Christmas in China

Some of you have asked if the Chinese celebrate Christmas. I'm sure there are some Christian Chinese who celebrate. There are even some Chinese members of the Church here, but we don't know who they are. We can't associate with them. Anyway, Christmas as a commercial holiday is slowly starting to creep in. We went to the grocery store this morning and there were a few decorations on the walls in the store. We hope you enjoy the pictures.

The following pictures are:
1. The hotel lobby in Beijing.
2. Outside our hotel in Ji'nan.
3. Brian, outside the hotel in Ji'nan.
4. Brian and Lugene in their apartment with their Christmas tree. We found it in a box that was left by previous teachers.
5. The Han Lin hotel lobby (our hotel in Ji'nan).
6. The hall by the elevator.
7. The tree by the elevator. (The tree needs a little work!)
8. Our apartment door.

December 6, 2009

Today at 8:00 a.m. we went with some other foreign teachers to Qufu. Qufu is the place, where Confucius lived, studied and was buried. It was a very cold day. Besides Lugene and me, Eric and Christine Sorenson, Trent Copeland and the foreign Korean teacher went.

Qufu is a city of about 600,000 people about a two hour drive from Ji’nan. As most people know, Confucius was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese thought and life.

His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. He also promoted building a harmonious society. This has been the theme of Hu Jintao, the current president of China. Confucius' thoughts have been developed into a system of philosophy known as Confucianism.

After our visits to the Confucius sites we did some tourist shopping. Lugene bought a fan and I bought a large tiger painting. I thought the painting was very cool! We got back to our apartment about 5:15.

Who would have though??

Lugene and I do not teach classes on Friday, so we use that day to get food from the market. We went to the street market about 9:00. While we were waiting to get some tomatoes, a Chinese man about 30 years old started talking to us in English. Lugene commented to him that he spoke English well. He said he had just returned from the United States where he was working on his doctor’s degree in computer science. I asked him where he was studying in the United States. He said Utah! What a small world. He is getting his degree at Utah State in Logan. We told him we are sponsored by Brigham Young University. He said, “Oh, BYU. I know that school.” Who would have thought we would have this chance meeting among the 1.3 billion people in China.



When we were in China four years ago as tourists, we were in Shanghai. We were at a huge market full of people. We had bought an ice cream cone and were leaning against a wall eating it. A man came up to us and started talking to us in English. He asked where we lived in the United States. We told him Utah. He said, "Oh, are you Mormons?" He had a brother who was a member of the Church who lives in Provo. Who would have thought!!!!

Thanksgiving in Beijing

You can view some pictures at http://thanksgivinginbeijing.shutterfly.com/#n_19?role=-1.


Thursday, November 26 (Thanksgiving Day)
We left Ji’nan at 7:00 AM on the bullet train to Beijing. Lugene and I went along with JoAnn and Sarah and Richard and Paula Watkins. The train goes about 128 miles per hour. Beijing is about 220 miles from Ji’nan. It took us about 3 hours to get there. Marvin Wu, our travel coordinator, arranged for a small bus to pick us up and take us to the hotel. Our guide while we were in Beijing was named Jean. She met us ant get us checked in to the hotel. We stayed in the Mercur hotel. It is about a 30 minute walk from Tian’anmen square.
After we got checked in we walked to the end of the block and ate lunch. It was in a Portuguese restaurant and was quite good. We then went to the “huge” Beijing bookstore that was across the street. The Watkins had been invited to Thanksgiving dinner by some American friends of theirs, so we separated from them after the bookstore.
Sarah, JoAnn, Lugene and I got a taxi and went to the Silk Market. This is a large, multi-floored building that sales all kinds of souvenirs and other goods to tourists. We had a lot of fun. We bought gifts for the children and grandchildren and some gifts for ourselves. Lugene got her a very nice pearl and jade necklace and bracelet and a large fan that she has wanted for a long time. Lugene and I decided we wouldn’t criticize each other’s purchases since we have different ideas of what we want/need.
That evening we went to the mall by the hotel for dinner and then “crashed”. I guess we were tired from the trip and shopping. We thought about the children and their Thanksgiving festivities but knew that we would be with them next year.

Friday, November 27
The hotel offered a complimentary breakfast that was both American and Chinese. All the Americans enjoyed it because they had bacon, omelets, French toast, etc. After breakfast we all loaded on a bus and went to Tian’anmen Square. We walked passed Mao’s tomb (but didn’t go in). We saw the old main gate to Beijing from when it had a wall that encircled the area where the square, the Forbidden City and other parts of old Beijing are located. We also saw the Chinese monument to unknown soldiers. Supposedly, the square is the largest public square in the world.
After the square we crossed the street (underground) and walked through the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.
Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 7,800,000 sq ft. The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.
Our tour guide taught us many things including the Chinese tradition that the dragon represents man and the Phoenix represents woman. We also learned how to tell whether a Chinese lion statue is male or female. The male statue has his foot on a ball that represents man’s control of the universe, and the female dragon has her foot on a lion cub. Most buildings of significance in China have the two lions on either side of the main door.
After a Chinese lunch in a local restaurant we went to the site of the 2008 Olympics. We toured the “bird’s nest” stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies were held. We also saw the “water cube” where the swimming competitions were held. While riding the bus, our tour guide explained that Beijing means the northern capital, Nanjing is the southern capital, and Xian is the western capital.
From the Olympic site we went to the Temple of Heaven. This is a temple on a hill (now a large park) where the Emperor would go three times a year to offer animal sacrifices and pray for a good harvest. There is a building north of the temple that is known as God’s sleeping room. Since the Chinese didn’t know what God looked like, they kept a piece of wood in the room with a sign on it saying “God”. They would take this piece out of the “sleeping room” when the Emperor came to pray and place it in the temple. Prior to his tri-annual visit, the Emperor would fast for three days. (We saw some similarities between this practice and some Old Testament practices.)
While riding in the bus, our tour guide explained that the reason Chinese homes have hearths at the bottom of their doors is to keep the evil spirits (ghosts) out. Apparently, since the ghosts don’t walk, they aren’t able to step over the hearth. Most homes also have a screen in the homes’ entrance. This is also to keep the ghosts out since they can’t turn corners and thus get around the screen to go into the house. She also told us ghosts are afraid of the color red. This is one of the reasons you see red so often in China. The guide also taught us to say “mǎmahūhū”. This means so-so or fair. For example, if some asked if you spoke Chinese, you could use this as your answer. Everyone liked it, because it has such a funny sound in English.
In the evening we had dinner and then went to a Chinese acrobatic show. It was similar to the one we saw in Ji’nan, but had a few more exciting elements.

