Today at 2:28, a week after the earthquake, ISB made an announcement through the PA requesting three minutes of silence. Before the principal had even finished reading out the words, the peals of car horns had begun sounding across Shunyi.

As we all know, the Sichuan earthquake has hit China hard. There's sympathy all across the country, and ISB's no exception. An earthquake relief fund was set up on Friday, and the campaign for awareness and funds has been more active and aggressive than a previous campaign for cyclone relief for Myanmar has been.

Student feeling is quite intense about the whole affair. I already know two people who donated 5000 kuai out of pocket to the school earthquake fund - their own savings, not their parents'.

The earthquake was felt on last monday in the middle of all our classes. Michelle Oliver, a junior, says that "I was writing an English commentary on the third floor when I felt dizzy and I thought that it was just me but then everyone else started to say that they felt the same thing."

After a few minutes' hesitation and some mixed signals, students were evacuated in the earthquake drill out to the baseball fields. Nobody expected the bad news, out there hanging out on the grass.