This cherry tree seemed to pop with blossoms in just one day. I pass by this every time I go to teach in my classroom, so it was amazing to see it all in bloom.
We don't know the name of this flower but it is beautiful.
Three colors of blossoms, the red, lavender, white.
A close-up of the red flower.
On our way home from church. We asked a woman who was there taking pictures of her mom in the flowers to take ours. She spoke pretty good English!
Magnolia. This blossom was huge!
Magnolia tree.
This week was Reader's Theater week! David and I both love how
creative the students get when they perform. It is so different from how
they usually have classes, that I think most of them like to put themselves
into it. They are only asked to read the parts with feeling and correct
pronunciation, but some of them go above and beyond that.
He was playing the part of the cute daughter in the play, so he put two dots of color on his cheeks to indicate who he was!
After we had supper on Monday, David and I headed to the Tech Mart
area to try and buy some more printer ink. We had just crossed the street
when two young ladies came up behind us and started talking to us. They
are Master's degree students, and the one girl is trying to pass the IELTS test, so that she can study abroad for her PhD. She wants to have a chance to
improve her English skills, so they wanted to practice with us.
They walked along with us as we headed to the shops that we could buy ink cartridges at, and it really was one of
those small "god-sends" to us that they did. It turns out that
the Tech Mart area closes down at 6 p.m., and we got there at 5:45! Had
we tried to do it on our own, we probably would have walked away
empty-handed. The girls were able to speak in Chinese to them, and the
people were willing to help us instead of closing up right away.
Truesole and Irene walked with us back to our apartment complex, and we talked the whole way. Irene had just broken up with her boyfriend
last night, and Truesole was her best friend. They were getting some snacks and then go back to watch a movie, but their plans changed a little when they
saw us. They traded off, one talking to David and the other to me.
Irene explained about her boyfriend to me, and said she didn't know if she
wanted to completely break up or get back together. I gave her some
advice about making sure that it was important enough to break up or not.
She had observed David and I, and mentioned that she thought we had a
good marriage. I hope I gave her some good advice.
Magnolia blossoms. I'm in love!
My painting class was on Wednesday. I had to wait a long time for some of the bus
connections, so I was almost late. I
walked in the door of the classroom right at 2 p.m. Charly was nervous when I wasn’t there
earlier. I felt like I got a lot out of
the class. Still can’t understand what the teacher is saying, but with Charly telling me key information from the
teacher and observing him as he paints, I am gaining some confidence. We are to turn in a watercolor of wisteria
and some branches and leaves for next class and then we will move on to a
different flower.
Wednesday evening, David and I were invited to have
dinner with some Pakistani men who are attending the university. One of the young men had helped David move
his computer chair up to our apartment. There
were five of the Pakistani men that ate with us. Two are married but the others are
single. I was very nervous for how spicy
their food might be and with good reason.
My first few bites had my mouth zinging!
Then they offered me a sauce that is made with yogurt and some spices, so I put that on my chicken and rice.
For some reason, when I combined those foods, it took all the spiciness
out of the food, and I was able to eat it without a problem. The only problem came was when I was almost
finished with all the food on my plate, “Goober” (that is the name he calls himself), took my plate over to
where they had a different chicken dish and filled it up again!! I was nearly full before all that! I
didn’t want to offend them, so I ate what I could. David was about where I was also. Finally, we had all that we could eat, and
then they get new plates for us and give us a dessert! It was a rice pudding, Pakistani style, with
dates in it for sweetness. It was really
good too. I had to leave several bites
of it on my plate, because I just couldn’t put anymore food in me. They were all such kind and wonderful men. We have some new friends on campus.
Very spicy chicken with rice and the cucumbers and tomatoes in the back ground made a salad with lots of black pepper on them.
This had yogurt and cilantro, and when I put it on the spicy chicken and rice, it took away the heat of the spice for me. Did the opposite for David.
The bowl in front is a bowl of grapes, apples, and bananas with some spices on it. A little on the spicy side, but not bad.
For dessert, they made some rice pudding with dates in it. Good tasting!