Saturday, November 28, 2009
After breakfast, we loaded the bus and headed for the Great Wall of China. The wall is in the mountains about 1 ½ hours from the city. On the way we stopped at a government jade factory. We rode a tram up the mountain to the wall because it was so far away. Since the wall is in the mountains, it was very cold. We didn’t stay at the wall for a long time. We bought a few souvenirs and then returned to Beijing.
While traveling, our tour director told us a joke about Deng Xiaoping, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Ronald Reagan. It happened the three of them were walking together and they came to a fork in the road. The sign pointing in one direction said “Capitalism” and the one pointing the other way said “Socialism”. Reagan had no problem choosing to go down the capitalism road. Gorbachev hesitated a few minutes and then followed Reagan. Deng hesitated even longer. He then reversed the signs and went down the capitalism road that was now named socialism. It’s really interesting. During the National Days celebration, the commentators kept referring to the Chinese way of life as “socialism with Chinese characteristics”!
On the return trip we also stopped at a cloisonné factory. We bought an egg and a Christmas ornament. After lunch we went to the Summer Palace.
The Summer Palace was built as a summer home for the Imperial family. The Forbidden City was unbearably hot during the summer, so they had the Summer Palace built around an artificial lake where it was much cooler. The Dowager Empress Cixi enlarged and improved the complex. It has the world’s longest enclosed and painted archway. There is also a marble boat that sits on the edge of the lake. There is also a large Buddhist temple by the lake. After the Summer Palace we toured a Hutong. These are places with Beijing where they have preserved the old homes and narrow streets that were there prior to the 1970’s when Beijing began its expansion into a more modern city. It was late in the afternoon (evening) when we went to the Hutong so it was hard to see a lot because it was so dark.
In the evening we had dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant where we had Beijing (Peking) Duck. This is a famous recipe and an experience all tourists have to have. While traveling to the restaurant, our travel guide told us an old Chinese story. The emperor found a beautiful young girl in a village and forced her to come back to the Forbidden City as one of his concubines. She was very beautiful, but very sad and never smiled. One day the Emperor decided to take her to see the Great Wall, hoping this would make her happy. While there the girl asked what the tall tower was for. The Emperor explained that if the guards saw enemy troops approaching, they would build a fire in the tower. This would alert the dukes and princes that there was a problem and they would send their soldiers to fight the invaders. They girl asked the Emperor if he would build such a fire so she could see it. Wanting to please her he did so. Soon the dukes and princes showed up with their armies. The girl smiled at the confusion she had caused, but the dukes and princes were not happy and soon returned to their kingdoms. A week later the wall was attacked by the enemy. A fire was built in the tower, but no one came to help fight because they assumed it was another false alarm. Because of this the Emperor was killed by the enemies. (This reminded us of the story we had all heard about the young boy who “cried wolf”.)

Sunday, November 29, 2009
Today we all went to Sacrament meeting at the Beijing 1st Branch. The meetings are held on the 4th floor of an office building. The area has been remodeled so there is a chapel, classrooms and offices. The branch had their Children’s Sacrament meeting program. It was very nice. All of the children gave talks in English and shared some scriptures in Chinese.
As we have mentioned earlier, we cannot share the gospel with the Chinese citizens. The branch meeting bulletin contained the following statement that is read each Sunday to the congregation.
“It is important for foreign members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in or visiting China to be aware of the unique restrictions on religious activities here. While China permits freedom of religious belief, it requires all religious activities in China comply with relevant laws and regulations. We would like to remind you of the following:
1. No active or passive proselyting is permitted among local nationals in China,
2. Only individuals who hold foreign passports, and their spouses, may attend meetings or other activities of this branch,
3. No foreign nationals are permitted to participate in activities of any kind with Chinese nationals who are members of our church, and
4. Religious materials may not be disseminated to Chinese nationals in China.
Your strict observance of these rules enables us to build a foundation of trust with government authorities and enables us to continue to meet together as the government permits us to do so.”
After sacrament meeting we went to lunch at the home of President and Sister Lewis. President Lewis is the branch president of the Beijing International branch (Ji’nan is a group off this branch) and Sister Lewis is the Branch Relieve Society president. They fed us a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with turkey and all of the trimmings. It was really good. Lugene was set apart as the Relief Society leader of the Jinan area of the church. President Lewis told as the emotional story of how the office building was chosen as a site to hold the church meetings. They have a beautiful home in a “gated” community about 50 minutes away from the church site and away from Beijing. She has a maid who helped her prepare for the luncheon. Lugene told her it was the first time she had seen an actual oven in 3 ½ months. President Lewis is a lawyer and they have lived in China over 12 years. They have 6 children, but only one child, a son named Paul, is left at home now. They have a daughter at BYU, a daughter on a mission and other married children. They had their driver take us to the train station in a bus (a large van or small bus). They were very gracious. Their counselors also had dinner with us. They are Brother and Sister Ricks, humanitarian volunteers from Rexburg, Idaho. Also Brother and Sister Sherbert from St. George, Utah, attended. They are from California originally. They are teachers at one of the top Universities in Beijing. He teaches law.
We left their home at 3:00 p.m. to go to the train station. On the way there we saw a Papa John’s pizza establishment. In addition, we have now seen McDonalds, Pizza Hut and KFC. Apparently there is a Sizzler in Beijing as well. We got on the bullet train at 7:05 PM and arrived back at our apartment in Ji’nan about 9:00 p.m.

Mid November Update

A small update to what's happening to the Wests in China. Last night we went to see the Shandong acrobats perform. It was quite a spectacle. They are very good and do lot's of dangerous things and twist their bodies into strange positions. It's hard to believe.

Today we went to the opening ceremonies of the United States and Shandong (that's our province) Culture exhibit. Jon Huntsman, the U.S. Ambassador was there. I never got to meet him in Utah, so guess what . . .? Anyway, there are some pictures attached. Thursday we leave for Beijing for the Thanksgiving weekend. It's hard to believe, but we need the break from teaching.

The teaching is going well. It seems like all we do is prepare lessons and correct papers. But, we do take time to have fun. The students are great and all of the Chinese are friendly and helpful.

We hope all is well with everyone at home. Have a happy Thanksgiving!!!

