Arrival and updates

Two brief updates from Mr Irvine, who is having some trouble accessing the blog while in China. Apologies for the sporadic nature of these updates!

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We finally arrived at the Rainbow Hotel in Beijing on Friday, around 1 am local Time. After a short sleep we were up again. I was really pleased to see the students trying typical Chinese breakfast food, the small white dumplings were delicious. We are now on a bus heading north, a 60km bus journey, to the Great Wall. We are having a lesson on Chinese language, characters and culture en route.
Unfortunately my iPad seems unable to access my China Blog when I am in the hotel. I will try my best to keep you updated on our Chinese adventure.

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Hello, here is a brief update on our trip so far; on Saturday afternoon most of the group climbed to the 3rd tower on the  part of the Great Wall that we visited. To encourage us to climb right to the top, we were told that those who made it right to the top would be hailed "Ying Xiong" by our guides when we returned to the bottom. "Ying Xiong" translates as Heroes. The early morning rain did not put us off, the plastic ponchos that we purchased for 10 Yuan at the start of the walk were soon removed as we began to climb. We found that  they were making us more wet that the light rain as it was so hot and humid.
After a very full Chinese buffet lunch, we visited the Ming tombs and learned how the landscape of the area mimicked an emperor's throne, running from the mountains down to the water. Each emperor had his own tomb built before he died.

Next we followed the Sacred Way, a beautiful walkway  lined with statues of animals and warriors and learned what each one represented. We were surprised to learn that these statues were 600 years old.

On our way back to the city, we were taken to a jade factory and gift store where we watched workers craft beautiful ornaments and we learned about the different types of jade.
After dinner we were taken to the Chinese acrobat show, an award winning, stunning display of virtuoso. 

A very tiring, fun packed day that left us desperate for a soft pillow in a darkened room.
Tomorrow the sun will be out and Tiannamen scare, the Forbidden City and the summer palace await

First day in China

We finally arrived at the Rainbow Hotel in Beijing on Friday, around 1 am local Time. After a short sleep we were up again. I was really pleased to see the students trying typical Chinese breakfast food, the small white dumplings were delicious. We are now on a bus heading north, a 60km bus journey, to the Great Wall. We are having a lesson on Chinese language, characters and culture en route.
Unfortunately my iPad seems unable to access my China Blog when I am in the hotel. I will try my best to keep you updated on our Chinese adventure.

(This post was added by Mr Macdonald; words provided by text from Mr Irvine). 

Emergency contact during trip to China

Dear all
In the event of an emergency whilst we are overseas in China, please call the following number: 07780760428
The contact person will be Mr. MacDonald.
Please note that this number should only be used if there is an emergency after school hours, otherwise please call the school directly.

The coach will arrive back at the school around 10pm on Friday 28th June. We will ask the driver to park at the bottom end of Lauderdale Street, near the small side gate as there is a lot of construction work going on at the top end, next to the car park entrance.

Best Wishes

R. Irvine

P.S. T-shirts and caps were issued during lunch break today. Any student who did not collect them should do so first thing tomorrow morning.
All luggage should be taken to the S6 common room in Spylaw before registration and passports should be handed to Ms. Lyall.
After lunch tomorrow all students going on the trip are requested to meet in S1 with their family leader.
Students will be told this tomorrow morning when they hand in their passport.

Only two sleeps to go ....

Hello everyone,

Just confirm that the coach will collect us at Glasgow airport and bring everyone back to the school on Friday 28th of June. Our ETA is around 9:30, we arrive back in Glasgow at 8pm.
Please come to the school in order to collect your child.
On Thursday morning all students should arrive at the school normal time and take their luggage over to the Spylaw building. Ms. Lyall will meet them there and direct them to the room where we will all store our luggage for the day.
Ms. Lyall will also be taking in passports for safekeeping.
Students will attend morning classes as normal and then have their lunch. Following lunch break all students will be asked to meet with me and the other staff and we will spend some time in family groups going over the final details of the trip.
We will be putting our luggage onto the coach around 3:15pm and departing from the school at around 3:30pm.
I would also like to mention that the t-shirts arrived at the end of the school day today and they will be available for collection at lunchtime tomorrow (Wednesday!).
Please can you ask your child to report to his/her family leader on the Thursday morning to declare any medicines that he/she will bring on the trip. A small note from a parent/guardian would also be helpful.
If you have any questions from now until Thursday, please get in touch.
Please make sure that you have a copy of the emergency number to contact here if needed. This was issued back in March, but I can re-issue, or place it here on the blog.
We will have a bit of time in Glasgow airport, students will need some money in order to buy refreshments and possibly something to eat as it is quite a long time until we are on the flight.
Our first flight will depart around 9:30pm (EK026) from Glasgow.
On emirates the weight allowance for hand luggage is 7kg and 30kg for the hold.
Please ensure that your child's luggage does not exceed this limit.

