A day in Venice

My family and I just returned from a vacation in the Italian region of Lake Garda. The trip overall was a blast, but our one-day tour of Venice was arguably the best day. 

Venice is a beautiful city in northern Italy built on an archipelago of 117 islands. It is world-famous for its scenic waterways, architecture, and art. 

We traveled by tour bus from Lake Garda to Venice before boarding a motorboat to the picturesque Piazza di San Marco. This plaza is the home of Basilica di San Marco, the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. 

I was immediately awed by the magnificent Byzantine mosaics covering the walls of the basilica. I thought, “How long would it take to make these masterpieces?!” 

When we went inside a room called “the Treasury,” we viewed golden chalices, jewels, and relics of saints. I found it ironic that most of the treasures displayed were actually stolen from Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade!

While we explored the small museum above the Treasury, I was shocked at how real the Four Horses of San Marco appeared. These bronze statues are the only existing specimens of an ancient roman quadriga, a monumental four-horse chariot.  

As our tour guide Barbara suggested, we searched for a lunch spot filled with gondoliers, the drivers of the famous gondolas, because these delis contained both inexpensive and delicious food. Our tour guide was correct, and my mouth still waters at the thought of that Venetian panini! 

We spent the last hours of our day walking through the outside markets and admiring the renowned Venetian masks, which featured crows with bells, feathered jesters, and glistening cats!

On the other hand, I was slightly disappointed that some of the stunning architecture around Venice was covered up by giant modern advertisements. At times, it hampered the splendor of the area. 

After we left the city, I realized that one cannot appreciate the unique and lively atmosphere of Venice in a day — it may take a whole lifetime!

—Kid Reporter Kevin Agostinelli

Photo: Kid Reporter Kevin Agostinelli in front of one of Venice's famous canals. (courtesy Kevin Agostinelli)

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is not a Harry Potter spell. In fact, it comes from the award-winning, “Practically Perfect” musical, Mary Poppins! For the first time, Disney’s Mary Poppins is touring all around the USA. I was thrilled when Mary Poppins flew into LA!

The lights dimmed. The curtains lifted. And the musical began, sweeping me away into the superlative world of Mary Poppins. The show did an unbelievable job capturing my mind and turning the magic of Mary Poppins from page to screen to stage! 

How do Disney Theatrical Productions and Cameron Mackintosh set up a three-story house on stage every night? The Banks’ house opens up just like a pop-up dollhouse on Cherry Tree Lane. It is obvious that the creative team works together beautifully; the sound design and quick background changes are most impressive. Mary Poppins flying over the audiences’ heads with her hefty umbrella and handbag is impeccable. My favorite special effect takes place in the kitchen, where a little catastrophe happens – tables break, plates roll, and kitchen utensils clatter to the ground.

The costumes are bright, colorful, eye-catching, and simply gorgeous. With more than 200 costumes (not even counting the props), I guess the ensemble has to change from costume to costume at supersonic speed! 

The bizarre dance numbers are complex, outstanding, and make the audience want to join in! The cast’s enthusiasm is extremely contagious, and the whole house buzzed with energy. One of the most amazing stunts of the musical is Nicolas Dromard (Bert), a multitalented actor, tap-dancing upside-down on the ceiling of the theater in “Step in Time!”

Another fantastic number is “Supercalifragilistic.” The entire audience claps along with the beat. It is a wondrous sight to see the entire cast spell out all 34 letters with their precise hand gestures! The lively orchestra and the choreography rejuvenate and communicate the infectious enthusiasm, with the spirit of the cast pulsing and thrumming as if they gulp down “A Spoonful of Sugar!”

There are also new musical numbers added that aren’t in the film – an extra little treat for the audience. “Practically Perfect” and “Anything Can Happen” are two of my favorite newbies.

The acting is superb, and I was delighted to see the kids in the role of Jane and Michael Banks, two spoiled, nasty, and mischievous kids. Camille Mancuso (Jane Banks) and Tyler Merna (Michael Banks) sing their hearts out with excellent voices. 

And of course, let’s not forget the phenomenal nanny - Steffanie Leigh as Mary Poppins certainly bring the magic alive from the film! Turning work into play, chores into games, and everyday into a splendiferous escapade – what a high-flying, magical extravaganza! 

