Post #87 9 January 2016

Gentlefolk,

This post describes my Western Culture course and exam.

Culture course

Although the course is called “British & American Culture” you will see from the exam questions (below) that my focus was on the USA.  The course was only 17 weeks and I preferred to describe the US in detail rather than talk superficially about two countries; also the USA is, realistically, of much greater importance to China.

The following table shows the structure of the course this semester.  I covered the "building blocks" of culture first (geography, economy, history, political system, religion), and then described many day-to-day aspects under Way of life. 

Table 1: Structure of Western Culture course

Week	Topic
Week 1	Introduction & course outline
Week 2	Geography of the USA
Week 3	Economy of the USA
Week 4	History of the USA #1 (to 1799)
Week 5	National Day holiday
Week 6	History of the USA #2 (1800 – 1899)
Week 7	History of the USA #3 (1900 – 2014)
Week 8	Review #1
Week 9	Political system of the USA #1 (Constitution)
Week 10	Political System #2 (Parties, voting, elections)
Week 11	Religion
Week 12	Review  #2
Week 13	Way of life #1 (Sport, pets, cars, guns, crime)
Week 14	Way of life #2 (Inventors, stock market, etc)
Week 15	Way of life #3 (Education, food, housing, etc)
Week 16	Review #3
Week 17	Final exam

 Attendance was very good - over 90% - which usually indicates that the students liked the course.

In the last lecture I asked the students what topic they had found most interesting. Here are some of their replies:

Table 2: What did you find most interesting?

Name	Topic	Name	Topic	Name	Topic
Stallion	Economy	Tim	Guns	Theresa	College
Sunny	Checks & balances	Ian	War of Independence	Carlos	3 branches of govt
Snow	Guns	Emma	Food	Alice	Food
Tom	Civil War	Thea	Religion	Zero	Religion
Lucky	Thanksgiving	Monkey	Civil War	Katherine	Sport
Octopus	Sport	Dora	Religion	Candice	Pets

The exam

The final exam on Western Culture for DM1401 was held 7 – 9pm on Sunday 3 January 2016.  Yes, you read right: SUNDAY night.  Chinese students (especially Double Major students) don’t consider weekends special – they are just normal work days.

PART 1 comprised 20 Multiple Choice questions; PART 2 comprised 20 True/False questions; PART 3 comprised 30 fill-in-the-blank questions; and PART 4 was 3 written essays (6 questions to choose from). 

To give you a feel for the types of questions, here are the first 5 questions in Parts 1, 2 & 3.  Part 4 shows three of the essay questions (they had to answer 3 out of 6 options).

PART 1: Multiple Choice

1.  Who is known as the “Father of the Auto Industry”?

A. Thomas Edison; B. John D Rockefeller; C. Warren Buffett; D. Henry Ford

2.  How many children does Kobe Bryant have?

A.  1; B.  2; C.  3; D.  4

3.  Which team won the NFL Super Bowl in February 2015?

A. New England Patriots; B. Seattle Seahawks; C. Denver Broncos; D. New York Giants

4.  From which country was President Obama’s father?

A. Kenya; B. USA; C. South Africa; D. Indonesia

5.  How many delegates attended the 1787 Constitutional Convention?

A. 35; B. 45; C. 55; D. 65

PART 2: True / False?

1. Amendment #13 to the US Constitution in 1865 abolished slavery.

2. Kobe Bryant has scored the most points of any player in NBA history.

3. Thomas Edison and Mark Zuckerberg were friends.

4. The Mississippi is the longest river in the world.

5. In 2014 the USA produced more crude oil than China.

PART 3: Fill-in-the-blank

1. Elephant is the symbol of the __________  (name) Party.

2. President Obama was first elected President in ______________ (year).

3. Tom Brady’s NFL nick-name is ___________.

4. The Berlin Wall was pulled down (opened up) in  _______ (year).

5. Osama bin Laden was the leader of the __________ (name) terrorist group which attacked America in 2001.

PART 4: The following were 3 of the essay questions. Students had to choose three of six options and write at least 100 words on each topic.

A.  Benjamin Franklin was the signatory of 4 important documents in early USA history.  What were they, and what was the significance of each? Provide some details of his life.

B.  Explain what caused the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), and what happened to the American economy.  Why didn’t China suffer as much as the USA?

C.  Describe voting in the USA.  Who can vote?  When are elections held? What were the turn-out rates in the 2012 and 2014 US elections?  In your opinion, why don’t more Americans vote in elections?

