Vacation in Xiamen

What do I do when I want to get away from the classroom and relax, I just go to another city and another classroom.

It is just like being in the welding shop at ICC.  I am going to try and get the CLC students to get their pictures taken with their Chinese teachers before they leave here.  Especially the one teaching about the Chinese culture.  They love to take pictures here.

Kong Tiao or Air Conditioning

If I was working here, this is the type of work I would be doing.  I always wondered how they serviced the equipment mounted on the side of a building.  Climb out the window.  The first few weeks I was here I thought there was a market for safety equipment in China, but there is a difference between having a need for something and having a market for something.  There is a need for a lot of things, in my opinion, here in China but I don't think there is a market for it just yet.

Labour Day in Xiamen

It is the Labour Day holiday weekend here, and I do mean Labour Day.  We took the ferry to the island just off the coast of Xiamen and walked around the place as did everyone else here.  I don't care what this sign says the British influence it the main one used for writing.  It has been rainy here the last few days and the air is very thick.  It was really nice the day I arrived and was nice on Thursday but the rain came late Friday and today it just sprinkled a little but oh it was muggy.  I mean it was thick. Xiamen is quite a bit different from Xiam or least this part of Xiamen is different from our part of Xian.  Any time you are near the water is it better than being inland.  It is clear here in Xiamen and it appears the people try and keep it cleaner.  In Xian if you have 100 people a minute eating and walking by the same little trash can it is going to fill up and trash is going to end up on the ground.  That is going to be problem and how do you dump the garbage when so many people are in the way.  Over all it looks cleaner and the air is better here, much better.

These is a sculpture about China and their fight for freedom.  It was on the island we visited.  The island is pretty and it is a tourist place, not a western tourist place, but a place where the Chinese go.  I did not see to many western tourist and the ones I saw were probably Europeans.  I did have some watermelon juice today and I thought about it and it has been 12 years since I had a watermelon juice.  JoAnne and I drank it a lot in Malaysia.  Xiamen does remind me of Malaysia.  Climate, plants, the fruits all of that is similar to Malaysia.  I had some Durrian fruit snacks here and they were good.  It has been nice to see Xiaoling again, I had forgotten just how much I enjoyed being around her when see was teaching at ICC. It is fun to ride in the car with her.  She has had a license for about two months and driving in China is different from driving in Peoria.   She does take care of me and watches out for me.  She is such a pleasure to be around and her husband is a very nice man.  Actually her whole family is nice to be around.  We were walking around the island today and I get a text message from a student asking how to get to the City Wall area in Xian because he wants to ride the bikes around it again.  I know I have been in China too long when I am walking down the street in Xiamen and texting as I am walking.  My life has changed so much the last couple of months it is unbelievable.

The young man is Xiaoling nephew.  I got some new clothes while I was here because I will need some short sleeve shirts for the warmer weather.  I bought a shirt at the mall and then got two short sleeve dress shirts and this button up tee shirt at the Walmart store.  If I am going to shop local in China what better place to do it than at the Walmart.  Spend my money here and it will work its way back to the USA.  I am a XXXL here and it just does fit.  Being tall is ok but if I was tall and fat I would not have found a shirt at all.  I am all ready for the summer now.  I am going to have a bit of tea, oh they do like their tea here. After a day of walking we went back to the dock to catch the ferry back to Xiamen City.

It was just too bad it was hazy today.  But at least it did not pour down rain, only a few sprinkles off and on.  When it did rain if was not enough to get you wet.  We ate on the island and I had some noodles in one of the best beef broths I had ever tasted.  Very good.  I did buy some cook books for the Culinary Arts program at ICC.  I am pretty sure it is real Chinese cooking because they will have to translate the language.  I do not think these books will have any Americanized recipes in them.  I figure I can find some one to help me get the right information.  Three thousand recipes in one and a dessert book for the other.   I hope they can use it.  If not I am out about 10 bucks.  The one cookbook has a DVD with it.  Maybe it will play or maybe not.  The music CD plays OK in the Mac lap top.  I always notice things about China that are different from the USA.  When you fly in China you do not have to worry about being between two fat people, because there are no fat people.  Today I saw two young girls walking and eating a fish on a stick.  I mean a fish because I saw the bones.  I saw this fish in Florida because we used it for bait when we were trying to catch sailfish.  I guess the old expression is different here, " you can either fish, or cut bait, or eat the bait."

It is good to see old friends.

I spent the morning talking to Xiaoling students, we then had a nice lunch, she is taking her afternoon nap, and then we will go to two more classes.  It has been an enjoyable day so far and so different from what I do in Xian.  He I got to ride in car to go to work.  I did enjoy seeing my friend in the classroom.   She means a lot to me and has always been one of my favorite teachers. For those who do not know her, she is the one in the middle.  I had my picture taken a lot today.

