We recently visited the Red Leaf Valley with some of the other BYU English teachers to see the changing leaves. The day we went was very misty following a night's rain the previous evening so the views were not far reaching. It was beautiful nonetheless and we had an enjoyable time. Lowell ran into some of his students who had chosen the same day to visit this location, but didn't think fast enough to get a picture of them.
Susan and some of the other American English teachers were very excited to acquaint their students with the customs surrounding Halloween, so they spent a whole class period indoctrinating them. Some of the teachers (who live in a hotel) actually decided to decorate their rooms for the occasion. One had a spook alley. Others did apple bobbing and other interesting games. They were flooded with students that evening who came "trick or treating." We tried some crepe-like items for lunch one day which we saw being made on the side of the road (upper right). Many local people get their "fast food" this way. Susan has a group of students over to our apartment most every Friday evening for an "English Hour" (lower left). We recently had our directors, Kirk and Midge Evans, from the BYU Kennedy Center, here in Jinan to check up on us. They invited us out to a nice dinner in a local hotel (lower center and right).
We left Jinan after teaching our classes on Thanksgiving morning and boarded a train (lower and upper left) for Beijing where we enjoyed a buffet Thanksgiving dinner that evening. We visited the normal tourist sites the next day including Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City (upper center) and the Temple of Heaven and Great Wall (lower center). Our favorite stop was the dedication site (lower right) where Elder David O. McKay dedicated the Chinese realm during his world tour in 1921. This spot was only recently pinpointed in 2004 by our first mission president and others and was something we didn't want to miss.
