What you bring back

Well, we're back.

I brought home scarves, pearls, key chain bottle openers, ideas for articles, memories of good times with friends, several nasty computer viruses and various species of spyware. I've been running multiple scans, and while my netbook was unaffected, there were over 4,000 corrupted files on my portable hard drive, and over 6,000 on my flash draft. I'd been connecting these to a university computer on which I had Internet access, and it was apparently infected.

All my data was very well backed before I left the US; otherwise I'd have lost years of work. Dennis Cope is helping me salvage my pictures. Maddeningly, I may have erased some pictures myself as I was reconstracting my data. Moral: Back your data! Work slowly! Quit when you're tired.

Money Changers

To change our yuan back to dollars, we had to visit the Bank of China. Taxi drivers refused to take us because we weren't specifying which branch. Joe remembered that the bank we had gone to was across the street from a duck restaurant we'd visited, and they'd given us their card(above). The man saves everything! Sometimes, this is a very useful trait. We showed the card to a driver and were delivered to the bank right away.

It was not difficult to exchange our Chinese yuan for dollars. Rates are uniform, and the fees are low-- much lower than in the US. We did not have as good an experience redeeming the unused portion of the Visa Travel Debit Card we had purchased through the automobile club. Such cards offer ATM access in the currency of any country to which one travels using the going exchange rate. We've used these cards every time we've gone to China, and there's been no problem cashing in the balance until now. This time, we'd found that the rules had changed, and all kinds of fees and penalties were imposed for withdrawal.

Our credit union helped us through the process. The bank officer informed us that any bank or credit union can set up an international debit card, thus avoiding VISA's unreasonable surcharges. Contact me if you want more information.

Below: The Duck Restaurant and The Bank

Floating lanterns

On our final evening in Weihai, I took a long walk on the beech. The weather was was clear but somewhat breezy, so the conditions were perfect for launching floating lanterns. The lanterns are made from oiled rice paper and work the same way as hot air balloons. A small candle is inserted into the lantern, after which it is launched on a current of air. Like flying a kite, this process involves considerable skill.

Beaches are perfect for launching floating lanterns because there's considerable space and good wind. Last night, there were several groups of young men working with these bright missiles. The lanterns can travel pretty high, and may appear as small yellow dots against the sky.

It's Different This Year

Traditionally, Chinese education has been a solemn, structured affair. Respect for teachers is high; student autonomy is low; and there's a big focus on memorization. Teachers lecture, and the students regurgitate what we say. But the kids are different now, and the system is changing.

Four years ago, I taught at the University of Shandong at Weihai. Apart from a few new buildings, the place looks the same. But there's a different feel to the place. The students are much more willing to question, to speak up. And they're being encouraged to be creative.

This was particularly apparent at the recent American and European Cultural festival where students were asked to create posters and skits representing Western Culture.





























Above: Poster from the exhibition; Joe and I receive a present from Santa Claus.
Below: Students dressed as Napoleon and Josephine; Young men in cowboy hats dancing while singing "Yankee Doodle."

Your Ancestry's Showing















Weihai, where I am teaching now, is located on a penisula in North China, across the Yellow Sea from Korea. It's got a nice beach, and a lot of Russians vacation here, which accounts for the bilingual signs (above).

Russians assume I am one of them, not American, and start speaking to me in their language. And actually, it isn't surprising-- all four of my grandparents were from Eastern Europe.

Ties that bind

We are now at the University of Shandong at Weihai. Teaching conditions are less favorable here than they are in Beijing, but relationships draw us. Likely, we'll spend more time here next summer than the single week we have this year.















We are particularly fond of the workers at the Weihai Church (see above), and Joe would like more time with them so he could help with their work. Their theology is far more rigid than mine, but these are very good people, folks who've let goods and kindred go so they could share their faith.

Retirement: The Calendar Decides

I am often asked why I'm still working, with the implication that I'm too old.Chinese men must retire at 60. For women, the age is 55. A person's last day of work is his or her birthday.

Manual laborers may be grateful to stop work and collect their government pensions. But for academics and other professionals, this isn't always the case.

A woman we know, a university librarian lapsed into deep depression after her forced retirement and had to be hospitalized. The pheonmenon, which is common here, is called Post-Retirement Syndrome, a term less often used in the U.S. where people have more control over when they retire.

China is over-populated; unemployment is high; and university graduates have trouble finding good jobs. Forcing the old to move on is an obvious, if brutal solution. It parallels the one child per couple policy and is just as detested..

