Home in America Again

 

We were met by our oldest son and three of his five children (lower left) as we arrived back in Utah Saturday night (16 June). We will miss many of the common people we might otherwise take for granted like our faithful taxi driver, Mr Zhang (upper left), our favorite fruitshop owners (top center), our street sweeper (lower center) and garbage man (lower right) all of whom we frequently greeted and let know we cared about them. We will also miss special friends like one of Susan's doctor students and her family (upper right) and Kai Xu, a fellow teacher (upper right). Now we must make the adjustment back to the "life before." All that we have left will become fond memories.

Last Excursion --- A Trip to Qingdao

 

Ten of us teachers (lower right) here in Jinan took a weekend trip via fast train (upper left) to Qingdao where we were treated to dinner by the tour guide, Marvin Wu (pictured with his wife and daughter top right), of all our other tours. He lives in Qingdao. We attended the Qingdao Branch on Sunday and saw the former governor's mansion (lower left) when the city was formerly under German control as well as the acquarium complete with a performance by some "mermaids" (top center). It was a beautiful city and a very relaxing trip.

Some Wonderful People We've Met

 

We were recently invited to dinner at the home of one of the children Susan tutors. Sisi Li's mother has been friends with Ken Yu's mother for over twenty years and she is also the sister-in-law to Robin Cong who has done more for us than perhaps any other person here at the university since we came. The Li's invited the Yu's, Cong's and us to dinner at their place and we had a group picture (lower left) taken afterwards. Sisi Li and her parents (far upper left) and Ken Yu and his parents (upper left) are not happy to see us leave. A Church member from South Africa, Lulu Pilson (top center), recently started as a medical student here at Shandong University. She now joins us for our weekly Sunday meetings. Xue Chong Wei and his doctor wife, Tricia (lower right), invited us out to dinner as well. Lowell tutors Chong Wei in English occasionally. They will also be sad to see us leave. Tricia has become good friends with all the BYU English teachers here in Jinan and has assisted most of them with one medical need or another.

Trip to Mt. Tai in Tai'an

We recently took a one day trip to Tai'an by bus and hiked most of the way up Mt. Tai which was very beautiful.  It remined us of the Uintahs in a way and was a wonderful experience getting up high enough to enjoy the cooler air than what we are beginning to have again here in Jinan.  We waited in long lines for a cable car ride up the steepest part of the mountain and then again to descend via the same means.  There were lots and lots of people there that Saturday.

Susan is also enjoying tutoring two young children in English (lower left) with Lowell's assistance twice a week and enjoys the gifts her students bring her when they come for the near weekly English hour at our apartment.  Several of her married students brought her the bouquet of flowers just prior to Mother's Day.

We are soon to be home and will miss all of these people and this scenery.

Weifang and Shouguang

We recently took a two day trip to Weifang (City of Kites) and Shouguang (City of Vegetables) where we viewed some interesting things.  The Kite Festival was over the preceeding week so we missed the crowds there and didn't see any kite competitions, but did see a lot of intesting kites.  The vegetable exhibition was in full swing and we were in the midst of the crowds there (seemed like millions of people).  We enjoyed the sculptures made of vegetables and seeds (like the bulls and elephant above).  The cart and donkey were intesting only because of the front and back "catchers" for anything the horse might lose along the way.

Things We've Done Recently

We have been tutoring two children (top center) ages 4 and 5, had a lunch with some former students (lower left), had a birthday celebration,  judged an English speech contest (lower right) and climbed Thousand Buddha mountain recently.

River Cruise Down the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River)

We took advantage of the Qing Ming (Memorial Day) Holiday to fly to Chongqing, China and board a cruise ship (upper and lower right) to visit the Three Gorges Dam in Yichang.  We stopped in Fengdu (upper left) to visit a "Ghost City" (meaning the temple commemorating "hell" where the spirits of the deceased go (according to Buddhism) to be judged after death to determine where they will eventually end up in the next life. After visiting the dam, we traveled by bus to Wuhan, China where we boarded a flight to Qingdao for a bus ride back to Jinan.  We had a side trip on a motorized sampan (top and bottom center) piloted by a member (listen to him singing below) of one of the minority groups in China (we are posing in part of his get-up). The Three Gorges Dam (which has caused the water level in the reservoir it formed to rise 180 feet above the original river and displaced many villages and towns) has a series of 5 shiplocks which all boats and ships moving up or down the Yangtze River must pass through (a process which takes approximately four hours). These shiplocks are just a bit shorter than the Panama Canal.  The power generated from the turbines in the dam supply between 3 to 5 percent of all power used by the entire country of China. The Yangtze River is the third longest river in the world following the Nile and the Amazon. Fourth longest is the Mississippi.

Lion Dancers

Susan caught this Lion Dance in process as she was headed towards Thousand Buddha Mountain.

Firecrackers or Gunfire?

Year-Round Firecracker Weddings

Seldom does a week go by that we don't hear the explosion of firecrackers announcing that there is yet still another wedding inprocess.  The sound is such that one would think it were gunfire rather than just firecrackers.  We recently got an up-close view as someone living above us was obviously going to be married that day.  Some of the revelers brought two large rolls of firecrackers and unrolled them in the entry way to our building.  The photographer was ready (left) and after it was all over, someone (blue coat, right) went through to step on any that had not gone off (of which there were several).  The couple to be married, not yet dressed for the wedding, left in a car decorated with flower sprays to go to the official ceremony and the awaiting guests.  I tried to load a video of these two long rows of firecrackers going off, but I guess it was too lengthy.