…

How did you go with these sample questions?  Would you have passed?

The answers are:

PART 1: 1 D; 2 C; 3 A; 4 A; 5 C.

PART 2: 1 T; 2 F; 3 F; 4 F; 5 T.

PART 3: 1 Republican Party; 2 2008; 3 Tom Terrific; 4 1989; 5 Al Queda.

PART 4: A - Benjamin Franklin was a signatory to the Declaration of Independence (1776); the Treaty of Friendship with France (1778); the Treaty of Paris (1783); the new Constitution (1787). B – the bursting of the property bubble caused by the sub prime crisis, etc; C - the turnout rate in the 2012 election was 58.2% and 2014 was 36.4%.

It was an “open book” exam – students could take in any paper materials, including copies of my lectures (ppts). Perhaps a bit generous, but I didn’t want the students to spend hours and hours memorizing all the dates and names and facts; it was more important that they developed a general understanding of the subject.

A total of 68 students sat the Culture exam.  Three got all the Multiple Choice answers right; two got all the True / False answers right; although none got all the Fill-in-the-blank answers right, three got 29 out of 30 right.

Seven students failed the exam (10%). It always surprises me when students fail an open book exam – but you still have to know where to find the information quickly -  I guess they just didn’t take it very seriously.

...

So ends another semester,  Next week Vera & I will "head south" for the winter break.  We'll return in time for the beginning of the second semester on 29 February 2016. That will be our final semester, as we will finish our teaching careers in July 2016.

Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Saturday, 9 January 2016

...

Post #86 7 January 2016

Gentlefolk

This post contains the News Summary for December 2015.

Exams completed

I had my last exams this morning – all 'done & dusted' for another semester.  

In a week we will head south for the winter break, first to Hong Kong and then to The Land Down Under.

We’ll return to Qingdao at the end of February for the start of the second semester of this academic year – and our last semester teaching in China.

I won’t do the “monthly news summaries” while we are away - will start again in March 2016.

I hope to do a couple more posts before we leave Qingdao – let’s see how things go – but normally don’t do any while we are travelling.

China's stock market

The main index is the Shanghai Composite Index.  As you can see from the graph below, 2015 was a wild ride. The market went crazy in March and then collapsed in June.  It seemed to have stabilised over the last 3 months, but the first week of 2016 has seen great volatility again. What it will do in 2016 is anybody's guess. 

The Shanghai Composite Index in 2015. A wild ride.

A curious thing about Chinese stock exchange boards which show movements of stock prices. Here price increases are shown in RED, while price decreases are shown in GREEN - the opposite of how price movements are shown on Western stock exchanges.

Red is the color of good luck and good fortune in China so price rises are shown in red.

A board with this much green is BAD BAD news in China.

(We're just glad Chinese traffic lights follow the rest of the world!)

News summary for December 2015

As you know, I compile a monthly summary of news items, with a focus on news on China.  

There is so much competition for space within Western media outlets that usually only the unusual, sensational, or bizarre gets a mention. Hopefully this summary will give you a better idea of some of the things happening in China.

The events/items included are not necessarily the headlines, but rather things which caught my eye.

The second list shows international events reported in China.  There are so many things happening around the world (information overload!), that I find it useful to have such a list to look back at. 

These news items were all sourced from the China Daily newspaper 1 – 31 December 2015. I can't guarantee the accuracy of the statistics - I'm just quoting what is reported in this newspaper.

Actual events usually occurred a day or two before they appeared in the China Daily newspaper. 

Currency shown is US$, and the exchange rate used this month is US$1 = Yuan 6.5.

Remember: the China Daily is a government newspaper whose main purpose in life is to make the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese Government look good.  But if you strip away the propaganda, there is still quite a lot of interesting stuff in the paper. 