The conversation we had with them revolved a lot
around education. Pakistan has English
as it’s official language, so for the most part it was easy to understand
them. They still had a pretty heavy
accent. They talked about how the
Presbyterian Church had come to Pakistan and built a
university. It was mostly there to
educate those that were Christian, but they also let Muslim and other religions
in. Most of these young men here will go back
to Pakistan when they finish their degrees in China to be
teachers at the universities in Pakistan.
Friday after my classes, David and I had lunch with
Eva and one of the other Chinese English teachers. We sat at the same table with a professor of
philosophy, and he was not afraid to speak English with us. After talking with one of David’s students
at English corner that afternoon, I found out that they are requiring the
students to read the professional writings in English so that they get used to
the English way of writing. This student
was having trouble understanding what Immanuel Kant wrote. I don’t blame her, I have trouble
understanding all he says, and I’m a native English speaker!
Later that evening, our friend, Anna, who has been studying for the IELTS
test to be able to go to Duke University with Bob, found out that she passed
the test! She was so excited, as well as Bob. They came over with two other students who
are trying to go to Duke as well. They needed some help with letters they
are writing to the university to get an extension for taking the IELTS test again in
April. That is the last day they can
pass the test. I hope the make it. They seemed like such nice young men, and they
work so hard for this.
Saturday, David and I went to the hospital to visit
with Deneice, one of the BYU China Teachers that is in the hospital with
pneumonia. She was admitted last
Monday. She seems to be doing better.
After that, we went to see Sue, another BYU teacher,
and she took us to a store that she shops at for groceries. We were looking for a certain item and
hadn’t been able to find it at the store we usually shop. We had a nice visit and then headed home for
supper and some rest.
Sunday afternoon, we met with Eva and her friend Yi
Bing to look at an old revitalized area of Jinan.
Four years ago, this area was a maze of old run-down, falling apart
buildings. The government realized the
importance of having a place that would keep the old culture alive (mainly for
tourism, I’m sure) but also have a place where they could showcase old arts and
crafts that are dying out. We wandered
around for some time looking at the old buildings and the waterways for the
springs that are so abundant in Jinan.
We saw a building that is a place for people to come and learn the silk
embroidered pictures. Several women were
there working on different pictures.
Part of old Jinan. These buildings have been here for several hundred years. This is the gateway to some of the homes.
One of the ponds around a spring in the old part of Jinan that they are revitalizing.
Later, we came upon some guys that were working on
some gourds that they were carving and painting pictures on. The gourds are a symbol for the beginning of
the world. One guy was carving on a bulb
flute that he later played it for us. As
we were about to leave the building, Eva saw a treat that is a Shandong
specialty, so she bought us a bag. Then
the guy who makes them, invited us in for tea. We sat and talked for a while
(well, Eva interpreted for us), and we ate some snacks and sipped the tea. We hoped it was an herbal tea, but it is hard
to get out of them what kind of tea it really is.
The two chairs on either side of this table were meant for the husband and wife that were most prominent to sit at the table. A place of honor.
This was a bed that keeps you nice and warm in the winter.
A wall mural done in silk embroidery depicting the stages of sewing and embroidery
This is the desk of the governor of the area. The scale on top represents his honesty.
The clothing that the honest governor would wear.
This was the well for this home. Each home would have a well like this.
The woman with the green shirt is the teacher for the embroiderers. The picture is stenciled on the fabric and they add the silk threads.
I found this particular embroidery very beautiful. 360 RMB. Might be worth it.
This is a sculpture in polymer clay. It is a fine craft to get all the colors and the clay to stay where it needs to be.
I as fascinated by this little clay sculpture in the walnut shell. Only about 3 inches tall.
As we were sitting there, the guy who is the head of
the museum area, came in and started talking.
He seemed so pleased that we were there.
He went to get a special brochure that tells about the crafts that they
showcase in that area. His wish is that
we would take it back to America and help promote what they are trying to do
there in Jinan. It was a fun evening.
These are the painted and carved gourds. The carving they do on the gourds is more like a deep impression, similar to what you would do in leather work.
This is a flute. You can play a full scale on it. He allowed David to try to play it. It took a little while but he finally got. It makes a nice earthy sound, similar to the wooden flutes of the Native American tribes of the Southwest.
As we were walking around through the maze of buildings, one woman came out of her building speaking English to us. She told us that this was the martial arts building. They have a club that meets there most days and teach it also. We went inside to see it, and asked about the posts and what they were used for (okay, I am not into martial arts, and know zippo about it!). Her daughter came up to tug on her sleeve. She wanted to show us how they are used. This is her video.
