Sunday, April 13, 2008
We left Beijing behind and began our bus trip at 8:30 AM. This morning was the sunniest morning yet, with just a touch of blue in the sky. Maybe the skies were clearer on this second day of the weekend because we were without the millions of cars commuting to work. Then, thirty minutes into the trip we came to a complete stop. All three lanes on the expressway were full. Drivers from all around us came out for a cigarette break. Fifteen drivers were smoking along the guardrail just outside my bus window. Interestingly, on the right side of our bus was a golf course! We were told that golf was an up-and-coming sport for the very wealthy. After about half an hour things cleared and we continued along. We passed farmland for hours upon end. Many of the fields were growing wheat, there were many orchards, and there were many areas with huge areas were trees had been planted, row after row after row. We arrived at our hotel after the eight hour trip in the city of Jinan, which has nine million people. We quickly changed into our best clothes for a lavish banquet with the leadership of the Shandong Provincial Education Department. Tomorrow we visit our new “Sister School.”