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.