First time in Xiamen

I am taking a little R and R from the hectic life of teaching four classes and having to be at work bright and early at 2 pm on a Monday afternoon, and working my tail off until I finish my only class on Thursday at 6 pm.  So after two months I think I should take a long holiday weekend and visit friends in Xiamen.  When I say I am going to Xiamen the people I talk to, Chinese people, say it is a beautiful city.  It sure looks that way.  It is farther south and reminds me more of Malaysia.  It is warm here but today the weather was nice with a good breeze.  Xian, I think will be hot and hotter.  I took the airport shuttle to the Xian airport.  That meant I had to take the regular bus to the tourist city center.  I thought the bus would have more western people on it but it was just me and two other people, probably from Europe.  I guess the tourists take the taxi.  Everyone on the bus was Chinese. The shuttle was 26 yuan; the whole trip of 46 kilometers cost about 4 dollars.  It will be hard to adjust to American prices in a few more weeks.  Tomorrow I will travel to Xiaoling's school and spend the day with her.  It will be good to see her again and to she how she does things in the classroom.  I hope I can learn something that I will be able to share with my students. 

I am not sure how many people that read this met Xiaoling when she was at ICC but this is her and her husband.  She is still the same person that she was years ago.  I think she is going to only get better as she gets older.  I need to get some rest and wake up early in the morning so I can go to Xiaoling's school.  She has a driver's license now.  I least I know that some one in Chinese uses a turn signal more than they use the horn.  The horn is for, "hey. buddy, yeah you in the crosswalk, get outa my way I am running the red light."
I am going to see if I can find out what Chinese kids sound like when the breathe helium and talk.  I was talking to Dr. Murphy about that and I think it may be interesting.  I am also going to the Xian Horticulture Expo at night and see it lit up at night.  I have seen this mentioned several times on the CCTV English station and think it will be worth the bus ride.

Hot here

We have worn shorts for the last two weeks but it was just nice comfortable weather and now it is going to get  hot.  Like in the 90's.  We were invited to "hot pot" for supper and the restaurant did not have air conditioning so the "hot pot" was hot.  As you can see from the pictures of the Sports Meet, the weather is nice here.

They say it gets hot here and gets hot fast.  So I shall see.  I had to supervise a student taking a physics test today and I think it will email the test to him rather than take the bus to the Bell Tower.  I need to see how well the JPG files will send. 

This is the stuff I get to do here.  Boy the fun never stops.  Last night at midnight I got to tell one student to not sleep with his music turned up so loud and I told another group to not make so much noise that late.  Now I am emailing a test to someone.  This morning I had to yell off the balcony to the Chinese kid that likes to read aloud, and I mean like in shout, his assignments, at 7 am.  I was awake but did not want to hear it and Dr. Murphy was trying to sleep and he sure didn't want to hear.  So I told him to shut up in English and Chinese.  He did and he left.  Dr. Murphy was very pleased about it.  They have just blown off three very loud fireworks here at 11:20 pm so why should I complain about a kid yelling his lesson.  Oops, make that four now.

We have about 8 million people living in Xian and John, that's is his English name, the young man in the middle is in every picture any one takes here.  He is all over this campus.  He calls me Eric Teacher.   There are a lot of people here that I am going to miss.  I just hope I will continue to use my QQ account and keep in touch.  I have a physics test to email and I need to pack my bags for Xiamen.  I leave on Wednesday.

The Italian meal at the Western Restaurant

Today one of the CLC students made an Italian meal for the students and the Chinese guests.  Tony had food for about 50 people.  It turned out fine.  For many of the Chinese this was their first taste of Italian food.  There was a salad, fresh fruit, vegetables, garlic bread, pasta, and chicken parmesan.   I got to help out in the kitchen and help with the bread, the chicken parmesan, and the plating.  I also took some pictures. 

This is a picture of the people that helped prepare our meal.  The American is the Tony, a student at CLC.  I did enjoy being in the kitchen and helping out a little.  There was some communication problems but things went quite well.  I was looking at the electrical box on the wall and thought, "I got to get a picture of that," and then I saw the one kitchen helper cleaning the mop in the sink because she was going to scrub the floor.   Rather than just take that picture and maybe offend someone, I decided to take a picture of the lady making hamburgers and get the other stuff in the background.

You can see the fuse box to the right of the ladies head and also the two people cleaning the mop in the sink.  Right after that she did the floor.  After taking the picture I went out and ate the meal.  That is what you do.

It was set up nice and everything turned out fine.  Enough food and enough favor to go around.  Good job, Tony.

Oh look Mountains

I have been here two months and this is the second time I have seen the mountains.  Tim said you could see them yesterday but I was busy and did not notice.  Most days the horizon just fades to gray and you can not see the mountains.  I need to climb Hua Shan before I leave and may do it some Wednesday and spend the night and return on Thursday before class.

Happy birthday my friends

After the sports meet there is nothing better than a good meal of just meat and beer at a local outside bar-b-que. Chickens wings and lamb and Snow beer the perfect meal. The only thing that could make it better, would be if we could figure out how they actually add up the bill, or the fa piao.  But the meat is good.  If you can sing Happy Birthday in Chinese to the young girls at the next table you may just get a piece of Birthday Cake.