Ladies Man

"I guess I am enjoying my classes a little too much. I had an 8:20 oral English class at the West campus. I had to leave the apartment at 7:00 in order to catch the 7:30 bus. The class goes until 9:55, or an hour and 35 minutes. The bus to return to the main campus leaves at 10:10. Anyway, I’m teaching away having fun with the class and one of the young girl students hands me a note. It says, “Excuse me, Mr. West. It’s time for your bus”. I look at my watch and it’s 10:09. I grab my things and head down to the bus stop, but I’m too late the bus has already gone. Some of the students went with me. I guess to give me moral support. When we discovered the bus was gone, we went back to the classroom. Most of the students were still there. I asked them if they wanted to continue talking. So, we spent another hour and a half talking about Utah, my family, national parks, food, clothing, colors, etc."

This is really a fun class. There is always a contingent of young girls waiting for my bus in the morning so they can escort me to class!!

I am so special

You can't help but love it over here. I told your mother (Lugene) that it will be hard to come home where no one thinks we are special. I have my English writing students email their assignments to me. I have an automated response that let's them know I have received their email. It says: "I have received your message and will respond as soon as possible." The following is from one of my students who had sent me her assignment. (I'm not going to let her in on the secret!)

"oh,it is incredible.The minute I sent the email to you,I got your response.I am so lucky and the speed at which you type is so quick,making me admire you more deeply."

Photography

11-12-09
When we were leaving Lugene's English lecture on Thursday, a young Chinese girl asked if we could help her. She was doing her photography lab and wanted to take some pictures of us. Attached are a couple of her pictures.

November 11, 2009

First Snow...

Early November Updates

Sunday, November 8, 2009

At Church I was thinking about what a great experience we are having. I get to help bless and pass the sacrament almost every Sunday. It is a special spiritual experience to have sacrament meeting with only fifteen members. It makes us feel like we are in the mission field, which in some ways we are. During Church we always have fireworks because of the weddings that take place in the hotel. Sometimes they are so loud we have to stop until they are over to continue with our meeting. It’s also interesting to look out the window and see the big, gold Buddha looking over us.

After Church we always have a pot luck lunch in our apartment. It’s always good food and enjoyable to visit with everyone.



Wednesday, November 11, 2009

In China, you don’t get heat nor air conditioning until it is turned on for the whole city. It is now very cold in Ji’nan. It is in the low 30’s with a cold wind. They haven’t turned on the city heating system yet, so most buildings, including the student dorms and class rooms, are not heated. They say they won’t turn it on until the 15th. Fortunately, the hotel has its own heating system and it is already on. I taught class all day at the west campus. All the students had their coats on and I taught with my winter coat on and a scarf around my neck. It’s different, but it worked. Our apartment is nice and warm so we don’t suffer unless we go out.

I hope all is well with everyone. Feel free to email us or call us. We miss our family and friends.

Dingy...

This story will help you understand how "dingy" your mother and I are getting while we are away. My friend from work sent me an email. (This is the one I go to lunch at Costco with and we visit them in St. George.) Anyway, at the end of the email he said, "Tell LuJean hello for us". I wrote back and said, "By the way, she spells her name LuGene". I always copy myself on the emails so your mother can read them. Needless to say, she was a little perturbed that after all these years I didn't know how to spell her name right. So, I sent my friend an email back and corrected the spelling to Lugene. I then said that after 41 years of marriage I should have it right. Big mistake is that I copied myself on the email. Guess what--we've been married 42 years!!!

Halloween Party

Today is October 31, 2009. It is a Saturday and it is Halloween. Last night a storm came through Ji'nan and today it is cold. We have had a long, warm fall until now.

This afternoon a had a Halloween party with my two writing classes and Lugene's oral English class. I showed a PowerPoint presentation about Utah, BYU and my family. I spent most of the time showing pictures of my family. The class really enjoyed getting better acquainted with us. After the presentation we ate "treats", sang songs, had a raffle of some goodies I had bought for the class, and played some games. Everyone laughed and had a lot of fun. Attached are some pictures from the party. Notice the cool hair I used for my costume!!

October 30, 2009

This morning Mom and Dad went shopping for fruits and vegetables. Attached are some pictures they took.

Mid-October Update

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Today, Lugene taught a class and I worked on my lessons. I had my juniors write a paper in class on “Why I am Proud to be Chinese”. I thought it was an appropriate title since they just celebrated their National Day. Anyway, I had all of the papers to correct. The students did a nice job and I learned a lot about them and their country.

That evening a group of us went out. We first went to the Nelsons apartment. They are the couple who went to the Silk Road with us. They live and teach at a university that is a long way (maybe 10 miles) from the rest of us and none of us had seen their apartment. It is very nice and they were glad we came to visit.

We then went out to eat. We all went into one restaurant and sat down. We then found out it was a “hot pot” restaurant. Some of the people didn’t want that to eat, so we asked the hostess where we could get some traditional Chinese food. She said she would show us, so we all got up and left. Anyway, she went with us for about three blocks until she found the kind of restaurant that we liked. It was very unusual for someone to be this kind. Especially, since they were taking all of their customers to the competition.

After dinner we went to the main square in Ji’nan. Most of us had not been there yet. It was now dark and they had a huge fountain that did a water show accompanied by music. It was very nice. After the show we watched people flying kites in the dark. They have lights on their kites so you can see them in the dark. It was really neat. I bought one to take home with me. We then finished the night with a dish of very expensive, but very good ice cream.



Friday, October 16, 2009

Lugene and I both have a free day on Fridays--no classes. Jay and Dana Thelin called us and wanted to know if we wanted to go play with them since they don’t have classes on Friday either. Before they came to get us, Lugene and I went to the street market and bought some meat and vegetables. We provide the vegetables for the Sunday brunch and Lugene is going to cook with the meat.



After the Thelins came, we took the bus to the TechMart. We then took another bus to the main plaza. We went to a very old part of Ji’nan that is about a block away from the square. It was like walking back in time a 100 years. It is a part of China that people will not be able to experience twenty years from now. We walked around for awhile and decided we wanted lunch. Dana all of a sudden said let’s go in here. It was a very suspect restaurant (as in not very clean). They didn’t have any room for us on the first or second floor so we climbed to the third floor. There was a small room there with tables and small stools. It would probably seat 25-30 people. We were the only ones in the room. The waitress came and we finally figured out something to order. The food came and it was actually very good. When leaving, however, we looked up the stairs to the fourth floor where the kitchen was. It was very scary. Thankfully, the food was very hot, so maybe the spices killed anything bad that would kill us.

After this we took another bus for about a ½ your drive to the zoo. By the zoo are some big markets (large warehouses full of small shops). While we were there I bought me a nice winter coat.



On Friday night, we went to the opening ceremonies of the China National Games. We were invited by the family we tutor, Frank and Helen Hu and their daughter Lilly. Those are their English names. Apparently, the only way to go was to be invited by someone. Our host has a high government position, so he was able to get tickets for us.