This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience in a world parallel yet so mystical to our own. Mary Poppins is a sprightly musical that is not to be missed!

Check out my interview with Nicolas Dromard and the kid stars of Mary Poppins! 

—Kid Reporter Cassandra Hsiao

Photo: (left to right) Steffanie Leigh as Mary Poppins, Talon Ackerman as Michael Banks, and Camille Mancuso as Jane Banks perform “Practically Perfect.” National Tour Company of Mary Poppins. (Credit: ©Disney/CML.  Photo by Joan Marcus)

Behind the scenes of movie magic

The first thing you know as you approach the Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) studio is that this isn’t your average office building. A giant grey fountain is placed before an unassuming door, a statue of Yoda sitting peacefully near the spigot. A tiny door leads into the building itself, which immediately turns into a large front room. There you can see a whole wall shelved with gleaming awards that the company has received for their work in films. They’re guarded by two life-size statues of Star Wars figures, Darth Vader glancing beadily through his plastic eye sockets as if to give anybody who dares to think about touching the glittering awards the evil eye.

My dad and I came to ILM to tour the studio and meet one of the animators who worked on the movie Rango, which is ILM’s first fully-animated film. Our guide was named Brooke, and the first thing she does is take me into the screening room.

“Do you want to sit where George Lucas usually sits?” she asks me, referring to the creator of the Star Wars movies. I nod in a slow trace- surprised at the fact that Brooke even knew where George Lucas sat much less remembered. I couldn’t help but think she must have been a die-hard fan.

I think she saw the confusion in my face. She smiled and tells me the reason she remembers where he sits is because they have attached a small laser-like light to the ceiling of the theater, and its thin beam is right above the seat of the director himself. She offers me the seat and the lights start to dim.

After watching a highlight reel of the various films ILM has worked on, Brooke leads me up the elevator to another set of rooms. I should mention that along the way she stops and pauses at multiple movie posters and props, full of interesting facts and secrets. She leads me into a small workroom where a whole wall is devoted to a giant screen. There I see the familiar, unforgettable face of Rango  peering at me with a blank expression. I also notice a man surrounded by laptops and projectors.

He introduces himself as Kevin Martel, part of the animation department. He explains to me a little bit about the animation process and then he does the unthinkable — he actually lets me animate Rango! Okay, maybe it’s more like me moving the mouse to his careful directions. It turns out that you have to make 24 frames of animation for a single second of footage.

That’s second, not minute. Just imagine how many frames it takes for just an hour-long movie. (That’s 86,400 for those of you who don’t feel like doing the math!)

In the end I excruciatingly chug my way through about 24 frames, pretending not to notice when Kevin helpfully edits some parts of Rango that look a little bit funky. In the end, I get him in one second to jump up and down while holding his arm in a Michael Jackson-esque pose. I am proud of myself.

Next, Kevin takes me down to where he actually works. It turns out that associate animation supervisors don’t get any bigger space then the other guys, and the room we were in is generally used for presentations. The cubicles down where the animation actually gets done look a lot more like a normal office. But the similarities end when I see the toys. Well, action figures. They litter the walls and are painstakingly categorized. A whole shelf full of Transformers on one side. Kevin has a nice array of muscle men.

My dad mentions to Kevin and the other animators in close range that I went to Pixar for Cars 2. This scares me a little when he says this because I’m afraid that the animators won’t be too happy about that. I thought Pixar and ILM are competitors. But the animators’ response is surprising. They nod their heads, and one says “Pixar? I bet it was like living in a treehouse.”

He doesn’t say it in an offensive way, and it’s kind of true. Pixar is a very clean, sterile, and pretty place with their own little restaurant and coffee shop. But somehow the charm of ILM is more endearing and real.

Check out my story about how ILM made Rango on the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps website! 

—Kid Reporter Mimi Evans

Photo: Director/Producer Gore Verbinski (standing) behind the scenes on Rango, from Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. (Credit: Greg Grusby / Industrial Light & Magic © 2011 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.)

My Glamorous Life On The Red Carpet

When people see red carpet coverage on TV, they think it’s utterly and superbly glamorous. But the reality is very different, as I experienced when I was assigned to report from the red carpet premiere of the last Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2.

The event was held outdoors at Lincoln Center in New York City, on a sweltering hot July afternoon. It was a mob scene! Thousands of fans swarmed the area around the red carpet, which was barricaded off for the movie’s stars, while hundreds of reporters lined the red carpet, pushing, shoving, and vying for the stars’ attention. 

