18 May 2014

Hello everyone,

Today is my mother's birthday (18 May 1920) and tomorrow my father's (19 May 1912), so you will understand my feeling of nostalgia at this time.

Potted family history

On 21 January 1951 Akos and Traudi Olah arrived in Australia.  Their worldly possessions comprised three little nippers Alex (4), Angie (3) and Andy (2) and 3 small battered suitcases.  New country, new culture; no family, no friends. Must have been daunting, to say the least.

Akos was originally from Hungary.  At the end of the Second World War he was a ‘Displaced Person’ in Germany.  He met Traudi Goerner and they started a family. 

Europe was in ruins, and the future looked bleak.  They decided to try their luck elsewhere and applied to several countries.  Australia was looking for immigrants and was the first country to respond with a positive offer.  The Olah family was part of the influx of millions of people from war-torn Europe who came to Australia in search of a new, secure life. 

Their adventure did not start well.  They came out on an ex-troop carrier, the Fairsea.  The passengers were packed into the hold like sardines.  Sanitary conditions on the ship were awful. The voyage was a nightmare for Mum as everyone was constantly sick (Dad was in the "Mens & Boys" section of the hold and fared a little better).

 

After that inauspicious start things slowly improved.  In 1954 Akos got a job, as did many other migrants, working for the Snowy Mountains Authority in Cooma NSW and that is where the family grew up.  In 1955 their 4^th child, Aniko, was born. 

In 1974 they moved to Canberra.  Akos died in 1990 and Traudi in 2011.  

Not easy, to start from scratch in strange surroundings in The Land Down Under, on the other side of the world.  Tough for them - the first settlers - but their offspring had an easier time adjusting and grew up in a time of prosperity. 

We usually called Dad "Apu" which is father in Hungarian, and Mum later became "Omi" which is grandmother in German.  Below are some photos of Mum (unfortunately Dad is not featured - he was BDP - Before Digital Photos).

Omi was an avid reader of books and newspapers. Every week she sent Andy (in Rarotonga) a bunch of news clippings.

January 2009, Omi in her usual animated way proposing a toast at Andy's 60th birthday celebrations.  Granddaughter Adrienne is on Omi's right, while Andy and Sean are on her left (Sean flew over from Perth).

Omi with granddaughter Britt.  They had a close relationship.

Omi with grandson Andrew (November 2008).

Omi's 90th birthday, May 2010. From Left: Vera, Ghislaine, Richard, Ankio, Adrienne, Alex, Sasha, Omi, Angie, Peter, Britt, Lani, Dejon, and Bonnie.

The 3 women in my life (I was a willing victim): Jennifer (daughter), Vera (wife) & Omi (mother).

Mother & Son at the Indonesian Embassy National Day celebrations, August 2010.

My sister Angie (lives in Narooma NSW) sent the following email to the family this morning:

Dear Loved Ones,  With loving memories and laughter let us reflect on our parents, grandparents at this time of their birthdays. Omi - 18 May and Apu 19 May. Their legacy of love, respect, community, family bonds and PEACE above all!!! A Prayer -May all people be well; May all people be happy. A red cyclamen flower has been put at their grave - both Omi and Apu gave each other a cyclamen (red) every birthday! Also, a beautiful rose with little red rosebuds has also been planted and the Englein is watching over them. With love and viele Bussis, Anga


And my other sister Aniko (in Canberra) responded:

Beautiful sentiments Anga – there were lots of flowers and little buds on both the cyclamen and rose when I visited Omi and Apu yesterday. Have planted pretty pansies all around them too. Would we have gone to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate their Birthday’s? Or maybe just a lovely afternoon tea at home with Omi’s special layered rum cake (sometimes heavy handed with the bottle J). Always something special. Aniko

Aren't my brother and I lucky to have such two wonderful, caring sisters who are taking care of things while Andy is gallivanting around Spain (which I'm sure Mum would have approved of wholeheartedly) and I continue my mission of bring the beauty of Strine to China.

The dedication in my book It's all about the students which the university published last year reads "This book is dedicated to my mother, Traudi Olah, who had a great interest in people and places.  She enjoyed reading about our life in China and always made comments and asked questions.  She was a very special person."

Enough said.

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Another blast from the past

Last week good mate Ian Loiterton told me that Burton & Garran Hall at the Australian National University are planning to celebrate their 50th anniversary in January 2015.  Burton Hall opened in 1965 and Garran Hall in 1966.  Originally they were administered as two separate entities, but later they were amalgamated into one residential complex. Ian and I were part of the first intake of residents in Garran Hall in 1966.  He majored in Geology and I did Economics, but we were both 'from the country' and quickly became close friends.

