Tomorrow morning we will be leaving Harlaxton for Ceuta, Spain. It’s been another wonder couple of weeks here. We’ve had dinner with Ralph and Judith Poore, seen Othello and had a picnic dinner on the lawn at Tolethorpe, when to Norwich by train, and took many a long walk through the country side of Lincolnshire County. - Kathy

Tuesday evening we had diner with Nita and Malcolm Knapp at the Angle and Royal. The Royal is “widely regarded and fondly known as the oldest surviving English Inn, the main façade of the building that stands today was built approximately 600 years ago. The site then, however, had already been an Inn for 200 years, and was built as a hostel for the chivalrous Brotherhood of the Knights Templar. It was then that the beautifully carved building caught the eye of King John (“he of Magna Carta fame”) who decided it would make a suitable location for a visit of his Royal Court in 1213.” Words taken from their website.

It was great to get to visit with the Knapps who are local historians that assisted us since our first visit ten years ago. Malcolm has introduced Bill’s students to the history of Grantham, St. Wolfram Church, and the art of high tea. - Kathy

Friday 9:30 AM (London time) - arrived at Heathrow and worked my way through immigration and customs to catch the tube to King’s Cross. Met up with Bill and his class at the hotel. Joined the class for the day as they toured the Florence Nightingale Museum, the Old Operating Theatre, and then a view of the city from the London Eye.

Day two in London we were up and out by 8 AM. Bill and I along with Linda P. and Don R. (two other faculty members) spend the day wandering around London. We walked to Camden Market then along the canal to Regent’s Park. Caught a bus to St. Paul’s Cathedral and climbed the 528 steps to the top of the dome – a better view than from the Eye. The cathedral is a must see if you are in London. From there we walked across the Millennium Bridge and bought bread and cheese form the Borough Market for lunch. This outdoors market had booths of meat, fish, spices, olives, breads, fruits & vegetables to name just a few of the things being sold. Its sights and aromas, not to mention the crowd, sets the stage for feeling like you are in Old England. We had dinner along the banks of the Thames at a Greek restaurant enjoying a variety of dishes and of course lamb!

On Sunday we started with a long stroll through Hyde Park, stopping at Speakers’ Corner to listen to the orators of the day. We then headed for the Tate Britain passing by Buckingham Palace just in time to see the changing of the guards. Okay, the weekend is becoming a blur (that happens when you try to ignore that you’ve fast forward six hours and skipped a night’s sleep) but somewhere in time we spent several hours in the V & A (Victoria and Albert Museum). Don, with his pedometer, keep track of our foot steps and informed us that we walked about 12 miles each day! Add that to the lack of sleep and I can justify my lack of coherencies.

I remember now! The British Library is across form our hotel and we spent some time in there before supper on Sunday. It’s more then a library, with Exhibitions and Galleries one can spend many hours there. Among the library’s treasures is the Magna Carta, the original score of Handel’s Messiah, and the Gutenberg Bible. But I think I was most taken back by the scraps of paper with hand-written lyrics of songs in John Lennon and Paul McCartney hand!

Monday, having had a good night’s sleep, we were off to Canterbury for the day. Having read “Pillars of the Earth”, I have a great interest in the building of cathedrals, medieval times, and archbishops. After a guided tour of the city, we wandered around on our own and tried to envision life in the 12^th century. A train ride back to St. Pancreas and then on to Grantham ended our long weekend excursion. Being to late for dinner at the manor house, we dined at the Siam Gardens. (Sam, that one was for you, it was their buffet night!)

Our stay in Xian has been brief. This city of 8 million has a different feel then Hangzhou and Beijing. It’s still hot, but the terrain is more arid. As we drove out to the Terra Cotta Warrior site we saw plots of corn and pomegranate groves. The Terra Cotta Warrior site left you in a state of awe. The mystery of how or why this exists is not clear to me – need to do some additional reading. A group of us went to the night market along the North Wall. It is the Chinese Moslem community so the fruit, nuts, spices and meats being sold are different from what we have been seeing. Booths lined the center as well as the walls of the lanes. We worked hard at bartering for the best price for our treasures to bring home. To get home five of us hired two guys with three-wheeled motorize carriages. They artfully weaved in and out of the traffic – no carnival ride could compare to the thrill (nor danger).

