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.