The ceremonies were held at the new Ji’nan sports stadium that was built specifically for the games. They have spent four years getting ready for the games and have built sports facilities throughout Shandong province. If I understood it correctly, they spent 4.5 billion U.S. dollars on sports facilities throughout Shandong in preparation for the games.



The games are China’s version of the Olympics. They are held every four years and attract participants from all of the provinces in China. It is a big event. At the opening ceremonies, President Hu Jintao, the president of China, and the Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee were there. The following is a description of the games that was in the program.



“The 11th National Games of the People’s Republic of China is to be held in the 17 prefecture-level cities of Shandong Province from October 16-28, 2009, with the main venue set in the capital city of Jinan. It is the largest and highest-level national comprehensive sports games, with 33 sports and 362 events. Forty-six delegations from all provinces, regions and municipalities, Hong King SAR, Macao SAR, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and sports associations of all industries will participate in the national games.



“As the host, Shandong developed the following guidelines: guided by the Scientific Outlook on Development, with “Harmonious China, Everybody’s Games” as the theme and “Be First Class, Promote Harmonious Development” as the target, in the principle of “being open, innovative, economical and civilized”, we shall go all out to build first-class stadiums and facilities, carry out first-class organizations, create first-class environment and atmosphere, provide first-class services and logistics, get first-class rankings, achieve first-class results, and in short, host a specific, safe and peaceful, and satisfying session of the national games.”



The opening ceremony was very impressive and very similar to Olympic opening ceremonies. There was the raising of the China, Shandong Province and National Games flags. Then, all of the athletes marched onto the field according to the province they represented. They then had a gala performance with dancers, singers, and many exotic special effects. There were lighted, mechanical seagulls flying through the air. There were acrobats on huge lighted wheels in the air. There were all kinds of special effects on the ground. And of course, there were a lot of fireworks.

The most impressive part of the show was a huge, round fabric screen that descended into the middle of the stadium. As the program progressed they showed videos on the screen as if it were a theatre in the round, with the audience around the screen. You’ll understand better when you see the pictures. Needless to say, we were very impressed.

Silk Road Trip Pictures

If you would like to see some pictures from our silk road trip please click on the link below...

http://westfamilypictures1.shutterfly.com/

Update

Sunday, September 13, 2009

We are part of the Beijing China International District Branch Robert Lewis is our branch president. They have groups organized where there are enough members and priesthood holders to do so. They also have a virtual branch for those who are isolated. These members dial-in to a conference bridge for their meetings.

Today we had sacrament meeting, except for the actual administering and passing of the sacrament, on the conference bridge. They had a pause in the broadcast service so we could do the sacrament service locally. It was really nice to take the sacrament after three weeks. It reminded us of how much we had been missing our Church meetings. After sacrament meeting we had a Gospel Doctrine lesson. After Church we had the pot-luck lunch in our apartment. There were ten members present. There are usually about 15 members who attend. The lunch was nice, but it took a little work to clean up afterwards.



Below is a description of our China District:

Current member count/breakdown (including members whose records are not moved into the branch because of short duration of stay in China):

170 members in 35 cities in 11 organized groups

11 lone members (only member in city)

6 lone couples/families (only members in city)

16 lone sisters (either lone member sisters or small groups of sisters only, ie no priesthood in city so no access to sacrament)

31 Primary and pre-Primary aged children in 9 cities (Changsha, Chengdu, Dalian, Shenyang, Wuhan, Xiamen, Xiangtan, Yongzhou and Yantai)

2 youth (TJ and Maddie Ethington in Dalian)

69 YSA in 21 cities (mostly with the Int'l Language Program or China Horizons program which bring university-aged men and women to China to teach English for 1 or 2 semesters, but other YSAs are here working in other capacities or studying Chinese or as part of other graduate programs)

22 retired seniors, comprised of both singles and couples, including BYU Kennedy Center China Teachers and ex-KC teachers in Jinan, Shandong Province, but also in the ancient cities of Luoyang, Qufu, Tai'an, Weihai and Zhengzhou


Tuesday, September 15, 2009

In the evening we had a branch-wide audio conference with Elder Oaks at our group leader’s apartment. The branch president conducted from Beijing and Elder Oaks talked from Xi’en. There were about 35 locations that participated. The first speaker talked about enjoying the moment. She referred to Laman and Lemuel who wanted to return to Jerusalem so they could enjoy their possessions rather than taking advantage of the opportunities the Lord had provided for them. Sister Oaks spoke about how we are in many locations, but yet we are bound together by the Holy Ghost. President Perkins, the area president, also spoke.

Elder Oaks told a story about a stake conference he attended in Ogden about 10 years ago. He said that as he sat on the stand he looked over the congregation. His eyes were drawn to a lady in a yellow dress. As he continued to scan the audience he kept coming back to her. He finally realized he was being prompted to call on this sister to speak in the conference. After the congregational hymn, and before he spoke, the stake president called her to come to the stand and bear her testimony.

Elder Oaks said he was responsible for the content of the meeting and so he felt he was taking a chance calling her to speak. As she came to the pulpit, he whispered to her to just speak what was in her heart. She explained that she was a nurse and that she worked in a care center for the elderly. She said one of the patients she worked with was the most ornery, evil, mean person she had ever met. She said he was constantly using the call button. When she would go to his room he would spit on the floor so she would have to clean it up. He did this along with other vile things. He used profane language in talking with her.

One evening his call button sounded and she went to his room. When she got there she could see that he had fallen out of bed, had become disconnected from all of his tubing, and was laying on the floor bleeding and writhing. She could tell by looking that he was near death. When she entered the room, she said she felt the very real force, just like an electrical field surrounding him. She knew that God loved this man and cared for him in spite of all of his bad decisions and evil ways. She went to her knees and held him in her arms until he died. She then closed her talk.

Elder Oaks knew that the reason she was called to speak was because he needed to hear this story. He needed to be reminded that God loves all of us in spite of our bad decisions. He needed to be reminded that the Savior has atoned for all of us if we will call upon him and plead for his mercy. It was a very spiritual message and one I also needed to hear.

China National Day and Mid-autumn Festival‏

October 1st is the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and celebrated as China’s National Holiday. An important occasion, the holiday is celebrated all of the People’s Republic of China.

Since the National Party Plenum meeting in May 1999, Chinese people have been guaranteed a week off during the holiday, turning the holiday into both a patriotic and economic fixture of the Autumn season. In folk parlance, National Day is referred to as one of the “Golden Weeks”, of the year, the other one being the week during the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The 15th of the eighth month according to the Chinese lunar calendar, is the date for the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. The reason for celebrating the festival during that time is that it is the time when the moon is at its fullest and brightest.

