Let me drop everything I am doing and help you!

As we enter our fourth week here in China, the dust is settling and we are feeling more comfortable in our surroundings.  We are learning enough Mandarin to communicate with the Taxi drivers as well as get ourselves into trouble if we are talking to anyone else.  They hear the few words and phrases we know, and begin talking to us like we were old friends.  My favorite response now is... “Qing, man yidian, hao bu hao.  Wo bu dong.”  Which means...”Please, can you speak a little slower.  I don’t understand.”  Then they speak a little slower, and I still don’t understand.  Oh well. 

Let me explain now the title of this weeks post.  The other day I was in the bank opening an account.  No one in the bank spoke any english.  However, there was a young woman standing nearby who asked me in broken english if she could help.  She was a student teacher at the University where I teach.  She insisted on staying and helping me open my account.  One hour later we were finished.  

Two days ago I was walking a few blocks away from our apartment, looking for a swimming pool that I had heard was nearby.  I was interested in swimming laps there for exercise.  I asked a young man on the corner who was trying to get signatures if he knew where it was.  He looked at the address, then spoke to one of his coworkers, explaining that he was going to assist this helpless american find the pool (at least that is what I think he might have said), and then he motioned for me to follow him.  We walked about 4 blocks away and finally found the pool.  It took us about 15 minutes.  I thanked him, he smiled and took off back to his work.

Last week I asked a young man in one of my graduate classes if he knew where the pool was on campus.  He said he did and would be happy to come back at lunch and show me.  He arrived and we then proceeded to walk 20 minutes to the pool  (campus is huge!)  We were told I needed to get a physical and a certificate proving I was a teacher at the school, before they would let me swim.  I glanced inside.  It was a beautiful olympic pool with 6 lifeguards on duty.  There was one person in the pool.  As I came to understand what was required to get a swimming pass, I think I understand why the pool was empty.  This student spent 2 hours with me and was late for a graduate meeting.  He wouldn’t leave me until he was satisfied that I was ok.  

I have been amazed at how anxious and willing the chinese people are to help.  Like all cultures and peoples, there is a spectrum of kindness, but the goodness of the hearts of this people, has impressed my heart.  

Classes are going well, but they are large!  Rhonda wins the prize for having the largest class...69 students!  There is hardly space for them to fit in the room.  She is frustrated with the large classes, as I am, but she is making the best of it. 

Last week I asked my class to discuss what they thought the strongest emotion was and why.  Then I asked them if light and dark can co-exist?  Can love and hate co-exist?  We then read together Martin Luther King Jr’s quote, 

“Darkness can not push out darkness.  Only light can do that.  Hate cannot push out hate.  Only love can do that”, and asked them to discuss it.  

As I listened to their insights I was amazed at how deeply they felt and thought about these ideas.  It was wonderful.  Maybe it is because english is a new language to them, but their ideas, and manner of expressing themselves was so fresh, honest and profound, that I couldn’t help smiling throughout the class.  (I say that english is new to them, but most of them have been studying english for the last 12 years)

Tonight we went to dinner with some of the members of our local branch.  I sat next to the consulate general here in Chengdu.  He married a woman from Thailand and has lived in a variety of places.  Other expatriates I have met also have a very interesting and colorful history.  Some are with the US consulate, and others work for companies like Chevron, and are working on gas or oil projects in the region.  One is here as a golf pro!  (Former asst. coach at BYU) Anyway, Pete (the consulate general) was asked what were the strangest foods he has eaten during his years in the service.  Some of the highlights included:  Porcupine, boiled wasp nest (you eat the larvae inside), and fresh Cobra meet.  It made the spicy Sichuan food that I was eating, and which was making me sweat like crazy, taste better by the bite.  

Rhonda has made our humble little apartment feel more like a home.  It is looking quite nice, thanks to her creative design ideas.  

I am afraid China has not been so kind to my back.  I am having quite a bit of trouble.  We had to cancel our trip to Xian and a trip this weekend to a minority village in the mountains nearby, due to the pain in my back.  Classes have been a bit challenging as well.  I am hopeful that things will improve soon.  

Here are some more pictures:

Shahe river, which runs in front of one of the campuses.  We cross this bridge as we enter campus.

Library on Qingshuihe campus.  Largest in China

Main administrative building on Qingshuihe campus on a very rare day that we could see some blue sky!

Crossing the street in China is quite an experience.  Pedestrians are at the bottom of the ladder.  Not many people pay any attention to the street lights, so one has to be very careful.  Here you catch a glimpse of a typical crossing.  Pedestrians, bicycles, electric scooters (which are by far the most prevalent means of transportation, behind cars), autos and buses, all vying for position on the road.  The 3 wheeled vehicle you see in the image above is a motorized rickshaw.  Rhonda calls them a motorized tin box.  We have tried them a couple of times, and they are not kind to one's back!

Here you see more of the electric scooters.  They are everywhere!  They look like fun!

You can see how Rhonda has helped to make our humble apartment into a home!

Tonight we passed by the Chengdu Global Center.  It is the largest building in the world.  Wow.  It is hard to get the feel from these pictures how big this building actually is.  As you can see, there is a beach inside of the building.