Classes have been going okay. We have been discovering just
how poor the English-speaking skills of this semester really are as the week
has progressed. When we are talking to them, or giving instructions, I
see them watching my mouth closely with a blank look on their faces, and I'm
pretty sure that not a lot of what I just said, in pretty simple English, was
understood. As we put them in small groups, the understanding is even
less, because in most cases, the ones who did understand are not there to help
them understand.
My classroom looking from the front. What you don't see are the cracked windows and the peeling paint. It is old, but it serves the purpose for what is needed.
This is my classroom looking to the front. The computer is fairly new and there is a projector hanging from the ceiling and a screen that comes down to show PPT's on. No AC which I am concerned about, because the windows are on the south side, and when the weather REALLY starts to heat up, so will my class. The saving grace will be the ceiling fans, of which two work.
The case in one of my classes left me shaking my head. I was
trying to explain what the play was about to one group that I had just assigned
a Reader's Theater script. One of the guys gave himself an English name
of "Funny." He is quite funny! I would say a few words,
and he is looking at me intently, he nods his head, and then bursts out
laughing, because he really didn't get what I was saying. I think he
understands a little more than what he was putting on, but he is quite the
joker and is always laughing.
David went to the housing office to pay the rent on Monday.
After he paid the rent, Mr. Liu told David that his new computer chair was here
and gave it to him. He didn't offer to help him get it to the apartment,
so David started off trying to pack the chair home. As he was going, a
Pakistani student came out of the building and offered to carry it for
him. David tried to refuse, but the young man insisted. He said
that he had been raised to respect teachers and older people, and that it was
his pleasure to help him out. So, the young man went out of his way to
help bring the chair to our apartment with David! So thankful to him for
doing this!
After we had lunch with Eva in the canteen, I went to my Chinese
water color painting class on Wednesday. Charly was there during the
first fifteen minutes to help interpret for me, but then he got a call, and
said he had to leave to help take care of some administrative things and would
be gone for about 40 minutes. I was able to watch the teacher demonstrate
what he was doing, but didn't understand any of it. I was able to mimic
his motions with the brush, but had to guess at the colors he was using.
We are learning to paint wisteria blossoms.
This is my practice and first attempt at the wisteria. It really looks more like a bunch of grapes than wisteria.
Charly got the teacher to come over and demonstrate for me while he explained what was happening in English. The light purple at the top is the teacher's wisteria. The more reddish one is my second attempt.
On Wednesday at 6 p.m., David and I were informed that there were
some documents that needed to be signed and handed in the next morning by
noon. The problem was, we both had to teach the next morning! Was
it possible to print the documents off, fill them out and then send them in
electronically? Nope! They had to be filled in, printed off, and
handed in personally to the human resources office.
David was informed while he was in class on Thursday, that it
needed to be done online, printed off, and brought to Kang Ming's office by
1:20 p.m. He was able to dismiss his class a little early, hurry home,
type in the forms we needed, and print them off. I made a quick lunch for
him, so he could go. I couldn't go, because we were expecting the new
maid to come at 2 p.m., and we couldn't be sure that if we both went, we could
be back by then.
David got to the bus stop he needed just as the bus got there, and
he was able to get to Kang Ming's office by 12:45. When he handed the
papers to Kang Ming, she told him that she wanted these documents that day, so
that she could get the approval of the government for us to teach here again
next year. If they were in by today, she would have word by Monday.
As it turns out, Eva was able to learn on Friday while we were with her, that
the government has approved and now it is for the HR department to finish that
approval. Unless somethings else happens, we will be teaching here again
next year!
David had his first monitor meeting in the canteen for this
semester on Thursday. He likes to meet with the students, get to know
them a little, and teach them a game to play. He also had a meeting on
Friday for those that weren't at the Thursday meeting. I wasn't able to
meet him at the canteen on Thursday for dinner, but I did on
Friday.
