Frustration, Shopping, Hospital Visit, Easter Dinner, and More Flowers

A beautiful bush with the prettiest purple flowers.  We find it strange that the flowers even bloom all along the branches.

Still haven't found a name for this plant.

Wisteria is in bloom.

The flowers keep on blooming on campus.  The path that we walk to the West Gate of the campus has an area with lilacs and another flower that I don’t know.  One day we walk by and the blooms are not quite out yet, but the next day BOOM!  They are all out and the heavenly scent just makes your heart happy!

David had a very frustrating day on Wednesday.  His first class is a class that seems to not care to be there.  They don’t really pay attention and they don’t do well on quizzes and put very little effort into their performances.  The second class is a joy to be around.  They do some of the best performances and they put effort into the class.  They laugh and are really engaged in learning.  After we had lunch with Eva and I left for my class, David was trying to get help from Eva and another Chinese English teacher to get things set up so that he can use the bike rental system they have here.  It would speed up little errands that have to be done. 

He had to go to the bank, get his WeChat account set up with the bank, and then try to get the app ready for using the bikes.  You have to put down a deposit of 99 RMB and then it is 1 Yuan to use the bike for up to an hour.  In order to set up the WeChat account with his bank account, he needed his passport – not the picture of his passport that he carries around all the time- but the actual passport.  Eva explained to the guy what David wanted and she left while he went back to the apartment to get his passport.

After getting back to the bank with the passport, it seemed like it took forever to get it all set up.  He finally thought that it was all ready go, so he goes out to a bike, tries to scan the QR code, and his phone isn’t working right.  We bought the cheapest phones we could when we came to China, thinking it wouldn’t matter, well it does.  There is such a thing as too cheap. 

At some point, he got the QR code to work, but he didn’t know how exactly it would unlock the bike.  He started pushing some buttons on the phone and suddenly it pops up with, “Do you want to end this ride?”  Then the app wouldn’t let him push any other buttons except, “Yes.”  He finally had to give up for the afternoon because he had other things to do.

This was one of the things on the menu at the canteen on Friday.  French fries with squid tentacles and spicy spices.  The tentacles were kind of crispy, but I couldn't handle how spicy they were.

Friday afternoon, one of the teachers that we have lunch with was able to help him finish getting things set up to rent a bike.  It still wasn't not working all that well, so he asked some students to help him with his phone and the bike rental showed David some other things about WeChat, so all is good now.  It’s so much to do things when they aren’t in your native language and you have very few clues about the language of the country you are living in.

We finished out the Reader’s Theaters in class.  Some were better than others.  My Friday classes are so fun because they just put so much into their performances.  Whenever they get overly dramatic, the students really love it and applaud and cheer.  Some groups though…  we just had to endure. 

The scene below David's classroom window.

On Wednesday morning, I went to see Dr. Tricia.  I had forgotten to get potassium pills to bring with me, and only had a few here.  If I don’t have potassium to go along with the magnesium, I start to have problems with muscle cramps.  I was starting to have some problems.  We had gone to a local pharmacy to see if we could get them as a supplement, but the largest size they can sell you without a prescription, is 10.5 mg.  I usually take 99 mg.  I told Dr. Tricia about my problem and she said she would get me a prescription for them in a larger size, but suggested that I also have a blood test to see if I was low on the electrolytes and test my thyroid to see if it was low also. 

I arrived at the hospital and went to the area that she said she would be in, but I didn’t know what room to go to.  I looked around me for a minute and then decided to bring up Dr. Tricia’s name in Chinese that she had sent me and show it to the guard.  He looked at it, called someone over that was working at the check-in machines, and said something to him.  I think the guard thought that he might be able to speak some English to me, but he couldn’t.  The guard took one more look at me, and then motioned me to follow him.  He led me down a hall and then around the corner and there was Dr. Tricia’s clinic office! 

Dr. Tricia couldn’t leave her office at the time, so she was able to find a woman to come to the office and take me around to the places I needed to go.  After paying for the procedures I would have done that day, the next stop was to the phlebotomy area.  There were set up about 6 windows of people that do nothing all day but take blood samples.  We didn’t have to wait long for my number to come up.  The woman that was to take my blood asked it I spoke Chinese.  Since I couldn’t, she was able to tell me that the results would be ready at 3 p.m. that afternoon.  That’s all I needed to know.  I also have to say how great she was!  It has been years since I have had someone be able to find my veins on the first poke, not blow through the vein, and then hardly even leave a mark so that I don’t turn black and blue afterward.

