A Visit to Confucius Birthplace at Qufu

Confucius' Temple

Hello to all of my Relief Society sisters,

Qufu is in the state of Lu and its winding city wall was about four kilome-
ters long. Hence the name of Qufu, this is why it was called Qufu which means
a long winding city wall. Qufu had become a political, economic, and cultural
center several thousand years ago. As some of you know I have been blessed
to teach this year in Qufu. The most important fact about this very small town
is it is the home town of Confucius. The history of this walled town dates
back more than 2000 years. I live inside of the ancient walled city. Here I can
actually see a blue sky and white clouds on occasion and for this I am thankful.

The town is filled with bike taxis, horse-pulled carriages, and souvenir vendors lining the
streets. All of the trees on my street, which is the main street in the walled section of town, are
adorned with tiny blue lights which twinkle against the night sky. This gives the town a festive
atmosphere. The architecture is of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this town looks like a page out of a child's Chinese fairy tale book.

There is a Confucius Dream Show, which I was told played all year, but I went today to the tour company of Qufu and asked them to give me information about this production. I was told tonight will be the last live performance until May 2009. They also told me there is a film showing the live production of that stage program. I can promise you it is most worthwhile. I have not seen anything in either Paris, or Vegas which is any better than this stage show.

Confucius' cemetery is said to be the largest family cemetery in all of China. I took a very pleasant walk around the perimeter of these grounds when I first arrived back in August. It has the ability to transport you away from reality. The Confucius Mansion and Confucius Temple are within walking distance from my front gate, maybe a block or two at most. Inside the temple grounds you will hear stories of how the huge stone tablets were transported from Beijing to Qufu first by the rivers and when the rivers were no more, during the winter months they flooded the ground and the water froze giving them a slick road of ice to move these monsters. There are many other stories told as you tour these sites, so I sure hope you all will have the opportunity to come to Qufu and taste of the history and culture of this charming little town. I look forward to meeting each of you.

"My Three Worries"

“My Three Worries”
Written by Elwin’s Juniors in the “English Writing” Class
October 7, 2008

Here are some of the stories…

I was born on February 7th, ten days before Chinese New Year. It is said that people born in winter tend to be more pessimistic. I can’t agree more. I am a little self-abased. So I’m always worrying about my job in the future, my mom and my fate.

Among all the worries, the most depressing one is my job in the future. In China, diplomas decide everything. A high-quality diploma means big houses, high salaries, private cars, and sense of superiority. However, I am not one of those excellent students. I sometimes doubt whether I can get the opportunity to study further in a good university after graduation (she is in the top .5% of the high school graduates to be admitted to the Shandong University Medical School). Only being a master or even a doctor can I enter a good hospital. Fortunately, once you (Mr. Davis) told us that students in the middle can also be perfect doctors in the future. They can be even better than the top student. You really encouraged me a lot. These words give me the force to carry on. It is these words that change my biggest worry into a motive force.

As to my mom, I realy hope she can find her Mr. Right earlier to keep her company. Besides, the third one seems to be a little ridiculous. When I was traveling in Sichuan Province, a Buddhist monk told me that I would come across with a serious disaster at the age of 50. That’s scary to me. But who knows? Whatever, you can never be too careful to live.
Comments: Worry certainly is a good thing to procrastinate!

Elwin's medical students

The 8-year medical students from Elwin's English Writing class came to visit Sunday night, October 19, 2008. The class has 36 students, so they came in two groups. Elwin asked how they decided who to come first. They said they drew lots. Apparently, whenever they couldn't decide how to divide up the group, they drew lots. Interesting! A few of them couldn't come because they had to attend mandatory political class Sunday night.

We prepared hamburgers for everyone. The students were asked to bring some chips, but they brought a lot more than chips. They brought dried fruit candies, jello cups, Chinese beef jerky, various kinds of chips that we couldn't name. The students loved the hamburgers.

It was fun helping them find American names since most of them don't have one. We named them after our family and friends making it very memorable. Since this is the 8-year medical students, meaning they were selected from the beginning to stay in the medical school until they finish and will graduate as MD's. It's group of brilliant young 20-year-old traditional college students. There are no non-traditional students in the program. One of the boys was names after our dear friend, Dr. Frank S., in St. George. One young lady was Elaine, the other Cami. They were so thrilled to have the names of our family and friends. We actually took their Chinese names and found some similar sounding American names for them. It was fun. We had Friendly Frank, Elegant Elaine, Cute Cami, Brilliant Brad, Nice Nancy, Shining Star, and so on. It was very fun and I know they'll use those American names.

We received a "thank you" note today from one of the boys. Here it is:

Dear Mr and Mrs Davis,

I'am writing here to thank you for your zealous invitation and hospitality on Sunday this week. You know it was the first time for me to have a party with foreign teachers and friends as well. I'am really very honoured.And I did enjoy the American hamburger, little cookies and the amazing games prepared by you as well.

