Reader's Theater, New Friends, Old Jinan Village

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.