Last letter home

We started today by visiting a museum here in Tianjin. It was filled with lots of artifacts from Chinese history. It also included three masterpieces. One of the masterpieces was a very large painting on silk. The second was a bronze pot that was over 3000 years old. The third was a priceless piece of porcelain that was hand picked by the emperor. Before leaving the museum, the kids ate some ice cream. They were very happy to find out that Chinese ice cream is not much different from American ice cream. They have bought it at several places we have visited.

After a short rest at the hotel, the kids got dressed in their formal performance uniforms and we headed for Tianjin University. It is one of the largest universities in the area. After tuning instruments and rehearsing for a short time, we ate dinner in the Tianjin University student cafeteria. The students at this university were so welcoming. They loved meeting us and practicing their English. It was also very enjoyable to learn about them and what they were studying. One of the students I spoke with told me that she had a friend that was attending TAMU and wanted to know if I was familiar with that university. It was fun to tell her that I had graduated from Texas A&M and knew it well. The final performance from the students was great and well received by the audience. The auditorium was full but the stage was very hot from the lights. I could see some of them sweating. I guess that is the price of being a super star. Many important people from the university were in attendance including the vice president. The vice president of the university and Dr. Thurman had a gift exchange at the end of the concert. She gave him a Sartartia t-shirt. He gave her a small statue with the outline of the university. Crystal Phloman was a big hit again. She is such a talented fiddlist. She is also a great entertainer and the audience loved her.

This will be my last email as it is getting close to the time for us to travel home. Our schedule is packed and the internet service has been difficult to use. We will attend a martial arts performance tomorrow as well as some type of demonstration on art. We will also get our last chance to do some souvenir shopping. We will head back to Beijing Friday morning, eat lunch and then head to the airport. This trip has been a wonderful experience by all. We have been so fortunate because no one has gotten injured or sick. We learned about the history of China while visiting some historical landmarks. We learned how to eat with chopsticks while eating authentic Chinese food. Some of your children would pay just about anything for a McDonalds hamburger right now. But most importantly, we made new friends. It was so much fun to watch our kids interact with other people. There was usually a lot of confusion on what was being said but there was always lots of smiles while trying to get the conversation figured out. Our children have been awesome ambassadors for our school and country. We look forward to coming home. I want some pizza!