Teachers who visited China to host counterparts

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To pull out all the stops, Decatur officials have receivedpermission to broadcast the Aug. 8 opening of the Beijing Olympicson Agnes Scott College's quadrangle. The open, parklike setting oncampus will set the stage for the teachers' welcome to America.
The event will be free and open to the public, though organizers— who said they can't use public funds to pay for it —are trying to line up sponsors to help defray costs. If all goeswell, the teachers will be greeted by a community of festivewell-wishers.
"I hope we can be as generous and thoughtful as they were," saidPat Solomon, a teacher at Decatur's Renfroe Middle School who wasone of six educators to make the trip.
The Decatur group left June 2 to visit Sichuan Normal UniversityAttached Experimental School in Chengdu. It was the first timeDecatur sent teachers to the school, with which it began anexchange program last year. The program was made possible throughcontacts at Georgia State University, sponsor of an existingprogram that has sent GSU students to the Chengdu school.
But the trip also came in the wake of a May 12 earthquake thatdevastated Sichuan province and killed tens of thousands ofChinese. The outskirts of Chengdu, home to 11 million people,experienced damage, but the school itself — located near thecity's core — did not. The elite school's 3,000 studentsescaped injury and just last week finished classes for the year.
According to their American guests, the earthquake was never farfrom the hosts' minds. They incorporated discussions about thetemblor in their classroom lessons. They had a moment of silenceeach day for the victims. It dominated the CCTV broadcasts.
They told their guests that the experience of the earthquakechanged their lives. It made them more committed to those theyloved and to making the most of each day.
Physical reminders remained in the city. Tents erected immediatelyafter the quake still stood "just in case"; aftershocks occurredregularly during the visit. T-shirts with the slogan "I (heart)China" were seen everywhere.
Much as America found its own shorthand after 9/11, the Chinesereferred to the disaster as "5/12."
Yet, they went out of their way to honor their guests. Big,beautiful flower bouquets greeted the Decatur group upon itsarrival. Banners hung all around the school to welcome the group asspecial VIP guests. Time and again, teachers and residents thankedthe group for coming; though planned for nearly a year, the visitwas seen as a show of encouragement and support.
"They are the best guests here [and] it is our Chinese tradition... to take good care of them!" wrote Chengdu teacher David JackChen — the Americans' main contact for the Chinese school— in an e-mail.
Chen is expected to be one of the eight who visit in August. HisAmerican friends note that the visit is no small feat. The Chineseteachers, for the most part, have had to save the equivalent of afull year's salary to make the trip.
Chen said the teachers very much want to observe American schoollife, including "how American teachers teach English, math, musicand so on." And maybe they'll provide a surprise or two while here,such as Chen's wish to co-teach a traditional Chinese activity:Kung-fu.