It is fun to be here and just have the time to enjoy the evening.  I have no yard to mow, or house to clean, or room to paint, or even a meal to fix, I just do my job and then go out to eat my supper.  For now it is nice.  I will like being back home and back in the routine of my old life but for now this is fun.  I like being able to sing happy birthday to someone I do not know, in a language I really do not speak.  People are friendly here and like I tell my students, you have two ways to communicate, one is with a smile and one is with a frown, and everyone knows what they mean.  A smile works better and could get you a piece of cake.

The cake was very good.  This was my first birthday party in China, or a Sheng Ri Hui, I think that is correct.  It was just like every other birthday party, people having fun and helping someone celebrate a new year of their life.  This year has been quite the celebration of life for me. I am not sure if you know this, but I really like it here.  If anyone gets a chance to travel to China, do it.  It is crowded, and the air quality is not the best, but the food is great, the people are friendly and it will change the way you look at the world.  Nothing you do after a visit to China will ever be quite the same.

Sports Meet

The place was packed this morning as we all, and that means the ones that woke up in time, were ready to march out for the opening ceremonies.  All the different divisions of the school had different uniforms and competed in the events.  We are part of the Xian Foreign Business Students division.  We are the Americans, the Koreans,and a few students from Italy.  This is the group that was behind us.

We got to march out just like at every other type of event of this kind.  It was interesting to see so many people in one place and to have about 13 of us in the group.

After the opening ceremonies were over we dashed off to play some rugby as part of the demonstration. This was the first event to jump start the Sports Meet. 

The Chinese team and some of the International Instructors are playing the CLC group.  The big man with his back to us is Rob Rogers the Coach.   One of the Chinese players, Ju Hao, was on the rugby team.  When ever he got the ball in practice the coach would always yell out, "Just run, Ju Hao."  I was joking with him that his name was Ju Hao and his family name was Just Run, and he would explain to me that his family name was, Wang, which actually makes for a better story. 

This is a picture of some of the players.  Later we had the professional photographer and the video crew take our pictures.  After the photographer took his pictures he got in the picture and had the video guy take one of him.  They do like to takes pictures here.

After a short rugby game and the excitement of the opening ceremonies, nothing beats relaxing on the balcony and enjoying that third cup of real coffee.  What a day, perfect weather, not too hot, a nice breeze.  It was a great way to spend the day.  Tomorrow I get to check in, get my number, and represent my school and my country.
I was talking to some of the young women that were working at the Sports Meet.  One girl asked my if I could speak any Chinese.  I said a little.  I said, in Chinese, please give me a bottle of beer and you are very pretty.  I then had a lot of young girls that wanted to get their picture taken with me. It is fun to be here.

First day of the Sports Meet

It was quite exciting to be small part of the Xian University Sports Meet.  The opening ceremonies were nice.  We walked around the track just like the other students, only our uniforms did not match.  It was very nice to see Chinese students, that you do not know, smile at you and cheer for you.  It was really special for me to see my students, and to see them smile and wave at me.   Tomorrow I compete in something.  I will find out what it is at 10 am.  That is the way things are here and if you just take it in stride you will do fine.  If you get upset, it will drive you crazy.   I was in the Rugby demonstration, and after the video and the pictures I got to relax and do something I have not done in two months, drink three cups of real coffee. I will eat something and then see about posting pictures of the sports event.  I was glad to be a small part of this day and I look forward to tomorrow.
Next week I travel to Xiamen to see old friends, to relax, and be on a little vacation.  You may think this is a vacation, and it is, but I still have to work.  If you can call do something you enjoy work.  It is work because I really do want my students to learn something from me.  The whole time I have been writing this I had heard fireworks.

Sports meet on Friday and Saturday

The sports meet starts tomorrow and will continue on Saturday.  It is the big news on campus.  If you are a first year student you have to participate in the sports meet.    The students have been practicing on the sports field all week.  I can get a good view of the practice from the window of our hotel lobby.

 Today more students were on the field and had their costumes or uniforms on.  I saw many of my students as they left the practice.  It will be interesting to see and I want to see my students during the opening ceremonies.

Students with the Chinese flag and our hotel in the back ground.  Behind these students is the blue symbol of Xian International University.

Here I am with some of my students.  I saw them as I was walking home from class and they were leaving the practice field.  I saw most of my students a few minutes earlier.  I am going to miss my time with them but at least I have QQ and will be able to write them and show them pictures of what I like to call the real USA.  They see our country through the movies and that is not the most accurate way to view the USA.

