5 November 2017
It's been a long time since I've written here (July 2017)...too long of course. Life has a way of happening whether I write about it at the time or not. So much has happened since then (thankfully now, with a camera on my cellphone, it's easy to capture moments on time in an image. Some images when done right (rarely for me!) capture emotions, some capture beauty, some capture just ordinary day to day events.
When I last wrote, I had just gotten back from a nice trip to Europe with my sister Patricia. That seems like years ago. Since then I've been continuing to learn Chinese and even went on a trip with my Chinese teacher for immersion training in Qingdao. The area is beautiful, but I don't think I was ready for 100% Chinese...I had a headache every night from trying to keepup! Qingdao is a city with a history of links to Europe and even was occupied by Germany at one time. There is alot of German architecture around the city that still survives.
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| The location of the German Government during their occupation (before WWI) |
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| Sarah on a hike up Laoshan mountain outside of Qingdao |
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| The Christian church in Qingdao |
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| The home of one of the "rich" Germans, overlooking the sea in Qingdao. Today it is an empty museum |
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| Sarah and my english teacher's family getting ready for a sail boat ride in Qingdao |
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| A national park in Qingdao by the ocean |
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| My Chinese teacher and me on top of Laoshang mountain, Qingdao |
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| The East China sea from the top of Laoshan mountain outside of Qingdao |
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| Laoshan mountain outside of Qingdao |
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| Fishing boats at Qingdao |
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| Rocks at the seaside in Qingdao |
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| Qingdao Laoshang mountain |
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| Sarah in the clouds at Qingdao |
In addition to this training, I also had some fun at work by going to the BMW plant not far from our plant and doing the annual fun run.
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| Some of our Michelin Fun Run participants for 2017 |
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| Running for the love of Children |
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| Before the Run |
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| After the run! |
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| The kids get into the fun too! |
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| Making BMW's at their plant here in Shenyang..really nice cars in a really nice factory! |
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| Our little benchmarking team on the BMW test track getting ready to have some fun! |
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| Inside the factory (yes, this is really the factory, note the "line" of cars in production is actually going through the main building just beside the cafeteria and main visitor area. Pretty cool! |
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| Sarah and the BMW manager are colleagues on the European Union Chamber of Commerce Chapter here in Shenyang. |
Some of you know my sister Mary Nell's oldest daughter Hannah lives in Okinawa,
Japan. Relatively speaking, it's close, so I decided that I would go there to visit Hannah and her husband and 8 month old baby over the Chinese National Days holiday.
Love them so much! Okinawa is a beautiful island in the South China sea.
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| Hannah and baby Tom |
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| Sarah and baby Tom |
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| Visiting the pinnaple park on Okinawa island. |
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| Tom, baby Tom Jr and Hannah in the pinnaple park |
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| Cool ocean breezes at Okinawa Aquarium overlooking the sea |
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| Okinawa in the shade |
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| Okinawa at desk from Hacksaw ridge |
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| The dome of the Glass making factory in Okinawa |
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| Baby Tom won't be strolling long...steps will come quickly! |
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| Baby Tom so cute! |
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| Hannah, Tom Jr and Sarah at Okinawa |
One more humbling and exciting experience was that Sarah received the Liaoning Province "Friendship" award. This is an award that is awarded to foreign national experts who have served in China for a long time and are helping develop the Chinese people. I was honored to receive this award from the Governor of the Liaoning province.
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| Sarah with the Liaoning Governor holding the award. |
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| Sarah home with the "bling" |
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| The group of recipients of the 2017 Liaoning Friendship awards |
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| The award...and my name in Chinese! |
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| Before the award ceremony, Rodney and Sarah with a small group at Beiling park in Shenyang |
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| Rod and Standing on the path reserved for the Emporer at Beiling park in Shenyang |
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| The entry packet with Red star stamped meal tickets...Red star.stamp..means Chinese government is paying for this meal. Never in all of my years of US military service did I ever think I would be the receiving end of anything favorable from the Chinese government...the world changes, and so am I. |
Not to be outdone by the Province, the Shenyang City also awarded Sarah the "Rose Award". This is an award also for foreigners who are helping develop the city of Shenyang. Shenyang is a city of about 10 million people of which, the mayor said that there are 3,500 foreigners counting all family members . Each year 10 foreigners are selected to receive this award and this year I was one of them. Feeling pretty honored with these awards. Of course, they are pieces of paper and shiny medals...no tangible value professionally that I can see. Personally, they mean a great deal to me! I didn't apply for this, it just happened...still, after 7.5 years, not sure how these things work in China!
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| Made the Shenyang TV news...must have been a slow night! Not sure exactly what I was so intent on studying! |
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| The 10 recipients of the Rose Award with the Mayor of Shenyang...I think I was the only woman, right beside the mayor. |
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| Sarah receiving the Rose Award in Nov 2017 with the Mayor of Shenyang |
There is other news even more important that all of this...that will be the subject of a future blog.
Love you to all and thanks for your continued prayers!
Rod and Sarah
