Typhoon Usagi jumped into the mix in Guangzhou this week. This was my first typhoon experience, tornados in the midwest, hurricanes in the south, earthquakes in UT, I can now add typhoons to my list of natural disasters survived. She moved across Taiwan over the weekend and arrived in Guangzhou on Sunday. She carried 123 mph winds across the water but calmed down by the time she reached us. There were trees down, branches all over the streets and sidewalks, small rivers of water, a real downpour to say the least. Church was canceled on Sunday but school was business as usual on Monday morning. Usagi had moved on to Hong Kong by the time we started classes.
Our first day of class was a very interesting experience. We are assigned to Graduate Teaching Bldg. #1 fourth floor, right under the guise of Sun Yat Sen at the main gate of the university. My classes are predominately Engineering majors working on their Master's Degree. I have seven classes, 230 students, a larger load than I expected. The class gender is very tilted, 25 boys 2 girls, 20 boys 5 girls, 24 boys and 5 girls. All students seems to have an exceptional vocabulary, lots of memorized dialogue, however they struggle with sentence structure and impromptu conversation and questions. I really have my work cut out for me. Students are very respectful, prompt and anxious to learn. I am looking forward to a great experience.
Thursday, September 19 was the Moon Festival in Guangzhou, I think we might call that fall break. We took advantage of two days off to see the sights in Guangzhou. I am very impressed with the Guangzhou Metro. It is easy to understand even if you don't speak Mandarin, clean, fast and very efficient. We are able to zip around town like veterans.
Tiyu Xilu Shopping Center eight story mall. The food venues are all on the top floor!
Canton Tower
The Chen Ancestral Hall (check out that roof)
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