night market

Saturday

The bags arrived and I packed up CARE EE quickly - and we were off to the bus station amidst the bustle of the first clear day ... people were OUT! The sun promising to shine and we were on our way. The Jinan city bus station is a modern gleaming example of the emerging China - we were even greeted by a life-size Santa next to His proverbial "tannenbaum". Since most of our western Christmas decorations are manufactured in China these days - its no wonder that they have finally circumnavigated globe and cultures to arrive here!

After an uneventful ride through the valley we arrived in the city of Taian. One of the most important destinations for Chinese tourists. Here is where the most revered of the "seven holy mountains" are. Mount Tai. It is believed that if you see the sunrise on Mt. Tai you will be blessed forever.

Our destination would be a blessing (the orphanage on Sunday) but it did not involve ancestor rituals or climbing the steps of a mountain! We were welcomed by D & O (English teachers from California) with snacks and a tour of the newest foreign residence building on the Agricultural Campus. WOW - marble floors, granite countertops, beautiful two bedroom, fully furnished units featuring full-sized kitchens! Quite an improvement from the facility where J and D were located when they taught here two years ago.

The envy and delight registered on our faces - for we were "renting" two of the apartments for our 2 day stay in Taian - at the very reasonable price of 100 RMB (approximately $12 US dollars)

My interpreter arrived to go over the program and any strange language problems he might encounter, probably more to do with my Texas accent than vocabulary. Several former students of the Phalen's came to meet us for dinner. What a lively crowd we became on the street corner! Boisterously greeting each other with hugs and "how are you's. " They all remembered my visit to their classes and took delight in recounting various parts of the performance. "Oh, the coloring book - I liked that the best," said one. Another recalled the stories - laughs were shared with frequency.

After a huge, spicy dinner of .... Chinese food - we made our way to the "night market". A riverside street filled with small vendors, hawking their "made in China" wares and gawking at the Americans making their way down the crowded lane. Most popular are the food vendors - specializing in a wide variety of fried and sugary fare served on long bamboo skewers. Fried sugar apples, dipped bananas, leechi nuts in carmelized sugar, and my personal favorite - chicken heads on a stick!

The cold night wind swept over our enthusiasm and ended our adventure early. Tomorrow - the children