Next stop was the imaging department.  Dr. Tricia wanted a sonogram of my thyroid to make sure it was okay.  We had to make an appointment and it looked like it was going to be about 11 or so before my number would come up.  They were on number 160 and my number was 190.  The woman took me back to Dr. Tricia’s office, where she had a breakfast waiting for me.  She had brought me a container of milk and some “cookies,” because she had heard that American’s liked a “sweet” breakfast.  The cookies really weren’t that sweet and that was okay with me.  I would rather have bread and eggs anyway, but I dutifully ate two of the cookies (rather dry and crumbly, they were).  When I had finished my breakfast, it was time for me to go back to the waiting room for the sonogram, so the woman accompanied me there.

We still had to wait for about 20 minutes or so before my number came up.  I went down the hall to the room number that the sign said to go to.  I think the technicians were warned about an American being the next one.  They indicated to have me lay down on the bed, and then to scoot down some because I needed to be where they could get to my thyroid.  The technician did the scan and then indicated I was finished, so I opened my eyes and the first thing I see, is the technician’s assistance taking my picture.  It’s not everyday you have an American come for tests in your department…

I needed to get back to campus to meet David and Eva for lunch and get my stuff to go to my painting class, so the woman guided me back to the entrance of the building.  I had David bring my art supplies to the canteen, because I just barely got back in time to meet David and Eva for lunch.

We came home from class on Thursday to a very wet floor in the bathroom.  Our toilet has been having problems with not shutting off after we use it, so we must stand there to make sure it will shut off. We had waited long enough before we left for class that it seemed like it was going to turn off.  Well, it stopped running in the toilet, but then the float never told it to stop putting water in.  It had overflowed from the top of the tank.  We got it stopped and cleaned up.  Soon after the maid came to clean, she came running in to get me because the toilet had done the same thing again.  David went in and got it stopped, but we knew we needed to have it repaired right away, so he texted Mr. Liu about it.  Mr. Liu told him to go to the west desk in the Foreign Students Administration building and tell the duty guard.  That’s all fine and good if you can speak Chinese, but not if you don’t speak Chinese, because the duty guard ONLY speaks Chinese!  David went over anyway and tried to get someone to help.  The duty guard sent a worker up and we tried to tell him the problem, but once again, the worker only speaks Chinese, and we don’t. 

Our neighbor below us is a Chinese man that now has Canadian citizenship and speaks English quite well, so we asked him to come up to help us communicate with the worker.  Raymond and the maid explained it to him, but the worker just said something to the effect, “Well, if it happens again, call me.”  Sometimes China is frustrating.

Closer view of this bush.

Saturday, I had planned to go with Sue, one of the BYU teachers at the other university, to show her one of the markets we had gone to.  David and I had to do some shopping for groceries first and then he planned to ride with us and help make sure we found the market.  The bus route changed the last time I went there with Kayce and Deneice and we had the fiasco of trying to get to the market after the bus dumped us off at the bus station at the end of his shift. 

We were successful in arriving at the market.  David got off the bus, walked to the other side of the road and got on a bus that would take him back to our campus.  Sue and I walked through a lot of the market, stopped and shopped and bought a few things, then found our way back to the bus stop.  Sue had also never been to the “baking store,” so we got off the bus at the right stop for that and walked to the store.  It was like seeing a kid in a candy shop, because Sue was seeing all the things that she needed.  She was very excited.  Then we walked to a bus stop and I caught the bus I needed, and she caught the bus she needed.

Sunday lunch was very fun.  We had a special lunch for Easter Sunday.  We had four different religious views; LDS, Jewish, Muslim and Chinese (I’m not sure she had a religion, but I know she is good and kind.)  We also had several nationalities; American, Australian, Vietnamese, India Indian, and Chinese. 

Our truly international Easter dinner.

After lunch, David, Kayce and I went over to the hospital to visit Deneice.  Yes, she is still in the hospital.  Her pneumonia was very bad, and the doctors don’t want her leaving the hospital until her lungs are mostly clear.  She will have another CAT scan on Monday, to see if she can go home yet.  We are all fervently praying for her.

 

The view from Deneice's hospital window.  That Buddah is huge!

This evening, I had one of my students that I taught four years ago come over for supper with one of the girls on her basketball team.  She had tried to get some of the other students to come, but they all had other things to do.  I made BBQ pork, sweet carrots, apples and some chocolate cookies.  It was so fun to visit with her and find out how she is doing and get to know her friend. 

When they left, Bob and Anna came over to get some help with a letter they needed to write to Duke University to accept the invitation to come to their school.  So many little things to learn about English to do well.

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.

Spring, Summer, Nope, Winter!

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.