Friday afternoon we wanted to go to the Old Market by the
Hongjialou campus. We were trying to find a new shower head. The
old one was leaking really bad and didn't spray out very well. We had
tried to fix it, but it didn't help. We looked around and found a vendor
that sold them. When David took a shower the next morning, he found that
it was okay, except it was too big of a handle, and the spray would point any
direction except in the middle of the shower. We only paid about $3 for
it, but decided we wanted to go to the Hero Mountain Cultural market, that we
went to last Saturday, to see the guy who sold the kind that we had before and
maybe get a new one like that. I also bought a "Gucci" bag for
80 RMB (less than $30.00). I'm sure it's not real Gucci, but it will
serve the purpose for which I need it, taking my assignments for the classes
back and forth. I will use my old bag to carry my paint supplies to class
in.
Kayce wanted to go to the Hero Mountain Market on Saturday, so we
went along with her. We met at her campus and rode the bus. We
walked through the market and those that remembered us from last week waved and
greeted us. It is so fascinating to see all the things for sale! I wanted
to get a holder for my paint brushes and a stand. We watched one guy do a
demonstration on a slicer/dicer tool. Kayce and I were so fascinated by
it! We didn't understand anything he said except when he was counting the
numbers of the tools available with it. It was just like on the
infomercials!! Of course we each bought one! For two we paid 20 RMB
each. I used it to make supper last night. Better than a food
processor for making hash browns!
My new slicer/dicer, handy-dandy machine! All the attachments store in the bottom of the slicer.
We ate some of the local foods and bought a new shower head that
was like the old one we had that we liked. Kayce decided to buy one for
herself also. The head is designed to reduce the amount of water needed
to take a shower and still get the same water pressure. Our showers this
morning we really nice!
To finish up the Hero Mountain market, we went through the area
that they were selling crickets, birds, and other animals that we had seen last
Saturday. They were also selling small scorpions, too! Then we
walked to the bus station after buying some nuts and went home.
Basins full of scorpions. Most were about an inch to no more than two inches long. Not sure what purpose they were being sold for.
We didn't make it here until they were starting to pack-up for the day. Last week this whole area was full of bird cages and birds for sale.
Boxes and boxes of live meal worms, crawling and creeping over and over each other.
This is the canary I want! I don't think Eva would like to take it for us while we are gone to feed and care for it if we did get it.
One cage of these parrots was sitting on the ground.
More parakeets and canaries.
Cute cages!
If you haven't read "The Cricket in Times Square," you should. These crickets were being sold with cute little cages and other containers to keep them in. I'm sure that whoever buys them, carefully chooses the cricket that is best for them.
I call it a "Cricket Hotel."
Sunday was a fun time to have Church and a nice meal
afterward. David and I stayed after everyone else had left and played
games with Kayce.
Monday was the start of the new semester. David had one two hour class at 8 a.m. and I had one two hour class starting at 10 a.m. Both classes went well. We were surprised at the level of English these classes have. These are supposed to be the "B" level students. That means that their level of English was lower that the students who we had in the fall, and they have studied a semester with a Chinese English teacher. Where we had a lot of blank stares on the first day of the Fall semester, this time we felt like there were more who understood us right off the bat.
After David's class, he decided to go see if Dr. Tricia could help him with the problems he has been having with his back. She had the old orthopedic doctor check him out and then he got a shock wave treatment. It usually takes a few days for the treatment to feel like it is working, so right now he is just a little sore where they did the treatment.
We had planned to meet Kayce at Baotu Springs that evening about 5:30 p.m., so we could get in with our passports for free. That afternoon, Bob and Anna had contacted us to see if they could come over, they had bought some special treats to give us. We told them what our plans were, so they asked if we could all go to dinner and then go over. Anna had never seen it, and Bob hadn't been there for about ten years, he said.
They have several corridors decorated similar to this that you can walk through. It all feels so magical!
Butterfly corridor.
Dragon display.
Me, David, and Kayce, just having fun!
Teapot display.
We went to the canteen to eat with them and then hurried to the bus stop. It was in drive-time, so there were some traffic problems, and we had gotten a later start than we had wanted. The plan was to meet Kayce at the North gate, but when we were getting closer to 6 o'clock, and about to miss the deadline, we decided that getting off the bus and going to the East gate might get us in there before they started charging the evening rate. We just barely made it!
Fish and under water. The meaning was of contentment and being happy with what you have.
