From Avisia III

We visited briefly Shandong University today. Across all of the campuses it totals 100,000 students. Students pay $4/night to sleep there, or as little as $1/night if they are willing to share a room with three others. I asked Aaron if they had to work then during the day to earn their keep - he looked at me with a blank face (unusual for him) - and said "why, no! They are students - their job is to study!" Could have knocked David and I over at that moment knowing what Laura is facing for tuition.

Many families were out enjoying the campus, many grandparents with grandchildren. Akin to what we would see at a neighborhood park.

We then went to the Lutheran Cathedral. Aaron, David (and Ruth in the baby carrier) talked with the person in charge of renovations as the entire cathedral is being redone inside. I ran around snapping pictures. This won't surprise anyone - but the parts of it that I just love were the fusion between East & West. There were Buddhist prayer flags flying behind the cross on the front of the building. Inside, there were German flora & fauna in the paintings, surrounded by Mandarin symbols. There were paintings of angels anchored by typically eastern designs.

Back to the person in charge of renovations - they were in a deep discussion about how only elders are in the pews now. Too many of the younger generation want to "chase the money" so only older people are studying to become priests. David and Aaron agreed that it is a problem in their religions too. A little mini-summit between Buddhist, Lutherans and Catholics there. The person in charged summed it up by saying "that is the question for our age." I would have loved to sit down and have tea with her to talk to her some more but it was time for us to go.

We have one day left in Jinan and then we are off to Guangzhou. There is much that we haven't seen here, including the temple to Confuscious where all Chinese scholars must study for a while. However, it is time for us to hone in and get ready for the flight tomorrow night. We are hopeful Ruth's passport will be ready in time.

Ruth is continuing to open up more which is good to see. We have nick-named her "our little gopher" because she has the chubbiest cheeks and the biggest grin. Her smile now reaches her eyes which is good and she is starting to joke with us. She continues to be very fastidious and put all of her toys away on her own. And when I say away, I mean away -they were in their bags off to the side and the table was completely clear. She also wants to clean her hands after she eats a single piece of fruit. However, making her bed this morning was not at the top of her list, even after David's encouragement. We'll coddle her for a while on that one!

She and David went for a walk this morning and saw some gorgeous kites. Aaron mentioned that seniors will sail kites for exercise. They also walked along the city wall from ancient times for a while. Now they are at the grocery store getting some - wait for it - Ramen noodles - for us to have in the hotel room. We're getting done with hotel/take out food. (A really good Ceasar's salad right now with baked chicken sounds soooo good but is sooooo far away).

The weather that hit Beijing - where 100 people died in their cars, did not reach us. From what we could tell, unless it came in the middle of the night, we have not had any rain. It would be a welcome relief. Everyone is still healthy too which is very lucky.

Well - I'm off to the hotel room now to either watch CNN or HBO - the only two English channels. We did get another free newspaper in the room - in English - which kind of rocks as I neglected to bring any books and finished the magazines by the second day here.

Peace and love to all,

Avisia