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My Journal
by Stanley
March 18, 2006
Well, I finally arrived in Hong
Kong today after a very long and bumpy ride. When I left America,
no one told me that Hong Kong was over 8,000 miles away! Since
I've arrived I have found out that Hong Kong is right near China
- at the very southern tip, actually. It used to belong to England,
but a few years ago, England gave it back to China. I thought
that was nice of them. So now it's kind of a part of China. It's
called a Special Administrative Region so it's "separate
but apart." Maybe I'll ask the teacher to explain this to
me more when I get home.
I can't believe I'm in the office
of Jackie Chan. Jackie Chan!!! World famous actor, stuntman, director,
producer, martial artist, and nice guy. I was greeted by Katharine
when I got here. She is the webmaster of Jackie's Internet sites
and she's also an assistant at the office. She told me that she's
from New York and used to be a teacher there, so she knew about
the Flat Stanley project. I thought that was cool. I was happy
that I didn't have to explain what I was doing here.
Right after I got here, you'll never guess who came into the office.
JACKIE CHAN!!! I was so excited that I nearly fell off the desk.
It's a lucky thing that I didn't or I could have gotten a very
nasty paper cut. Anyway, Katharine introduced me to Jackie and
we took a few photos. Here are two for you to see:
Jackie
and I spent some time together talking and laughing. I wanted
to show him some kung-fu moves because I know I could teach him
some new things, but when I tried he couldn't stop laughing. It's
okay. Maybe I can show him some of my moves later. He was probably
laughing from nervousness because he was afraid that I might hurt
him. I would never do that. I would be very careful when teaching
him some new moves.
Well, after spending the
day hanging out with Jackie at the office, Katharine told me she
had to go home. She gave me a nice place to sleep at her work
station and told me that she'd see me on Monday. I'll write more
soon!
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March 21, 2006
Today when Katharine got to the office, she
put me right to work at the reception desk.
My job was to say hello to people who come to
visit at the office and to answer the phone.
I think I did a very good job. Here I am at
the reception desk: |
| The
thing on the counter that looks like a round space
ship is really a candy dispenser that Jackie designed
himself. It's loaded with all kinds of candy,
but I didn't want to ruin my appetite, so I didn't
eat any.
Well,
I'm very tired now after a busy day at reception,
so I will go to sleep. I'll write more tomorrow!
March
23
I
was so busy yesterday that I didn't have time
to write in my journal! Katharine took me to the
park behind Jackie's office to have a look around.
It's so beautiful! There is a basketball court,
a playground, and even a temple. The walls behind
Jackie's office are amazing because they are covered
with a mural. Katharine told me that a mural is
a really big painting usually done on a wall.
I asked her why there was a mural painted on the
wall behind Jackie's office. She told me that
one day Jackie was outside and noticed that the
wall was covered with ugly graffiti. This made
him sad, so he hired some artists to come in and
paint something pretty on the walls. There are
all kinds of things painted there including a
little restaurant scene. Here's a photo of me
having a snack at the restaurant: |
| Of
course it's not really a restaurant; it's just
a painting. But that's okay because I am a painting
too.
Katharine
showed me the temple also. It's so pretty and
there was incense burning in big pots all around.
People go there to pray and give offerings to
the gods. Here I am in front of the temple: |
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When
Kath (she said I could call her "Kath")
and I came back inside, I had a look around. Jackie
has lots of cool toys at the office, and my favorite
is his Segway. The Segway is like a scooter and
Jackie loves to ride his. He takes it with him
everywhere he goes! Since I do not have a driver's
license, I didn't take it for a ride, but I hopped
on anyway so I could have a photo taken to show
you: |
On the wall Jackie displays miniature posters from
all of his movies. Here is a photo of me starring
in a movie with Jackie: |
| In the hallway
of the office is a large cardboard Jackie showing
everyone how he feels about smoking. I joined him
to pass the message to you (Don't Smoke!!): |
| It's been such
a busy day at the office and I'm very tired. Kath
said that if I'm really good she will take me on
an adventure on Sunday. I can't wait! I love adventures. |
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March 26
You
will not believe where I went today!
Kath took me to the film studio to watch
Jackie shoot his new movie! The movie
is called Rob-B-Hood and it's a comedy
about a thief with a good heart. The
film stars Jackie and a little baby
named Matthew. Matthew wasn't there
the day I visited, so I didn't get to
meet him. But I had such a great time
anyway! Jackie really likes me and since
he knows that I am very quiet and well
behaved, he took me all over the set.
Here is a photo of me sitting in the
director's seat next to Jackie: |
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And
here I am with the director of the movie,
Benny Chan. Benny has directed many
of Jackie's movies and he's a really
nice man. I gave him a few tips about
how to get the best emotion out of his
actors. I think he was happy to have
my help. |
| After
Jackie, Benny, and I talked about some
more scenes, I went to look around the
set a little bit. It's a very large
room with really high ceilings. It is
probably about the same height as your
school gym and about half the size.
I noticed that one of the stuntmen was
playing cards over in the corner, so
I introduced myself to him. He was very
friendly and funny.
His
name is Ken Low and he's very famous.
