first full work week back in the USA

The alarm went off each morning at 6 am and I put on the safety glasses with the side shields, packed my lunch and went to work, so yes, Toto we are not in Xian anymore.  ICC did have a conference about study abroad programs and what it is like to send students to study in China.  Dr. Li Hua, from the College of Lake County was there and showed pictures of Xian International University.   I got to see the Building I worked in and the windows for the classrooms I taught at.  I will always remember my time in Xian and my students.     My students are on QQ right now waiting for me to finish this and address their emails.  I am going to share a link so that you can see what it is like to walk from my hotel to the number 1 cafeteria.  I walked that every day and usually had lunch at cafeteria number 1.  Good food for a dollar.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4hgIKMLIwU&feature=channel_video_title     This is not the greatest video but it is what I saw every day, only it is not as busy as it would be around noon.

First day back at work

Monday is my first day back to work at the ICC maintenance department.  It will be interesting to see how that goes.  I will be at the East Peoria Campus now.  I have not worked on that campus for two years.  I also will teach my first welding class in four months.  I am a little rusty.  We will see how the work day goes.  I know it will be different for me but am curious to see just how different.

My welcome home meal and other things.

We all went out Thursday to the ICC North Culinary Arts Lunch.  I had a wonderful meal, talked to the instructors, and passed out a few gift items to people that I worked with.  I spoke with Chef Keith a while about being in China, told him about the cookbooks I brought back from the trip, and saw what he has been doing in the world of food.  It was very interesting and exciting.  We spoke a little about the solar coffee roasting project and what that project will be like.   I am looking forward to starting on that.  The food was great.  JoAnne and I have eaten many a meal at the North Campus Culinary Arts building but this one was very good.  We always shared the different menu items but yesterday they were all good.  They are never bad but usually one is better than the other.
After lunch I went to the ICC East Peoria Campus to attend the celebration of 35 years of service for Board member, Dr. Ehrich.  It was interesting to hear how much the school has changed since he has been on the Board.  He was involved in the program that first allowed students to use calculators in the classroom.  Think about that and what we do today in the classroom.  My classroom in China had a blackboard in it.
I then met with management and found out what I will be doing on Monday.  I will be clocking in at the East Peoria Campus and attending my first morning meeting to find out my work assignments.  I will pack my first lunch in four months.  First day back at work will be a long one because I will teach that night as well.  But I have a young heart.
It was strange to see a large parking lot again and to walk in to a building that has air conditioning.  In China the heat was shut down on March 15 and we did not have air conditioning in the building that I worked at. I remember when they shut the heat off because the next week it never got up to 50 degrees.  That building was so cold that in order to warm up you went out side in the sun, during the break.  It was bad for about three weeks.
Monday I will see how different it will be to walk around the US campus compared to being in Xian.   I have noticed just how much cleaner the sky and the air is here.  It is strange to look outside and see things look so fresh and green.  Xian is polluted and it is also dusty.  Here it is clean and fresh.  I have had to work on not saying Ni Hao and Xie Xie or other Chinese terms to people here.  My Chinese is not that good but I had gotten in to the habit of mixing the two languages quite a bit.  Now I have to work on getting things for the yard.  My first trip to the hardware store.

My first real meal since I returned from China.  I will have to post this on my QQ account and see how strange this looks to my Chinese students.

