Arriving in Jinan
We took the train to from Nanjing to Jinan. In the Nanjing station we saw this sight of two
bullet trains nose-to-nose; it would be fun to ride on one of these someday. Our
train to Jinan was a more ordinary train.
For our train ride to Jinan we were in two sleeping compartments. It was not
as good for seeing the scenery, but it had the advantage that we could move to
the upper level and take a nap. The ride was long, about eight hours, but
otherwise O.K. It also gave us a chance to discuss our plans for teaching in
Jinan with each other, as is happening in this photo.
In Jinan we were met by a group of five people from the Shandong Institute of
Education - wow! We were also pleasantly surprised to learn that each of
us would have a Chinese "helper" for the three weeks we would be there. The
helpers were volunteers who wanted to interact with us so they could improve
their English. Standing to my right is my helper, Roy, who just graduated from
high school. His English is very good and he is a very nice young man, and a lot
of fun to have around. Standing to Nancy's left is her helper, Tina, who is a
nursing student in Medical school. Our helpers are to help us with whatever we
need, whether it is related to teaching or personal needs such as shopping,
getting around Jinan, etc. In this photo we are on a shopping expedition.
Shopping in one of their "supermarkets". The amount of staff, shown here in
red, was surprising. It was very easy to find a worker to ask where something
was located. Being able to communicate with them was another matter; that is
where the helper really helped.
The interior of a MacDonalds in the mall where we did our shopping. It looked
pretty muck like an American MacDonalds, but larger and very full of
people, especially young people. I didn't look in detail, but the menu appeared
to be similar.
Our hotel in Jinan. It is on the campus of Shandong Institute. I was
expecting to be in a dormitory, so this was also a pleasant surprise. Each
couple has an air-conditioned room with a private bath (I was expecting to have
to walk down the hall to the toilet). The institute has also reserved a fourth
room for us to us as a meeting or workroom, which is very convenient. The
location is also very convenient; it is short block to where we will be teaching
and a couple of blocks to where we will be eating.
The presence of six westerners together on the campus arouses some interest
in the little children (it seems that a fair number of staff live on campus with
their families). This little boy was shy at first, but finally managed a wave.
Sometimes we hear a "Hello" or "How are you?" in English coming from a
surprisingly young child.
Wandering around campus early in the morning I found some Chinese getting their exercise with swords. They use them with graceful motions, sort of like Tai Chi.