Silk Road

On the 28 September we left Nanjing on a six hour flight to Urumqi. (See the circled number 1 up toward the top left of the map.) There was one stop along the way. The good thing about China airlines is that they haven't learned the cost-cutting technique of not serving meals. We were served two meals on that flight. Someone said the distance from Nanjing to Urumqi is the same distance as that between Los Angeles and New York. I don't know if that is correct, but it is a long way. We were met in Urumqi by our guide, Yu Wu or Marvin as we called him, and a local guide and taken to our hotel (the Xinjiang Ramada Hotel).

The places we visited over the week are marked with circled numbers on the map.

On the 29th we got on a bus and went to the Heavenly Mountain Resort, an hour or so distance from Urumqi. We took a boat ride on Heavenly Lake.

check out the meat on the pole in the center

Many minorities live in the Urumqi area. About half the people are Muslims and there are also Russians. The signs are written in Chinese, Russian and Arabic. The Muslims are called Ughurs.

After our lunch we went to the Er Dao Qiao Market where we could have bought many Ughur crafts and arts. The was much jade jewellery. Many of the little shops had piles of raisins of every sort and some other kinds of dried fruit. Some of our group ran into the pick pockets there.

More to come!

Things are looking up!

This afternoon I made it to my class and back to the bus without getting lost or wandering around. I also didn't spend all the time on the bus wondering whether I was on the correct bus or whether I was going to end up some strange place and not know what to do.

You may ask why I was teaching classes on Saturday. Next Wednesday is National Day and so the University has a whole week without classes. However, there is a catch. Monday and Tuesday aren't part of the National Holiday so all the Monday and Tuesday classes got switched to the Saturday and Sunday before. Therefore I had two classes today. Following is a picture of the flowers planted at one of the University gates because of the National Holiday.

Last night Bob arranged a birthday party for me. Three other couples went with us out to a French restaurant called "Les 5 Sens" for supper. The food was very good and they even had salt and pepper and napkins on the table.

The University Administration Building

Convocation Hall

The original classroom at the University of Nanjing

This building contains the offices for the Faculty of Law

The building where Bob's office is located is now posted on his one entry on this blog.

Tomorrow we will be leaving for our "Silk Road Trip" so we will be away from our computers for a week. We may find an internet cafe somewhere along the way - who knows!

Dr. Pepper in Nanjing

Bob walked over to a store that carries foreign goods and found some Dr. Pepper and some American chocolate bars. Ummmm

It has cooled down!

Last night was the first night we have had the windows open and a cool breeze blowing through the apartment. Yesterday we only had the air conditioner on for a few hours in the afternoon. We have had quite a bit of rain - mostly during the night. Two nights ago we had thunder and it was loud, loud loud.

We now have our work visa and are legal in the country until July 30. We just heard today that one couple in our group got to Beijing and was sent right back to the US. They had to go through the visa process all over again and just got back to the PRC this week. I am not sure if I understand the problem, but it might have been that they didn't have a marriage certificate with them.

This week I got the rest of my teaching assignment. I have six two hour classes per week: History and Culture of the British Isles, one class of "Oral English" and four classes of "Listening and Speaking". I am not sure that I understand the distinction between the last two.

National Day Reception

Wednesday evening all foreigners in the city were invited to a reception to celebrate the 59th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The university took a bus load of us out to the Friendship Hotel for the reception and it was a posh affair. I even liked the food. Did you know it is possible to eat jello with chopsticks?

The decorations were amazing. There were ice statues in the shape of birds and melons made to look like birds. Notice the pointsettas all along the stage.

I see my mother in the above picture.

These were three of the waitresses in their fancy uniforms.

Trial by Taxi

Last Tuesday evening Connie and I took a taxi out to meet with a group of ladies. The taxi driver spoke no English and we spoke no Chinese. We did have a map and the taxi got us as far as a hotel 2 blocks away from where we were going and the doorman at the hotel explained to him where we wanted to go. The driver was in and out of lanes, came up quickly behind other vehicles and jambed on the brakes and stopped inches away. I wonder how many accidents there are in Nanjing.

What about that myth about clothes hung out to dry on the line - they smell good? I had forgotten how wrinkly the clothes get when they are hung out to dry. I have even taken to ironing the sheets off the bed. Has anyone else ironed a fitted sheet?

This week in Nanjing

The roof in the picture is quite fascinating. It is made from logs which are bent upward towards the bottom. It can bee seen from our bedroom window and is the conference center and maybe a hotel for the University of Nanjing.

Pedestrians do not have the right of way in China. Bicycles, scooters, cars and buses have the right of way. The bigger the vehicle the more of the right of way it has. Buses just nose out in the middle of traffic and go. I've seen pictures of people standing on the line down the middle of a city street and today I experienced this. People cross wherever on the streets. It is a scary feeling.

We went to the police station today to get our work permit so we can stay in China. Our visas expire at the end of the month. They kept our passports and will get them back to us in about 5 days. We hope we get them back in time to go on our Silk Road Vacation on the 28th. Our friends had to go to the US consulate in Shanghai today because her passport didn't have an empty page for her visa and they wouldn't give her a work permit. They took the train to Shanghai. It took two hours but the consulate put more pages in her passport and they got back with no problem.

We got paid. The university opened a bank account for us and deposited our pay into it. I went to the bank machine to withdraw some money and the bank machine I tried to use was broken and it took my card and I couldn't get it out. A kind young man who could speak some English went and knocked on a door and got me some help and eventually I got my card back and was able to use it in a machine that was working. Luckily there is a button labeled English, so I had no problem figuring it out.