I was the only kid on the red carpet, and I can tell you, it was anything but glamorous. Each media outlet — PBS, ABC, CNN, and scores of other print and video reporters — was assigned to stand in a space the size of a piece of printer paper. For three hours. Sweating. Thirsty. Bigger than their piece of paper. 

And so they started pushing.
 
To borrow a literary theme from Harry Potter, it was Good vs. Evil, and I was playing the role of Good. To my left, Evil’s cameraman, soundman, and producer elbowed me hard—right into Evil’s 7-foot tall Potter-blogger on the other side of me. I was shoved again, only to find Evil #1 occupying most of my paper marker. “Hey,” I thought. “I’m just a kid. Give me a break!”

I had covered a red carpet event before — the movie premiere of Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was also chaotic, but nowhere near as crazy as Harry Potter. Meryl Streep — who played the voice of Mrs. Fox — came right over to me and gave me a great quote for my article. She also let me take a picture with her. It was so easy. It was also 60 degrees cooler.

Back at the hot, sweaty Potter press-pack, I waved and yelled at Rupert Grint, and pleaded with his publicist to ask one question. And then he started walking toward me. Hooray! I asked him how he felt about the end of playing Harry’s best friend, Ron.

“It really is like saying goodbye to a friend,” Rupert told me. “Ron is kind of—I’ve been playing that same character for so long, a character I already felt quite close to. We’ve become this kind of same person, like this Ron-Pert kind of thing,” he said, coining a new name right there in front of me. “It’s gonna be weird not playing him, but he’ll always be a part of me, I think.”

Finally, I got a great quote! It took three hours of sweating and being squeezed to a pulp, but just like in Harry Potter, Good triumphed over Evil! Even in a red carpet line. 

—Kid Reporter Grace McManus

Photo: Grace McManus at the red-carpet premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 in New York. (Photo: Kristen Joerger)

A visit to Pixar Studios

Kid Reporter Mimi Evans at the Cars 2 press day

The first thing that you notice when you walk into Pixar Studios is how much they love their movies. In one corner you can see a giant throne from Toy Story 3. Going up a floor, a giant storyboard for The Incredibles is placed as the backdrop for life-size statues of the Incredibles themselves. Across from them you can see an intimidating shark from Finding Nemo.

The second thing that you notice is how serious everything is. As soon as I got into the hall, I was suddenly surrounded by throngs of reporters doing, well, reporter-ly things — sipping coffee, taking pictures, or just chatting with the people next to them. And the reporters were from everywhere. I thought that they would only from around California, and maybe a couple out-of-staters. But there were reporters from as far away as the United Kingdom.

Security was also tight. Before we went to see a short clip from Cars 2 (sorry, no spoilers here!), our bags were thoroughly searched for any recording devices, including cell phones. I could hear some of the reporters grumble about that. But after they took anything that was remotely electronic, they still weren’t done. They used a metal detector extremely similar to the kind they use at airports, complete with some intimidating security guards. I can assure you that nobody was going to get any part of Cars 2 on camera.

What was also noticeable was how down to earth everybody was. I know, I wouldn’t believe it either. I always hear about how this star or that person is just “sooo down to earth,” and I never believe them. I mean, these are people making movies. How could you be down to earth when you’re doing something amazingly huge like that?

But really, everybody at Pixar studios is unassuming. As me and a half-dozen other reporters sat at round wooden tables, they were easygoing as they explained the workings of Cars and Cars 2. When they went into press round tables, they even looked a little nervous themselves.

Even the director, John Lasseter, and comedian Larry the Cable Guy (who is the voice of Mater) were laid-back. Just because Lasseter is a director doesn’t mean he wears a suit — in fact, he came in wearing a smile and a Hawaiian shirt with a print of classic cars.

When I talked to Larry the Cable Guy, he offered me a cucumber sandwich. LARRY THE CABLE GUY offered ME a CUCUMBER SANDWICH. There is so much wrong with that sentence! First of all, a “redneck” comedian eating a cucumber sandwich? “Everything goes with cream cheese,” he offered in his defense. Secondly he had offered it to ME?

I was flabbergasted with delight about the people of Pixar to say the least!