Bao Tu Springs in the City of Springs

Jinan is known as the City of Springs. Bao Tu Springs is located just a short walk really from our campus and in fact our campus on Shandong University is sometimes referred to as the Bao Tu Springs Campus. We finally decided to visit the actual springs and even though the temperature was about 32 degrees F, we found we were not alone on a Saturday---just the only foreigners there. We recently also enjoyed a Valentines dinner (lower left) with the other BYU couples from our city at an Italian restaurant.

Tour Through Southwest China

We left our seminar in Hong Kong and immediately began a tour of Southwest China including Guilin (pictured above) viewed from the Li River. The scenery was stunning and our guide said we were lucky the day was overcast and rainy because it produced the mist which shrouds the mountains in a mystic aura.



We then flew to Kunming where we visited the Stone Forest and an expansive underground cave. We were able to see some of the Sani minority group (lower right) and also the Naxi people (upper and lower left) as well as learn about the Dongbe (Shaman) pictured sitting upper right of which there are currently only 65 still living who continue to read and write the history of this people. These minority groups are all required to learn Mandarin in school but continue to communicate with each other in their own language.



We subsequently went to Lijiang where we visited the Black Dragon Pool Park (not pictured) and from there to Dali where we saw a cultural performance by the Bai people (upper left and center) and viewed the 3 Pagodas complex which was recently further developed as a Buddhist temple complex costing approximately US$30 million to finish. It was never-ending and truly amazing! From there we returned via Kunming home to Jinan where we began teaching another semester of college students.

Trip via Hong Kong Home for a Wedding

We made a week-long stop in Hong Kong on our way home to help with a daughter's wedding. In Hong Kong, we attended the temple (lower left), attended a friend's wedding (upper left) and visited with friends (upper center). Back in Utah, our oldest daughter, Kristen, married Dayne Peterson from Wyoming (lower center) and we enjoyed having most of the family together for the occasion (Kristen and her four brothers appear lower right), all except Amy, who is serving a mission in Hong Kong.

Christmas Service

We had two opportunities to "carol" for Christmas. One was in a Protestant Church in Jinan (lower right) which was packed with Christians. We were amazed how many filled the church. We sang a medley of Christmas hymns on their program Christmas Eve as did some other groups. We sang carols on a square near a Catholic Church on Christmas afternoon and attracted quite a group of picture-taking spectators.



We also had the opportunity to visit a couple of schools in a somewhat remote village near Qingzhou, about a two-hour drive from where we live. We took athletic equipment, notebooks, pencils, erasers, etc. and candy to a school for the deaf (upper right) who invited us to share lunch (upper left) with them and to a school which has both a kindergarten (note the beds for naps, lower left) where the 3 to 5 year olds were warmed by one small coal stove in the room (lower middle) and an elementary school through grade 6 where students sang and performed for us in gratitude for our donations to them.

It was a nice way to spend the Christmas holiday and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

Lots and Lots of Students!

Fortunately, a couple of my students wanted an individual picture taken with me which facilitated making a better collage of the eight classes I have taught this semester. Most of these students are post graduates in some field of medicine. They come from all over China. Shandong University is a rather prestigious university and all are quite thrilled they were accepted here. Many have already been here for 5 or 6 years.


They will all be taking a final exam from me next week, right after Christmas. I have 280+ students. Susan has close to twice that many. Most of them wear their winter coats in the classroom during this colder period but it is quite comfy for me without mine on. We have had a wonderful semester together and I will miss crossing paths with them on campus because supposedly next semester I will be teaching on one of the university's other 5 campuses while Susan remains on this one. The commute for me will be about 45 minutes one way by bus.

Beijing and the Great Wall

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.

Thanksgiving Play Performance

Lowell had the students in each of his eight classes perform a play the week of Thanksgiving. The play was about a former minister in the Church of England who quit as minister and joined an independent church. He was subsequently imprisoned and was eventually exiled from England and sent to America. It is a true story about John Lathrop and took place in about 1634. The students had a fun time performing the play even though it was not well practiced and some of the parts were long. They got a lot of practice with the English parts and performed relatively well. Lowell was surprised how much effort many had made to memorize their part between the final dress rehearsal and the actual performance. We try all kinds of things to motivate the students to improve their English.

Fall Is In The Air

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).

Jinan, City of Springs

We had the opportunity to take a boat (lower left) ride down a canal from Black Tiger Springs across Da Ming Lake and back on a circuitous route to the point of our beginning one night last week. Jinan is known as the City of Springs and there are some 72 of them around the city. We hadn't been able to visit any of them yet, what with our busy teaching schedule. Nights are cooling off now so we are glad we got on this canal trip before it gets too cold. At one point down the canal we entered a lock where the water was blocked off and our boat lowered to the next part of the canal before we crossed Da Ming Lake and then enjoyed the reverse process (lower center) as we returned to our original location.

University Anniversary and Confucius

We recently attended some celebrations in conjunction with Shandong University's 110th Anniversary. They really put on the production! There were spotlights, TV camera, gala costumes, dancers, singers, and so forth. The celebrations went on for over a week in several locations. We attended two majors ones. The university had really been spruced up to impress all the dignitaries and foreign guests visiting for the event. The campus fountains were working (first time we have seen them on - lower left). We also recently visited Jinan Central Square which has its own water show set to music and lights (lower right)


We went with a group of foreign professors (some from Japan, Spain, Russia, and England) on a tour to Qufu, birthplace and final resting place of Confucius. We saw some temples which are over 1,000 years old and a tree (Susan is standing by it) which is over 1,800 years old (and still growing) in the temple complex where Confucius used to teach 3,000 students. His tombstone is shown here as well. The horse cart and the "tricycle" were seen in the city of Qufu (which is in Shangdong Province and about a two hour bus ride away from where we live).