Tianjin City again

Spent most of today in Tianjin with our friend Shirly. Went to the Monastery of Deep Compassion (Buddhist) which is another great contrast -- a place of quiet contemplation in the heart of a bustling city.

Alison took the opportunity to do some shopping too!

We went to the theatre museum in the afternoon -- Shirly somehow managed to arrange a private performance for us! Wonderful.

Tomorrow is National Day -- a big public holiday that seems to last most of the week. There are flags everywhere!

Lonely Planet Guide?

We decided to walk from the University to 'Ancient Culture Street' -- the Lonerly Planet Guide said it was about 2 miles. It wasn't - it was 4. Add to this the inaccuracy of the map and I don't think we'll be buying one of their guides again.

We spent some time in the Tianhou Temple (Tianhou is Goddess of the sea) and threw coins at the drum for good luck.

Our 'hotel' has had no hot water for 2 days now, which is becoming a bit unfunny, but maybe it'll be sorted today?

The weather is still getting cooler and the forecast says rain for tomorrow....

Can't see my Blog again!

I can only see the blog site in Chinese again!

We went to the Shi family courtyard on Thursday, to the West of Tianjin. A fabulous series of linked courtyard dwellings dating from the late 19th Century. An interesting example of how wealthy Chinese families lived at that time.

Also met a charming 80-year-old man (on his bike, of course) who told me that I was far too young to be a University professor! All in all an interesting day, concluded with an invitation to dinner from Feibei (one of the Nankai group that visited Birmingham) at a very plush restaurant!

Sunday Morning

It's a bright, clear day here at Nankai, the sun is shining, the fountains are playing on the lake (while suitable music is played from the surrounding speakers). Students are walking around hand in hand. Overall, it's a pretty nice place to be today.

The picture is of the sundial outside the Administration building (probably the best located place on campus) -- of course, the markings are in Chinese, so reading it is a bit of a problem!

I think I'm going to spend most of the day writing and I've been invited out to dinner tonight by student/friends.

My chopsticks technique is still improving (plenty of room for that, of course), and I'm learning a bit more about 'proper conduct' when eating.

Up early (very) tomorrow morning to collect Ali from Beijing airport!

Mid Autumn Festival

The mid-autumn festival is coming. I think that this is also called the 'Moon Festival' -- China has such romantic traditions!

The weather here has been lovely today, bright sunshine and quite hot (though I did see someone wearing a winter coat)!

I've been here nearly 2 weeks now and the campus of Nankai University is starting to feel like home, I don't have to think about where I'm going any more.

Skype's been really useful while I've been here - and the video with Tula and Baz in New Zealand is better than from UK. It's really nice to be able to see who you're talking to.

Summing-up the Week

Just in case you think being in China is just a holiday, here's some evidence that I've worked hard this week. The English language ability of the students is amazing -- a little support is needed from the lecturer, but most of the time it's fine. Most of my lectures have started at 08:00 -- which would result in some pretty low attendances at Birmingham, I think!

Most of the social life is centred around food -- I was taken to something very like the Eden Project which turned out to be a restaurant for a banquet with other European lecturers. Fascinating!

Eating in a different alphabet

Spotted this lovely tree lurking on the campus next to the Philosophy building (I think).

It's cooler today and it was raining earlier. Another interesting meal last night -- a restaurant that we found by chance that was full of quite wealthy people and served some decent food. One of the dishes seemed to be stewed duck bones!

Students are very keen to work and I've had tutorials with a number of them. Continually impressed by their English skills.

It's not all fun ...

But there is some fun too - this picture shows me proving that I can't walk past a guitar (even in a street market) without at least trying to play it!

Shirly has borrowed a guitar from one of her friends and lent it to me, so now I can annoy my neighbours. Life's good!

I'm doing more teaching this week in China that I'd usually do in a fortnight at home - it's actually quite nice to have some fixed points in my life!

Some more interesting food last night at a Korean(!) restaurant where huge bowls of glowing charcoal are placed on the table for you to cook your own food.

Tianjin

Spent most of Saturday in Tianjin City. A huge place by my standards with scary traffic. Saw the museum and many objects recovered from a Buddhist temple. The picture is of the museum building - a truly amazing structure.

Lunch was at the 1928 restaurant -- stepping back in time and being entertained by traditional singers. Much of the afternoon spent in street markets (where I'm sure I embarassed my friends by playing every guitar I could get near), a theatre museum and then found a 'street cafe' for a beer in the evening. All in all, a splendid day!

Change in the weather

It's rained a little today, but still hot. The smog's a bit lower than it was, but people are still fishing in the river that runs at the back of where I'm living. You should look on Google Earth to see it -- it's a bit like a moat around the University.

So my plans to explore a bit today have changed and I'm working on the book instead. It's nearly 11:30 now, so time to go to lunch (eating times are early here) and make people laugh with my chopstick skills again!

Skype works here so I can contact home fairly easily when the networks OK and one of my colleagues from Birmingham is arriving today (I think).

Tonight's the formal welcome dinner for me -- I'll let you know how I get on.

First Lecture

This morning I gave my first lecture to a group of undergraduates in the Sun Fan Building. It was a very well-equipped room and it was good to meet the Lecturer (Sarah) who was very helpful in translating some of the more obscure comments.
I think it went OK, but without the usual facial clues it can be difficult to be sure!

Much of the rest of the day is free, and I have dinner tonight with Jane and other colleagues.

From China

Well, I'm here safely and being well looked after by Jane (a PhD student here). I do my first lecture tomorrow. I have photos, but I'm working with the Chinese version of blogger, so it'll take a few days.

It's roubd about 30C here today and humid!

4 Days to Go!

Said 'Goodbye' to 'my' Chinese students last night. Went to Bank Restaurant in Brindley Place, Birmingham (good food, as ever -- byt VERY loud).

Lots of packing to do and still trying to finish writing my lectures.

I hope Shirly and Grace have a safe flight. I'm looking forward to seeing them on Monday!

1 Week Left

In 1 week's time I'll be on my way to China! An exciting and challenging prospect.

I'm still busy writing my lectures and trying to get up to date (an interesting thing about teaching in another continent is that you can never be quite sure what assumptions to make. The only solution to this [I think] is to make sure that enough context is included...)?

N.B. Chateau Pichon-Lalande (other side of the road to Pichon Longueville and just as good) was sold last week to Roederer a Champagne company!