—Kid Reporter Mimi Evans

Photo: Larry the Cable Guy and John Lasseter at Pixar Studios for the Cars 2 press day. (Deborah Coleman ©Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved)

From the Editor: Art, Writing, and Skateboards

Last night, nearly 1,500 middle- and high-school kids from across the country -- along with their parents, teachers, and friends -- packed into Carnegie Hall for the annual Scholastic Art & Writing Awards national ceremony. These students were among the 2011 national Art & Writing Award winners, and they were recognized at the event for their creativity and work as artists and writers. They all wore silver or gold medals (some had more than one!), and 16 high school seniors were recognized as Gold Portfolio winners (those kids won awards that included $10,000 scholarships).

Kid Reporter Grace McManus was at Carnegie Hall and spoke with Gold Portfolio winners Victoria Ford and Leonardo Laurenceau as well as artist John Baldesarri, who won an Art & Writing Award around 1948. Grace's story about the event will hit the Kid Reporter website later this week. But for now, here's a little taste of the event -- Tony Hawk, who judged the competition's video game design category, skateboarding down the aisle before taking the stage to speak to the students!

           (Photo: Stuart Ramson/Insider Images for Scholastic) 

Do you paint, take photos, sculpt, or do other artistic things? Do you have a favorite artist or writer? Let us know in the comments below!

                                                        --Scholastic News Kids Press Corps Editor Dante A. Ciampaglia 

London Ready for Royal Wedding

Kids offer their own ideas of life as a princess

For most teens who live in London, the words “Royal Wedding” mean two days off from school. For the rest of the world, the marriage of His Royal Highness Prince William and Miss Catherine "Kate" Middleton means hours of media coverage and an inside look at the British monarchy.

Since I was spending spring break in London this year, I decided to see what kids there think about all the pomp and ceremony, as well as the two-day holiday!

I met my friend Harlan from summer camp right outside Westminster Abbey where the couple will be wed on Friday, April 29. I spoke to a few people in the neighborhood about preparing for the wedding, which will parade through the streets of London to the Abbey.

“Most of my friends at the Highgate Wood School Arts College are looking forward to the day off school,” said Laura F., 14. “But they’re are also excited to see Kate’s wedding dress.”

The dress and the honeymoon destination are well kept secrets that have royal watchers abuzz with speculation. It is the talk of the school, she told me.

I asked a few kids on the street what it means to marry a prince. Most agreed: you need a good princess gown.

“Kate is well known for being on ‘best-dressed’ lists in magazines or on TV,” said Rosie B. from Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK). “And she’s been followed by fashionistas all over the shopping beats of London. The interesting thing about Kate is that she’s shopping in Harrods and H&M all at the same time!”

Harrods and H&M are well-known department stores in London. Unlike common expectations of royal behavior, Kate, who is not of royal blood, shops off the rack just like you and I! Her status as a commoner-turned-princess is what many of England’s everyday citizens like best about this young woman who could be Queen.

All the teens I spoke with agree that Kate’s wedding gown is sure to be stunning. They also seemed to know all the inside scoop about it—everything that is except what it looks like.

“The royal staff even has a duplicate dress ready in the case of emergency," Laura said. "That’s pretty cool.”

Everywhere you look, you see signs of wedding fever. In nearly every store, you can buy souvenirs with pictures of Kate and Wills, from tea cups to tea bags, coffee mugs, and flags.

After her wedding, Kate’s simple life of hanging out with friends and working in her family business is likely to get pretty complicated. For one thing, she’ll probably have a new title—Princess Catherine. And people will bow and curtsy when they meet her. She won’t see her husband very much either—at least at first. He serves full time in the Royal Air Force.

As a princess she will need to pick some favorite charities and spend a lot of time helping them with fundraising. Kids in London have some pretty specific ideas about what she should do in that area.

“She’ll be bombarded with charities wanting her endorsement,” says Rose B., 17, of Cambridgeshire. “I hope she picks something important for kids like helping children with autism or cancer. Many of my friends also want her to pick specific charities like preventing animal abuse or helping teenagers with depression.”