After a walk along the city wall, we leave this morning for Shanghai. Tomorrow we have a 8:35 AM flight back to the states. It’s been on wonderful journey - Kathy

When we arrived in Beijing it was raining, but the show has to go on. Our guide picked us up and we headed to the Great Wall. Despite the rain, the wall was crowded with people. There was a ribbon of umbrellas moving up and down the long path of stairs. The rain did let up by the time we climbed up to one of the towers and the view was amazing. We covered a lot of ground in our short time in Beijing: the Ming Tomb, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Beijing Zoo, and Temple of Heaven. More to come for I am writing this in Xian - Kathy

These last couple of days has been packed. Tuesday, we visited two different CDC (Center for Disease Control) facilities where Bill and Janet gave a presentation on the US Heath Care System at both locations. Our friend Yosef, came along and worked as the interpreter with the presentations and the round table discussions that followed.

Our hosts treated us to both lunch and dinner. Let me try to describe the meal and setting. First we are seated at a BIG round table (there were us eight and six or so officials) with a large “lazy-susan” in the middle. The meal started with eight or more appetizer dishes that included bamboo shoots, boiled peanuts, fish tails, and roasted duck tongue to name a few. This was followed with an endless parade of dishes that represented the Hangzhou style of cooking. I cannot begin to describe it all, but there was not one thing I did not try and all was good. Note - we had two meals of this quantity in the same day!

Wednesday we went to Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital. Hospitals in China operate as clinics as well as acute care facilities. So upon entering the lobby, there is a mass of people. The procedure is you pay first for the service you need (long wall of cashiers) then you move on to the floor or hall and wait for your examination. The pharmacy is also there, both Chinese traditional and Western style. China’s health care system, like the US is also looking at reform.

Today, Thursday, we leave for Beijing. We will pack this morning and then we have a farewell luncheon. We will head for the train station this afternoon where we will take the overnight Z-train. Assuming I’ll have Internet connects I’ll keep posting – Kathy.

Sunday evening we went to an outdoor performance on West Lake. The stage was the lake it self and the performers literately appear to walk on the water (the platforms were below the water level). If you saw any of the Olympic Performances, this was of equal awesomeness. The lighting, costumes, props, and music brought a beautiful Chinese love store to life in a very picturesque setting. If you have a chance check out the link to Impression West Lake.

We have also had a chance to meet the new Chinese language professor who will be at UE this fall. She and another professor took several of us out last Friday evening for dinner and a boat ride on West Lake. It is these relationships that we are building that make this experience so worthwhile. - Kathy

There is one thing I know about the day when I get up - it will be hot. Not just warm, not 80’s hot, not low 90 something hot, but upper 90’s HOT!

Oh, did I mention, it’s hot and humid? I mean the sticky, clammy, muggy, sweat a river, kind of humidly. And HOT.

Ok, now that I’ve mentioned the weather, on with our activities. Morning lectures, this week, have been on the Chinese economy. In the afternoons (when it is the HOTTEST) we have ventured out to see the sites. We have been to the silk museum, the tea museum, the Six-Harmony Pagoda, and walks along West Lake. We have ventured out to shop and eat at local venues that range for the old historic district to the silk market (again). Just when you think, “I can’t take the heat one more minute”, you catch a breeze, find a stand that has cool drinks (ice is not the norm here), or step into a shop that has air-conditioning. When I get back, I going to have a BIG glass of iced tea! Oh, did I mention it was hot and humid? - Kathy

Saturday, Bill organized an outing about Hangzhou. We went to the historic district, the Chinese Traditional Medical Museum, a Buddhist Pagoda, and walked along more of West Lake shoreline.

Sunday was to be a day of rest. The students were on their own to explore, sleep in, shop, etc. I suggested, for those who wanted to, that we take a morning walk through the bamboo gardens not far from campus. As we gathered that AM, plans changed. Instead five of us decided to take the mountain walk that started near our dorm.

First you have to understand the topography of Hangzhou (see Google Earth). Zhejiang – Yuquan campus sets at the foot of a very pronounced hill (best estimate I found on Wikipedia is 0.8 km or around 2,600 ft). The path started behind the library with over 700 continuous steps! I wasn’t counting; every one-hundredth step was marked! At the top there was a trail along the ridge of the mountain that we knew lead to a temple at North Peak. What we didn’t know was how far. So we continued down the trail, ascending and descending for well over two hours. It was hot, we had no map, we had taken little water with us, and those we met on the trail could not converse with us to let us know what was ahead (or how far). Finally, at one point we could see our destination – a Buddhist temple and to our delight a cable car to the foot of the mountain!

The temple itself was inspiring. There were many “pilgrims” at the temple and I don’t think most of them came to that point by the trail we did, there was a main bus stop at the base of the cable car station. Despite our exhaustion and uncertainty of our judgment, we were all very pleased with ourselves for enduring the journey and the experience of the temple. - Kathy