My Early Start: Learning Chinese

US Capital - Washington Monument Visit

Hi, this is Wesley.  Wednesday, June 11th was my last day of school and the next day me and my family flew to Washington DC for a week long vacation.  I spend a lot of time during the school year learning Chinese history since I attend a Chinese immersion school.  I'm glad I'm in the U.S. capitol to learn about American history.  We first flew to Denver for a 2 hour layover and finished our flight to Baltimore, Maryland 3 hours later.  It was a full flight to Baltimore and we still had to go on a train ride to Washington DC.  When we finally got there it was 3 hours ahead of San Francisco time.  It was very warm and humid outside.  We weren't used to the heat and humidity.

While we were in DC, we wanted to look at the great monuments there.  There was lots of traffic in DC so we saved time by just walking or taking the Metro (subway).  First, we went to see the Washington Monument.  It was a tall square building that had a small pyramid on the top.  You could take a short tour inside the monument but the free tickets were given out early in the morning.  My dad got up early and managed to take the Metro and run there to get in line by 7:23 am.  At 12:00 in the afternoon, we made our way back to the monument to take the tour.  There was a security guard who told us the rules inside and we had to go through a metal detector just like we did at the airport.  There was a plaque on the bottom floor that had a quote on it and a statue of George Washington.  The elevator up to the top was very fast.  The tour guide said it took approximately 70 seconds to get there.  When we reached the top, we looked out of the windows surrounding the top of the building and the view was beautiful.  You could see every other monument and museum in Washington DC and we took several photos of the view.  One level below the top were other artifacts and quotes to look at.  It took a little longer on the way down the elevator though because on the way down, you get to see the inside of the building where there are even more things to look at.  The guide said that in a couple of months, when repairs are done on the inside, they will be giving walking tours down the monument.

Wes

BEA (Book Expo America) 2008 in Los Angeles

What an amazing event!  About thirty thousand people from all over the globe attend the BEA convention every year.  This was a wonderful opportunity for us to meet many of our distributors, customers and librarians.  We have continued to have a very positive response to our DVDs.

I remember when we first started Ni Hao Productions that people would ask us, "Why should my kid learn Chinese?"  Now, we constantly hear, "This is exactly what I need for my kids!"  It's thrilling to provide so many children with our DVDs and to have Bao Bei fans around the world.

Next month, we'll be attending the Home Media Expo in Las Vegas.  We look forward to meeting many of you there!