First full day back in Peoria

After spending four months in China, today will be my first full day back in Peoria, Illinois.  Yesterday involved the plane ride back to Chicago, the ride in the car to Peoria, trying to adjust to the new sleep cycle, and starting to unpack.  Today should be more like a normal day at home.  We are going to the ICC North Campus at noon to have lunch.  The food is being prepared by the culinary arts students. They are not making the food for me, the lunch is something they do as part of the program.  After that I will go to the East Peoria campus and find out what and where I will be working when I start back to my regular job.  On Monday I put the side shields back on my glasses, set the alarm, pack my lunch box, and punch the time clock again.  That will make the trip to China officially over, as soon as I clock in on Monday.
I was thinking about some of the things that I have and have not done the last four months.  I made fresh brewed coffee for the first time in four months, yesterday.  I watched one person get on a bus that was at the middle of its route. Not only was she the only person to  get on the bus but she was able to find a place to sit.  That never happened in Xian.    I have not heard fireworks.  I saw it rain hard and with thunder and lighting.  I only saw it rain hard once in Xian and then it did not thunder.  I did not drink Moutai before going out for supper.  I did not use chopsticks, or eat rice or noodles.  I started a car.  I still have not driven a car in four months but I did start it.  I put clothes in the dryer for the first time in four months.  For the first time in four months I did not interact with Dr. Tim Murphy in some way, unless you count the QQ message I sent him.  Before the trip to China I never knew Dr. Murphy.  We worked together for four months, ate together about every night and I may never see him again.  Then again I may see him again, and see him in Xian, China.  You just never know.  I saw less people yesterday than I would have seen in only minutes in Xian.  It is so empty around here.  Today I looked out at the horizon and I saw the horizon.  In Xian things fade to gray but here the sky is blue and the air is fresh.  Did I mention that I did not hear fireworks or car horns, the constant sound of car horns.  I made my first to do list of things that I need to start on around the house.  I have not thought like that for four months.  I stopped myself from answering the phone and saying, "Wei" the Chinese word for hello when talking on the phone.  It will be hard to not said "Ni Hao" to people or "Xie Xie" but I will adjust.  I did not look at my watch and think about what time it was in Peoria and if I should call now or wait a few more minutes.  It is different to be back home but it is so good to be with my wife again.  It is like I never left and yet because I did go it seems like we are even closer now.

The one think that I did do yesterday that I did the whole time I was in Xian, was to think about China and think about the USA.  One thing about China is that every day was different in some way.  Every day I saw or experienced something that I had never seen or experienced before.  You could go for a walk and see something that you would never see in the USA.  It could be something big or just a little thing but every day you could have a new experience, good or bad, but new.  Next week I will return to work and walk the hallways of the campus and see for myself just how different the life style is between the US and China and how different the school systems are.  I will also teach my first welding class in four months.  Something tells me that welding class will be different from the Oral English classes that I taught in Xian.  One thing the welding class will have in common with my Oral English class,  the class room will not have air conditioning and it will probably be hot.

One person gets on a bus, the bus is almost empty.  Oh yeah, I am back home now.

Korea airport

I am in the Korean airport wait for my flight to LA.  At 12:33 AM on Wednesday morning I will arrive at the Chicago Airport. After the ride home I will be in Peoria around 4:30 or so.  It has been a wonderful stay in China. I have enjoyed teaching my classes to the Chinese students.  One thing about the Chinese people they are hard working and they are very nice.  I have met a lot of people that I hope to see again.  I find it interesting that people I know in the USA have been able to communicate with people that I know in China.   The world is getting smaller and the world is getting more interesting.  Every year JoAnne and I meet more and more people from all over the world.  We have been fortunate to have the opportunities to do this.  I hope that JoAnne and I can return to Xian and teach here.  It would be nice to do so before the students that I know graduate.  Here they go to school three years.  China is so different and yet it is similar in many ways.  The main way the countries are similar is the people. In the Midwest, not the Global Midwest, but the real Midwest, where people farm and and live in small towns, the people in China are very nice and work hard and the people in the Midwest are also very nice and work hard.  When people from different countries get together many times friendships develop.  It is the people of the world that make travel what it is, a wonderful experience.  To go some place and only be there for four months and yet meet people that you will think about for the rest of your life is a wonderful thing.  I have meet many nice people on this trip and some of them live in Chicago.  That is what I like about travel.  Another thing is that by leaving your home you realize just how special the person is that you share that home with.  I will be home in just hours, Jo.  I miss you.
We also need to work on that information about Mongolia. 

