Sunday

Hard to believe but we are about to enjoy our last day in China.  Currently we are in Guangzhou after stops in Beijing and Shanghai. 

The trip has been fulfilling and I believe that we have accomplished what we wanted to accomplish.  We reached hundreds of children and introduced them to the game for the first time and have enhanced the game of hundreds of kids who already were enjoying the game here in China.  We also met some key people over here with the government, the Chinese Baseball Association and the business community.  It is through these relationships that we will be able to continue to help the Chinese people in their effort to grow the game.

I believe that baseball has a great future in China but clearly it is not something that will happen overnight.  If we were able to hook a few kids on baseball and introduce it to a few more those kids might grow up to play or just enjoy the game.  It is through that spirit of fun that the game will grow and prosper.

In each city we had at least one coaching clinic.  By teaching the teachers and providing them with a few tools and tips they can follow their passion to teach the game at the grassroots level and impact many more young ballplayers.

This afternoon we hosted a wonderful coaching clinic and tomorrow we host a QuickBall Clinic in the morning and a more advanced baseball clinic in the afternoon.  For those of you who don’t know what QuickBall is, it is a very unique and fun game that makes baseball fun and fast moving for young ballplayers.  It has been very well received over here and I believe it will continue to grow in popularity and will serve China and other countries well in their efforts to grow the game.

On Tuesday morning we begin our journey home (It will be Monday night back home).  We had an amazing trip and we fell in love with China and the Chinese people.  I am sure we will return in the near future and see what we can do to keep helping the people of China grow the game that I love so much.

Thanks to all of you who have followed our trip on the internet.  I hope that I was able to paint a picture of our efforts over here with my words and my photos.

Cal

Thursday

Today was wonderful because we had a little time to relax and really be tourists.  The best part of the day was the trip to the Great Wall of China. What an amazing structure!

We drove about 1 ½ hours from Beijing to the Great Wall.  Once we arrive we took a lift to the top.  It was kind of cool and it looked like one of those little cars you see on pulleys at Disney World that takes you across the park, but in stead it took us up a mountainside to the peak of the Great Wall.

Once we were up there Kelly, her dad and I, along with everyone else from our traveling party, walked about a ½ mile of the wall taking pictures and exploring.  The thought that this wall is 2,000 miles long and took over 1,000 years to build is mind boggling!

When we were done we rode down the mountain on individual toboggans.  It was a lot of fun and I am sure that Rachel and Ryan won’t believe that their mom and grandpa did it.

From there we headed to the airport for a two hour flight to Shanghai.  We landed around 9pm last night and headed to the hotel.

Today we have a coach’s clinic in the morning and a Quickball clinic in the afternoon.  Today will be nice because we wrap up around 5pm and Kelly and I will have a chance to have a private dinner and take in a little of Shanghai.

Thanks as always for following our journey and I will “talk” to you tomorrow.

Cal