The organising committee has asked for photos and memorabilia. Ian found the following photo, of the rugby team which represented Garran Hall in the inter-hall competition.  Wonder what has happened to all these likely-looking lads?  There will be a reunion weekend in early January 2015, but sadly we won't be back in Canberra at that time.

ANU's Garran Hall rugby team, 1966.  Ian is at the far right, looking very fit.  I am centre, at the back. wearing a black guernsey. 

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Student

I received the following email on 13 May 2014 from a former student who I bumped into the other day.

Dear Alex,

This is Super One.

Glad to see you again yesterday in the print shop. You still look so kind.  As I remember, It is about 3 years since you teach us Oral English for our second major.

Maybe you could remember all the faces of the students you have taught before, but I guess, it is extremely difficult for you to memorize all their names. But I am lucky! Every time seeing me on campus, you could say "Hi, Super " immediately to me. Ha-ha- That really makes me feel proud. Maybe it is because my name is memorable.

My real name is Han Chaoyi (韩超一). Super One is just my nickname which has the same meaning of my real name. My major is Chemical Engineering. Now it is my first year in the graduate school, and I still have two years here before I get my master's degree.

Alex, you are a good teacher and  you are also my good friend.  I find a picture in my computer. It was taken on 18 November 2011 after the dinner which we had together after Mr. Michael Kramer and his daughter's lecture. Really good memory!

Dinner, 18 November 2011. Left to right: Alex, Ma Qin (Mashine), Vera, Elizabeth Kramer, Barbara Crammer, Han Chao Yi (Super One), Liu Hong Fei (Carson), Michael Kramer.

What a nice gesture that he made the effort to write to me and send the photo.  The campus isn't that big, and one would expect to see former students regularly, but in fact it is quite rare.  I guess everyone is busy - it must be 12 months or more since I last spoke to Super One.

Anyway, these are the little things which make teaching here so worthwhile.

Han Chao Yi came to a lecture on 25 May 2014, and we took this photo. He is an impressive young man.

...

I wanted to include a couple of other events in this post (like the passing of Reg Gasnier aka Puff the Magic Dragon), but have run out of time.  Got to prepare Lesson Plans for tomorrow.  Anyway, they'll keep until my post next Sunday.

Best wishes, and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Sunday 18 May 2014

8 May 2014

Hello everyone,

Visit to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province

As part of our contracts, the university organises one 'away' trip a year. It normally takes place over the Labour Day holidays in early May (also a good time to travel in China).  This year we went to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province in South-West China. The group comprised: Paul (American); Ben (British); Nelly (Filipino); Anatolii (Ukrainian); Lidiya (Russian); Steve (American) and his wife Amy (Chinese); Vera and myself (Aussies).

 Wednesday 30 April 2014: we flew from Qingdao to Chengdu, a 2.5 hour flight. The map below shows Chengdu in relation to Shanghai - Qingdao is up the coast from Shanghai, on the Shandong peninsular which juts out towards Korea.

We were met at the airport by James, our local guide, who looked after us during our visit.  He seemed in some discomfort and explained that, for medical reasons, he had recently been circumcised - which became the subject of much ribald commentary over subsequent days.

James introduced Chengdu as a place of "spicy food, hot girls, and teahouses".  He said that other Chinese envied the laid-back lifestyle with its focus on drinking tea and playing mahjong.  There is a saying something like: "Don't come to Sichuan when you are young (because there is not much happening); don't leave Sichuan when you are old (because of the relaxed lifestyle)".

Chengdu Spice Girl.

He also explained that as Chengdu is situated in a basin surrounded by mountains, it is often overcast and foggy.  It's true - we only saw the sun a couple of times during our stay.

Sichuan food is renowned for its use of chillies and peppers.  There is another saying: "China is the place for food, but Sichuan is the place for flavor".  Vera and I like spicy food, but real Sichuan cuisine uses a lot of the little black peppers which numb the mouth - an acquired taste.

Sichuan's favorite son is Deng Xiao Ping (1904 - 1997), the architect of  China's "reform and opening" 35 years ago, which heralded the most prosperous era in China's long history.  The World Bank says that Deng's policies lifted more than 500 million Chinese out of poverty.  Wouldn't that be a nice claim on your CV?  I believe history will recognise him as one of the 20th Century's "greats".

