A Warm and Hearty Welcome

Our Jinan hosts from the Shandong University of Art and Design (SUAD) herded us off the train and onto their comfortable, air conditioned bus... but not before a group shot of all of us holding a UO and SUAD banner. Dinner was amazing. With all of us seated around a table fit for King Arthur, we were served a meal fit for a king. The plates kept coming - whole roast chicken, pork foot, beef noodle soup, egg soup, yam, peanuts, shredded potato, bok choy, whole fried fish, beer, rice wine, mushrooms, fruit platter... and that was probably about half of what was served TO EACH OF US!
We met several of the professors and department heads. A couple of students were shooting video and still photos, there were two translators, and many of them took time to toast to us and welcome us warmly to Jinan.
After two hours of food and drink we wrapped up with some Chinese Karaoke performed for us by our hosts, and we sent a couple of our own up for a little a-capela.

We retired to our new home - the SUAD "Mansion" for visiting students and professors. It's not what I would call a "Mansion" but rather a hotel, directly adjacent to the student dorms.

In the morning we were fed another feast, with meats and vegetables I havge never seem before, let alone considered eating for breakfast. There were some western standards such as sliced bread and jam, scrambled eggs with zuchini, fried bread, boiled eggs and ham... then there were some stranger things, warm milk, salty sausage, unidentifiable vegetables, corn meal broth, tang, a few more REALLy salty things... It's going to take some getting used to.

To meet our partner students we traveled 45 minutes by bus to the edge of town where the new SUAD campus is located. They welcomed us with a standing ovation and were eager to get to know us. We each were intorduced to our partners, and spent a short time getting to know a little about eachother. Yu Zhouren is my partner, he is 21 years old, and specializes in flash animation. His english is better than my Chinese, but we can barely hold a conversation - so we use an online translator sitting side by side on computers. He said I am like his big brother because I'm seven years older than him. Then he asked me for an American name. I though for a bit and with some encouragement from Brooke decided to name him Jared, in honor of my own little brother, and because "Zhouren" sounds almost like "Jared". For those of you who don't normally read pinyin chinese, "Zh" sounds like a cross between "Ch" and "J". "N" doesn't sound anything like "d", so you have to use a little imagination. Oh, and of course "Yu" isn't a given name, it's his family name.

For four hours we shared samples of all of our individual art. I was dually impressed by both the SUAD students and our own class.

After another feast of a lunch, we got a tour of campus. The "bookstore" is small, but usefull. I browsed for a minute and decided to buy some pencils and a brush and ink. Before I realized what happened, Jared had paid for my stuff anf bought me an iced tea. I walked out feeling gracious and a little dazed. Then Brooke's partner, LiLi, handed me an ice cream bar she had bought when I wasn't watching. We're totally spoiled.

Dinner was on our host students as well. It was everything we could do just to pay for a one way cab ride back from the restaurant. I feel bad letting them pay for everything, but I think it would be worse for me to refuse their hospitality. Someday I hope I can return the favor.