Culture week continues with Asia day. And while there are lots of activities organized by the foreign faculty during the day, the great highlight, of course, always is the show that’s put on every night during culture week. For Asia Night, a lot of the foreign students performed, making the job for the foreign faculty an easy one.
It’s almost November. And that usually means the annual Culture Week is upon us. And since we’re talking about the usual already, our school’s international culture week usually starts with China day. This year is no exception. So, for China day, local trades people gather in the main square on campus to offer their goods and services, which include anything from selling cotton candy to cutting silhouettes and painting portraits. Even glass sculpturing and musical performances were part of this year’s China day. And of course, I had to go and record it all!
Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; its about learning how to dance in the rain. ~ Anonymous ~
Admitted, climbing local mountains isn’t anything like climbing the Swiss Alps as we did last summer. It is, however, not in the least less adventurous, especially if you have the privilege to hike together with a group of friends. We did just that, and the reason why I would call our last trip to the mountain a little adventurous, is because of what my music loving friends decided to bring along: a little ukelele, percussions and a hand drum. With all that in our hiking equipment, we were sure to have some fun, but also a glorious autumn morning in the mountains!
Our Saturday night life usually looks rather tame. Not so the other day, however. Fast pace and a bit of a thrill was the order of the day when we went go-kart racing. Now, if you’re someone with a driver’s license and a love for speed, you might think this is just real boredom . Not so in China, however – I assure you. Most of our friends don’t have any driver’s license, and if they do, they usually don’t have much experience driving. So, getting on a go-kart course with a bunch of people who don’t know what they’re doing can turn into quite the exciting obstacle event, with the added effect that you’ll never know what your obstacles are going to do next. I for my part was entertained enough just watching the action, especially with my special Canadian (squirrel) friend racing the course like a mad-man, and everyone else just trying to escape him. You see, there’s never any ordinary adventure in China. On that note, happy racing, friends!
Usually, in my food corner, I like to share some food samples of what we get to eat sometimes. Today, however, I thought I’d share with you a usual after-dinner aftermath! See, most western people eating with chop sticks think they need to leave their places all clean and tidy to meet with proper etiquette. Here, however, the more common approach to eating together will make the place of dining look more like what you see in the picture above – a battle field. Dropping your food matters just as little as throwing left-overs on the ground, or arranging them around your plate (if you happen to have one, which here we didn’t have our own plates). It may not be proper etiquette (even here) but it still works most of the time!
See this? It’s our new lobby, and it’s been coming together just nicely over the last couple of days. Ever since they started the cleaning process! In fact, things have progressed so well, that now we’re actually using the lobby to quickly get from the one building to the other one, whether they want us to or not. Life has definitely improved by a lobby these days! And I can’t wait to see it when it’s actually done!
So, I’ve been telling you about how I’ve been living in a construction zone more or less lately, right? Well, here’s one of the reasons for why this isn’t necessarily a very good thing … Both of these signs can be found in our hallways these days. Need I say more? Well, luckily, my apartment has not been affected by this … y.e.t.!
Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude. ~ Ralph Marston ~
Lobbies are peculiar things. They serve very well as entrance areas … if they exist. The new lobby which is supposed to connect our new faculty residence with the old faculty residence has been under construction for quite a while now, and we are eagerly awaiting the day when admittance is allowed, and we can use the new main entrance instead of the old side entrance. As I pass by the new lobby every day on my way in or out the building, a thought keeps occurring to me: Life will go a lot faster, once that lobby is in use. Why? Because it’ll cut short my walks to the old building (which I frequent several times a day) by more than half the distance. That’s going to save me a lot of time, I assure you! Unfortunately, that lobby’s still being worked on, so no one can tell, when exactly we’re actually going to be able to use it. However, when I was walking by the place the other, I made an exciting …