Events which made the news in China in December 2015

(a) Domestic (in China) events and news

1 Dec	A court sentenced 14 people to prison terms for negligence or poor management in the explosion of an oil pipeline in Huangdao, Qingdao in 2013 in which 63 died and 156 were injured.
	President Xi and President Obama met on the sidelines of the Climate talks in Paris (COP21). China pledged $3 billion to the South/ South Cooperation Fund.
	In 2014 China’s coal consumption represented 51% of world usage; USA 12%; India 9%.
	930,000 candidates took the National Civil Service Exam last Sunday, for about 28,000 vacancies.
2	Copper smelters in China said that they will reduce output by about 8 million tonnes (4.5%) in 2016.
3	China has 276 million registered Passenger Motor Vehicles (of which 160m are cars) and about 322 million licensed drivers. In 1980 there were about 100,000 PMVs in Beijing; by 2008 that number had increased to 3.5m, and is now over 5.5m. PMV sales in November totalled 2.5m units and for 11 months January to November totalled 21.8m units. SUV sales booming.
	22% of 306 listed State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and their subsidiaries made losses in the first 9 months of 2015. The biggest loss was made by Sinopec Oilfield Service Corp (-$328m). Wuhan Iron & Steel Corp announced losses of $155m and will cut 6,000 jobs. The govt has implied that SOEs which make losses for 3 consecutive years (so called ‘Zombie Companies’) may be closed down.
	The China Global Philanthropy Institute was opened in Shenzhen, to provide training for managers in the charity sector. The Gates Foundation is a sponsor.
4	In 2014 China produced about 38 billion ballpoint pens (80% of global production); but 90% of the nibs and refills were sourced from Japan, Germany and Switzerland.
	A report by the China Academy of Social Sciences into the residential property market estimated an oversupply of about 2 billion square meters, which could take up to six years to clear. The oversupply is especially serious in 3rd and 4th tier cities. Calls for the govt to stimulate sales.
	China has 22 nuclear power reactors in operation, and another 26 under construction. By 2020 nuclear power will generate about 88 Gigawatts. The govt sees nuclear power as an important source of clean energy. After trials in major cities, China will introduce a national carbon emissions trading market in 2017.  The European Union has provided training for staff. Coal consumption peaked in 2013 at 2.05 billion tonnes; falling to 1.95 bt in 2014. The govt has announced that no new coal mines will be approved for at least three years.  In 2016 some 60 million tonnes of outdated mines will be closed.
	Stephen Schwartzman, Founder and CEO of the Blackstone Group, has provided funding of $100m to Tsinghua University for the “Schwartzman Scholars Program”. 100 students will do a one-year Masters course  in Beijing; the first intake has 45 Americans, 20 Chinese, 35 from other countries.
7	There are now 500 Confucius Institutes in 134 countries providing classes on Chinese language and culture to 1.9 million students.
8	Beijing issued its first-ever “red alert” for hazardous air quality: schools close; cars go to odd-even numbers; trucks cut by 30%; 2,000 polluting industries and 3,500 construction sites close. Tianjin and other close cities followed suit.
12	Restoration work has started on Shanghai’s Xu Jia Hui Catholic Cathedral.  It was built in 1906-10 by the Jesuits; the architect was William Doyle. The ‘face-lift’ will take more than a year and cost close to $5m.
	The Alibaba Group has acquired Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post for $266 million.  The SCMP was founded in 1903 and is HK’s oldest English newspaper.
	The 2015 report by the Institute of City Competitiveness ranked 358 cities in China based on ten criteria (infrastructure, human resources, etc). The top ten were: Shanghai; Hong Kong; Shenzhen; Beijing; Guangzhou; Tianjin; Suzhou; Chongqing; Hangzhou, and Wuhan. Shenzhen is expected to pass Hong Kong in terms of GDP this year. PwC forecasts that China’s middle class will total 350m by 2020.
