Sallypep

"How hard could it be? I bike all the time in Amsterdam. Why didn't I think of this before?" were my thoughts this morning when I decided that my feet and, particularly my ankle, would appreciate a bit of a rest. So, intrepid (or stupid, some might say) soul that I am, I found a bike rental place (about 6 Euro for the day) and rented a Beijing bike. Beijing bikes (at least the one I had) are actually better than your normal, everyday Amsterdam bike. Handbrakes, nice bell, basket on the front and clamps on the back, and no rust. I started out at 10.00 with the goal of getting to Silk City, a 6-story market in the southeast of the city. I love maps, so I had carefully studied my Beijing map to ... read more

For those of you who enjoyed my menu item photo yesterday, I’ve got another for you. Scorpions to be grilled and eaten on a skewer. And no, I did NOT try them. I spoke with someone who had who said they were quite crunchy. I didn’t care to hear further details. More about this in the food section, to follow! The booking agent told me that we would leave at 8.00 sharp for the trip to the Ming Tombs and Great Wall. So, I set my alarm accordingly and had just stepped out of the shower when the phone rang. My tour guide. They would be here at 7.30 and I “should prepare myself.” Well, I “prepared myself ”as quickly as I could and, like the obedient person that I am (no snide comments, please!) ... read more

Saturday, April 21, 8.00 am: Well, perhaps it’s not that dramatic, but I did hate to say goodbye to Xue Feng (David, whose name I finally figured out to spell) and the other teachers and managers at QTC. I was given a grand sendoff. A beautiful little wooden bead bracelet with Buddha on it, a bottle opener from Tsingtao Bewery, and a beautiful Chinese fan with all the theatre character masks were given by individual teachers with whom I had worked. Ms. Huang, Dean of the Foreign Affairs Department, gave me an incredible book with pen and ink drawings of the beautiful German architectural wonders of Qingdao. And, as a group, they gave me a set of “Friendlies”. These are characters that have been created to celebrate the 2008 Olympics. Little stuffed animal/people the same ... read more

Today was my last lecture day. That gives me sort of a sad/happy feeling, as they have worked me to death, but I've enjoyed every minute and they've practically killed me with kindness. Tomorrow Shu Fong and I will tour around Qingdao. I haven't been to the city yet and am looking forward to it. We were to have a car take us, but apparently there is a big event and all the cars are taken . . . So we'll go by bus, ferry, and bus to the city! The day started bright and early. Once again Shu Fong picked me up at my apartment at 7.30 for the walk to the campus. After breakfast in the canteen, I lectured to about 20 teachers. The topic was business-to-business marketing. The room was quite nice ... read more

What a rewarding experience! I taught my afternoon class how to sing Row, Row, Row your boat in a round. They were great! How funny . . . I had been asked to lecture to this class at the last minute. I think that the scheduled afternoon discussion had to be scrapped for some reason so they pawned me off on poor David to take with him to his accounting class. He said, "Don't worry, just talk about your school." But, of course, after I found out who my audience was -- prospective accountants -- I talked with them about something I thought they might find interesting. . . how to market accounting services (about which I have a little knowledge). When I thought they had all of that they could handle, I turned the class ... read more

This morning's lecture was about change management. This is a challenging topic for Western students and I wasn't sure how it would go here, so I was a tiny bit apprehensive. After another good Chinese breakfast including black rice soup (I know it doesn't sound great but it's not bad), we headed off for the 8.30 class. When I entered the room, both yesterday and today, the students applauded wildly. Quite a change from the Western culture. I feel sure they only do that for visitors, but it's still a great way to start. Of course I applauded them back. Not sure if that's a culturally acceptable thing to do but it felt right to me. My translator is a young teacher from the tourism school and she was quite nervous. I can imagine how ... read more