I have students like this on all my classes.  How can you not like being here.  I get to see this every day.  I only wish that I had been here before and taught a class so that I had a better idea of what to do.  If I just had an Internet connection in the classroom things could be so much better for them.  I was able to help the students with the question of has and have and I hope I got them to make sure they look at both English and Chinese web pages when they are trying to get answers to English questions.  JoAnne had found some information and I had some also, so I gave them several web sites to look at.  I do not compete until Saturday and I am not sure what it is but I think I toss a weighted ball.  I asked the students and that is what they told me.  I will be out for the opening ceremonies and to be on the sideline for the touch rugby demonstration.  The demonstration is at 9 am and the opening ceremony is at 8.  Tim Murphy asked me what time I was going to get up and I said, "same time I always do."  Which is what he thought I would say.   We did have a good meal tonight.  This one place across the street has the best broccoli I have ever eaten and we had some pork ribs or back bones or something that was really good.  I will miss the students and the food.  My department chair thought must Americans eat hamburgers and not much else.  Now that I have QQ and she saw me in the cafeteria dining hall we have gotten closer.  I hope I can keep in touch we her after I leave.  I have many of her students and they seem to like her as much as I do.  You can't expect a person to log off of one system and check to see if they have a message on another system.  Many times the regular email does not work well here.  You can not open files, or answer right back, or see pictures but the QQ works and everyone has it.

Test today

I took my Chinese test today.  I will have to discuss this with my students, since they will also be writing tests for their American students.   I need to make sure they do certain things like only write words on the test that people have learned.  I went back over the book and I do not remember reading some of the stuff that was on the test.  I have taken tests before and some were very hard but I least I understood what the questions were and remembered the material.   It is one thing to say," Darn I can't remember that," and another thing to go, what?  I am not taking this for a grade so it is not a big deal to me.  I will have to discuss with my students how to write a test or at least think about how to write a test.  If the test is too easy the students will not learn and if it is too hard they will just give up.  I think I will suggest they give more short quizzes to make sure students study a little bit every day.   I have my tickets to Xiamen for next week.  I will visit Xiaoling and meet her husband.  I also hope to see Kevin Shu.  Xiaoling and Kevin were my Chinese teachers at ICC.  I am looking forward to seeing them next week.  Everyone says Xiamen is beautiful. I will find out.  I ordered the tickets last night and got in on the early bird special price on C-trip, the Chinese web site that Katie Evans uses and suggested.  It is also the one you use on QQ.  I did the email order and got a text stating the order was confirmed and I got the confirmation number.  I then got a phone call saying I need to send them through a fax our email, the credit forms, a copy of the passport, and the front and back of the credit card and do it in 40 minutes or the order will be cancelled.  I needed to get that done or the early bird special would expire.  I got Tim Murphy to print the credit forms, and I took pictures of the credit card and passport.  I was working to get this sent in before the deadline.  The Internet is slow here at the hotel.  I sent the information off at 10:18 and did a carbon copy to me.  I was checking my stuff and I see the picture of the passport, the credit card front, the credit card back and the cake that Katie Evans baked for me Sunday.  So I am back on line trying to load the credit report and get it sent in and the phone rings and the C-trip people have processed the tickets and I told them I would send the credit release as soon as hang up and I am sorry about the cake picture.  When I go to the airport I just show them my passport and they give me a ticket.  Even in a foreign country the wonders of the world wide web make difficult things a piece of cake.

Katie has been very helpful to me.  I would have been very lost without her advice.  She is going back to England after the semester.  I wish her well and I will miss and the students here will miss her.  Friday is the big sports event.  School is out for the day.  I may get to play on the Rugby demonstration team.  Maybe.  That would surprise my students, that's for sure.  I was watching the faculty march out today.  I was wondering how easy it would be to get the faculty at ICC to march out for a sporting event.  Non-tenured faculty, no problem.  I hope to post some sports pictures if it is possible.

Planning a trip to Xiamen

I have friends in Xiamen and I will need to see about planning a trip to visit them next week.  I will probably leave on Wednesday and return on Monday.  I need to check on air fare and all that stuff. I have never done much of this because JoAnne does this type of stuff.  I will see how well I do.  There are a lot of people I would like to see while I am here but just like in the USA when you have to work and places are far away it is not easy to visit people.  I hope to post pictures of  Xiamen in the near future.  I did call the bank and tell them I have plans to travel.  I would rather call them ahead of time than have them flag my card and stop payment on things.  I am going to travel lite to Xiamen and I hope to buy a couple of extra short sleeve shirts if I can find something that will fit me.  I found shirts in Malaysia so I think I can find something to wear in Xiamen.  The time is passing by faster and faster.  Soon it will be May and then June and then we will get on a plane and return to the USA.  I will have to adjust to a different time zone, a different type of work day, different people, less people.  It is going to be strange to walk down a street and not see 100's of Chinese people, actually not see anyone. I will not hear fireworks three or four times a day or car horns honking at all hours.  It will also be strange to not have people clean my room every day.  But I do have somethings to work on once I get back.  I am looking forward to the solar coffee drier project.  I think that will be very interesting and fun to be a part of.  I am so looking forward to the hot and humid days of summer in Illinois.  It will also be strange to sit down and eat a steak and enjoy a glass of red wine.  This has been one of the most interesting times of my life.  I have loved every minute of my trip so far.  I like going to see the big items as much as I enjoy the little things of every day life here. It will be nice to be able to cross the street and not have to worry about people running the red light and hitting you. I would never drive here.  It is hard to believe what you can see when you take the bus some where.  I need to do things to get ready for class tomorrow.  I do enjoy walking around the campus and having students stop and talk to you or just smile and wave.  That I will miss and miss a lot.