Thanks again for the happy time you shared with us. I appreciate so much. May the joy and happiness around you and your family today and always! BEST WISHES!!!

yours sincerely

Shining Star

赵汝星

A journal

A journal entry from a junior student, October 16, 2008
Childhood

Compare to other people of my age, I didn’t have a perfect childhood.
I was born in Shandong, and when I was 8 years old, all my family moved to Xinjiang (far western part of China which is mostly desert). That was the year of 1995. At that time, Xinjiang was a very remote place for all my family. I still remember we spent 5 days and 6 nights to get there. That’s really a long and only way.
Everything would begin from start. After we rented the house, and bought some necessities, there was only 50 yuan left. What’s more, the school would begin in 20 days. We have no tuition for two children. But we didn’t give up.
My father and mother worked hard for less money the daytime, and wash the used pocket (?) in Urimqi River at night. The water in Urimqi was very cold in the August nights. Even though, we can only have two meals a day. My mother also picked up some recycle rubbish to sell. In a word, the most thing I can remember in my 8 years is poor.
Several years later, we had some money. My parents began to sell vegetables along the street. At that time, we could have three meals a day, and my brother and I can give our tuitions to our teacher on time.
The years during my high school my parents didn’t sell vegetables along the street any more. Instead, my father went to the vegetable field, and transported them to the market. So we can earn several hundreds once. We buy new clothes and didn’t have to wear old clothes, which were given by others any more.
Now, I am at Shandong University. Can you guess what is the present situation of my family? To tell you the truth, the situation was just like the years when we went to Xinjiang several years earlier. My parents have to take most of their income to pay for my high tuition. Just because I’m the first college student of our family. I am their hope. I am really under high pressure both from my parents and my major. I am still in my childhood, which is like a nightmare. Just forget it.
Written by a junior in Elwin's class.

“They stole our hearts” – the beauty of the land of China and its culture

By Shirley Sung Davis

At our first group meeting, one of the brethren said he came to China because his wife wanted him to come. Then something happened after he started teaching Chinese students…he began choking as he explained. “They stole my heart”, he said. They are the students who we have come to love. Yes, the land is beautiful. But, better yet, the purest form of love and respect expressed by our students is what makes this culture so special and make us want to stay, or come back year after year. Let me tell you what I saw…
We were invited to visit the Jinan Hongye Valley, 济南红叶谷，as part of the “English Corner” activities. This valley is located 30 KM south of Jinan. About 40 students showed up on Saturday morning to enjoy the beautiful valley and to have the opportunity to speak to American speakers.

The students hired a tour bus for the event. They also brought enough food for an army. It included 4 cases of Laushan Beer, a big case of barbeque beef, mutton, chicken wings, shrimp and fish on skewers. Everyone brought some kind of crackers, fruits and other snacks. They even brought a long trough, along with charcoal briquettes, to grill the food. The grilling started at around 11 and at 2 o'clock they were still grilling. Dana gently informed them that drinking beer was bad for them, that it kills brain cells. Only the guys drank, none of the girls touched the stuff.

It was so much fun talking to the students, helping them get appropriate American names. Names such as "super man", "flag", "number one" were quickly changed to John, Matt, Cindy, etc. We all had so much fun speaking English. That was what the field trip was about - providing students with opportunities to speak English to native English speakers. I'm not a native English speaker, but was good enough to be helpful like a native speaker would, I guess.

Visiting with the girls was a lot of fun. We talked about values and the girls were very surprised that Americans were not like the ones they saw on TV with lots of problems.

During the whole time that we were together, I saw something beautiful. All the students made sure we were comfortable, well fed and enjoying our experience there. When we wanted to sit down, they immediately found some papers for us to sit on. When we looked at the trough to see what they were grilling, they immediately brought us the skewers of foods. They were helping Dana get up and down the steps for fear that she was going to fall. Their tender loving care of their American teachers reminded me of what the brother I mentioned at the beginning of this article said, “They stole my heart”. I noticed whenever I called on a student to answer a question, (s)he almost always would stand at attention to answer the questions. They have such respect for the teachers, it’s hard not to love them. Yes, “they stole my heart too”. How grateful I’m to be here to feel the love of our Heavenly Father’s children in China.

tender loving care!

"Repent ye, repent ye..." Is that Samuel the Lamanite up there preaching?

English Corner Field trip on Sat. Oct. 11

We were invited by the Thelins and their graduate students to go on a field trip with them to southern Jinan. About 40 students (18 girls and 22 boys) showed up for the event. They are mostly mechanical engineering students in their first year of graduate studies.

The students hired a tour bus for the event. They also brought enough food for an army. It included 4 cases of Laushan Beer, a big case of barbeque beef, mutton, chicken wings, shrimp and fish on skewers. Everyone brought some kind of crackers, fruits and other snacks. They even brought a long trough, along with charcoal briquettes, to grill the food. The grilling started at around 11 and at 2 o'clock they were still grilling. Dana kept telling them drinking beer was bad for them. It kills your brain cells. Only the guys drank, none of the girls touched the stuff.

It was so much fun to talk to the students, to help them get appropriate American names. Names such as "super man", "flag", "number one" were quickly changed to John, Matt, Cindy, etc. We all had so much fun speaking English. That was what the field trip was about - providing students with opportunities to speak English to native English speakers. I'm not a native English speaker, but was good enough to pass on as a native speaker, I guess.

Visiting with the girls was a lot of fun. We talked about values and the girls were very surprised that Americans were not like the ones they saw on TV with lots of problems.

Pizza Party for the Nursing Students

What do the nursing students in China want? A Pizza Party!

That was what we had at the Davis' Sunday (Oct. 12) afternoon and evening. We divided up the students into two groups of 18 for the event. We made pizzas in our tiny little toaster oven, plus garlic bread. Everyone wanted to make pizzas, so we had to take turns making them. We also enjoyed some delicious fresh fruits.

After eating, we played some games that blew the nurses away. They were group games that required each to observe and find answers to clues. Everyone had to speak and listen in English. At the end, they all figured it out.

Everyone enjoyed the evening. Now the secret is out. The Davis' can do pizza parties in China.

Enjoy the slide show below.