The Mid-autumn festival is one of the two most important occasions in Chinese calendar (the other being the Spring Festival or the Chinese New Year) and it is an official holiday. It is a time for families to be together, so people far from home will gaze longingly at the moon and think about their families.

The traditional food for mid-autumn festival is the moon cake which is round and symbolizes reunion.

Friday, September 11th

Friday, September 11, 2009

Today we went shopping at the RT Mart for groceries and a few other items for the apartment. I spent most of the day correcting papers for my writing class and Lugene worked on preparations for her class tomorrow. It will be at the West campus.

Earlier in the week, Xueruili, Lugene’s contact at the university, asked her if she would be interested in tutoring the family of a “high” government official. Lugene said, “yes”, so she arranged for us to go out to dinner with them tonight. We went to a very fancy Chinese restaurant. Each party had their own separate room. There were seven of us. We met the family. They are very nice. As far as we could tell, the father is in charge of water quality for Shandong province. We will be tutoring his wife and fourteen year old daughter each Saturday morning for an hour. They will come to our apartment in the hotel.

We sat around a round table with a large glass “lazy susan” in the middle of the table. They then started bringing in the food. We had beef and pork and fish and squid and shrimp and duck. We had vegetables and fried squash and eggplant and lotus roots and everything you can imagine. We then had dumplings. They were delicious. We ended it all with a plate of fruit. We were both really stuffed when we got through. They then insisted we take the leftovers home with us. Ugh!!!

9-9-09

Happy Birthday Mom... and what a very special birthday!!!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Today is a special day. It is 9-9-09 and it is Lugene’s birthday. In the morning we both worked on our lessons. Then, about 10:30 we went to our Waiban’s office to get our pay. When we left our apartment we noticed that our neighbor had decorated our door with Happy Birthday. This made Lugene happy. Some of our children also called to wish her Happy Birthday. They pay us in cash, so we each got an envelope full of Chinese money. While we were at his office, Toby gave Lugene a big birthday cake. It was very big and pretty. It was a white sponge cake with whipped cream and chocolate frosting. I had my two writing classes in the afternoon, so I was gone for about 6 hours. When I got back we went with the Sorensons to Jenny’s Café for a birthday dinner for Lugene.

We are riding the bus more now because it is convenient and less expensive. I’m really proud of Lugene. She is becoming more and more adventurous. She crosses the scary, busy roads by herself, takes a taxi by herself, and I’m sure will soon take the bus by herself. We both feel very safe wherever we go (except when trying to cross a street).

Tuesday, September 8th

Today Lugene had her second oral English class. Only one student showed up. He is a lawyer who has been studying English for many years. She said the class was more a tutoring session than a class. She is going to check with her school contact to determine if there will be more students in the class.

Many of the buildings in Ji’nan are illuminated. At night the main streets look like Las Vegas. This evening was especially clear and nice. Lugene wanted me to take some pictures of the buildings. Someone had told us you could get onto the roof if you use the stairs. We decided we would go on the roof and take some pictures. When we went out onto the roof, we made sure the door didn’t close. We wanted to make sure we could get back down. The city was beautiful. It was a clear, warm night. We took some pictures and then walked around looking at the city. When we got ready to leave, we went back to the door and it was closed and locked. Lugene started saying, “Oh, shoot. Oh, shoot”. Anyway, we found we were at the wrong door. We finally found the right door and got down. We’re sure having a lot of fun (?) experiences.

Mount Tai Photos

Mount Tai

Saturday, September 6, 2009

Today, we met in the hotel lobby at 9:00 to start our trip to Tai’an for the Mount Taishan (Tai) Climbing Festival. This is an annual festival. Mount Taishan is the most holy of five holy mountains in China. The emperors from the old dynasties used to make sacrifices to the mountain. It is said that as long as Mount Taishan stands, so will China. [Mount Tai is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an, in Shandong Province, China. The tallest peak is Jade Emperor Peak, which is commonly reported as 1545 meters (5069 ft) tall. Mount Tai is one of the "Five Sacred Mountains". It is associated with sunrise, birth, and renewal, and is often regarded the foremost of the five. The temples on its slopes have been a destination for pilgrims for 3,000 years.]

The adult teachers rode in a van and the foreign students went by bus. This excursion was arranged by our Waiban, Toby, and is paid for by the school except for 100 Yan (about $14). It took about 2 hours to get to Tai’an. We went directly to the hotel. We were impressed with the hotel because the lobby was nice and clean. The rooms, however, weren’t as nice. I would say on a scale of 1-5, they were a two. One interesting thing about the room was a red plastic bucket in the corner that was half full of water. I didn’t know what it was for and suggested (humorously) to Lugene that maybe it was a chamber pot. After we had put away our things in the room we had lunch. It was a typical Chinese buffet lunch. It was quite good. We’re getting good with our chopsticks. In fact, I don’t even think about eating with a fork anymore. We found out during lunch that the bucket of water is our room’s fire extinguisher. I guess if you have a fire, you throw the water on it. So much for my idea of how it was to be used.

After lunch we did some site seeing of the city. We walked down one side street near the hotel that had a lot of little stores and street markets. It was very quaint and very interesting. We also went to a department store across from the hotel. It was very high end. It was nice, but very pricey. The prices were similar to what you would pay in the United States.

We ate dinner at the hotel and then had our free evening. Lugene and I were able to find a channel on the television that was playing the Godfather movie in English so we watched that until bedtime. The beds were extremely hard!!

Sunday, September 7, 2009

The next morning Lugene and I decided to go down to the lobby about ½ hour early for breakfast and wait for the others to arrive. We got in the elevator and went about half way down (we were on the 7th floor) and the elevator stopped and the door wouldn’t open. We didn’t know what to do, so we started pushing the alarm bell. After about 10 minutes we heard knocking on the other side of the door and some people talking in Chinese. We knocked back and said we didn’t speak Chinese. Of course, they didn’t speak English. The people left and we kept pushing the alarm bell. Lugene was getting a little excited at this point! Again some people started talking on the other side of the door. This time there were some men’s voices so we thought that maybe someone was trying to fix the elevator. After some time (and a few jerky drops of the elevator), we finally arrived at the 5th floor. We tried to open the door, but it still wouldn’t open. We assumed that whoever got us to 5th floor would now come and get us out. We waited but no one came. So, Brian, being as strong as he is, forced the doors open. Lugene said we had to walk the rest of the way to the lobby. We showed up about 5 minutes late for breakfast.