What else is Sichuan famous for? Pandas, of course.  First 'discovered' by the Western world in 1869, there are now an estimated 1,000 pandas in the wild, about 80% in Sichuan and the remainder in neighbouring provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi.

99% of a wild panda's diet is bamboo.  But bamboo is low in nutrients so pandas need lots (up to 40kg a day) to stay healthy, and spend spend 15 or 16 hours a day feeding.

Sichuan experienced a devastating earthquake on 12 May 2008. The epi-centre was Wenchuan, about 80 km northwest of Chengdu.  The main tremor lasted almost 2 minutes and was catastrophic: in round figures 88,000 killed, 375,000 injured,  11 million homeless. Can you imagine ... about half the population of Australia suddenly without shelter?  The scale of this disaster was mind-boggling, and the whole country got behind the re-building effort which was completed in record time.

Chengdu is a big, bustling city with a population nearing 14 million.  Many nice tree-lined streets and parks.  We had an enjoyable, but all-too-short, visit.

On the afternoon of our arrival we visited two places in Chengdu City: the Jin Li Ancient Street (see photo below), and then the Chun Xi Lu pedestrian shopping area in the centre of Chengdu. That night we had dinner in a typical Sichuan restaurant - the food was spicy, with lots of Sichuan pepper.  My mouth became quite numb.

Jin Li, one of several newly-built "Ancient alleys" we visited in Chengdu. Attractive, and popular with locals and visitors.

Thursday, 1 May (Labour Day).  The main activity today was visiting the Giant Buddha (known locally as 'Dafo') near the town of Leshan.  Buddhist monk Hai Tong started the project in 713AD; it wasn't finished until 803AD, 90 years later. This statue is BIG: 71 metres from head to toe; each ear is 8 metres!

Given its age, the statue appeared to be in remarkably good shape.  Apparently it has a built-in drainage system, and it also featured a protective canopy which was destroyed by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. Luckily they left the statue itself intact.

The main entrance to the park is level with the Buddha's head.  There is a narrow stairway down to the river where one can gain a better appreciation for the immense size of this statue (see photo below, stairway is on the left).  Unfortunately there were many visitors and the queue was 4 hours long! So we only saw the statue from the top.

The giant Buddha statue (Dafo) at the confluence of the Dadu and Min Rivers near Leshan.

Each ear is 8 metres long, which gives an idea of the size of this impressive statue.

Friday, 2 May 2014.  In the morning we visited the Du Jiang Yan irrigation project which was completed by engineer Li Bing (Chinese: 李冰; pinyin: Lǐ Bīng) in about 250 BC!  It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.  In the afternoon we visited Qing Chen Mountain, which has been a centre of the Taoist religion for more than 2,000 years.  The lovely forest trails and ancient monasteries are conducive to meditation - just don't come on a holiday weekend, when tens of thousands visit!

Li Bing was able to tame the Min River and divert some of the flow to the central Sichuan plain, irrigating about 1 million hectares of fertile land (since expanded to 5 million hectares).

Saturday, 3 May 2014.  In the morning we visited the Panda Research Station on the outskirts of Chengdu.  Lovely park, and the pandas are well-housed.  We saw several pandas - they don't move much: basically sleep when they are not feeding.  The 'donation' to hold / cuddle / photograph a panda is $300, so we gave that a miss. 

In the afternoon we visited the impressive San Xing Dui museum (Chinese: 三星堆; pinyin: Sānxīngduī; literally: "three stars mound")   near Guanghan about 40 km north of Chengdu, which has artifacts of the Shu Kingdom, some 3,300 years ago.  Our museum guide was more interested in talking about Freemasons and Jews and Lizard People taking over the world. Stunning displays, especially the bronze masks.  Some of the motifs reminded us of Aztec art - see below - what do you think?

One of dozens of bronze masks beautifully displayed at the San Xin Dui Museum.  

A bronze 'bird's head' on display.

The upper half of a tall bronze figure of a High Priest in the San Xing Dui museum.

That night we saw a cultural show at the Shu Feng Ya Yun teahouse (more like a theatre): opera; music; puppetry; shadow hands; and the amazing 'face-changing'.   Excellent performances, and a great way to finish our visit.  

Sunday morning 4 May 2014 we flew back to Qingdao.  Sad that our holiday was over, but glad to be 'home' and to see the sun again.

The following are some photos of the various attractions we visited in and around Chengdu.