—Viveca S. Riley

PHOTOS: (TOP) A young girl waits to see Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton arrive at the Darwen Aldridge Community Academy (DACA), in Darwen, northern England April 11, 2011. Prince William and his fiancee were there to officially open the Acadamy. (PHOTO : Phil Noble/Reuters)

(BOTTOM) A woman holds a tea bag with the portrait of Kate Middleton.Britain's Prince William is on the tea bag in the background. (PHOTO: MARCUS BRANDT/AFP/Getty Images/NewsCo)

Cultural Arts Week

“Welcome to Puerto Rico,” my teacher greeted me as I walk through the doors of the Puerto Rican Market. This is an event that has been planned since last year, and is now in progress. As excited students buzz around Puerto Rico, I am pleased with the sights I am seeing. 

Every year, my school puts on a program called Cultural Arts Week. During this thrilling week in April, we learn about a different country. Over the years we have explored China, Kenya, Bolivia, Cambodia, and many more. This year, we had the opportunity of learning about Puerto Rico. Though Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, I was surprised on how different it is from the United States. 

“It is very important for the students to be exposed to other societies so when they grow up, they will have a little background to different cultures”, said Pomfret Community School Principle Mrs. Dion.

Through the course of the week, students learn about the country's way of life inside and out. They taste the food they eat, play the games they play, and learn a lot about their history. One food students founded they liked was plantains, a very delicious snack eaten in Puerto Rico.

“Before Cultural Arts week, I never even knew about Plantain, and now it’s my favorite food!” Isabelle D., a seventh grader at Pomfret Community School, stated.

Every day during Cultural Arts week is an adventure. During classes we have docents, volunteered parents, teachers, or even college professors. During their lessons students experience the life of Puerto Rican kids.

“I never knew we had so much in common with people from different countries”, fourth grader Sam A. declared.

But a very special part of Cultural Arts Week is the market.

“Ever since Kindergarten, the marketplace has always been my favorite”, eighth grader Natalie B. asserted.

The market place is a replica of what a market place in Puerto Rico may look like. In the marketplace, you are able to taste delectable food, make colorful crafts, and enter fun prizes quizzing you on what you learned during the week. 

All in all, Cultural Arts Week is a great way for kids to relate to others in different countries.

“Though Cultural Arts Week is only a week long, it’s an experience no one ever forgets."

—Kid Reporter Wanjiku Gatheru

Photo: One of the many objects used to teach students about Puerto Rico during Cultural Arts Week. (Courtesy Wanjiku Gatheru) 

Three days in New York City

What did you do during your last school vacation? On Wednesday, February 23, my family and I left our home in Massachusetts and drove to New York City for a busy three-day get away. 

Day 1:

Soon after arriving at our hotel in Times Square, we took a cab to the Italian restaurant Otto in Greenwich Village to eat dinner. Both the food and the atmosphere were nothing like the restaurants at home; they were absolutely spectacular. 

In the waiting area, my family and I watched the chefs delicately cut delicious cheeses and meats and arrange them on serving plates. Their techniques were new and fun to watch. 

My clam pizza arrived with a mound of littleneck clams in their shells sitting on top of it. I had never seen this before, but it was delicious. I later ordered lemon sorbet, my favorite dessert, but Otto’s freshly-made lemon sorbet was exceptional. The trip was off to a great start!

Day 2:

On Thursday morning, we stopped by Scholastic headquarters in the Soho section of New York City. At the entrance, I smiled for a picture beside the statue of Harry Potter. Dante, the Scholastic Kids Press Corps editor, met us in the lobby and led us on a tour of the building. I also met and talked with Cathy, Kristen, Marie, Tyrus, and Brian, who all work with the Kids Press Corps.

The most surprising part about the headquarters was the colorful and vibrant atmosphere. Paintings which had won Scholastic Art & Writing Awards lined the walls, and the cubicles were decorated with posters, figurines, and even toys!

In the afternoon, we visited the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Built in 1943, the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid served during World War II and Vietnam, making seven trips around the globe and surviving five kamikaze attacks and one torpedo strike. 

Interestingly, the Intrepid itself serves as the complex for the museum, spanning the length of four city blocks. I was moved by the fact that people had lived and fought for our country in the same exact spot on which I was standing.  That night, we walked from our hotel to Majestic Theatre to see the renowned play The Phantom of the Opera. Throughout the play, I was frequently shocked by sudden special effects including explosions, combustions, and chandelier crashes. I’d expected to see a good Broadway show, but I left the theatre marveling at the play’s one-of-a-kind beauty and sublimity.  

