Post #97 25 April 2016

Gentlefolk,

Herewith some photos of recent happenings.

In March we invited some friends over for dinner to celebrate Vera's birthday.  From left: Karishma (Aussie); Wang Si Qi (Chinese); Michael & Steven (Americans); Vera; Graham & William (Aussies); missing Gautier (French) & Hao Yu & daughter Luna.  Vera cooked up a storm and then we played a guessing game. Fun night.

Gautier with his gorgeous daughter Luna. He had to guess the name on his cap (Charles de Gaulle) within 12 questions.

 Ferries still run across Jiaozhou Bay, although these days most people and cars take the tunnel or the bridge (both opened in June 2011). We had a spare afternoon and decided to re-live the old days and travel by ferry.  It was a nice, sunny day so quite pleasant - but much more complicated and time-consuming - this was the only way to cross previously. So much better now.

The ferry coming in to dock.  It took passengers, some cars and small trucks.

Going across the Bay, from Huangdao to Qingdao City.

Lots of development near the quay in Qingdao City.  Can you believe that all these high-rise buildings have gone up in the last 10 years!

My ex-student Liu Feng Qiang (Oliver) is now doing a Masters degree at the Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.  Knowing that we will leave in July, Oliver visited us for two days during the Qing Ming (Tomb Sweeping) Festival at the beginning of April, to say goodbye.  He's a lovely young man and we enjoyed seeing him again.

My oral English class NM63 on Tuesday night. I am trying more small-group activities this semester; let's see how it goes.

Students in NM63 acting a role-play of a short stories from the China Daily.

Role-play by Yvonne, Snail (!), and Lee. Some of the acting and dialogue was very good.

Students in NM295 acting a role-play. A good way for students to mix and get to know each other.

Students doing a role-play. I selected 15 short stories from the China Daily and allocated two or three students to act out a story. 

Role-play by Sophie and Chaos (don't you love his English name!) in NM295.

Vera with two former students, Li Zhi Wei (Lena, graduated in 2015) and Yu Ya Qi (Romulus, graduated in 2014).

...

That's it for this post.

Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Monday, 25 April 2016

(ANZAC Day in Australia today - our Memorial Day)