Laundry day

I had some problems posting the blog last night and had thought I would have to everything over but what I had written was still on the site.  Today is just a typical Sunday.  Not much different about it here or back in the USA.  Do somethings that need to be done and try to relax a bit before you start the work week all over.  The weather here the last week has been wonderful.  Around 80 degrees and the sun is out, well the sun is out the best it can be out here.  They say it gets hot here and is more humid the more you get in to summer.  I like it at 80 degrees.  Last night sitting outside watching the show was perfect weather.  The area for the show reminded me of being at Mount Rushmore for the night show.  The same type of place, with the mountains in the back.  There was places to eat and drink and little stores.  The place was pretty to look at with the lights and you got the feeling that people knew they were going to see something special.  And they did, oh yes, they saw something very special.  Now that I am such a cell phone text messaging person I can only say, OMG, what a show.
Now back to my ordinary Sunday and the laundry.  I took a while to learn the best way to do the laundry here.  If you use the automatic machines it takes forever and if you use the manual machines you have to be there to spin them and fill the rinse water.  The manual machines can do a load in less than one hour.  I use them and then check the time go up and spin and then rinse and go back and spin again.  It works will if I do it first thing in the morning.  Not many students are up and the hotel staff has not started working on the hotel laundry.

It is not really hard, you just follow the instructions.  Just like everywhere else, if someone has finished a load of clothes and not came back for them, you just place them on a chair and use the machine.  And you never lose a sock in the dryer, because you hang everything on the clothes line.

Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses

This place is huge and is worth the name of the 8th wonder of the world.  The army of soldiers was built 2000 years ago for Emperor YingZheng.  This is one of the sites to see when you are in Xian.  It is amazing to learn how much work was involved in making this all happen years ago.  The movie said it took 700,000 people to build this.  I have a gut feeling that half of the people did the work and the other half was there to force them to do the work.  Still it was very interesting to see.  Most of the Chinese people on the the tour with us had never been here before.  A lot of people come here to see this part of the Chinese culture.

People, people everywhere here today.  After we had eaten and left the restaurant the place was empty.  I was impressed with the place and the history  of what I saw today.

I only wish my Chinese was better so I could tell you more about this warrior and why he is so important.  After the we saw the Warriors and ate supper we went to the musical drama, "The Everlasting Regret,"based on a poem written by Bai Juyi, titled "Song of Eternal Sorrow."  This was the best visual piece of entertainment that I have ever seen.  It was in an outdoor theatre and had lasers, pyro, fountains, music, dance, and everything else you would expect to see at Disney or Las Vegas.  It is not really a musical drama but more of a modern visual ballet with must of the dancing done on a floor that has 1 to 2 inches of water on it.  The show is held on a lake and the dance floor rises out of the water.  It was very impressive and they used the mountains in the back ground as a screen, to be the night sky and the moon.  The show was around 40 US dollars and was more than worth it.  I would go tomorrow if I had the chance.  Seeing the warriors was seeing the history of China and the show tonight was seeing the future of China.  When they do things right here it is amazing what they can do.

Dancing tonight and nice weather

I will take part in the folk dancing tonight.  It was on Thursday but I think he is going to move it to Friday nights.  So today I have played rugby and tonight I will do folk dancing.  I had a Chinese Language class this afternoon.   So busy here.  During rugby practice I actually ran around long enough to be tired and wanted the game to end or to take a break and drink water.  Thirty minutes of running up and down the sports field is enough for me.  At least my legs feel better now than the first week of practice or the second week.  Yesterday during class I heard music not the kind of music that makes you think the band is playing but the kind that makes you think the Ice Cream truck is near.  So I lost my concentration and finally asked what is the music for, and told them in my country this music means the Ice Cream truck is near.  They laughed because when I looked out the window I could see the maintenance staff was spraying water on the streets to keep the dust down.  I hear ice cream music and I get hungry even through our ice cream truck does not have good ice cream.  The sound of the ice cream truck makes me hungry.  You can get some ice cream on the street here, but it justs looks like ice cream, and is cold, but it in not really ice cream or very good.   I may try something at the cafeteria from the little freezers and see if that stuff is any good, or I could have some a the Bell Tower with a cup of real coffee.   Time to dance.

