Day Seven, Eight & Nine

The last time I wrote to you was about our train ride from Beijing to Jinan. The next day, day 7, we mad the first of many 40 minute bus ride from the old campus, where we are staying, to the new campus, where the students live and work. I got off the bus not really knowing what to think or feel about the very different situation I was about to be in. My partner’s name is Jang Chyo and she is 21 and an animation major. After we got to know our partners a little each pair had a chance to introduce themselves and their work to everyone. I was able to show them a digital version of my portfolio that I had posted on facebook last spring. From there we all went to lunch, and it never ceases to amazing me that they always use every last little part of the animal in the dishes. From there we got a tour of their incredible campus. They have huge labs for every possible medium including a packaging design lab! I wish the U of O had a packaging design lab. We then had about an hour to talk about a few possible ides for our partner project before going to dinner. A few of the students, including Jang, took their partners to a local shopping street for diner. We had some good Korean style noodle and then walked in and out of a few shops before it was time to go back to campus. We then, once again, boarded the bus and drove the 40 minutes back to the old campus. I was very tired and very happy to get in my bed, even though it is still a much harder mattress than I am used to.

On day 8 we took a break from the over whelming-ness of trying to come up with ideas for our partner projects and went to Qufu which is Confucius’s home. Our tour guide took us through the temples and palaces and to the cemetery where Confucius and his relatives are buried. We had lunch at a very nice restaurant that dignitaries and people very high up eat at when they go to Qufu. The food was some of the best I’ve had on the trip so far. After lunch we drove to Mt. Tai and took the gondola to the top because we didn’t have enough time to climb it. It would have been 666 stairs to the top and my legs were still hurting from the Great Wall so im glad I didn’t have to climb it. The view from the top was spectacular. I had never seen anything like it. We had a few minutes of free time and a few of us had seen some people eating what looked like soft serve ice cream and decided to try some ourselves. I was mistaken to think that it would taste like the soft serve at home because it certainly didn’t. It was a little bit icier of a texture and it tasted slightly like banana and not much else. I pawned it off on one of the boys so that it didn’t get wasted. I also found a cool shirt for my brother at the top of Mt. Tai, I think he is going to really like it. After taking the gondola back down we got back on the bus and headed back to the campus we are staying at for dinner.

Day 9 was another full day for us to work on our projects with our partners on t4eh new campus. Jang and I came up with some good ideas and decided to take many pictures of peoples eyes and make something out of them. We weren’t quite sure what we would make with them but at least we had a good base idea. After lunch we had a little time to see the student’s dorms. There are 6 people in every room, three loft beds on either side with desks underneath or a very small amount of space between the two sides of the room. From there we met the rest of the group and went to the museum on campus before going to a Chinese calligraphy lesson. After dinner we had a little free time before the bus was scheduled to leave and we all ended up playing a little basketball game with too many people. It was nice to run around a little. We then headed back to our campus at 7:30 and relaxed a little before going to bed. It was another long day but this certainly is an amazing experience.

More to come soon! love you family!