Last day to teach and we leave Tuesday morning

I will teach my last class in China this afternoon, record my final grades, send them to Zhao Sha Sha, and then on Tuesday morning we all head to the airport.  I will have lunch today with some of my students from the Tuesday class.  I will miss them all very much, even the ones that just sat there and said nothing as much as they could.  But I will miss being on this campus.  I was teaching in a building that did not have any foreign faculty.  All the foreign faculty and the English majors are in building #1 and was in building #2.  My students had never had a foreign teacher and had never taken a class like mine.  It was a different experience for all of us.  At least I know now what I think I should do if I return.  Looking back on the situation, I am surprised and how well my students did.  I asked them to give a speech in a different language and they had never given a speech in any language, ever.  Our education systems are so different and yet many of them did very well.  What is interesting for me is to see how my department chair and I slowly built a relationship.  She was always helpful to me but I later found out that I was the first western person she had ever been in contact with.  As I changed and learned more about the culture and got my QQ number, she also changed and learned about the USA culture.  When she saw me eating Chinese food in the hotel restaurant, and realized that all western people do not eat hamburgers, we became much closer.

I spent my last weekend in Xian at her home, with her husband and her parents.  Her father, a retired welder and ship builder, fixed Chinese food for me and would have poured me enough BaiJiu to put me to sleep if I had let him. After a nice lunch we did what Chinese people do on a hot summer day.  We played some Chinese checkers, watched TV, snacked, and at 2 pm people that needed to, took a nap.  Later that evening we walked to the local outdoor barbecue and had supper and I returned to the campus.  It was nice to see how people live in Xian.  I will miss Zhao Sha Sha and her family.  I will miss a lot of people here.  Some of the people I will miss the most are the ones that you see every day and only say Ni Hao to, because you do not speak enough Chinese and they speak no English. I has been a great experience and one that I will always remember.  I dream of mine that I have had all my life, and I mean all my life, has come true.  I can not remember a time when I did not want to come to China and I have been here and lived here for four months.  I have been very lucky to have had this opportunity.  Now I will return and see how well I can adjust to life back in the states.  It will be different, that is for sure. How different, I will find out soon.  It will be good to get off the plane, get my luggage, and get in the car with Maris and make the drive back to Peoria.  At least when I get home the first face I will probably see is that of Ava Zhong, so she will help make the transition a little easier.  I imagine JoAnne will wake up to see me.  That is going to be a long day, long plane ride, long car ride to Peoria, probably talking to people very early in the morning and then trying to get some more sleep before the sun comes up.  I will probably go to the college on Thursday to check and see what the next week will bring.  I will then start on the solar coffee project and turn in my information that I need for the opportunity to go to Mongolia and help them develop and improve their vocational training, because I am ready to see more of the world, even before I get home.

 Zhao Sha Sha's parents and our supper.  Good food and go company.

 My new friends.

 Zhao Sha Sha and her MaMa, just relaxing in the living room of their home.

Xi Gua, or watermelon, one of the advantages of having tile floors, you can cut your watermelon in the living.  Probably not a good idea to do on the carpet.

Two welders.  We have a lot in common, we both weld,we are the same age, and we both enjoy cooking.  I hope to see him again.

Sitting around the table and enjoying a good meal, that is a nice way to spend your last Sunday in Xian.

A nice pot of soup that was very good.

I have learned a little more about how to cook chinese food. I am sad to leave the people I have met here but it is time to get back to my normal life in the USA.  My own little street in Peoria will never be the same after having been in China for four months.

Zhao Sha Sha's neighborhood.  Now I know why when I asked Kevin Shu

My highlight in China

I have been able to go and do many things while I was working in Xian.  I have seen the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, Hua Shan, the Ming Ma Yong, the beautiful city of Xiamen and if someone was to ask me what I treasure the most about my trip to China, it would be the people that I have met in Building 2 at Xian International University.  I have had the pleasure to teach four classes in this building and meet many nice young students.  I hope that in some way I had been able to help them learn more about the USA, the people that live there, and not only how to improve their English skills but why it is important to do so.  If I could only speak Chinese a little better I could not only help them more in the class room but I could have done more things here.  The reason to learn a language is to use it and the best way to use it is to meet new people and develop friendships.  I hope my being here has motivated some of these students to try and study just a little more and to practice just a little more so that they can speak better.  It will open many more doors for them if they do.  I know that my being here has motivated me to try and learn more and continue to practice and improve my Chinese.  I do want to return and I do want to have the freedom that speaking the language better will give me.  I just have to make a habit of listening, reading, writing and speaking Chinese as much as I can.  Because as you can see I love it here.