Visiting the Xian Music Conservatory

I went to the symphony tonight and enjoyed it very much.  I had some basic information but did not have as much information as I would have liked, and that had a negative affect on my confidence.  Just like now as I try and decide if it should be affect or effect.  I will stick with affect.  My students say that English is very difficult and I always agree with them.  I was able to find the right bus stop and found a person to help me get from the bus stop to the entrance of the university where the music conservatory is.  There is no better feeling than to be on a eight lane divided road, on a motor scooter, going the wrong way into four lanes of traffic.  Helmets, we don't need no stinking helmets.  Even though I was on the scooter for a very short time the first thing to cross my mind was, I don't want to upset my Mother.  I guess that kind of thought will never go away.  But I am here now and was able to get to the symphony on time.  The program was entertaining and I did enjoy it.  I also met a young man who is trying to get in to graduate school in the USA.  He has to find a school that will transfer his Chinese credits.   He was talking about how difficult the process is.  He is right about that.  It is hard to find the right school when you live in the USA and it is harder when you have to do it in a different language and live in a different time zone.  I also told him that in the USA he was not going to find a 6 yuan bowl of noodles for lunch.  I do think this young man will do fine.  He has a lot on the ball and has good English skills.  I hope to go back and listen to some classical Chinese music.  Tonight we listened to the type of classical music I have heard all my life but before I return to the USA I hope to hear some Chinese classical music.  That of the GuZheng and other instruments. The next bus trip will be easier.  Like they say here, Hao hao xue xi, tian tian xiang shang.  Everyday make a little more progress.  I assume Ava will tell me if I got that correct or not. Every time I to try to do something new I get a little better at understanding the culture and the way things are here.  I tell my students that every time they try and speak with a foreign person it will get easier for them.  It is difficult to be in a culture that is so different from the one you live in but it is so interesting to be in a culture that is so different than the one you live in.  I tell my students that there are two basic forms of communication that everyone uses and everyone understands, one is a smile and the other is a frown.  The smile works better most of the time.  I try to smile as much as possible even when I am going the wrong way on a busy street on the back of a motor scooter. 

Email problems at ICC

I am having some problems with my ICC email.  I can not log on.  I think because I have only been using the web mail, that my password has expired, probably because I would not have gotten the reminders to change it, like I do at work.  I hope I can get this straightened out. It should happen in time.  Or I can use my QQ account and just run my life from the world of QQ.  This weekend we will visit the Terra Cotto Warriors and see a show called The Everlasting Regret.  It should be interesting.  I called my friend and former teacher, Lin Xiaoling, today and talked to her on Skype. It was good to hear her voice again.  She is one of my favorite people.  I did enjoy taking her to Pike County to see a different type of life in America.  I know that with all the modern devices we have the world is getting smaller every year but it is still difficult to have friends that are half way around the world, in another time zone, and in a different day.  When we lived in the big world that we had years ago I would never had met her.  I guess I like this world better than the one I grow up in.  I just have to find the time to travel to Xiamen and visit my friends.  Everyone I talk to says that Xiamen is a beautiful city and that I will like it.  I hope to get there before I return.  If any of you are interested in seeing what China is like I do suggest you google english.cctv.com and watch their Travelogue series.  I have written about this before, but you will get a chance to see and learn a little more about this country.

New building on campus

I was walking back from the grocery store on notice the construction conference room at the workers quarters.  This does not look much different from the construction meeting rooms I have seen in the USA. I guess the only difference is this, one is boring in another language.  And no one shows up with a cup of coffee and they can smoke if they want.

Every day life at Xian University

It was a very nice day today.  I was out walking around and enjoying the sunshine before my 4 pm class.  You do not see laundry hanging out on the campus at ICC but it is common here.  There are many differences about campus life here.  For one you do not see any parking lots here.  Students don't drive cars so you don't need a parking lot.  They still smoke on campus, as in everywhere on campus, everywhere.  Many things are different here.

I am on QQ now!

I have my QQ account set up and have done QQ chat with some students here at Xian.  QQ is a message, email, type of facebook system they use here in China.  I hope to be able to remember how to use QQ and do post messages on QQ as a way to keep in touch with my Chinese students once I have returned to the USA.  Maybe I could get Ava to help me with this.  I use the international QQ and it is easier for me follow.  The Chinese QQ was all in Chinese and I could not figure how things worked or how to send a message.  I had a student help me and I think things will be OK now.  I ate too much for supper and I think I need to take a nap now.  Yesterday I took a nap after rugby practice and woke up at 1 o'clock in the morning and went right back to sleep.  I may do that now.  One thing nice about QQ is you can get the news, weather, email, and whatever else you need on the QQ system.   And the name, QQ, I like the way it sounds.  My QQ number is 1721808630.  We had some problems with communication when the student was helping me to get my QQ set-up.  I was spelling my name ERIC and when you say E and R in Chinese it sounds like I am saying 1 and 2.  She thought I was giving her numbers, as in Yi, Er, San, Si, WU, etc and I was just spelling my name ERIC.   It is funny but I guess you just have to be here. 

Happy birthday Leroy

Today is the big 80th birthday party for my father-in-law, Leroy Thomas.  So happy birthday.  In China it is Monday so the party is already over here.  One of the students visited Hua Shan over the weekend.  I will need to do that before I return to the USA.  I may do that on a Friday.  The only class I have is a Chinese Language class and I could just miss it and take the train to Hua Shan.  Or I could do the Wednesday train to Hua Shan.  Either way it is a place I need to go to before I return to the states.  I may even go there twice.  Next weekend we will go see the Terra Cotta Warriors and then we will see the musical drama, "The Everlasting Regret," based on Bai Juyi's poem, "Song of Eternal Sorrow."  That should be an interesting day.  We will leave for the Terra Cotta Warriors at 1 pm and then see the show in the evening.  I also just checked the schedule and they have us going to the Wild Goose Pagoda on the 23rd, or they say the 23th, and that is the day of the big sports meet that everyone was so concerned about our students taking part in.  The sports meet is held on two days, Friday and Saturday.  So I am not sure how this is going to play out.  The Big Wild Goose Pagoda we could see at anytime and could pay the 1 yuan to take the 400 bus.  Rob Rogers told us they have a micro brewery there and they brew German beer and have brats.  So it sounds like we will make the trip there at some time anyway.  I also want to go to the International Horticultural Expo later this month.  Yesterday the weather was great.  Some people thought is was hot but I really enjoyed it.  Tee shirt weather and a nice evening to sit out and relax. 