Vera, Liu Li Na (our leader from UPC's International Office), and Qi Mei Juan (Amy)

Vera loved the greenery around Qing Chen mountain.

From left: Paul, Ben, Alex, Amy and Steve.

Alex in the 'Calligraphy Park' near the Giant Buddha at Leshan, next to a message from Mao Ze Dong.  The Chairman wrote: "China has many nice places, but here is special."

James (our local guide), Anatolii, Vera, and Nelly.

A new 'ancient' bridge near the entrance to the Du Jian Yan irrigation site.

A bridge inside the Du Jian Yan park.  Everywhere was very crowded.

Lidiya, Nelly, Paul and Ben enjoying famous Sichuan Hot-Pot.

One of the inhabitants of the Panda Research Station; everyone's favorite animal.

Well, that's the story of our short visit to Sichuan Province.

It was an enjoyable few days, away from our normal routine.  Everywhere was very crowded.  Chinese don't have many holidays (paid annual leave as we know it is rare), so they take full advantage of the public holidays: one week in October for National Day, one week end-January for Spring Festival, and 3 days now for the May Day holidays, plus a couple of single days.

All the attractions we visited had entry charges, usually about $15 per person (half for students and seniors).  That's not inexpensive in a country where $100 a week is a common salary and I was impressed so many people obviously had the money to pay.  Good to see the locals enjoying themselves.

The other thing that impressed us was the sense of history which is so pervasive in China.  Many of the attractions we visited were centuries or even millennia old.  And the thing is, it seems to be 'live history' in the sense that most people know all about this Emperor or that General or the other Engineer.

...

I'll give the blog a rest for a week or so.

Best wishes, and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Thursday, 8 May 2014.

6 May 2014

Hello everyone,

I like to do a summary of important/interesting news events which take place each month.  Below is the summary for April 2014.  We live in an age of 'information overload' and I find that many news items quickly fade away as the next crisis or event occurs.  It will be handy, in years to come, to look back over these monthly summaries and remember some of the key things which took place.

Last weekend UPC took the foreign teachers to Chengdu in Sichuan Province over the May Day holiday.  I will do a post on that trip, but it will probably take another 3 or 4 days to get it together.

Events which made the news in China in April 2014.

Note: these news items were sourced from The China Daily newspaper published in April 2014.  Actual events usually occurred a day or two before the date shown.  Currency is US$, and the exchange rate I have used for April 2014 is US$1 = Yuan 6.2.

(a) International issues

2 April	President Xi Jin Ping and Belgian King Philippe visited the Volvo factory in Ghent, to witness 300,000th car produced.  Volvo is owned by a Chinese company.
8	Pro-Russians declare independence in Ukrainian cities of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv.  Moscow warns of civil war in Ukraine.
9	Ming Dynasty “chicken cup” (Cheng Hua style 1465 – 1487) sold for record $36 million at Hong Kong auction. It was bought in 1999 for $8m by Swiss Zuellig family.
9	Chuck Hagel, US Secretary of Defence visiting China.  Denies US wants to ‘contain China’.
9	Elections in Quebec: separatist Parti Quebecois beaten by anti-separatist Liberal Party.
9	New Zealand Maoris: 15% of population, but 50% of incarcerated prisoners.
10	World Cup (Football) trophy on display in China, enroute to Japan, USA then finally Brazil for kick-off on 12 June 2014.
14	No ‘acoustic pings’ from MH370 black box recorded since 8 April. 12 planes and 14 ships continue search off west coast of Australia. Submersible Bluefin used to search ocean floor, 4,000 metres deep.
14	Iran anger at US refusal to issue visa for new Ambassador to United Nations. Hamid Abutalebi was involved in take-over of US Embassy in 1979.
14	Bayern Munich’s run of 53 undefeated soccer games ended with two defeats in a row.
17	South Korean ferry Sewol capsized and sank.  174 survivors. Difficult search conditions. Two weeks later 188 confirmed dead with 114 still missing.
17	Boston remembers victims of 2013 Marathon bombing (3 dead, 264 injured).
18	Voting starts in Indian general election (ends 12 May).  815 million registered voters.  Hindu Nationalists expected to gain.
19	Death of Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, aged 87.  Author of One hundred years of solitude.  He had a big following in China.
21	Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) won the Shanghai FI race (his 3rd in a row).
23	After 10 months, Manchester United Football Club sacked David Moyes. Ryan Griggs temporary manager.
26	President Xi Jin Ping made Time magazine’s 2014 list of “100 most influential persons” for the 4th time.  Other Chinese: Pony Ma (Tencent), Jack Ma (Alibaba), and Yao Chen (actress).
29	Lydia Ko (Korean born, New Zealand raised) won her first tournament as a professional golfer on her 17th birthday.  She is already LPGA’s world #2.
29	President Obama signed the US – Philippine Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement to give US military temporary access to bases in The Philippines.

