Michael took me to his classes as a special guest. He has over 220 students! I think I went to class 4 0r 5 times before I met everyone. Each time when I walked in the door at the beginning of class the students applauded and were all smiles. Everyone wanted to meet "Michael's mom."

In each class we showed pictures of Michael as a little boy, his family and friends, and places in America. I had also scanned a lot of Michael's elementary schoolwork and the class enjoyed seeing the mistakes he made when he was learning to read and write. After the picture show we opened up the session to any questions the students had that they wanted to ask either me or Michael. I can't tell you how often, over the course of all the classes, I was asked whether Michael had been naughty as a little boy! Everyone wanted to know what he was like when he was small.

They were also very interested in my impressions of China, the Chinese people, and life in China. I also got questions about, of all things, women's liberation, and which presidential candidate I favored.
At the end of the classes we passed out the hand-made cards I had brought, and which had been made and donated by a lot of my scrapbooking friends. Beaded bracelets made by California girl scouts, and crisp new dollar bills, were given to the students brave enough to ask me a question. Suddenly I got TONS of questions!
A room full of very attentive students.
At the end of class the students posed with their cards and bracelets. I'm in this photo, too, but you probably can't see me. Let's just say I'm up to my nose in Chinese students!

This post is especially for my friends at ClubScrapChat.com, the WestCoastScrap yahoo group, and for ErinW.'s Girl Scout troop, for their talent and generosity in making and donating gorgeous friendship cards and beaded bracelets:
Michael held a special combined class session for his students at which I was a special guest. At the end he and I passed out the beautiful hand-made friendship cards, then we asked them to pose for a photo. They were more than enthusiastic to do so and held their cards high in the air. They LOVED the cards! They kept saying "made by hand?" "Made in America?" "Thank you, thank you!" "I love it!"

During the class we gave out some of the bracelets, too, as a reward for any student brave enough to stand up and ask me a question - in English, of course. So many are so shy! We had crisp one dollar bills for the guys in the class. After the first few students had asked questions and received a bracelet, more and more students were suddenly much braver! Everyone wanted a bracelet (one girl asked if she could have two but we had to say no since so many girls wanted one) and the guys were eager for the dollar bills. We ran out of time before they ran out of questions so we promised we would have another question/answer session at their next class meeting. Erin, please tell your girl scout troop that the girls here are wearing their bracelets all over campus and showing them off to their friends!

So, my friends, your handmade gifts were extremely popular, happily received, and will be treasured for a long, long time to come!

Among the students' vocabulary words for the day: scrapbook, and Girl Scouts.

Oh, and, believe it or not, I'm in the photo, too, but am so thoroughly surrounded by students that I'm all but invisible!