I did get my QQ account opened this weekend. Now all I need to do is learn how to use it.  It should not be to difficult, I can just follow the instructions that pop up on my screen.  I guess I could load it on my netbook but I also do not want to do anything that might cause me problems communicating with JoAnne.  If I get my students QQ numbers I can always set this up back home and figure out somewhere to keep in touch.

I even have my QQ # 1721808630.  I will see what I can do at some other time.  Maybe when Ava is around to help me.  I do think it would be interesting to keep in touch with some of the students and staff here.  From what I understand this is like a facebook page and you can send messages, pictures, video, etc.  I thought if I could use this I could send my students a little information about Peoria, when I get back.  I could get on a bus that is almost empty and show them what life is like in our fair city.  I am going to have to video some of the traffic here and show people what it is like to drive and walk in Xian.  I like the idea that the traffic lights are only a suggestion of what to do.  It is amazing to see the amount of people that run red lights, run red lights and make u-turns,  or drive on the sidewalk.  Saturday we saw a city bus drive the wrong way down the divided street.  You look up and here comes the bus on your side of the road and we had no idea why. But you just go on about your business, because that is my life in Xian.

Just relaxing and enjoying a free Saturday here in Xian

I have some little, salted, in the shell peanuts, a beer, and my feet up on the balcony rail, what a nice way to relax on a warm Saturday afternoon in Xian.  It was a nice day today, tee shirt weather, with the sun out.  I think Sunday will be a nice day to play touch rugby.  I was also trying to remember, not counting today, when was the last time I fell out of a tree. Oh the adventures I am having.  I did get my debit card issue taken care of.  I was at the Metro and was going to get some cash before shopping and the card was denied.  I tried it again here on campus and had the same result.  I got on the computer and used Skype to contact the bank.  They had me down for only being in China until the end of March.  I know that I told them I would be in China until the 15th of June and they repeated that to me.  I guess they must automatically do things to screw with you.  I will for sure call them again before I go to Beijing or Xiamen and make sure that I can get money before, during, and after that trip.  We are going to go to Beijing in a couple of weeks and will be leaving on the 25th.  I would like to see Beijing and James Zhang, the exchange student that lived with us.  He is in college now and studying to be an electrical engineer.  We also get a holiday on that Monday.  I was thinking that once I see James, his family, the Great Wall, and the Forbidden City that I may as well head out for Xiamen and see old friends.  That would probably be on the 28th and I could stay until that Monday and use the Monday as a travel day.  The last few days of the Beijing trip are just shopping days and I was told not to bring anything home.  Everyone that I talk to tells me Xiamen is a beautiful city and a beautiful place.  The people that I would like to see have told me that.  So I would like to go and I can only miss so much school.  It has been about 4 years since I have seen my friends.  I have to do some checking on this and make the arrangements and do some things to keep my Beijing costs down.  I do not need to buy a train ticket if I am not going to use it and I do not need a hotel room if I am not staying in it.  The Beijing trip is only 408 dollars but I may as well save as much money as I can.  I will know more about that next week.

Back for clams, crayfish, and mussels.

We went back to the little beer garden and enjoyed some crayfish, mussels, clams, and a few beers.  As the weather gets better many outside food type beer gardens start to open.   You can just walk up to the food and point out what you would like for them to fix.  The crayfish were good but still is a lot of trouble to get that tail meat.  I liked the mussels the best and would order them again.   The had some fish and tofu that looked good.  If you are hungry this guy will cook it up for you and laugh at the idea that you want to take his picture.

  So many choices.

It is hard not to like Crayfish and beer, even when you have to work so hard to get that tail meat out. Saturday is the weekly trip to the Metro and in two weeks it is the trip to Beijing.  I am looking forward to seeing some old friends in Beijing.  I also got to Skype with JoAnne today.  It is strange to be 13 hours apart, in different time zone, and in a different day and yet still feel more in love with some one and closer to them than you were on the day you left home.  As much as I enjoy the experience I am having here I still miss my sweet wife and look forward to spending time with her when I get back.  As we were walking back to the campus I asked Tim Murphy what is it going to be like to return to the USA and walk down a street and not see Chinese people.  He said, "and not see so many people."  It will be different.  We are not in Xian any more, Toto.  The weather today was very nice.  After class I sat out on the balcony, ate peanuts, the little kind in the shell that JoAnne likes, had a beer, and watched the bats fly around.  It was nice to just relax.