In this society, one often sees senior citizens doing Tai Chi, playing Mah Jong in the parks, or dancing traditional dances. People may care for the grand kids while the adult children go off to work. But there is no well established structure for volunteering or otherwise sharing one's long experience with others, and people may feel redundant and become depressed.

On this Independence Day weekend, we may consider that the right to work as long as we wish is an aspect of Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Prayer requests

The Buddhist temple we visited yesterday with Professor Ma and his wife Xiao is a functioning worship community, not a museum. Such temples are for veneration of the Buddha; but in addition to shrines, there are gardens and walkways, so the area is more like a park than a house of worship.

Worshippers make prayer requests by wrapping red ribbons around a particular tree as this woman is doing (see below).

Water Sports















My current rock climbing skills in no way equal those of young Andy Ma, who served as our tour guide in Bai Springs Park in Jinan (above).
However, I was able to climb near enough the springs to immerse my hands in their waters, which are supposed to possess special powers.
At least the water was cool-- it was a very hot day.. Joe and I engaged (rather indecorously) in a brief water fight.

Chance Companions

The group that was marooned at the zebra and Christmas restaurant became really tight over the hours we were consigned there. None of them spoke English, so it was an occasion to practice my minimal Chinese. Despite the language barrier, we found it possible to communicate. We had such a good time together, that after supper, we all exchanged contact information.either by offering our business cards or by inserting phone numbers in our cell phones.

Passage of Time

We have a group of friends here in China whom we see only once a year but frequently instant message or email..When we get together, it makes me very aware of the passage of time.















In 2006, when I first arrived in Nanjing, Carl and Jenny's daughter Doreen had not been born (seen above with Carl); Bonnie's daughter Miranda was just finishing elementary school. Now, she has several years of high school under her belt and tells me she wants to study at ETSU. (Miranda is seen with her mother below). Sandy (pictured with me below) was not yet married in 2006. She too has a child now.





























Yesterday, our group had a reunion.at Carl Mather's favorite Pujabi restaurant on Lion Bridge Road in Nanjing. In 2006, we put together a teacher training program for the Nanjing Department of Education. It was very successful, and our group has remained close.

Lion Bridge Road is a "walking street" i.e., no cars are allowed. Joe and I have had very good times here, strolling around and poking into the shops. There are often interesting commercial displays, such as the one of the lion below, pictured with Joe.

Marooned among the plastic zebra.

Our 1:30 flight for Jinan was cancelled, and the one they rebooked us on doesn't take off 'til 11:00 this evening. Rather than make us wait at the airport, Shandong Airlines bussed us to an out of the way hotel where could lunch on beef bones with rice and tomatoes, pork nuggets, and egg drop soup. All this is free of charge and way more than American airlines do for their stranded passengers.















The place is clean, well-equipped, and weird. The lobby (pictured above) is done up with Christmas trees, red lanterns, and plastic elephants, There's a huge lily pond in the courtyard, stocked with obese gold fish and fake water fowl. (below) The crepe myrtle trees are well-tended, but the nearby pavillions are rusting out, though the plastic zebras it shelters do not appear to have suffered any ill effects.

Any Relation?

The Gann family, into which I am married, has organized an historical society celebrating the roots of people named Gann. They publish a quarterly newsletter and hold annual reunions. Hundreds of years ago, the family migrated from the Franco-German Palitinate. Most Ganns live in the American South and Southwest, and supposedly, we're all related to each other by blood or marriage. Some Ganns are obsessed with working out geneologies and will lend a hand to Ganns with similar interests. There's even a Gann family cook book.

Yesterday, we visited the Nanjing Museum of Folklore housed in an ancient mansion which, until modern times, belonged to a family named 甘, which in Chinese is pronounce Gan. Do you suppose...? Maybe some of these Gans would like to attend a reunion, or help revise the cook book which is heavy on fried chicken, cream pies and grits.

Photos taken at the Gan family mansion, AKA The Nanjing Museum of Folklore

Balanced bilingual

People acquire their native language without any problem. Additional languages involve effort, lots of it.. Unless, of course one is lucky like three year old Doreen Mather, AKA Ru Yi. Her Australian father speaks to her in English; her mother speaks to her in Chinese, and she is acquiring both. Didn't take her long to figure out that Joe and I were English speakers.

Carl actually speaks some Chinese, but he and Jenny mostly use English at home. Doreen is otherwise surrounded by Chinese. What an advantage to be a native speaker of two world languages!

Vegetarian Bear

I've spent a lot of my time in Beijing grading papers, but now and then we take time to do something fun. Yesterday, we went to the Beijing Zoo.