He was in Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2, and
many other movies with Jackie. He is
a world champion kick boxer, so I decided
not to make him angry in any way. Here
I am with Ken: |
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I asked
him why he had a blue dragon painted
on his head and he told me that the
character he plays in Rob-B-Hood is
a tough guy, so he needed to look tough.
Do you think he looks tough?
Just
as I was about to say goodbye to Ken,
Jackie came over and told me that it
was time for my scene. Oh, I forgot
to tell you! I am performing one of
the stunts in the movie. I had to go
to "make-up" and "hair"
(that's the way we talk in the film
business). Jackie's personal hair dresser,
Ronald, gave me a quick touch up. |
| Next
it was over to wardrobe (that's the place
where you get dressed up for your scene).
We looked through the clothes, but Jackie
wears a size or two larger than me, so
they didn't really fit. They decided that
I was wearing the perfect outfit for the
scene anyway, so I didn't have to get
changed: |
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Jackie
led me over to one of the sets (a "set"
is a place where they film the scenes
for the movie) and I waited while he
explained to the stunt team who I was
and what I was doing there. (A "stunt
team" is a group of people who
train very hard so that they can perform
stunts in movies. A stunt is when someone
falls down the stairs, has a fist fight,
jumps out a window, etc.) Jackie told
me that I should never try any of the
stunts that I see in movies. He said
that the team is highly trained and
there are a lot of hidden safety devices
that are used to make sure no one gets
hurt during filming. Here's Jackie discussing
my stunt with the team: |
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Then
it was time for my stunt! I took a deep
breath while Jackie got me ready. Here
I am with Jackie as he prepares me to
be lifted way up to the ceiling on a
rope (I'm so flat that it's hard to
see me in the photo!): |
And here I am going up, up, up in the air:
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I was
a little nervous to be up so close to
the ceiling, but Jackie shouted encouragement
to me from below. I performed my stunt
and then the crew applauded, and then
let me down.
Jackie was very pleased with my performance
and gave me the thumbs-up: |
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Afterwards,
Jackie asked me to help out a little
bit more so I gave him a little advice
about the camera while he filmed a scene.
Jackie does a very good job with filming
and I know he appreciated my help: |
| Jackie
showed me all the different equipment
on the set and he wanted to show you too.
Here is Jackie telling you that this piece
of equipment is called a crane. He repeated
it a few times so you could learn better.
"Crane. Crane." |
| Soon
it was time to leave, so I rushed over
to have a quick game of basketball with
Ken Low before I had to say goodbye. You
may wonder why all these games are on
a movie set. It is because the scene in
the movie takes place in a game room.
Since there is so much equipment (cameras,
rigs, etc.) they can't fit everything
into a real game room, so they build a
special one at the movie studio. It looks
just like a real game room): |
I
said goodbye to everyone and Jackie insisted
that we take one last photo of me with the
camera:
I
said thank you to Jackie and the crew, and
Kath and I headed back to the office.
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March 28, 2006
Today is my last day in Hong
Kong. Kath is going to put me
in an envelope and send me back
home. I am sad that I have to
leave, but I am also excited
that I will be going home. Kath
says I am having "mixed
feelings." I wonder if
that's anything like the "mixed
nuts" that Grandma keeps
in a can in her kitchen. I guess
it is. Maybe if a peanut is
like sadness and a cashew is
like happiness and you mixed
them together in your mouth,
that would be like "mixed
feelings." Anyway, I can't
wait to share my adventures
with everyone.
I have had a wonderful time.
Everyone at Jackie's office
was so nice to me and Jackie
is a very sweet man. He's also
very clever and fun to be with.
He told me that he loves kids
and that he spends a lot of
his spare time helping kids
who are poor or sick. It's called
"charity work." I
told Jackie that I would try
to help some poor or sick kids
when I got back to America.
That made him smile. He told
me to study hard in school and
to be nice to my parents.
So goodbye Hong
Kong, hello America!! It's been
a great trip.
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Several weeks after Stanely was
sent home, we received a note from
his teacher in America. She told
us that her class was very excited
when they found out that Jackie
Chan had written back to them. "Their
little mouths stayed open as I read
through the journal and showed the
autographed picture. They were beyond
excited and just amazed!"
She also told
us how excited she was to hear
about Jackie's commitment to education
and his love for kids. She sent
along photos of the beautiful
display they created to tell everyone
about Stanley's trip. Here are
the photos:
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The
autographed photo from Jackie was put
in a special frame and given a place
of honor in the classroom!
Their
teacher mounted each of the journal
pages and made a beautiful display for
the hallway!
The
hallway display.
Many
thanks to Stanley's teacher and classmates
for sending us the photos. Jackie really
enjoyed taking part in the Flat Stanley
Project and many of the ideas for the
photos of Stanley came from Jackie himself.
He was very excited about the project
and told everyone on the set about it.
Jackie really does believe in importance
of education, and he shows that learning
can be fun!
You
can read more about the Flat Stanley
Project here
at their official website.
All
photos ?006 The JC Group
/
/
?006
The
JC Group
No part of this website may be reproduced
or distributed without permission.
Special thanks for Katharine Mysak for
allowing this to be used in conjunction
with the Flat Stanley Project.
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