Red hair

It began with just a hair cut. Barbara and I decided we were in desperate need of hair cuts. She asked Maggie (a Chinese student that has a cute haircut) where we should go to get hair cuts. There are many places around the university but evidently those aren't good. So Maggie took us into town to this guy who ended up being awesome.
We get there and somehow I'm convinced to get my hair colored as well. If figure why not - I'm in China.
So the stylist comes up and points to a color that I should color my hair. I figure he knows more than I do and what's the worst that could happen?
After I have my color I sit down in the chair (I've told him nothing about how I want it cut) and he starts to walk around me. He takes about 5 minutes just looking at my hair. He would touch it, then step back and look. It was kinda funny actually. He then turns to Maggie and tells her to tell me that I need a new hair style and is it ok if he cuts it shorter. Sure, why not.
Then come the scissors and he starts chopping away. In the end I really like it, especially the way he styled it with a little gel. It gave the style a little more body and edge. Now I just need to learn how to style it that way myself.
So overall a good haircut experience - despite the fact he spoke no English and I spoke no Chinese.

Penglai

A while back Dale, Barbara and I went to Penglai. It's a little over an hour from Yantai so we did it in a day trip. Penglai is known for the Penglai pavilion with the 8 immortals and for a mirage that appears every few years - unfortunately it did not appear the day we were visiting. The pavilion is a place of worship, hence the multitude of temples. There is also a mirage that has appeared in the past. It usually only appears for a few minutes but several years ago it was visible for a few hours so they now have a film of it that we saw. The mirage is on the sea horizon and in it there appears a town and stuff.

A pretty view of Penglai Pavilion...


A section of the Pavilion had tons of artwork, such as these jade statues...
Penglai Pavilion is known for the 8 immortals. I guess these are some of the 8...


Dale fits in well with the Chinese since he's so superstitious. Evidently if your coin lands on the turtle's head you'll have good luck...



I'm not exactly sure what this guy is but he looks awesome...

More impressive looking statues. They're everywhere...

That section far away and up high is where we walked to see all the temples...

This kid is SO cute in his little blue outfit...

Me and Dale. You might wonder why I have the piece of cloth tied around my skirt. That's because it was so incredibly windy. Barbara and I had bought new dresses and wanted to wear them. We didn't realize we'd be entering hurricane force winds. Consequently, my skirt wanted to fly up all day. Hence why it's tied down...


The town of Penglai...

Even the trash cans look cool here...

Barbara and I on the beach, after walking ALL the way down. Of course that was easy compared to walking up...

Walking back up the stairs...
Dale's afraid of heights...

Hahaha, Barbara has the windblown look down pat...

The ceiling in my room isn't quite this fancy...

The signs are a constant amusement...

A pretty decorative screen...

My room

Here's a few pictures of my room at Yuweihong that I took right after I arrived. It's not the Ritz but it's enough. Ignore the lack of decorations.

Here's my bedroom, conveniently located right beside the kitchen...

My bedroom/den/living area. There's a tiny baloncy outside but unfortunantly it only overlooks the back of another building...


My kitchen. Notice the lack of an oven. Everything is cooked on the stovetop here, very few ovens. That yellow and white thing is my washing machine - interesting to use...

Here's my bathroom. You might not be able to tell from this picture but there's no distinction between the shower area and the rest of the bathroom. You just pull the shower curtain across half the room, unplug the hot water heater (don't want to die), then shower. There's a nice little drain for the water to escape. At first it was weird but I've definitely gotten use to it...

Another few things I've noticed:

-Chinese people love to sing out loud. On the way to class this morning there was a group of guys behind me that sang an entire song while walking to class. I think by the end of the year I'll be randomly singing in public because I've already felt the impulse.

-Unlike back home where students barely go to the classes they are required to go to, I have extra students in all of my classes. I think they attend class simply because I'm foreign and they want to hear me talk. That's fine but I was completely bewildered when I handed out the sign-up sheet for oral test times and a girl (not in my class) asked if she could come take the test. When I explained to her that she could sit in the class but she didn't need to take the test because she wouldn't get a grade she still wanted to take it anyways. Anybody from back at UNC want to take extra exams?

Buddhist Monastery

About a month ago I visited a local Buddhist monastery. I went with two other foreign teachers and a Chinese student who acted as a tour guide for us.

This is the monastery from the road that we hiked up to see it...

Me and Barbara (good job Dale keeping the camera level)...

One of the many Buddha's in the monastery...

Another...
Jason putting the incense up. When I asked if there was any significance behind this he said it's food for Buddha. However the incense used in houses is for bad smells. Hahaha - funny at the time.

Inside the temple...

Barbara praying to Buddha...


Pretty view of the monastery. I especially like the roof...

Dale and I praying at the temple...

Yantai Pictures

I have been negligent with my online postings but that’s just cause I’ve been so busy lately. I spent a week traveling for the October holiday and it's been busy since then.

I finally have some pictures to share. These are all taken in Yantai...

A picture of the campus where I teach, Yantai University.












The lake in the middle of campus.













The clock tower by the lake.













One of the student dorms. Either 6 or 8 people in a room and the showers are located in a different building. I'll never complain about my dorm life again!










The market outside of campus.













Yantai - A picture of the town from a lookout area that Barbara and I walked to.












All the boats waiting to go fishing.













Some of the many bright lights and billboards around town.












Zoom in and appreciate the saying on the little wooden sign. I see signs like this all the time that constantly crack me up.











This was one of the first places someone took me in Yantai. Everyone's very proud that they have one here. Evidently it only opened a few months ago.