	The first Western-style fast food restaurant, a KFC, will open in Lhasa, Tibet next month.
14	The founder of Xioami, Lei Jun, had predicted sales of smart phones would reach 100 million units in 2015, but only 53m sold in the first 9 months.
16	American basketball player, Stephon Marbury, was granted a Chinese ‘green card’.  He plays for the Beijing Ducks.
	The ‘Master of Interpretation and Translation’ qualification is becoming more popular.  In 2008 there were 8,000 graduates; in 2014 there were 13,500.
17	In 2014 about 350,000 people were diagnosed with liver cancer.
	New entertainment: Movie “Mo Jin – The Lost Legend” starring Chen Kun, Shu Qi and Angelababy is about tombs and ghosts and feng shui. Movie “Xuan Zang” based on novel Journey to the West; starring Huang Xiao Ming. TV 12 episode “Survival Games” starring Bear Grylls and 8 Chinese celebrities.
18	A coal mine blast in Hegang, HLJ: 19 miners died, 33 escaped.
19	Beijing’s second “red alert” for smog; expected to last 4 days; Tianjin followed and 4 cities in Hebei Province (Baoding, Handan, Langfan, and Xingtai). The widespread burning of low-quality coal for heating was blamed, at least in part for the increase in air pollution.
	China has 33,652 Buddhist sites and 8,269 Taoist sites.
21	Collapse of a construction waste “hill” in Shenzhen, and subsequent landslide; 76 missing; 4,000 emergency workers searched for survivors aided by 170 excavators.
	The Baoneng Group bought 30% of shares in Vanke, China’s largest residential developer. Hostile takeover.
25	The population of Shanghai increased from 16m in 2000 to 24m in 2014 (of which 14m have a Shanghai hukou). The govt wants to cap Shanghai’s population at 25m.
	Guangzhou is providing $1.6 billion to support start-ups.
26	A gypsum mine in Pingyi County (Shandong) collapsed; 10 miners rescued, 19 still missing.
28	China’s largest telecom company, China Mobile, has 1 million 4G base stations to support its 267m 4G customers (more than China Unicom and China Telecom combined). The Chairman of China Telecom, Chang Xiao Bing, is under investigation for corruption.
	In its first 12 months of operation, the South-North Water Diversion Project has delivered 870 million cubic meters of water to Beijing.
29	China’s Anti-trust regulator found 8 international shipping companies guilty of price-fixing on freight charges for cars and trucks which resulted in increased prices for Chinese consumers.  Companies included Mitsui OSK, Nippon Yusen, Kawasaki and Sud Americana of Chile. Fines totalled $63 million.
	The National Postgraduate Entrance Exam was held last weekend; 1.8 million registered to sit the exam (60% female, 40% male); most popular courses were Business Administration, Accounting and Finance. According to news reports, some of the Math paper was ‘leaked’ and Paper B was used. Police are investigating the leak (this is regarded as a criminal offence with minimum 3 years jail).
	The 2015 Adult Tobacco Use Survey estimated 316 million smokers in China (about 27% of population; 50% of adult males and 3% of adult females). Little change from 2010. Average consumption 15 cigarettes a day.
30	Construction has started on two new terminals and a 5th runway at Shanghai’s Pudong Airport.  Will boost capacity to 80 million passengers per annum. Completion by 2019. The Civil Aviation Administration of China auctioned 9 slots at Guangzhou’s Baiyun Airport. Major companies including Hainan Airlines, China Southern, China Eastern acquired slots (good for 3 years, can be sold or transferred).
	Sinopec will increase shale gas production at its Fuling Field from 6.5 billion cubic meters to 10 bcm by 2017.
	China Southern Airlines announced orders with Airbus for $2.3 billion, and with Boeing for $10 billion.
	China’s main stock market index, the Shanghai Composite Index, opened 2015 at 3224 and closed the year at 3572.  It peaked at 5166 in June before a massive sell-off.