China Trip update - Tuesday 11th June meeting

Hello,

Today we discussed the final arrangements for our trip.
We will be leaving from school by coach on Thursday 20th of June at 3:30pm.
All students are expected to be at school as normal on the morning of Thursday 20th, but we will organise a room where all luggage can be stored safely until our departure.
Some of the students asked if they could be absent from school on the Thursday morning before our departure; however in light of the fact that it is a working day for parents and students will be required to bring heavy luggage to the school, it has been decided that all students should attend school as normal. After lunch students will be asked to meet in their families to discuss final arrangements and plan for our departure.
Some students today were enquiring about spending money and how much they should bring. Although I have not been on this particular trip before, I have taken the advice from other staff who have and we do not envisage students needing a lot of money as everything is included in the price; meals etc. Any pocket money will be purely for snacks, drinks and gifts therefore we recommend something in the region of £100. Since it is not possible to obtain Chinese currency in Scotland, it might be better to take US dollars instead of  Sterling.
I am currently looking into the best way for us to exchange this currency once we arrive in China and I will update the blog as soon as I have this information.

R. Irvine

China Trip Update

Hello everyone,

With only 10 days to go until we depart for China it is important that we take time to check all of the details and make sure that we have all of the necessary paperwork in place.
Hopefully you have by now received a cheque in the post to reimburse you for the cost of the visa and in some cases an overpayment? If so, you will see that the attached letter has a tear-off slip for you to sign and return to the school. I need to know that everyone has now received their visas for China. I would therefore urge all parents/guardians to make sure that I receive this acknowledgement asap.

Tomorrow there will be a lunch meeting for China, it is essential that all students attend.
We will discuss out departure details and rooming for our trip.
I will also be discussing the emergency cards which will be issued to all students during the trip.
At the last meeting, one of the students asked me to clarify the situation with mobile phones. I will go over this tomorrow as well.
It is important that everyone is aware of the cost of using a mobile phone whilst abroad, and although we are not banning students from taking their phones with them, we have to insist that they are used appropriately and that they declare with their family leader if they are indeed taking a mobile phone with them to China.
It is essential that the following rules are adhered to at all times if a child is planning on taking and using a mobile phone whilst in China.

• If a member of staff asks a student to switch off a phone, they do so without argument.
• Mobile phones remain switched off and packed away during travel, this includes journeys by coach/train in China.
• Mobile phones remain switched off and packed away whilst in the hotel bedrooms
• Cameras/videos on mobile phones will be used in a responsible manner. 

Faliure to comply with these rules could result in the phone being confiscated and not returned until the end of the trip.

If you are any doubt about this, or you are concerned about the phone being lost. or stolen, we would recommend that the phone remains at home.
However we do recognise that a mobile phone could be useful during the trip, provided it is used in a mature and responsible manner.
All students should let their family leader know if they plan to take a mobile phone and be prepared to share their mobile phone number with their family leader.

This will be discussed further at the next China meeting on Tuesday 11th of June!

China Trip update

Hello everyone!
5 weeks today and we will be off to China!

Just to confirm what we covered at the meeting on Tuesday,

I issued two additional pieces of paper which are necessary for the visa applications; one was a cover letter from the school confirming the names of all trip participants, the second piece of paper was the first page of the trip itinerary, this was missing from the pack issues last week.

You should now have everything that you need for the application. Please make your appointment online. You will be given a time to visit the consulate to submit all of the required paperwork.

Students who did not attend the meeting on Tuesday should see me ASAP in order to collect these documents and be able to proceed with the application process.
In a couple of weeks I will be asking you to confirm with me in writing that your child has received his/her visa, or at least if the application has been submitted.
Please do not leave it too late!

Thanks and best wishes

R. Irvine

P.S. I will try to organise for the cost of the visa to be refunded to you within the next 2 weeks!