China Trip

The Great Wall

2009-05-14T06:56:00.000-07:00

It lives up to its name. Yes, it isn't called the "Pretty good wall of China" or "Our wall is bigger than yours" or "Look what we did". It lives up to its name in every way. Here is my video from the wall. My favorite part of the climb was when I called my family from the Great Wall. I sure wish they were with me.

Tiananmen Square

2009-05-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

A 14 hour train ride from Shanghai to Bejieng. But I slept for 11 hours so really it was only a 3 hour train ride. We arrived in Bejieng and made our way to Tiananmen Square. It really doesn't grab you to be honest until you recognize the history of the Square. Mao's tomb is very impresssive.

While at the Square we met some Iowians - I"m a dork, I took their picuture.

Graduation Day . . . . (kind of). . .

2009-05-11T02:42:00.000-07:00

The students (and myself) were given a certificate of completion for our Chinese language and culture classes. Although none of us feels like experts, we can now say “hello”, “thanks”, “my name is Tim”, “I am an American” and many other phrases that are sure to impress the Chinese. The amazing thing to me is that we just finished playing basketball with some Chinese and they said (in English) “we are sorry our English is not very good”. I have been stunned at how much English they know compared to how little Chinese we know.

Pictured is the certificates we recievd and the class with their teacher.

Here come the Power Rangers . . . .

2009-05-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

Every Saturday morning Nathan, my son, my son, gets up and watches the Power Rangers. China has its equivelent - not sure what its called but you see the Chinese version in this advertisement alongside the highway.

Basketball - Call me Jack Sikma

2009-05-10T17:49:00.000-07:00

Most evenings the students played Basketball with the Chinese students. The Chinese students are really into basketball. The larger court had over 30 individual courts. Our students won most of the games, they did loose a few though.

I have never felt so big! I had a number of students who would look at me and say "big". After each game, Jarrett Williams would put on a "show".

West Lake . . . .

2009-05-10T17:42:00.000-07:00

West Lake is arguably the center of Hangzhou. It attracts people from all around the area, many come from Shanghai. The lake has a walk around it and 0pportunities to take boats around the lake.

McDonalds in China . . . .

2009-05-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

Thomas Freedman pointed to the fact that McDonalds are everywhere and could, with their universal presence be able to replace the dollar as the standard for exchange (it levels out purchasing power parity - for you economists). I personally thought that McDonalds has the universal menu. The hamburgers don't taste exactly the same, something about the Iowa grease, but there are pretty close.

Day 6, most students had to take a break from Chinese food and found themselves in "Sweet home McDonalds, Lord I'm coming home to you . . . . "

Chinese road signs . . . . . .

2009-05-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a Chinese road sign. A few of them you can figure out, but the top one the students were suggesting meant "No Bugling". Which is really a shame since most of us brought our bugles and really wanted to go along this highway and bugle.
The third sign down means you cannot wear the color "blue" in China, at least that's my guess. Or maybe you can wear blue while driving on this road.

"Everybody was Kung Fu fighting, those guys were fast as . . "

2009-05-10T02:14:00.000-07:00

Every Chinese University student must take one course on Kung Fu. Our instructor was showing us his abilities, and we were showing him what 12 months of chips and T.V. will do.

Off to get groceries . . .

2009-05-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

So whenever I walk to the grocery store I have to go over a bridge. The walk is about a mile and the it is lined with housing. 6 million people live in Hangzhou, not many by Chinese stadards. But if you look at the video you can see, they are packed in!

Chinese Opera . . . . .

2009-05-09T22:14:00.000-07:00

Cheaper in China. . . .

2009-05-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

Jarrett and I walked into the Nike store to see if they had his size shoe (13). They only go up to size 10 and that's it! But, check the prices. This was very standard throughout all of Hangzhou.

So, if the exchange rate is 1(U.S.) = 6.7 (R.M.B.) what is the cost of these shoes in American dollars?

Answer = shop at home.

French, but no Chinese classes . . .

2009-05-09T21:58:00.001-07:00

Eric ready to order coffee in France.

The only Black man in China . . .

2009-05-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

Jarrett Williams was very much a celebrity. Some thought he was an NBA star, some had never seen a black man in their whole life. But poor Jarrett, every 20 seconds he was having his picture taken with someone. Lucky he is so good natured!

Can you pick the Americans?

2009-05-09T21:20:00.000-07:00

Pictured here are our Wartburg students and the students who acted as host families for a day. The Chinese studetns took two/three students home with them as well as touring to see some of the sites. All our students reported back that they were treated like Kings and Queens when they went with their host families. The Chinese are known for their hospitality. After four days being here (both this time and the last) I had to stop parade the of meals, too much food.

Very fresh chicken . . .

2009-05-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

This market is right accross from the uviversity hotel we are staying in. So, you want some chicken? Go up to the window, pick out your chicken (it's in the cage (alive) with the others). The guy pulls it out, snips the neck, drops it in a bucket and when it stops moving, puts it into boiling water to remove the feathers -presto, chicken. You can also do the same with fish, turtles, ducks and eels. Now that's what I call fresh food. The guy in the pink/salmon shirt would always say "hello" whenever I stopped by (that's all the english he knew).

Books in China . . .

2009-05-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

China has books!

We saw and visited a number of books stores. Some of the Chinese versions of books were not exactly the same as the U.S. but you would be surprised at how many titles there are. I bought "Anne of Green Gables" in Chinese/English as well as "Call of the Wild". I also bought (14.00 American) "Band of Brothers" and watched it in my room in the evenings (while the students did what students do). The big bookstore in Hangzhou was three stories and riveled the biggest Barnes and Noble in the U.S. The coffee was horrible though.

MR. Yao, Dean of the Int School . . .

2009-05-09T20:17:00.001-07:00

Me and the Dean of the International School - Mr. Yao

Welcome to Wartburg . . . . .

2009-05-09T20:13:00.000-07:00

Geting settled in and meeting our host. Here students are welcomed with gifts and given an offical welcome from Dean Yao.

Home Sweet Home . . .

2009-05-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

The 14 hour flight over was as long as I remember. But, it is still rather remarkable that you can wake up in Iowa and be on the other side of the earth by night fall. I have to admit, and I'm not happy to say it, but I complained about the long flight. I have to remember that 50 years ago, the flight would have seemed like a miricle.