After a couple of hectic weeks I have arrived back in DC. I managed to get back before the end of cherry blossoms. The weather has a warm spring breeze, so it is nice to be back from the long cold Russian winter.
Market Street at Shandong University of Science & Technology
After two weeks of teaching marketing management at Shandong University of Science & Technology (SDUST), I had just about got used to using chalk, but more importantly, we were ready for the final assessment. The students had been tasked with developing a product and marketing it, applying the principles and theories taught in the class. A wide array of products had been picked by students, ranging from cakes to fish tanks and calligraphy to stress balls.
Once the stalls had been set up each student and member of faculty in attendance was given 25 Wu’s (the currency of Market Street) to spend as they wished. The amount of money each team made was factored into the final grade, along with each team’s marketing and discussion with local graders. The event lasted 2 hours and brought lots of buzz and excitement into the classroom. It was interesting to see lots of different pricing strategies employed by the teams.
Leaving Moscow
The time has come, sooner than expected, to leave Moscow, after nearly 14 months. At the end of March we were given a week to leave Moscow (whilst I was away working in China). This led to an almighty rush to get everything packed and sorted. Plus cats ready and arranged to fly, however begrudgingly. Times have been decidedly challenging in Moscow, but I am glad to have been able to have lived there and explored the city throughout the four seasons. Possibly, unfortunately I will not be there during the hosting of the World Cup, although this could have been a very busy and stressful time. The next stage of the journey is a little unclear for now, so we will try and enjoy the moment.
Jinan – City of Springs
After interrupted travel plans which involved spending a night in Wiesbaden, as all the hotels in Frankfurt were full, I arrived in Jinan a day late. Jinan is a beautiful small city (by Chinese standards) which retains lots of charm. Jinan is known for its numerous springs, and is often referred to as the city of springs (a literal translation). Baotu Spring Park is in the centre of the city and rivers run through the city linking the springs with Daming Lake. Daming Lake offers a nice scenic walk and is easily walkable from the main square. Indeed, one of the great features of Jinan is its compact nature which makes it easy to walk and explore.
Quancheng Square is the centre of activities with many social groups meeting up to undertake activities. Dance, drama, skating and kite flying groups can regularly be found in the square undertaking their activities and socialising. As I was staying in a hotel overlooking the square I was able to enjoy many walks exploring the activities which took place there each night.
The top attraction in Jinan, which again is easily walkable from the main square is Qianfoshan Mountain (Thousand-Buddha Mountain). It is a lovely landscaped park on the side of a small mountain, which has small temples and Buddha sculptures throughout. Xingguo Temple is the largest temple within the park and has some great views. A short 30 minute walk gets you to the top of the mountain, where on a clear day it is possible to see Jinan stretched out in front of you and the springs and lake. The top of the mountain has a range of pagodas to take a rest at and view the city from. Within the park there is a giant sitting Buddha at the base of the mountain and a cave with a thousand Buddha sculptures. The tranquil nature of the park offers a fantastic place to take a walk after a long day’s work, the March temperatures were very favourable and pleasant for this.
Back to Jinan Older & Wiser
I am going to be teaching at Shandong University of Science & Technology (SDUST) for two weeks. The University of Worcester has a 2+2 degree with SDUST and one semester of the 2nd year in China is delivered by Worcester staff. I will be teaching Marketing Management with a colleague. But what I am looking forward to the most is returning to Jinan, as it was the first place I ever visited in China. In 2010 after landing in Shanghai I went to Jinan to visit colleagues. Despite living in China for 3 years and visiting Qingdao a couple of times (also in Shandong province), I have never been back to Jinan. So I am interested and excited to see how the city has changed over the last 8 years, and whether I can still remember it. Whilst the trip has not started well, with my flight from Hannover to Frankfurt cancelled and my colleague’s flight from Birmingham to Frankfurt cancelled and us now having to take separate routes, arriving in Beijing 7 hours apart, I am looking forward to the visit. I am sure both Jinan and I have changed over the last 8 years, so let’s see who has changed the most.
HEA Senior Fellowship Application Success
After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, after submitting a Senior Fellowship application to the Higher Education Academy (HEA) in January, I found out the application had been successful last week. I had previously completed a PG Cert in Teaching and Learning, which provided a HEA Fellowship, so undertaking the Senior Fellowship application in the form of a portfolio was quite different. Whilst writing the application portfolio was challenging it was an enjoyable experience and I benefited from reflecting back on the many pedagogic innovations and interventions I have developed and supported over the last 7 years. It also offered a chance to think back to how I have developed over my teaching career and the many inspirations and people who have challenged and developed my thinking. So not only was the outcome fruitful, the experience was too. So here is looking forward to the next 7 years of teaching and pedagogic innovations and developments.
Working Through Record Snow in Moscow
It has been nearly a year since arriving in Moscow and this weekend I saw snow like I had never seen before. After what already seems like a long winter, which has been mainly cold, grey and dry, record snowfall descended on Moscow. More than half the monthly average snow – 38cm (15 inches) – fell on Saturday the 3rd of February, beating the previous record from 1957. It was amazing to see such heavy snowfall and how everything kept working. It had already been snowing for days before the heavy deluge of snow started. But it seems all day every day, there are teams of snow cleaners/removers in orange coats removing snow from the roads and then the pavements. The snow then gets put into trucks and moved out of the city to start a new life.
On the Sunday I managed to fly out of Domodedovo at 9am to Zurich roughly on time, which was amazing given the amount of snow around and still falling. I have never seen flights take off in such weather. It was a good job it did, as I had to get back to the UK for the coming week, as I had important meetings. I will now only be back in Moscow for 3 days between now and April, when it should be spring, as I have trips to Germany and China and coming up.
Air China Frankfurt to Chengdu
I rarely ever write about the flights I take. However, this was probably one of the emptiest flights I have ever taken. I am heading to Chengdu Polytechnic for a few days and had a book flights straight to Chengdu, there was not that many options and most of them either went via Beijing or Shanghai, adding several extra hours with slow transfer times at Chinese airports. I managed to find a direct flight from Frankfurt to Chengdu, which even with having to fly from London to Munich and then Munich to Frankfurt was over 4 hours quicker than the other Star Alliance options. The downside was the intercontinental flight was with Air China. I have only ever taken Air China between Europe and China as a last resort and can count the times which I have. The first being when I got to the airport in Beijing and Lufthansa were on strike, so they put me on a direct Air China flight to London, the second time when my Air China flight from Changzhou to Beijing was cancelled so I missed my Swiss flight, so I was put on an Air China flight. The third time was when I had to get a one-way flight to Beijing to pack up before moving back to Europe, so wanted to get an award mile flight to avoid getting a costly one-way fare. The final time was a last minute flight at the end of Golden Week, and was the only flight available. So I did not have high hopes for a good flight to Chengdu, however, we boarded from a bus gate and only used only one bus to get to all the passengers to the plane. This was the first indication of how empty the flight would be, using only one bus to board passengers for an A320-300. