We attended several dinners during Christmas week. On Saturday, the 21st we attended a dinner for all the foreign teachers on our campus. It was a traditional Chinese dinner served at a very nice restaurant not far from our apartment. On Christmas day, about 15 foreign teachers from all campuses, met for a Christmas dinner. We enjoyed some traditional holiday dishes, sang Christmas carols and had a "White Elephant" gift exchange. It was enjoyable.
On Christmas Eve, we were invited to attend a Christian service and sing at a downtown church. Apparently the BYU teachers had done this in the past. We, again, didn't know what to expect but we dutifully arrived and were seated as "special guests." The church is a very large building and was at capacity. We were seated on the third row just behind a large contingent of men who seemed to know each other well. We learned later that they were local Communist Party officials. They stayed for one number and left. I guess they weren't worried too much about what we were doing.
The program featured a variety of choir numbers, individual instrumentalists and group dances. We felt we were a bit out of place, but we sang two Christmas songs with guitar accompaniment. We got everyone "rocking" with our upbeat version of Joy to the World.
This is not us! This is the Chinese Church choir!
We were fourth on the program and listed as "Foreign Friends" Notice Nancy up there singing????
Notice that the cross is red. Red is a significant color in China. It is a "lucky" color. You will also note that the mural behind depicts the birth of the Savior. All of the characters have an Asian look.
Speaking of red, at Christmas time you will see people selling these Christmas apples. Apparently they use stencil of some kind, attach it to the apple while it is developing and you get an apple with a unique design.
As we walked from the bus following the Chinese church service, we passed the local Catholic Church near our apartment. The congregation was just leaving the church following their Christmas Eve worship and there were many people in the streets and street vendors selling varieties of food and "souvenirs".
Friday night was another unique experience. We told you about several businessmen who have been attending our classes all semester. They have been wonderful and we have enjoyed having lunch with them and they have been to our apartment for dinner. One of them, Jacky, asked Stan if he was interested in basketball. Since he said yes he offered to take him to a CBA (China Basketball Association) game this weekend. He had mentioned that a colleague was going to be there, so we thought it was a "guys night out" situation. When Jacky and I arrived at the sports complex, it became clear that his colleague was a woman and that they had counted on having Nancy there. They asked Stan to call and see if she couldn't get a taxi and make it to dinner and the game. Stan was a little hesitant about asking Nancy to do such a thing because the taxi drivers do not speak English and it was a Friday evening at 5 p.m. Nancy "bit her lip" and said she would at least give it a try. A taxi actually stopped for her and she was able to call Stan who handed off the phone to our hosts and they directed the taxi driver. About 30 minutes later she arrived and everything was great. Jacky's colleague was a business teacher at Shandong University but she teaches at another campus. She had completed her PHD at Nottingham University in England, so her English was excellent. She is a very nice single lady that was so kind to us. She had never been to a basketball game before so we were able to instruct her on the finer points of basketball rules and how to scream "defense" in Chinese.
Nancy and our hosts, Jing Wang and Jacky
Go CBA!!!
On our way to the Church Christmas Eve, Stan snapped this picture through the window on the bus. It is blurry but it was such an impressive tree, we couldn't believe it. It is on the square at Wanda Plaza.
Christmas day was quiet and low key. We enjoyed listening to music and had a nice breakfast. We opened our gifts and skyped Ryan and Tyler. It was still Christmas Eve for them.
Our Christmas tree and gifts
5-Star Breakfast
Our 2013 Christmas portrait
Nancy's gift - Jogging shoes. She gets them every year. She was also given a very nice "Cat Watch" by our friends the Clarkes. It works well and only cost $3 US. What a deal!
Stan got a sweater just in time for our trip to the north and subzero temperatures.
On Saturday, we jumped on the bus and headed west to the Clarkes, another BYU couple. Nancy was looking for a new sweater and we knew of a very large market in that vicinity. She did find a great-looking sweater for $10 US and Stan bought two large packages of caramel peanuts. They are so good.
This is one of the very busy markets near the Clarke's.
You may not be able make out what are in these orange containers. They are small living scorpions. They eat these little critters after they have grown up and put on some weight. We don't think we will ever get to the point of trying them.
This is the peanut stand. Love those peanuts!!
On Saturday night we were invited to another "party" put on by the students attending Shandong University. This time it was a group of Chemistry students and featured mostly boys. They tried their hand at acting, singing and dancing. It was torture! They asked David Cox, Zina his wife and Stan to sing. We did and at first thought that it wasn't that great because we hadn't had the time to really practice. Then, after things started going it was clear, at least, that we sang on pitch. It was difficult to sit through nearly 2 hours of howling.
Zina Cox, David Cox and Stan at Shandong University Central Campus with Chemistry students.
Zina Cox, who teaches on Central Campus, has a textbook for her oral classes. (We don't!!) For a lesson on food, she made a taste of banana bread for all her 300 students. It was a hit and soon she was asked to demonstrate her skills on a Chinese cooking show, which is apparently quite popular in Jinan. She had to bring most of her cooking equipment and dishes were washed at the studio as she needed them. She made banana cream pie and the show was aired on Christmas Day. The Coxs made a television commercial for a trucking company during the first month in Jinan and another BYU teacher, Steve Schauerhammer, was the voiceover for a ball bearing commercial. Americans are quite the celebrities!!
The Chinese tv anchor in red, David and Zina Cox with the finished product and the Chinese TV cooking host.
Stan and our tutoring students, Sunny (in the back) and Lisa (in the front), dancing and singing to a video. We have found that the girls enjoy singing and there are many electronic sources to help with English pronunciation.
No comments:
Post a Comment