Day 3: 

We took a subway to Astoria, in the Queens borough of New York, to visit the Museum of the Moving Image on Friday morning. This highly interactive museum featured moving-image artifacts and exhibits. I especially enjoyed watching a “behind-the-scenes” broadcast of a New York Mets baseball game. It demonstrated how the broadcasting director determined which of the dozen cameras that were recording the event would be displayed on television. That night, we took the subway to the Metropolitan Opera House. I had never seen an opera and was a little apprehensive. I realized that a real opera wasn’t much different than the Phantom of the Opera musical, and I really enjoyed it. 

We saw the opera La Bohème, which tells the story of young bohemians living in Paris who struggle with the hardships of love and life. I had wondered if I would understand an all-Italian opera, but the translation screen in front of me erased the language barrier and made the plot comprehensible. 

When we got back to the hotel, I was a little sad that the trip was coming to an end and we would be going home tomorrow. My trip to the Big Apple had been unforgettable, and I can’t wait to visit there again!

—Kid Reporter Kevin Agostinelli

Kids Part of China's State Visit

Kids from both cultures get together to set the stage for Presidential visit.

Mixing history with culture is nothing new at the Blair House in Washington, D.C.

The Blair House is the official guesthouse for the White House, which is just across the street. It is actually four connected houses with 120 rooms and 35 bathrooms—much bigger than the White House!

“Only prime ministers, presidents, kings, and queens stay here,” explained Capricia Marshall, U.S. Chief of Protocol. Marshall hosted A Taste of China, an event at Blair House, that brought kids from the Chinese Embassy and a local D.C. school together to mingle, cook, and learn from each other.

In 1979, after full diplomatic relations between U.S. and China were established, then-Vice-Premier Deng Xiaoping stayed at Blair House. Hearing this anecdote, I was wondering if he could have imagined that 32 years later, kids from both cultures would talk so freely with one another in this house.

Currently, Chinese President Hu Jintao is staying at Blair House. Before he arrived, however, I got to participate in A Taste of China.

At first, I was still a little nervous, especially as I worked on pronouncing my questions correctly in Chinese. I had a bad case of butterfly stomach!

Upon arrival, however, the friendly atmosphere in the room stilled the fluttering butterfly wings. American and Chinese kids mingled eagerly and even had to be shushed by Ms. Marshall so she could give her official welcome.

She introduced Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and his two special guests—his two daughters—as well as the Ambassador of China to the U.S. Yesui Zhang. She also singled me out as a Scholastic Kid Reporter and mentioned my trip to Shanghai Expo last year! Wow, my butterflies were gone!

We all learned a lot at the event. We cooked Chinese food in the Blair House kitchen, learned calligraphy, and saw a show. The first act was a demonstration of kung fu show. Two young boys wearing their kung fu outfits and red belts bowed as the music started.

The music was kind of spooky and low with lots of drums. Not the kind of drumming you hear from rock bands, but more like that from an orchestra. After putting on their  display, they taught some of their moves to members of the audience.

The next act was a young girl who played an ancient Chinese musical instrument called Gu Zheng. The instrument is eggplant shaped but much bigger than the vegetable! It is a string instrument that you pluck with your fingertips. The girl's fingers were wrapped in a special tape so they wouldn’t get hurt.

The last act was a chorus by all the Chinese kids They sang “Jasmine Flower,” a famous Chinese folk song.

During the entire event, kids from both cultures mingled well with one another and really seemed to enjoy learning about the different cultures.

When asked about the most memorable moment in his whole trip to the U.S., a Chinese boy said, “I liked it when we got to perform in front of everyone. That made me feel like all our hard work paid off.”

It certainly did—in more ways than one! The event ended when we got to eat all the good food we worked so hard on earlier.

On Wednesday, January 19, President and Mrs. Obama will host the President of China at the first state dinner for China in 13 years. I was proud to be part of the young people who helped set the stage for this important official state visit.

—Alexandra Zhang

PHOTOS: (TOP) Kid Reporter Alexandra Zhang learns calligraphy to write Chinese characters at a state visit event in Washington, D.C., on January 12, 2011. (Bottom) A young girl from China plays the Gu Zheng at A Taste of China state visit event for kids at the Blair House in Washington, D.C. (Photos Courtesy Alexandra Zhang)