After breakfast we were each given a number to pin to our shirts (like runners in a marathon). We didn’t know until then that there was a race to the top of the mountain and we were part of the race. We walked to a plaza not far from the hotel where they were getting ready to start the climb to Mount Taishan. There were several thousand people there. Some were waiting to see the race start and some were race participants. Again, we were the only Americans there so we got lots of stares, “hellos”, etc. We were also interviewed again for the local television. We asked why we were visiting and what we thought of the city, the mountain, the people, etc. Lugene said getting all this attention could become addictive. The Chinese people really are nice and friendly.

Someone had the idea that we should be at the front of the racers. This was a mistake because we were packed like sardines and it was hot and humid. Also, we weren’t really going to race. We walked about a kilometer, took a bus to some cable cars, rode the cable cars most of the way up the mountain and then climbed about 1,000 steps to the summit. The last climb, however, was really hard. The real runners ran all the way from the plaza to the summit. There are granite steps that lead to the top. Just before you reach the top you go through a granite arch called the southern gate to heaven. We’ve always wanted to go to heaven, and now we have!

It was a fun day. We did a lot of walking and climbing, but it was worth it. After the climb, we had lunch and came home. We were given a medallion for having made it to the top of the mountain.

Lugene has to teach her first class tomorrow, so she is spending the rest of the evening getting ready for her classes.

China Slideshow #1

September 2nd - 4th

Today Brian woke up with a terrible cold. He was really frustrated because today he starts teaching two writing classes. He slept most of the morning and felt well enough to go to class. Fortunately, he had prepared his lessons earlier in the week. He made it through the classes fine. He really enjoyed teaching the classes. The students were very friendly and responsive. Both classes, however, commented that he had a cold. Oh, well.

While Brian was at school, Lugene took a taxi to WalMart. She did this all by herself. Brian was very impressed that she would do this. She just handed the taxi driver a card with WalMart’s address on it. When she had finished shopping, she found another cab and showed him a card with the hotel’s address on it. She made it back without any problems.

September 3, 2009

Today, Nick, one of the people who works in Toby’s office, took us to a giant electronics mall. It was a whole street of electronics stores. The store we went in was like a three-story warehouse. The Chinese rent space by the foot and have all these little stalls where they sell everything imaginable.

We bought a printer and a splitter so we can both use the Internet at the same time. Since all the instructions were in Chinese, it took me all afternoon to get everything to work. After many attempts, I finally got everything working. Our neighbor brought us some pot stickers for supper. They were really good.

September 4, 2009

Today Lugene met with her school contact. She will start teaching next Monday. She will have a class on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. She will also have one lecture per month. She and I both spent the day preparing for next week’s lessons.
In the evening we went out to dinner with the Sorensons.

September 1st

Today Lugene and I took a long walk through an area of town we haven’t been before. We found a lot of street vendors selling fruits and food to eat. They cook it right on the street. We also found a couple of satellite campuses of the Shandong Normal School. We then stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast.

In the late morning we went with the Sorensons to the New World Market. It is a large three story building with many vendors selling everything from toilets to food. We were looking for a topper for our hard mattress, but didn’t find one. Lugene did find a pan to use for cooking. After the market we went to a nearby Pizza Hut for lunch. It was very nice with a broader menu than in the U.S. After this we went to the Lotus Supermarket. It is similar to the RT Mart, but not so busy.

In the afternoon I worked some more on my lesson and got some information cards copies for the students. I now have a very bad cold. I hope I’m able to teach my lessons tomorrow. Lugene had a bad blister on her toe that she is trying to get healed. In the evening we watched the movie “Benjamin Button”. It has to be the slowest, longest, most boring movie ever made!

August 31st

Brian has been working on his lesson plan. He starts teaching on Wednesday. We caught the 9:00 bus and went to the West campus to find his classrooms. Fortunately, the building where he will teach is across the road from the bus stop. After we got back we went to the RT Mart and bought some groceries and household supplies. We also went to the Bank of China branch nearby to get some money out of their ATM. We found out it was broken.

After we got back to our apartment Brian went to find an ATM so we could withdraw some money. He first tried the ATM in the hotel but found out it won’t take Visa cards. The hotel then sent him with the bellman to another hotel. They said their ATM wouldn’t take Visas either. They then went to another hotel where Brian tried their ATM. It said he was using the wrong pass code. He tried it on another card and got the same response. After going back to the apartment, he and Lugene decided to trek to another Bank of China branch about 1 mile away. Eureka, their ATM worked and we were able to get some money. We will get paid the end of the second week in September. We need to pay 200 yuan for our trip this weekend. We also need to buy a printer for our computers.

Today is our 42nd wedding anniversary. We went to dinner at Jenny’s Café with the Sorensons. This café is near the RT Mart and specializes in American food. They have hamburgers, Italian food, Mexican food, steaks, etc. It was really good. They also have a small market where they sale American food. It’s pricey, but will come in handy. For example, a box of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal was $6.00.

Retired couples volunteer in China

Retired couples volunteer in China
By Scott Christofferson- Tue, 08/18/2009 - 21:04

Every year, the Kennedy Center for International Studies sends more than 70 senior citizens to China as English teaching volunteers.

Kirk and Midge Evans are the program facilitators of the China Teachers Program designed to recruit and train retired couples to teach English in Chinese universities.

“This isn’t a mission but it is a great opportunity for service,” Midge Evans said. “We spent a year and a half in China and we absolutely loved it.”

The Evans said they are excited for all of those who will begin their experience this year and hope that many other couples will take this opportunity to do so as well.

The 35-40 couples that are chosen for the 10-month program go through a four-part application: a resume, self health evaluation, insurance information and ecclesiastical endorsement.

Applications are due every January and after being selected they go through 100 hours of training at the beginning of August before they start the program at the end of August.

During training, volunteers are taught Chinese culture, language and religion, but most of the training is focused on teaching written and oral English. Once each couple arrives in China they are provided an apartment and a monthly stipend by the university to which they are assigned.

Brian and Lugene West of South Jordan were serving in the Salt Lake Inner City Mission when they decided to apply for the English teaching program. They said they want to continue serving in a different capacity.

“In 2006 we took a three-week tour of China which calmed a lot of our fears about moving there,” said Brian West. “It’s an opportunity to teach those that we learned to love and to help teach them what they love.”

The Wests said they are excited for the time they will spend in China and to show the people their love.

“We hope to be ambassadors of the U.S. and we hope that we can give them a positive perception of our country and people,” Lugene West said.

