JZ Jazz Festival: Mark's First Field Trip

So Mark had his first field trip on Friday afternoon.  He got to take 60 kids out of school 30 minutes early to go to a very large festival at the Shanghai Expo Park.  We're talking Large: 9 stages going non-stop for 3 days.

Since I signed up to chaperone, the buses stopped by the lower school to pick me up.  How cute is that!

We get to the place about twenty minutes later, and the students file in while the ayis (ah-yeez) stay behind to move the equipment to our storage room for the day.

Here's what it all looked like:


Hello river!


This is before the place got packed.  Yay for grass! And trees!


This was the main stage, called the "Green Note."
See those kids in navy?  I was trying to keep them in some sort of group.  Almost successful!


Behind us at the Green Note stage.


A smaller stage in the background. More crazy kids in foreground.


Mom!! What does this say??


Riverfront.


Without kids...


Ah! The middle school principal!!! Hide!


Ahh!! Kids!! Hide again!!


The stage.


The jazz band getting ready to play. Microphones and lights and everything!
They thought it was so cool.


Concert band!
They all did great!

After they play, the kids pack up, and we walk them out to the buses. The fun part is figuring out the rides home. See, you can't have them bus back to the upper school. Normally, kids would just take a van to their normal drop off somewhere in the city, sometimes an hour away. Way too long for those hungry musicians.

Here's how it went:
1) Figure out which buses are ours in the big line of buses.
2) Find them in totally separate parts of the line.
3) Find a Mandarin-speaking student and drag them to bus one to help you talk to the driver.
4) Through the student, find out which stops the bus is going to.
5) Go back to the main group and gather the kids that need to go on that bus. (Not listed in the bus list given by the office. Boo.)
6) Put the kids on the bus and send it away.
Repeat steps 3 - 6 for four more buses.

Yes. You are correct. No chaperones are on the buses.

Kinda weird, right?  The drivers just drop the kids off at their compounds or designated drop off spots.

Us chaperones got to wave them off and go back in to the festival. Whee!


Bye-bye work clothes! Hello, hot-weather outfit!
Another stage playing awesome salsa music.


Back to the main stage...




Heck yeah, key-tar!


That rockin' band was funk-R&B-jazz fusion. The R&B/hip-hop came from Mos Def.
Right there.
Yep.
Very cool stuff.



Awesome night!