This display was about the morals that Chinese are taught as children. Thinks like fidelity, trustworthy, brave, intelligence. Kind of sounded like the Boy Scouts Law.
Paw Patrol. I took this one for my granddaughter, Aleeyah!
This peacock one was beautiful during the day, but lit up night is even better!
The year of the dog.
This display was to represent a poem about birds. The bird disrupted the water and send ripples out and away.
It was beautiful to see the displays lit at night. They had music going, it was just fun. We stopped in the gift shop to check some things out, and while we were there, a young man and his family stopped and talked to us. He was from Kansas and had come to China to teach. He met his wife, Chinese from Jinan, and they have lived back and forth between the US and China. They have one little girl that is a little over a year old. We talked for a long time. It was a nice visit. It started to get a little cold, and we had seen all that we wanted to see, so we left and caught the bus home.
Tuesday's classes went well for both David and I. We went to Dr. Tricia at the hospital. She wants David to try some more traditional Chinese Medicine, so we met with the Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor. She prescribed a concoction that doesn't taste as bad as the one last fall that he tried. He still adds a little honey or syrup to it to help the medicine go down. (ha ha!) We were there a long time while we waited for the medicine to be mixed up.
Dr. Tricia has started to take a class that is meant for people that want to learn to be interpreters. She doesn't think she has the ability to do it, but she still wants to try and learn something new. A new enviroment, she says, will help her to overcome her sadness and guilt about her father's death. So while we were waiting, she practiced some of the reading she had to do on us. She would read the passage to us in English, and then she wanted me to read it back to her. In doing this, she could improve her pronunciation and also check for meaning of the words. As soon as they brought the medicine to us, Dr. Tricia hurried us out the door, because it was getting close to 5 p.m. and she wanted us to get home before drive-time started.
Wednesday, David had classes, but I didn't. I talked with family back home for a while when David was gone. As soon as he got home, we hurried over to the canteen to have lunch with Eva. We sat at a table that had another Chinese English teacher and also another teacher who spoke English quite well. When we told her where we were from, she mentioned the National Parks that we have in Utah. We were a little surprised. It turns out that she goes to the US quite a lot because she has a son that went to high school in Virginia and graduated from college and now works in Washington DC. We were surprised at her level of English, which was quite good.
After lunch, I met Kayce at the bus stop so we could catch the bus that would take me to the Shandong Institute for Elderly Learning. Kayce has a student who's mother is director at the institute, and is taking a Tai Chi class there. I mentioned that I was interested in learning Chinese water colors, so Kayce asked about a class for me. It turns out that it is on Wednesday afternoons, so it works with my schedule! Kayce introduced me to Charly, the director's son and sister to her student. He showed me where the class was, introduced me to the teacher and the class, and then sat with me acting as an interpreter for what the teacher was saying.
The first class was from a teacher that specializes in painting birds. He went over the anatomy and some characteristics of birds, but never got around to painting. They took a break halfway through the class, and at that point, Charly decided to take me to a class on flowers. This guy had already started showing technques of painting, the class was all excited. They hardly seemed to notice me in the class, although a few of them smiled and nodded to acknowledge me. It was wonderful to watch him work.
When the class ended, Charly took me to the director's office, and they decided which one of them would walk me to the bus stop to make sure I got there safely. Charly's mom won. She speaks English pretty well, so we had a good talk on the way to the bus stop.
After classes on Thursday, I went with Kayce and Deneice to a shopping area that we had bought souvenirs from before. Deneice was looking for some of the same souvenirs that she had bought before, but when we arrived at the shop, they had changed all the old souvenirs and didn't have the ones she was particulary looking for. We found several other shops, but only one had anything similar, and she didn't want to pay what they were asking for there. We wandered around, bought some cheese pies, and talked. It was a nice afternoon.
After teaching my classes on Friday, (David doesn't have any classes on Friday) we had lunch with Eva in the Canteen. She offered to take us to RT Mart so we could get some groceries that we needed. We decided to take her up on the offer. After shopping, we made our way home and then had a good rest, because we were both really tired.
My first class on Friday is a little strange. It only has 13 people in it. They are all Fine Arts majors, and they all have to travel from the Hongjialou campus for me to teach them. The fact that they would have me teach a class of only 13 is probably the strangest part. The smallest class that I have had before was 24 students. I was afraid that I wouldn't have enough material to keep them going for almost two hours that the class lasts, so I did some looking through old material I had and found some things that I could turn into a learning game. They really enjoyed playing it, lots of laughter in class!
