Warming up, slowing down and hoping for replacement teachers!

This is been quite an unusual week.  We weren't traveling anywhere!!  We did have a notice posted on our apartment complex that the water could be off for almost two days, so we filled some buckets, etc.  Fortunately, that did not happen.  We just spent our time planning lessons and taking care of odds and ends.  We have noticed that our students are now thinking more about the summer break than on their studies.  We decided to "up the ante" and announced that we will have an idiom quiz this Monday and Tuesday for our oral students.  We will see if it jarred them from the "spring fever".

 

The weather has been generally warmer and spring like with highs around 80.  We did have an Oregon rainstorm this weekend and got caught outside without umbrellas.  Drainage is an issue so in addition to getting soaked, our shoes found all the puddles!  Jinan has been quite dry so we hope the rain washes away some of the dust and provides some clean unpolluted air!  We have not had any health issues, but for some, with sensitive lungs, it can

be a problem.

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We pause in our blog for a public service announcement!!

 



Do you want a once in a lifetime experience in China?

There was a couple from the BYU program who was to replace us here at SDU this fall.  They are no longer able to come and we understand that other couples have had to drop out that were originally coming to China in September. SDU, as well as the BYU China Teachers Program, are encouraging us to invite our friends to consider coming to China to teach English.  Since the government imposed a 65 year age limit a few years ago, it is more difficult to recruit couples since they are often not retired and cannot leave their employment.  (Actually, generally one spouse just has to be 65 or under.)  There are other oversees programs that sponsor native English speakers, but here are the basics from BYU CTP...and you can look up further information.  If you know someone who might be interested, please refer them directly to BYU.  BYU does provide two weeks of training the first part of August before you go to China and you do not need to know the Mandarin language or have professional teaching experience.

....one spouse 65 or younger

....good health

....no dependents who would need to live with you

....both spouses have a bachelors or advanced college degree

....available for essentially a year from August- mid July 

....free from heavy financial burdens (there is a modest living stipend paid by the university)

....flexible and patient (yes, that is needed)

....willing to accept placement for any China university that is BYU affiliated

....active LDS member

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One thing that we did not include in our last post was a performance we were invited to attend just prior to our trip to Hangzhou and Suzhou.  Nancy's class invited us, but Stan had two students who were in the performance.  (Didn't know it until we arrived).  It was interesting because it was a French play, Moliere's Tartuffe, acted by Chinese students, in English!!  We were not familiar with the story and the acoustics were a challenge, making it nearly impossible for us to hear even with a front row seat.  It is sometimes hard to understand these students in regular conversation, but on a stage and with other sounds, etc.,  it was difficult to stay focused.  Afterward, they requested that Nancy say something to those in attendance.  What do you say when you know nothing about the play and heard very little of the production?  She did a nice job "lying."

 

 This is one of the scenes with most of the major players on the stage.

 This picture is with Anny, (Left) and Gabby (Right), both Stan's students.

 This picture is with Kelly, one of Stan's freshman students.  Her school advisor told us that Kelly is one of the top 10 most talented students at the university.

Some of these are Nancy's students.  They were more involved with the "behind the scenes" aspects of the production, including the director. She is Carolyn, the girl seated on the steps behind the guy with the white shirt.

One interesting thing we did this week was to go out to lunch with June and her boyfriend, Arthur.  You might remember that June is our young adult Law School instructor who acts as the go-between for the two girls we tutor.  She has been to dinner at our apartment before and has confided in us about dating and relationships, etc.  Her father died when she was a little girl and her mother lives a good distance away.  Perhaps she sees us surrogate parents.  She has been dating Arthur for about 4 months and recently was introduced to his parents and grandparents.  She felt the meeting went well and felt Arthur had a "warm family".  She even had the thought that she might again be able to call someone, "Daddy".  Since Arthur is 31 years old and June is 29, their approach to dating is more 'businesslike" than some of the young couples we see on campus.  It took June a few weeks for her to agree to be Arthur's girlfriend.  (Remember she has a PHD and he has a BA which sometimes can be a huge obstacle in Chinese culture - money is very important.  Our tour guide said mother-in-laws are concerned that you have 4 C's before marriage:  career, condo, car and cash/credit card!) Arthur is a Christian, which is very important to June.  Previously she had a non-Christian boyfriend, but she was concerned about handling their differences in family values.  Arthur and June enjoy cooking and hiking together and have done some traveling for short distances.  We will see what the future brings for this relationship. 

We ate at a Cantonese restaurant called 56 which is about ten minutes walking distance from our apartment.  It has a nice atmosphere and we enjoyed the food....bamboo shoots; sweet and sour with pineapple, dragon fruit and grape tomatoes; fried rice with sausage and pork; translucent dumplings and a vegetable with celery.  There was even dessert - a pastry filled with Durian fruit (shown below), which smells awful but is quite

 

tasty!  There are 3 pieces of that fruit dessert on the platter between Stan and June.

 

We thought we would share and email and photo from one of Stan's students, who is a junior Oral English Translation Major.  We did not change any of her wording and will let you interpret the information.

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Dear Mr. Pace, I want to share these photos with you.
This is the sixteenth session of the Communist Youth League in Shandong University.  The congress held only every five years, is a sensitive,very important period for the university.  There are 400 elected students, professors altogether as representatives on behalf of 40000 people in this university. And it's my first time to take part in this kind formal congress related to election, feeling somehow appalled by its imposing atmosphere.

Sincerely,
Hermione