomp, clap and cheer the team on to their 3rd place finish in the tournament. We parents had a blast together hanging out between games, taking a couple of side trips, and sharing meals. The host school even put on a wonderful Thanksgiving feast on Saturday night for the players and coaches. They even extended an invitation to the Concordia parents to join in. The turkey meat was cut off the bird and placed on my plate - boy was that moist! It was a fantastic trip and we were able to enjoy it without worry as the other kids had Rich's mom to stay with them. We sure appreciated that opportunity - Thanks Carol!
We also had time to visit the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube olympic buildings.
I just had to include this view of the Forbidden City from the hill top pavillion. It is meant for you to see the incredible pollution of this great city.
Rich and I took a side trip Friday morning to a beautiful park across the street from the Forbidden City. Several of these pavillions were placed on top of a hill in the park. It is winter there like in Detroit but the weather turned out great as the sun came out and warmed everything up.
Stacia and her team accepting the Jade vase trophy for a third place finish.
Stacia and her teammate being recognized as "All Wall" tournament team players
Stacia's team waiting for the end of the tournament Thanksgiving feast to begin.
And the season has just begun.....