They're shifting from using cages to exhibiting animals in settings resembling their natural habitats. Of course we spent time in the panda exhibit. These beautiful black and white animals, native to Southwest China, are now an endangered species because their food supply is being destroyed as China develops. Pandas eat massive amounts of bamboo, and the forests are being cut down.

While pandas look much like bears, Chinese naturalists do not consider them as such, for they are completely vegetarian.

Close Quarters

On Sunday, our colleague Weifanchang and her husband Zhang invited us to their home for dinner. Joe was the guest of honor because it was Father's Day. The couple are newlyweds-- they waited to marry until Zhang had finished his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering. He works for a government institute. Weifanchang (AKA Wendy) teaches English at NCUT.

The couple live on campus as do most university faculty. There is little privacy, which is a way of life here. I don't mind living on campus a few weeks every summer when I come here. But as a steady diet, I'd detest it. Like most Americans, I am something of a privacy freak. I even disliked parsonage living, where there was much more privacy than is afforded faculty here.

Though they are highly qualified, are Wendy and Zhang are junior faculty and don't get much space. Their apartment is about eight feet by ten feet, with a tiny bathroom and kitchen in addition. The double bed takes up most of the space. There was hardly room on the fold away table for what Wendy had cooked. They must be in love-- otherwise they'd have killed each other by now.

Photos: Wendy and Zhang; a gracious feast on a tiny table

Slow Food

I'm sure you've encountered fast food. But this restaurant claims to serve slow food. Does this refer to leisurely dining or to the cuisine? Judging from the sign, snails figure prominently on the menu..

Practice and Competition

The Chinese organize many competitions. There are English competitions, math competitions, science competitions, teaching competitions, music competitions. I sometimes think they'd hold a sneezing competition if they could. A colleague told me this is a fairly new phenomenen, and it seems connected with the government's wish to foster constructive competition.

A number of teachers at NCUT like to perform Peking opera. We were invited to a rehearsal last week, and today was the competition between amateur music makers, opera singers and dancers who teach at various universities in Beijing. They were pretty good. As in the US, there are lots of people with moderate talent, few of whom make a living in the performing arts.

Peking opera uses the Asian music scale in which the fourth tone is raised a half step, so the music sounds odd, almost off key and it's rather screechy sounding, anyway. The female vocalist's offering was especially so. She reminded me of the emaciated off key soprano my grandmother hired to sing at my brother Kenny's Bar Mitzvah.

But the sets were beautiful, and the dancing was glorious. It's fun to watch people doing something for which they have passion.















Above: Rehearsal. Some of you will remember Mr. Guo, an NCUT English teacher, who attended the ETSU summer institute in 2007. Seated second from left, he plays a two string traditional instrument, the erhu.

Below: The performance

Bad influence

China's cell phone culture involves much more texting than that of the US. People seldom make phone calls-- they're much more expensive. This means that I'm in charge of communication, because I can text (sort of) on the old fashioned phone we have loaned. It's tricky-- it doesn't have a qwerty keyboard like my new one.

Joe got defensive about his non-texting this morning. "Dennis doesn't text!" he said, referring to Dennis Cope, the friend who is posting this blog. Gads! this man influences people. No wonder he was chosen to be a prefect in his London secondary school.

I tried to find a picture of the Chinese cell phone online, but those sites are blocked today. The gremlins are active.

Photo: Dennis Cope center. Joe is in the foreground, and Marie Dennis'
wife is in the far left.

Remembrance of things past

This is the sixth visit we've made to China, so at this point, we have something of a shared history with those we visit. Many have been to our home when they've come to the States.

Today, Professor Liu, presented me with a flash drive containing many pictures from last year's Summer Institute on English Pedagogy at ETSU. I had no official connection with that program last year, but the participants came to our home one evening, where we served them Joe's famous chili with cornbread. After dinner, we fixed popcorn and ice cream sundaes and in honor of Joe's home state, we watched "Oklahoma" on the plasma TV. Joe wore pointy-toed boots and a bull rider's hat for the occasion. Our guests were so taken with Joe's Southwestern get-up that they asked to take pictures wearing the bull rider's hat.

I'd almost forgotten what a special gathering it was. I'd taken no pictures that night-- keeping everything organized took lots of effort.















Above: Institute Participants, 2009 gather around our table.

Below: Himself in the bull rider's hat; One of our many beautiful Chinese guests borrows it; not to be outdone, yours truly models it.

Hail, hail, the gang's all here!














Dr. Rhona Hurwitz has arrived along with the rest of Dr. Chen's and Dr. Anciewicz' group. A few nights ago, we went out to eat with Rhona and two graduates of our Masters program-- Li Songshu and Tang Yingjuan. The waitress obligingly took a picture for us, but it came out a bit out of focus.