Saturday morning, I went to meet Charly, so that he could take me to get the supplies that I needed for my painting class. David decided to come along. We had planned to meet at 9 a.m. at the place where the lessons were, because I didn't know the area that he was wanting to meet me at. We had to wait for a bit before Charly came. He arrived by taxi, and was going to get his car and drive us there, but he realized, he didn't have his key, so we ended up taking a taxi anyway.
Charly's five-year-old daughter was with him. She knew a few words in English, but not enough to communicate. She kept speaking to me, and if Charly wasn't talking to David, he would tell me what she was asking. At one point, she wanted to tell me that my eyes were big and pretty! We tried to learn a few small words from her. She was delightful to be with. Charly wanted to pick out an English name for her, so he said he was looking online for names and came upon the name of Rita, and asked if we knew the name. I told him that I had an aunt and a niece with that name, and that it was a name that I liked. So his daughter's English name is now "Rita."
My art supplies. I'm a little excited!
When we got close enough to the place we needed to go, and the taxi was at a stop because of all the traffic, we decided to get out and walk the rest of the way to the store. It wasn't very far. It was a trusted seller of art supplies. We got three brushes, small, medium and large, a set of water color paints, a palette, and 100 sheets of paper (it was the smallest size they carried).
After we purchased all that I needed for my next class, Charly asked if we wanted to go see the Art Market that was close by. We said we did, so he stopped and bought us a bottle of water and a steamed yam. Steamed yams are big here in China, at least in Jinan. Lot's of shops sell them, and we see people eating them all the time. They buy them with the skin still on and peel away the skin as they eat them. They always smell so good!
Charly bought us a back of peanuts. They were salted, roasted peanuts, and some were blackened peanuts. They still tastes good, but I don't know that my eyes like to eat food that is black.
We started to make our way through the crowd. Very, very slow going! The way to the Art Market was crowded with shops that sold everything from art supplies, to underwear and socks, to birds, to crickets, and mealworms. In some places, I was afraid that I would be pushed into the tables of the vendors because the crowd was pressing so hard to go somewhere. After about 15 minutes, we were able to get through the worst part of it and into an area that was easier to travel.
I couldn't resist buying this little, carved trinket from the market. Charly explained that the meaning of this was "plenty is enough." The word for foot, and the word for spider sound similar to the words for "plenty" and "contentment." If you rub this foot, it us supposed to help calm you and not be anxious for what is to come.
We walked through the market and stopped a few places. One guy knew just enough English that upon learning we were from America, called Trump crazy and laughed a lot. We bought a few cute little things and finally, Rita, David and I were tired, so Charly wanted to know what bus would take us back to our campus. We finally decided that bus 75 was our best option, so we went to the nearest bus stop, but 75 doesn't stop at that one. A man overheard us talking about bus 75 and told Charly what bus stop we needed, so he walked us to the bus stop. Charly and Rita said good-bye to us and then we got on the bus.
After riding the bus for a while, we decided to get off at a stop that we knew where we could catch another bus that would get us closer to the campus than bus 75 would, so we got off. It was also a shorter bus ride than the other one would have been. It sure is nice to know the buses well enough to be able to make our own decisions.
Bob and Anna came over that evening. Anna had bought some things online for us, so they were bringing them over. I had made brownies to take with us tomorrow for lunch, so we gave them each one. Anna loves chocolate and fell in love with them. Bob likes them too. They stayed, and we played some games with them. Had a fun evening.
Sunday was our Branch Conference. The District President and the District Clerk came to Jinan to preside from here. We had a good lunch afterward and then more meetings at 2 p.m. for Branch Council meeting. All of that finally got over a little before 4 p.m., so we headed home. It's been a busy week.
The campus trees are starting to bloom!
Warm weather is on it's way! David had stopped to smell the flowers on the trees when he was out running errands on campus. A lot of people were there taking pictures of the blossoms, and when David was smelling the flowers he heard a lot of clicks from cameras. They were taking pictures of him smelling the flowers!
Even the magnolia blossoms agree that the cold weather is beyond us!