Smiling faces

For the last four months every time I walk in or out of the hotel I see one of these smiling faces behind the lobby desk.  I will see one of them on Tuesday morning when we all leave to go to the airport.  I just wonder how long it will take to adjust to life back in Peoria.  Not hearing fireworks every day three or four times a day.  Not having some one ask you if you just ate, because that is a way to say hello.   Having to pay more than 1.25 dollars for a meal. Not seeing hundreds of Chinese people walking down the street.  Saying, "boy is it hot and humid today."  Eating off my own plate for the first time in four months.  So much will be different.
Driving a care again and actually seeing people stop at the lights and obey the traffic laws.

My last Tuesday class

This was my last class on Tuesday.  I have a Thursday class and two on Monday and then we all leave at 4 pm on Tuesday.  The lady on the left is Zhao Sha Sha, my department Dean, as I call her.  We started off kind of slow but once I got my QQ number and she found out that I eat Chinese food and not hamburgers we developed an nice friendship.  I will miss her.  We can communicate but we both have to work at it.  I enjoy that a lot.  I hope to keep in contact with her when I return to the USA.  I hope to keep in contact with a lot of the students.  They have my QQ and I do plan to post things on QQ so my students can learn more about the USA and what life is like in Peoria.

Tomorrow I will drop off some grades and some english books that will be useful to her and I have gift for her and then I may never see her again.  Then again I might.  I hope I do.

Hua Shan today

I got up this morning before 6 am and got my stuff ready to try and tackle Hua Shan.  I got a cab to the Xian train station and started looking for the #1 tourist bus for Hua Shan.  I was looking for a bus that had signs on the top similar to those of the city buses, since this is basically a city bus.  The only problem is the sign I am looking for is a small sign in the window,  After having someone tell me to go to the end of the row and figuring out that if the driver could not tell me what time the bus leaves and comes back, then I do not want that bus.  I worked my way up the row of buses and saw a big sign that said Hua Shan and it was the 22rmb price that I had read about.  Someone was able to tell me the departure and return times and where they drop you off.  I got on and about 20 minutes to 8 I was on my way to Hua Shan.  The first stop is at down town Hua Shan for shopping but you only had to do that if you wanted because the bus just opens the doors and as soon as everyone is off the bus, we go on to the entrance gate to get our ticket in and our bus ticket up to the park.  The entry is 100 rmb and the bus is 20 rmb one way.  After getting the cable car ticket for 150 rmb I was up the mountain and ready to hike at 10:20 am. 

It is pretty up here and since it was a Wednesday it was not as crowded as on the weekends.  I hiked with a younger man from England.  Because I had a back pack and a young heart I offered to carry his water.  I took the time to buy a padlock and have the man engrave JoAnne's and my name on it and lock it on the chains at the mountain.  I have the key in my wallet and when we return we will find it move it to a different spot on the mountain.

Every one that climbs Hua Shan in the future will know how much I love my sweet, JoAnne.  From here is was a nice easy hike to the South and West peaks. 

Much of the hiking at Hua Shan is just like this.  That is what they mean when they talk about the Steppes of Asia.  The view at Hua Shan is definitely worth the walking and the effort to get to the top.  This is what you see for much of the hike up the mountain.

Once you get to the top it is a nice view and I would climb up here again and I think I will get another chance in the future.

stinky fruit

I have eaten this before and liked it and I thought this may be the last time I get to buy one that is fresh not frozen.  They do stink. But they are pretty good to eat.  They are diffent.  But they do stink.  Their is a reason why you do not bring them in the hotels in Malaysia, and it is pretty hard to sneak this in the hotel because did it mention, they do stink.

I think I will have some right now.

The street where I have eaten many a good meal while in Xian

This is the dirty and crowded little street that I call the food court.  We have eaten many a fine meal here and enjoyed a few room temperature beers in the past four months.  I will miss going here for supper.  It is so different from Peoria.  It is so interesting to walk around here and just look at what is going on.  The place is always busy.  The food is wonderful and I have never gotten sick on anything that I have eaten.  I have had some things that were too spicey, like the eggs and vegetables that looked so good in the picture but turned out to be half eggs and half hot peppers.  That we did not finish. What is going to be strange is when I go home next week I get to eat off my own plate.  I haven't done that for four months.  Except for the Golden Hans last Friday or when I eat by myself.  You order food and everyone eats it, it is just what you do here. The fresh fruit and vegetables are very good here.

