Agilent-TWB China 2007
Harold Lee – Retired: Punahou School – Science Dept.

I was both delighted and apprehensive when I was asked to join TWB to go to China. It was something I had wanted to do for a long time: making a contribution, however small, to the country of my ancestors, but, at the same time I was unsure how I was going to be received by the Chinese.

After one day the people made me feel good about returning to China. The Chinese teachers were friendly and had made me feel welcome not as a tourist but as a native son retuning home. Because of my age several teachers talked to me as they would to their grand parents. Li Gang, a physics teacher, talked about his life before becoming a teacher. He was a businessman and was doing well financially but felt drawn to teaching. He was enjoying it even with the heavy demand on is time and the low pay. He talked about his 13-year-old daughter, who leaned toward the arts more than science. Wang Rong talked to me about her grand father as she tried to find out from me what his life would have been like in the old days. Most of the teachers I talked to were grateful that we took our time to come to China.

I was thankful for the members of our team. Song did more work than anyone in our group. Not only did she translated all our written work and Katie’s power point presentation but she also did it fast. We got everything back in less than 24 hours. Gail became my helper to make sure that I had everything I needed for the presentations. It took a lot for one teacher to be an assistant to another. I was most thankful for her help. However, this was not to say that we had no problems.

I wish to thank TWB for the wonderful experience in China. It was better than I had expected and it could not have come in a better time in my life.