(b) Local Chinese issues

2 April	Actor Wen Zhang lost his image as a ‘model husband’ when he admitted to an affair with actress Yao Di.  His wife Ma Yi Li said “to date is easy; but to be married is not.” The news attracted 1 million online comments in 24 hours.
2	Beijing saw 164,000 marriages in 2013, and 55,000 divorces.
2	30th anniversary of establishment of Patent Office of China.  Patent applications have gone from 14,300 in 1984 to 2.4 million in 2013 (including 22,924 international patent applications).  156,000 applications for invention patents in Q1 2014.
3	Customs confiscated and destroyed a shipment of baby formula from OZ Milko Dairy Foods, Melbourne.  The expiry date had been changed from June 2014 to September 2015.
4	Chen Zhi Cheng got 15 months jail for spreading rumours of a bomb in a railway station.
8	Hubei introduced strict regulations on water conservation.  50 years ago it had 1,332 lakes bigger than 7 hectares, but now only half that number.
9	28% of Chinese adults smoke; 3,000 deaths per day from smoking-related diseases.  Govt gets 7% of revenue from tobacco products.
9	Sales of Passenger Motor Vehicles in March: 1.6m for a total of 4.6m in Q1 (increase of 9.5% over Q1 2013).  When Hangzhou City announced new restrictions on car ownership, 70,000 cars were sold the same day before the changes took effect.
10	Railway Corporation will open 48 new lines in 2014 (budget $116 billion).  China will have 19,000 km of high-speed rail by end of 2015.
10	Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott leads a business group of 600.  Opens ‘Australia Week’ in Shanghai.  Australia has huge trade surplus with China.  Negotiating a FTA.  Mr Abbott told journalists that the search for the missing MH370 plane had been narrowed to ‘some kilometres’.
11	March 2014: China’s exports were valued at $170.1 billion; imports $162.4 billion.
12	High levels of benzene detected in water supply of Lanzhou City, Gansu Province.
12	The Spring Property Expo in Beijing attracted over 90,000 visitors.
14	Shenzhen: 128 medical workers were injured by angry patients in 2013.  By the end of 2014, all 148 hospitals will have security guards.
14	Beijing to Shanghai high-speed rail takes 5 hours to cover the 1,318 km.  Very popular - 200 million trips since the service opened.
17	Workers strike at Yue Yuen (Taiwan) shoe factory in Dongguan over unpaid social benefits.
18	A joint study by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Land & Resources found that 20% of China’s arable land contains pollutants which exceed the national standard.  13 types of inorganic (mainly heavy metals) pollutants and 3 types of organic pollutants were identified.
18	Qin Zhi Hui sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for ‘rumour-mongering’ in his website.  He admitted posting false information about celebrities to increase traffic to his website.
19	As part of frugality drive, Government reduced budget for ‘public expenses’ (official entertainment, travel, cars, etc), from $1.5 billion in 2011 to $1.2 billion in 2014.
19	Life expectancy of Chinese women increased from 73.3 years in 2000 to 77.4 years in 2013.
21	Construction of new nuclear plants was suspended after the Fukushima disaster, but has now resumed.
21	3,300 websites closed down in the first week of the Government’s anti-porn ‘cleaning the web’ campaign.
23	Storm over toddler urinating in Hong Kong street.
23	2013 beer production in China was 50.6 million kilolitres.  The ‘Big 5’ producers: Carlsberg; China Resources (Snow); Anheuser-Busch; Tsingtao; Beijing Yanjing.
23	Yum Brands has 6,332 outlets in China, including KFC (3,800), Pizza Hut, Little Sheep and East Dawning.  Plans to open 700 new outlets in 2014.
25	Two licences revoked from Sina Weibo, until it has cleaned porn sites. Fined $800,000.
26	Alibaba founders Jack Ma and Joe Tsai established a charity foundation with 2% of Alibaba’s equity (expected worth more than $2 billion when IPO listing in US).
28	Government ordered removal of 4 American TV series from Chinese video sites such as Youku and Tencent Video: The Good Wife; NCIS; The Practice; The Big Bang Theory.  They may be allowed to return after review for inappropriate content (themes propmoting superstition, violence, salaciousness, or gambling).
29	Ministry of Land & Resources estimated 60% of China’s groundwater is of poor or very poor quality.
29	China’s share markets still in doldrums.  Shanghai Composite Index down to 2003.
29	China’s steel output in Q1 2014 was 203 million tonnes. Average export price $794 per tonne. The sector has huge over-capacity and is suffering big losses.