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The food vendor on the street.  They have of lot of them on the street and a full size open market about  a quarter of a mile away.  The apricots and cherries are in season now.

This is Zhang Yao, on the right, she is my student and the young man is her friend the owner of the restaurant where we ate.  You have to be very careful when you eat with your Chinese friends because they will always try and pay for the meal and they will always try and order too much food.

Dr. Murphy with two of Zhang Yao's friends that joined us for supper tonight.  It was a nice evening.  A great way to end the Dragon Boat Festival.  Tuesday it is back to work. 

What better way to end a good meal than to enjoy some very good watermelon.  Everything was good, the pork ribs were excellent and dry rubbed with spice.  The peanut, cucumber, tofu salad was very good.  The tofu had the texture of cheese cubes.  I had never had tofu like that before.  The white stuff that I had never seen and looked like it was going to be really hot since it was in a oil that looked to be HOT.  It was not and the more you ate it the more you liked it.

Zhang Yao is going for the Liang Fen a white food that is in a red oil and the favor is wonderful.  You can also see the Ribs and in the left corner is the peanut, tofu, cucumber dish, or Dou fu gan.  The tofu had a texture of cheese cubes.  yummy.

This is the Liang Fen, and I would eat this again if I had the chance.  It is not as hot as you might think, especially if you do not eat the little peppers.

This is the Dou Fu Gan, which is dofu, peanuts, and cucumbers.  The little white cubes are the dofu and they remind me of cheese but I am in China so I know it isn't cheese.  They do so much here with Dofu, or Tofu as we say and it is so good.  I just wish we could get food like this in the USA.  The vegetables here are wonderful and they eat a lot of vegetables here, and they eat a lot of corn and potatoes.  I was surprised at how much more they eat here than rice and noodles and the fruit is great.  The only thing they don't do well is pie and cheesecake.  But other than that is is ok.  The meat is just to add favor and many nights we have just had tofu and vegetables and rice.  I almost forgot to say the peanuts here are the best I have ever eaten.  Every dish that I have had with peanuts in it is great and you just eat them one at time until they are gone.

The Golden Hans, meat and beer

The Golden Hans is famous for it's meat and and home brewed beer.  The place is a buffet and the meat just keeps coming.  They will not cut you much at one time but they will just keep coming back.  It is good.  The beef tongue was roasted and was very good.  Best I have ever eaten.

The wait staff just walk by your table and if you want something you just ask them to cut it for you.  I had already eaten enough but needed one more bite for the photograph. 

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We went with Rob Rogers, the Rugby coach, his wife, Ang, and their son Minnie, Tim Murphy, and pictured here is Katie Evans, the nice lady from English that help me prepare for my teaching experience in China.  The other person is a member of the wait staff, or the Fu Wu Yuan.  Katie will return to England in July and may come back depending on how things go in her life,  I wish her all the best.

This is a picture of Rob and Ang.  Rob teaches at Xian and Ang works in ShangHai and travels alot.  It is sort of like what JoAnne and I did for years when she was in Kalamazoo.  They meet up on the weekends and good for them this is a long holiday weekend.

Picture of Ang and Minnie, their son.  Minnie lives in Xian.  I have met a lot of nice people here in a few months and I will miss them when I return to the USA.  I do hope to return to Xian again and would love to teach again.  The Golden Hans has good micro brew beer, good meat, but if you need more than that you can always try the chicken feet and some sort of insides to some animal.  Hao chi.

The high lite of the night for me was to win the beer drinking contest.  I have done many things in Xian that I did not think I would do before I left on this trip.  I did not think I would try and out run 19 year old students on the Rugby field, I did not think I would fall out of a tree, and I did not think I would enter a beer drinking contest much less win it.   Rob encouraged me to enter by saying, " do it for your blog", and it is true I live my life around this blog.  So I gave it a try and I won.  I have brought fame and glory to the USA.

As they say here, Yi, Er, San, and He.  One, two, three, and drink.  I gave them a running chance because my chinese skills are not that good but I finish strong because I have a young heart. 

