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From Magic City Morning Star R.P. BenDedek R.P. BenDedek (pseudonym) is a conversational English Teacher in China (Hubei Radio and TV University Wuhan), and writes for Magic City Morning Star News. In addition to his 'Stories from China', he is the author of 'The King's Calendar:The Secret of Qumran' at www.kingscalendar.com. Chinese Examinations Part II
So here today, I want to add those photos and just a few comments. Everyday morning I travel to Wuhan Daxue on the Radio and TV University's Teachers bus, and along the way, pass this very traditionally styled Hotel Complex. It's called the Lake View Hotel, which is really a misnomer because that section of the lake over which it looks, is rather like a small pond. Nevertheless it is a beautiful sight. Here are some views of it.
The most eyecatching thing about the place is the front fence, which is really a tryptych. It's highly decorated and vivid, and naturally stunning to see. It is just a pity that it is not possible to catch it all in one frame. It is located on LuYouLu at LuXiang in WuChang, Wuhan.
Further down the road (in the direction of the No. 1 Bridge) we pass on the other side of the road, the following restaurant complex, and again, impossible to fit into one frame.
From this point we continue on to Wuhan University, and looped round to the back where I get off. While it takes the bus another 10 minutes to arrive at Dong Hu where I have been teaching (this will change in September) it only takes me about 5 minutes to walk to my Chinese class. At Lunch time I catch the 402 bus from behind WuDa, to Donghu, which requires travelling around one end of the lake. I have often wanted to go there to take some photos, rather than using the ones I have taken from the moving bus, and today I did just that. I have presented this following scene before, but this is a clearer picture I think.
This following photo shows a traditional building on a hill between two modern buildings. That traditional building belongs to Wuda.
This particular 'end' of the lake, is unfortunately, where rain and (apparently) treated sewage arrives, but it does not appear to put a dent in the fish population, for fish are to be seen everywhere, and their swarming (is that the right word) can be seen even at a distance.
At this particular location between the WuDa side and the Dong Hu side, there is located a very pleasant promenade, and some other interesting features.
On the opposite side of the road from the lake, there is some sort of museum or whatever, but I have yet to determine its function or name.
There are two sculptures within the promenade, but because of the position of the sun, I could not take any really good photos. Here is one presentation, and at the bottom of this article there is another close up and cropped photo of the sculpture of a Man, a Woman and a Child, apparently lounging in the water.
Now to something I referred to in my article entitled: Australian Anti-American Racism. I mentioned that a group of American Students arrived to study Chinese for the Summer. Today when I went to WuDa to do my KouYu Exam (Speaking Exam), I was unable to find these guys all together in class, but I did manage to get a few of them together for a photo shoot. So now let me introduce you to these guys:
Left to Right they are:
The first time I met Natalie, I automatically (stereotypically?) assumed that she was another french speaking African, and automatically greeted her in Arabic, then French. She nearly fell over backwards, and announced in that stereotypical southern drawl: Aaarrrrrr caaaarrrrmmmmmm from Teeeeeeeeexxxaaasss!
These wonderful ornaments are not only worn with great pride, but change colours so as not to clash with the ensemble. Like the rest (but more so), he is charming, friendly, funny, down to earth and a pleasure to talk to. It's just a pity that I couldn't get the others all together at the same time. So eat your hearts out guys, and all of them send their love to their families! Oh and the boys are thinking about bringing back Chinese Brides! No! No! Just kidding! (Although Courtney did say that had he known it was illegal for a foreigner to have an affair with a Chinese girl, he would never have come here!).
Admittedly they had been left to rot in their hotel rooms for a week before I came back to town, had not been shown around; were not allowed out at night, and had not been given any information or teaching materials. After having met with them twice at their hotel however, I decided not to present them with the 12 bottles of beautiful Chinese Red wine that I had bought them. Instead I drank them myself over the following months. For those of you interested, I scored 88.5% in my first of four Chinese Exams. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.
R.P.Bendedek Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com "The King's Calendar" is a chronological study of the historical books of the Bible (Kings and Chronicles), Josephus, Seder Olam Rabbah, and the (Essene) Damascus Document of The Dead Sea Scrolls. © Copyright 2002-2007 by Magic City Morning Star |