As the Wests and many other couples begin their experience, others are asked to prepare their applications by January to teach during the 2010-2011 school year. For more information contact the Kennedy Center at (801) 422-5321 or china_teachers@byu.edu.

We're alive... and up and running

Yesterday they finally got us connected to the Internet. They said it took so long because we are using Vista as our operating system. Most people here still use XP as their operating system.

We spent the first two days here cleaning the apartment. We also made multiple trips to the RT Mart (it's like a WalMart) for different things. You walk through the Shandong Normal University Campus to get there. It is about a mile away. We figured that on Friday I walked 8 miles and your mother walked 6 miles. I guess we'll get lots of exercise over here. We haven't really figured what and how to eat yet. We ate at McDonald's once, Kentucky Fried Chicken once, fixed Ramen noodles and peanutbutter sandwiches, and ate in the hotel restaurant twice.

Our apartment has a large living, kitchen, dining area, two bedrooms and two baths. The washing machine is in the middle of the bath off the master bedroom. The washer plays "Jingle Bells" when you lift the lid. Your mother had to wash everything in the apartment, so she has used it a lot. I'll send you some pictures of the apartment later.

On Friday we met with the contacts from our university departments. I will start teaching next week. I will have two Junior writing classes and two Freshman oral English classes. Your mother starts on September 7. She will have some other classes starting the end of September. We visited the building where she will teach. It is the top floor of the music building. I will visit my campus (about a 50 minute commute) Monday and check out my classrooms.

On Saturday, Toby, our waiban (our contact with the university) arranged for us to go to the opening exercises of a cultural exhibit in Ji'nan. It was very nice with lots of exhibits of local art. Since we were the only Americans there they treated us like celebrities. The interviewed us for television asking us what we were doing in China and what we like about Chinese art. They also had us stand with the dignitaries during the opening ceremonies. At the end they gave us some gifts. We got a black pottery vase and a fancy kite. Next spring our waiban is taking us to the International Kite Festival.

Next Saturday and Sunday our Waiban is taking us to the Mount Tai climbing festival. We will be there overnight. Mount Tai is the most holy mountain in China. The emperors used to make sacrifices to the mountain in order to maintain stability in the country.

Today is Sunday. They haven't organized our "group" yet, so I guess we will just read our scriptues for Church. We hope all is well at home. Email or call us and let us know how you are. We love all of you!!!

Friday, August 14, 2009

We spent most of today finishing our EFL classes. We also had our final Chinese class. Lugene and I both want to learn some basic Chinese, but it certainly seems hard. We at least know how to pronounce some of the letters and sounds. There is an on-line English/Chinese dictionary that will say the Chinese words for you. This will be very helpful in getting the pronunciations right. I think part of the reason they have given us Chinese lessons is so we will be more empathetic with our students who are trying to learn English.

In the afternoon we had a graduation ceremony and received a certificate for our 100 hours of training. We came home tired, but excited for the new experiences that await us!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Today, along with all of the other lessons, we had a presentation on security. They talked about the things we should do to be secure in China. Even though we need to be aware, China is a safe place to live. We also watched a move about Helen Snow. She was a Utahn who moved to China at the start of the Chinese revolution. While there she married Edward Snow. She and her husband were sympathetic to the Communists and were able to meet with many of the top Chinese officials, including Mao Zedong. Edward Snow wrote a novel about the communists called "Red Star Over China". This book was very popular in the West even though it was very biased toward the communists. Helen Snow also wrote about the communists, but her books were not as popular.

In the evening we saw another Chinese movie "Not One Less".

Wednesay, August 12, 2009

Another big day with classes until 3:00. We then divided into groups of 8 and presented individual lessons we had been working on. My lesson was on homonyms and homophones. The lesson included a worksheet exercise. Lugene's lesson was on new vocabulary words. She played a game where the participants were given three words and they then had to determine what was similar about the words.

In the evening they showed a Chinese move called "Together". Lugene and I did not stay for the movie. We came home early because I had not felt well all day.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Today was another big day. In the morning we separated into men and women groups and talked about gender specific issues. We had a Chinese culture lesson in the afternoon. We also met with former CTP teachers who shared with us some of their teaching experiences and lessons.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Today we had another marathon day at our CTP training. We had ESL, Chinese and classes on how to teach writing during the day. At 4:00 we had Pam Tang talk to us. She is a Chinese lady living in the U.S. She is not a member of the Church. She lived in China during the cultural revolution. She along with collaboration from many others has written a book about their experiences during this time. The book has been published in Chinese, but hasn't yet been published in English. She shared some of her experiences with us.

In the evening we had Family Home Evening. We had a Chinese lady talk with us. She used to teach English in China. Twenty years ago she met an American English teacher who was a member of the Church. Following a series of extraordinary events, she was converted to the Church. Her American English teacher friend was not able to talk about the Church with her, but she made a big impact on her because of her integrity.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Today we attended the Beijing China and Shanghai China International Districts combined conference. These are the two Church districts in China. The meeting was held at BYU. It was a very spiritual and informative meeting. President Steven L. Toronto, president of the Beijing district, spoke to us as well as Robert Lewis, president of the China International District branch. Those preparing to go to China as teachers sang a choir number, "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go." Lugene gave a very nice closing prayer.

Those of us who will be living in Ji'nan are part of the Beijing district. There are about 15 expatriate members of the Church in Ji'nan who meet on Sunday for their meetings under the direction of a yet to be designated group leader. As we understand it they meet in one of the apartments where we will be living. Quite often after the meeting, they move to one of the other apartments for a pot-luck luncheon.

The theme for the conference was taken from Alma 37:6-7. ". . . by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instance doth confound the wise. And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls." This scripture emphasizes the powerful influence we can have on the Chinese by being good examples. It was emphasized again that we cannot talk with them about the Church, but we can influence them by the way we live our lives.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Today we had survival Chinese, TEFL, Chinese religions, and Chinese political systems classes. President Toronto, president of the China district (our group in Ji'nan will be a "twig" associated with the district) also talked with us. He emphasized the need to obey the Chinese laws and not discuss religion. Our job is to teach English and be good representatives of BYU, the United States and our religion. President Toronto shared with us the following quote. “While, like all members of the expatriate Church in China, you are messengers without the message, you will have the opportunity to bless the lives of many in many unexpected ways.”

At the end of the day, the Kennedy Center brought in food and we all enjoyed a Chinese dinner together. After dinner we watched the movie "To Live". It is a Chinese movie that follows the life of a family during the rise of communism in China. It was very interesting.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

We started today with individual and group photos. We then had some more survival Chinese training, teaching English as a foreign language, more classes on how to teach writing and roundtables with some previous China teachers. In the roundtables they showed us how they taught and shared some of their teaching aids. I got some really good information on how to teach my writing class.