I am done.  Lao wai, one and the Chinese, Zero.  I got an Alaska beer mug and a gift certificate for a massage.  It is only Saturday, of a long holiday weekend,  I have two more days to party.  Sunday I may go the Horticulture Expo or the Tang Paradise and see the sites.  I think on Monday it will be good to go the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and then on Wednesday I think the Hua Shan is calling me.  Lots to do and little time to do it. 

My first Xian Foot massage

After a breakfast of Zong Zi and Starbucks coffee it was off to the Metro for my last trip to the international market.  Tim and I sorted out the stuff that we needed to gift people here and then we headed out to the KFC to try it.  The KFC in China is much different from the KFC in the USA. Some of the side dishes are the same but the chicken is fixed different and you really don't order a bucket of it.

We ate and walked across the street to get our McDonald's coffee for Sunday morning breakfast.   I have been at McDonald's more in China than I ever have in the USA and that is to just get the coffee.

A cup of coffee and a durrian, the stinky fruit and I am ready for Sunday morning breakfast.  Next thing on the list is the foot massage.  I have never had one at Xian but I have heard they are really good.  Why not try one. 

They start off by working on your head.  The rub your head, pull your hair, and all that kind of stuff.  After she finished I said, "nin gei wo tou tang."  Which means you gave me a headache and then I had to explain that I was just kidding and I felt fine. They were all concerned that they would hurt us.  The foot massage was really nice and at times they did hurt me, a little.

After they worked on your feet they applied some mud and then steamed you feet and legs.  The whole process takes 80 minutes and is great.  It costs 88 rmb and that is around 14 dollars in the USA.  I need to get in one more visit in before I leave here.

After the foot massage we got a call from Rob and Ang and got an invite to the Golden Hans for beer and meat, lots of meat.

The start of a long three day weekend.

What better way to start the three day Dragon Boat Festival weekend than to have Yang Rou Pao Mo with Zhang Yao and Zhang Pei.  I nice mix of Lamb soup and bread.  Hao Chi.

Wonderful gift items from China

What better gift from China than a pack of smokes with the double happiness character on them.  The double happiness is the character at all the weddings.  It is a major symbol in China.  A lot of men smoke in China and why not, you can smoke any where you want here.  Ok, not in the hospital but just about every where else.  Double happiness; I know cigarettes will kill you and I assume these will taste bad, so when I give them to people that I know who smoke, I will be twice as happy.  I am just kidding, John.  I did go all out and I got ten packs of smokes for the people that do smoke.  I am out around 15 dollars, so really do hope you all enjoy them.  It will give me something to share at the American Welding Society meeting if I get to speak.  I and watch Mark Kerley light one up and enjoy.  Actually the smokes are not bad here and probably have less stuff put in them than back in the USA.  You may not want to drink the milk here but the important stuff, like cigarettes is pretty safe.

As for me, this is what I like about China.  I get to be around the students.  It is fun to teach here.  This was last nights English Corner, where Chinese students get a chance to practice their English skills with real western speaking people.  It is almost the end of the semester and I have finally figured out ways to make students talk.  Tell them it is a test.  Everything here is all about the exams.  It is difficult to get people to come to class but if it is a test everyone is there.  It has been a very interesting four months.  I can't honestly say that I have loved every minute of it.  Tim Murphy was in the hospital, I sat on a hard seat for twelve hours on the train to WuWei, I struggled through some classes where no one did their home work, and you never know if the internet will work or if it will work long enough to let you post what ever you are writing.  For the must part, my time in China has been a wonderful adventure.  I have met a lot of wonderful and interesting people.  I have seen many things that as a child in Pike County I only dreamed about seeing.  I have eaten new foods, delicious new foods.  I will soon be back to my regular life. Which means I will soon be back with my sweet wife the women that I love so much.  She was so nice to allow me to spend my time here because she knows this was something that I had wanted to do for fifty years.  I do hope that I will be able to come back.  I would like nothing more than to see what life is like for some of my students in a couple of years or to be able to teach them again.  There are still things I would like to see and do here.  Friday I do plan to go to the calligraphy museum and then maybe have lunch at the KFC.  The KFC is different here, so I have been told.  I don't think you actually order a bucket of chicken here.  I only have 12 days to find out and the clock is ticking.