(b) International events

1 Dec	The European Union agreed to give Turkey $3.2 billion to assist with the influx of refugees.
	52% of Hamburg residents voted against bidding for the 2024 Olympic Games. Paris, Los Angeles, Budapest and Rome have expressed interest.
	Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers announced his retirement at the end of this NBA season.
2	The German Cabinet approved plans to send 1,200 troops to Syria.
	Turkey refused to apologise for shooting down a Russian Air Force jet.
3	President Xi Jin Ping and his wife official visit to South Africa. He also attended the 6th Ministerial Meeting of China – Africa Cooperation. President Xi announced $60 billion in aid (most in the form of low-interest loans).
	Beijing and Washington agreement on fighting cyber-crime.
	Mark Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla Chan gave birth to a baby girl, Maxima.  They announced the establishment of a charity and give away 99% of investment in Facebook (estimated current value $45 billion).
	One million Apple Watches were sold in China between April and September 2015.
4	A husband and wife couple, Syed Farook and Tathfeen Malik, killed 14 and injured 17 in San Bernardino, California. They died in a shoot-out with police. They had a 6 month old baby girl.
	Two more FIFA officials arrested on suspicion of corruption, Vice Presidents Juan Napont (Paraguay) and Alfredo Hawit (Honduras). Later in the month Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini were banned from all soccer activities for 8 years.
	BCG’s annual list of 50 Most Innovative Companies included three from China: Tencent (#12); Huawei (#45); and Lenovo (#50). The top three were Apple, Google and Tesla.
8	Opposition parties won a majority in the Venezuela general elections.
	The Luye Medical Group bought Health Care Australia for $688 million (HCA owns 17 private hospitals with 2,000 beds and 50 operating rooms).
10	China and Australia announce that their Free Trade Agreement will commence on 20 December 2015.
11	Kim Jong Un announced that DPRK has the capability to detonate a H-bomb.
	Inauguration of Mauricio Macri as new President of Argentina.
14	Agreement reached at Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21). Of cumulative greenhouse gases 1850 – 2011 the US produced 27%, EU 25%, and China 11%.
	First woman elected to local Council in Saudi Arabia, following first election in which women could vote.
	United Kingdom has 532,000 university students.  In England, 42% of 18 & 19 year-olds attend university.
	Golden State Warriors lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 95 – 108 to end the longest winning start to an NBA season (now 24 – 1).
	With a score of 267 world #6 Fan Shan Shan won her third Dubai Ladies Masters tournament, by 12 strokes.
16	Beijing condemned new American arms sales to Taiwan worth $1.8 billion (including 2 frigates and anti-tank missiles); it said the companies involved would be penalised in doing business in China.
	The Second World Internet Conference was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province.
	Saudi Arabia announced the establishment of a military alliance of 34 Islamic nations, based in Riyadh. Main aim is to better coordinate the fight against terrorism. Not included were Iran, Iraq and Syria.
	New Zealand selected the flag design (silver fern & 4 stars; designed by Kyle Lockwood) which will compete against the current flag in a referendum in March 2016.
	China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec) will buy 20% of Sibur Co of Russia.
19	Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, 52, was fired after 9th loss in 16 games.  Last season Chelsea won the Premier League and League Cup double!
21	The US Congress finally ratified the IMF reforms agreed in 2010; China’s quota will go from 3.9% to 6.4% making it the 3rd largest shareholder. China is now the third largest contributor to the UN budget (7.9%), after USA and Japan.
	China and Thailand will jointly build a 845 km railway from Nong Khai in the north to Map Ta Phut in the south (part of the eventual Kunming to Singapore line).
	Shares of the global TV market: Samsung 29%; LG 14%; Sony 7%; Hisense 6%.
	In an effort to end the civil war in Syria and present a united front to ISIS, the UN Security Council called for a ‘cease-fire’ and for talks between the govt and opposition.
23	After launching eleven satellites, Space X’s main-stage booster rocket made it back to earth – may be reusable.
	Mexico launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of steel from China. In 2014 China’s steel exports reached 94 million tonnes (46% higher than 2013).  2015 estimate is 110 million tonnes.  Nine National Steel Associations (incl USA, Canada, Brazil) blamed China’s over-capacity for unfair competition.
24	Colombia legalised the growing and sale of marijuana for medical purposes (joining Mexico, Chile and Uruguay).
26	The inaugural meeting of the AIIB will be held in Beijing 16 – 18 January 2016.
	34,578 Chinese children are studying in US primary and secondary schools (52% of all foreign students). The figure was 8,857 in 2010.
29	Japan and South Korea reached agreement on the long-running issue of “comfort women” (sex slaves in WW2); only 46 still alive; President Abe will make an apology and a $8m fund will be established.
	UN estimates over 1 million “migrants” have reached Western Europe (mainly Germany) this year. There are 154 refugees (mainly from Somalia, Syria and Afghanistan) in China, and 641 others (mostly from Nigeria and Liberia) have claimed asylum. China does not accept refugees, so they are waiting for settlement in other countries.  UNHCR gives them about $160 per month.
	New movie “Star Wars – the Force Awakens” took $1 billion globally in 12 days. It will open in Chian on 9 January.
31	Best end-of-year standings in American Basketball and Football: NBA: Golden State 29 – 1; San Antonio 27 – 6; Cleveland 20 – 9 (Lakers 5 – 27 are last in their Division). NFL: Caroline 14 – 1; Arizona 13 – 2; New England 12 – 3.

...

Best wishes to you all, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Thursday 7 January 2016

Post #85 5 January 2016

Gentlefolk,

Our best wishes to you all for a happy and healthy 2016.

I can't believe we are already 5 days into the new year.

The photos below capture some of the events in the last days of 2015 and on New Year's Day.

Qingdao has experienced bad smog the last 2 weeks.  Unusual for our coastal city. Of course we do get days when the air quality is "Unhealthy" or sometimes even "Very unhealthy", but this time it was often "Hazardous".  Now we know what many inland regions often experience - not good.  One morning the smog was so thick that visibility was less than 100 metres; scary.