Waiting for the welding shop to open

I had some Chinese words written on my notepad, a pack of Marlboro cigarettes in my pocket, my camera, and the confidence that I could communicate as walked out the back gate to find the little welding shop on the street.  When I got there I found the door shut and the guy was off at another job.   I waited around for a while but decided to walk back to the campus and get ready for rugby practice.  I will try again on Monday.

I do know this guy has a small MIG welder.  I can tell he did not tack this together with a stick machine.  I was even wearing my safety glasses and side shields.  This is the side street that is located behind the campus.  It is a little different from the street in front of the campus. 

The main difference on this street is the people you see.  The back street has more older people on it  and is not as crowded.  The front street is full of young students but the back street does not have that many students on it.  I did see few of my students but many of the people are just adults going about the daily routine.  It is also funny that I once smoked Marlboro cigarettes and I didn't know how to spell it and I think I always pronounced it wrong.  I always added an extra A to it.  That is all in the past.

Finally got logged on

I had created a Gmail account because I had been told the Gmail phone service was better than Skype and we had some problems with the video a few times that I had called JoAnne.  After making the Gmail account I had problems logging on  the "My life in Xian."  I think I have that taken care of now and I hope I can remember what I did next time I go to post something.  If I wake up and get going tomorrow morning I will take my notebook of words and see if I can make a new friend at the little welding shop just outside the back gate.  I really do want to see how they do things here. We will see just how well that goes.  I still need to be back for rugby practice at noon and then I have my Chinese class at 2 pm.  For my Chinese class the homework it to talk to people that work in the different trades or occupations here in China.  I had the haircut this week.  I have spoken with the maintenance worker who fixed the tile at the hotel.   He is the first person I actually tried to talk to here in Xian.  They were working on the basketball rims and welding.   I see him at least once a week and we smile and say, "Ni Hao."  Hello is easier to write if you don't have to use the pin yin.  I may have wrote about this before but if you are interested in China and what is going on over here I suggest you check out the English,cctv.com web site and watch some of their English language television shows.  The travel shows are well done.  I like the "Travelogue" series.  The were doing a group of shows on the different minorities in China and a 6 part series on ShangHai.  english.cctv.com  I figure once I get back that we can stop our cable and just watch this on the computer and save so much money that maybe I could retire at 63 instead of 65. 

If I was working here I would get a uniform like this to wear.  I had my students tell me about the topic they are going to teach me about for the finally exam.  Some of the students had the assignment done but most of them did not.  For the final exam I want my students to present a lesson on 5 to 10 Chinese words and be able to communicate for 5 to 10 minutes.  I will allow them to choose any topic they want.  I have one student that is going to introduce words about the family, as in Ye Ye for Grandpa.  I have a student that is going to talk about her home town, Hua Shan, as in the Mountain that I want to climb before I go home.  One of our CLC students is going there Friday.  The problem I have here is actually knowing the date.  The alarm clock has one date on it, the computers are all different due to the time change, the cell phone has a different date on it.  It could be the 6th, the 7th, or maybe the 8th in a few hours.  But I do know that today is Thursday.  Several of my students will still talk about food so i will get a few more recipes before I go home.  I had a student that wanted to talk about her favorite singer.  I said that is OK as long as you can do the assignment and know how to teach me new words.  I also suggested that she play some music so I could hear what her favorite singer sounds like.  Another student plans to talk about flowers and I suggested she show pictures or do something to explain to me what the flowers looked like.  I then asked her if Tulips and Daffodils mean anything to her.  She said no.  That is why you want to show me some pictures.  If I can get some one to talk about Bai Jiu and then bring in several bottles.  But then that probably would not be a good idea.  Hopefully Friday I will be successful in my quest for welding information.

First hair cut in Xian

I got my first haircut in Xian today.  Tim Murphy was there to take the pictures.  He said he enjoyed the double takes from the people walking by.  I guess not many western people get their hair cut at the street shops.  I knew a few things to say and the barber could speak a little English so everything went well.  This is what I looked like when I walked in the place.

The shop was on the street right outside the campus.  It even had the spinning barber poles, just like at home.  Once it was determined that I wanted my hair cut and not too short, we started with the wash.  Having that out of the way, the cutting started.

Everyone seemed to being enjoying the whole process, Tim was taking pictures, the other staff members were walking around, someone asked me how old I was, and no one cared that we were taking pictures and also having a good time. This the end result.

So if you are in Xian and need a hair cut I suggest you look this guy up.  A hair cut and wash will set you back about a 1.75 dollars. 

After a haircut the best thing to do is walk on up the street to the McDonald's and get a cup of real coffee and some french fries. I do miss the real coffee and try to drink a cup every change I get. For supper we ate at a little outdoor place.  We had meat and beer, the perfect meal.  Next time we are going to eat the little clams, mussels, and the crayfish.  This is a place where we might see about taking a group of students and just trying a lot of stuff.  And taking pictures.  The place was not there two weeks ago and it is outside with only an awning covering the tables, but the clams looked so good.  Just a few degrees warmer outside and it will be perfect.