Operations of China’s ‘Big 4’ banks (all State owned enterprises) in 2013:

	Operating income Yuan billion	Net profit Yuan billion	Increase in NP over 2012	Non-performing loans
Industrial (ICBC)	590	263	10%	0.94%
Construction (CCB)	509	215	11%	0.99%
Agriculture (ABC)	463	166	155	1.22%
Bank of China (BOC)	408	164	12%	0.96%

Time Magazine's 2014 "100 Most Influential People"

Beyonce graced the cover of Time magazine (she was also one of the Chosen).  I've seen more flattering photos.

Every April Time magazine publishes a list of the 100 people the editors believe are the most influential in the world. It divides them into 5 categories: Leaders; Titans; Pioneers;Artists; and Icons.

As usual, the list is very US-centric, with 56 of the 100 honorees born in the USA.  Europe has just 10 entries, the same as Africa. South America has 4 entries: Pope Francis (originally from Argentina); President Jose Mujica of Uruguay (who has legalised marijuana); President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela (controversial successor to Hugo Chavez); and President Michelle Bachelet of Chile.

Only four Chinese made the list: President Xi Jin Ping (for the 4th time); Pony Ma (Ma Hua Teng) the founder and CEO of Tencent which is one of China's biggest social media companies with QQ and WeChat; Jack Ma (Ma Yun) a co-founder and Chairman of Alibaba, China's e-commerce giant; and Yao Chen an actress who is also an environmental campaigner and has 66 million followers on weibo.

One Aussie in the list.  David Sinclair was born in Australia although he is now a professor at Harvard Medical School.  He has made important discoveries in medical science.

17 year old prodigy Lydia Ko was included for her remarkable talent as a golfer.  She was born in South Korea and grew up in New Zealand. Has just won her first tournament as a professional, and is already LPGA World #2. Amazing.

From what I could see, other Asian-born honorees included 5 Indians, one Indonesian (Erwiana Sulistyanings), one Japanese (PM Abe), and the redoubtable Kim Jong Un from North Korea.

The Wen Zhang affair

The news that actor Wen Zhang (he won China's prestigious Best Actor Award in 2012) had cheated on his wife Ma Yi Li made headlines in China.  About 2.5 million comments were made on weibo (China's equivalent of Twitter).

Wen always praised his wife in public and had developed a reputation as a 'model husband and father'.  Their second daughter was born in February 2014 and everything seemed rosy.  The news of his affair with Yao Di broke in late March and shattered his goody-goody image.

I used it as a discussion topic with my Oral English classes, and sure enough it was very popular.  Everyone was eager to express an opinion.

At the end I asked the girls what they would do if they were married and their husband played up?  About two-thirds said they would forgive him, as long as he repented and promised not to do it again!

Wen Zhang with his wife Ma Yi Li. in happier times. They have been seen together recently, so it seems she has forgiven him for straying.

Wen Zhang and Yao Di co-starred in the very popular 2011 film "Naked Marriage".  Apparently their affair started during the making of this film.

Flight MH370

As the search for the missing plane entered its 9th week, and still without trace, Malaysian Airlines announced that it would close its "information centres" in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing and asked the relatives of passengers to return home.

Malaysian Airlines has been providing shelter and sustenance for more than 500 relatives at the 5 star Metro Lido Hotel in Beijing (and some also in KL).  What started as a generous gesture - presumably the Airline, like the rest of us, thought it would all be over in a week - has turned into an expensive nightmare for the company.

Some of the relatives expressed dismay at what they saw as a 'down-scaling' of effort (or perhaps they had become accustomed to their 5 star lifestyle?).

Although we'd all like to know what really happened, it's time for everyone to take a deep breath and reassess the cost/benefit of continuing this search which looks increasingly futile.

Ukraine

Events in Ukraine seem to be escalating.  Let's pray that a full-scale civil war can be avoided.

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I will do a post on the trip we did to Sichuan Province (panda country) last weekend - hopefully in the next few days.

Best wishes,

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at China University of Petroleum, Qingdao.
www.upc.edu.cn
Tuesday, 6 May 2014