Exams

I've been busy with end-of-semester exams and marking.  Almost done - one more exam tomorrow morning and that will be it for this semester.

In the past when I've had more than one Western Culture class I have just held one exam, but this time the university's Teaching Office insisted that I have separate exams (and papers) for my two Western Culture classes.

I was aware that the two courses had different titles: Non Major 283 was "An Introduction to British and American Culture" and Double Major was "A Survey of the UK and the USA".  At the beginning of the semester I enquired as to the difference between the two courses?  The answer was that they use different text books.  All the textbooks I'd seen on Western Culture were outdated and poor quality so I prepared my own lectures, and of course I gave the same lectures to both classes.

The Teaching Office didn't have a problem with that approach, until exam time.  I argued having one exam for the two classes made sense, as they had in fact studied exactly the same material.  But no, that logic wasn't accepted. The bureaucrats put their foot down and insisted that I had to prepare two different papers (actually four, as there is a Paper A and a Paper B for each exam - Paper B is the back-up in case Paper A is "leaked" and they need a quick replacement).

The first Culture exam (for NM283) was held 7 - 9pm on Wednesday 30 December 2015; the second (for DM1401) was held 7 - 9pm on Sunday 3 January 2016.

Class NM283 (52 students) taking the Culture exam, 7 - 9pm on 30 December 2015.

I'll do a separate post on the contents of the Culture exam in the next few days.

New Year's Eve & New Year's Day

My second Oral English exam was held 7 - 9pm on Thursday 31 December - New Year's Eve.

On 31 December we invited the other teachers over at 10pm (after my Oral English exam), to see in the new year but only three could make it.  Vera put on some supper, we had a few drinks till midnight and then watched "The Big Lebowski" with Jeff Bridges and John Goodman.

What a crazy, crazy, crazy movie.  Wonderful acting, especially by John Goodman. It was 3am by the time we fell into bed.

Next morning my other Oral English class NM145 had their exam, 10am - 12 noon, New Year's Day is a public holiday in China.  I offered to hold the exam on another day, but the students decided to have it that morning.  They are all busy studying for exams and preferred to get this exam out of the way.

Can you imagine Australian students (and teachers) having an exam on a public holiday, let alone New Year's Day?  Wouldn't happen!

Actually, while 1 January is recognised as important, a much more significant holiday in China is the Lunar New Year (also called Spring Festival).  That will occur on Monday 8 February 2016.  It is THE big festival in China.  Traditionally, families celebrate together, often in their ancestral village. It is a week of eating, drinking and getting together with friends and family.

After my exam we had lunch at the Blue Horizon Hotel with some other teachers (see photos). Later, Vera and I visited a young couple, Daniel and Hayley Elsaesser, to see baby Oliver.

Saying goodbye to Tamara and Felix Baur  on 29 December 2015.  Tamara was teaching German but had to cut her contract short because of illness.  They are now back in Berlin.

On 30 December 2015 Professor Yan Zi Feng, Director of UPC's International Office, presented me with an "Outstanding Contribution Award", Apparently I am the first foreign teacher to get such an Award.  What an unexpected honour!

Buffet lunch on New Year's Day at the Blue Horizon Hotel. From left, seated: Steven (US); Michael (US); William (Aussie); Graham (Aussie); Gautier & Hao Yu (French); standing at back Vera (Aussie) and Thomas (German).  Thomas is a real linguist - he is fluent in Chinese and Arabic (as well as German and English of course).  

The Blue Horizon Coffee Shop was packed for New Year's Day lunch.  Luckily Vera had booked a table for us. It really shows how prosperous China has become when so many families can enjoy eating out at a big hotel. 

After lunch we visited Hayley (Zhao Hai Jie) and Daniel Elsaesser who had their baby Oliver a month ago.  Daniel is fluent in Chinese. He works for the Qingdao-German Eco Park, an industrial zone for German companies. 

Vera with little Oliver and Hayley.  

...

So that's how we welcomed the New Year 2016.

In ten days we will fly to Hong Kong.  A week with Andrew, Caz and Little Eddie, and then down to Australia.

We'll return at the end of February for the beginning of the next semester.

I hope to do a couple more blog posts before we "head south".

Again, our best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy 2016.

...

Alex & Vera Olah (aka The Intrepid Duo)
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Tuesday, 5 January 2016