In the evening we had classes on using PowerPoint. We really learned a lot. Unfortunately, there may not be facilities to use PowerPoint on our campus. I guess we'll know for sure when we get there.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Today is the 3rd day of our training. Someone in the group said that if we can survive the training we should be able to survive China!

We started the day with computer information class (e.g., where to find teaching materials on the Internet). We were told that Facebook, Twitter and BlogSpot are currently blocked by the Chinese government. We will try to keep this blog current by emailing information to Stephanie to post for us. There was also some concern that Wikipedia is also blocked.

We had another survival Chinese class, another teaching English as a foreign language class, Chinese history class and a class how to teach writing. In the evening all of the China teachers attended a session in the Provo temple. It was another long, but very enjoyable day. We are getting more and more excited and more and more nervous every day.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Today is the second day of our training. We left home at 7:00 a.m. and got home after 10:00 p.m. It was a long day. Today we had a "survival" Chinese class, a class on teaching English as a second language, a class on Chinese history and a presentation from the BYU travel department. They are the ones who are arranging our travel. We found out that the formal invitation letters for us have finally arrived and the visa request has been made. They feel confident we will have our visas by next week. The plan is to leave for China on August 24 at 9:20 p.m.

During the day we met with Eric and Christine Sorenson. They will be living in the apartment next to ours and will be teaching at the same university. Lugene and Christine will teach on the campus where we will live and Eric and I will commute to the second campus (about a 50 minute commute) to teach. They are really nice people. We are lucky to have them as our co-teachers.

In the evening we met with the other teachers who will be in Ji'nan as well as some couples who have previously taught there. It was very interesting and informative. Jay and Dana Thelin, a couple who are returning for the second year were there as well as the Sorensons. Other couples teaching in Ji'nan are Mac and Marilyn Nelson and Richard and Paula Watkins. They are all nice individuals. It should be fun to live, work and play together.

China Teacher's Program Training

August 3, 2009

Today is the first day of our China Teacher's Program Training at BYU. We started at 7:30 a.m. (which meant we had to leave home at 6:30 a.m.) and ended at 8:00 p.m. (home by 9:00 p.m.) It was a long, tiring but very productive and enjoyable day.

There is a limit of 70 people who can participate in the program each year. This is a limit established by the General Authorities who supervise the program. Elder Oaks is the primary contact. This year about 1/3 of the participants are returning for a second (or third) year. It must be a good experience if this many return. In our training today, there is one single brother. The rest are couples. Most of the couples come from Utah with a few from California, Washington, Arizona, Wyoming, etc. One couple is from Canada.

Today we had classes on Chinese history and culture, learning to speak Chinese (we studied sounds and tones), how to prepare a lesson plan, basic medical concerns, etc. In the evening we had a Family Home Evening where we were able to get better acquainted with the participants. Everything was very positive. We are getting excited about our new experience.

Ji'nan, China

This is a good site for information about Ji'nan. This is the city where Lugene and Brian will be teaching.

http://www.chinajinan.com.cn/

The following site has a good video about Ji'nan.

http://www2.china-sd.com/Video/2006-11/6_239.html

Teaching Assignments

This week Lugene and I received some more information from Sun Quanzhi (Toby), Section Chief of the Office of International Exchange and Cooperation at Shandong Normal University. Toby (many of the Chinese have given themselves English/American names for interfacing with us English speakers), said Lugene would be teaching at the Foreign Language Training Center and Brian will teach at the English Department.

Shandong Normal University has two campuses about 50 minutes by bus from each other. The Foreign Language Training Center is on the campus where we will have our apartment, so Lugene will not have to travel to the other campus. As we understand it, she will be teaching English to government officials, not students. Her classroom is on the 7th floor of a university building that does not have elevators, so she will get lots of exercise.

Brian will have to ride the shuttle that goes back and forth between the campuses so he can teach at the English Department which is on the other campus. He will teach oral English and English writing to students. Many of the students are studying to be English teachers once they graduate. They will then teach English in primary and secondary schools in China.

CTP Get Acquainted Barbecue

On June 25, Lugene and I attended a China Teacher's Program "get acquainted" barbecue in Provo. All of the new teachers for 2009-2010 who could attend were there. There was one couple, the Thelins, who are going back for a second year and will also be teaching in Ji'nan, although at a different university than the one where we will teach. The Sorensons, who will be teaching with us at Shandong Normal University, were not there because they live in the state of Washington. They are also going back for a second year. We met many nice people. Most of them had concerns like we have. Mostly it is concern about the unknown. Brother and Sister Evans, the couple missionaries in charge of the program, reassured everyone that it would be a great experience. We are sure it will be.

Jeffrey Ringer, Director of the China Teachers Program and also Director of the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies, spoke also spoke to us. He talked about how important our assignment is to Brigham Young University, the Church and to the people we will be teaching in China. He talked about how important it is that we set a good example for everyone we meet.

Shandong Normal University

The following link gives some information about the Shandong Normal University where we will be teaching.

http://www.sie.sdnu.edu.cn/english/ReadNews.asp?NewsID=27

On March 6, we received an email from BYU. It started with the sentence, "You have been recommended by Brigham Young University's China Teachers Program to teach at Shandong Normal University in Jinan, China, for the academic year 2009-2010." The email went on to say that our application had been sent to the University for their review. It said we would most likely receive a response by the end of March.

We were really excited. We quickly looked up all the information we could find about the university, the city and provence where it is located. The city has about 6,000,000 people. The university has 29,000 full time students.

On March 7, we received an email from BYU saying we had been accepted by Shandong Normal University. Boy, was that fast. Now we are really excited. BYU told us to email the university and let them know that we would be coming. They also gave us the names of the couples currently teaching at the university so we could email them and get information on what we will be doing.

China Teachers Program Application

The first part of December 2008 Lugene and I sent our applications to Brigham Young University to participate in the China Teachers Program. The program is sponsored by the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies. BYU has established relationships with 19 Universities in China to provide them with English teachers. The teachers can teach grammar, conversation, writing, literature, etc.

Lugene and I had talked of doing this for sometime. I had always wanted to teach English as a second language and this seemed to be a good way to do it. We thought this would be a unique and exciting way to serve.

We were invited to interview with Brother and Sister Andrus, the couple in charge of the program, on Tuesday, January 6. The interview went well. They said our applications looked good and that we would probably be considered for the program. They said that final decisions on who would be recommended would not be made until March.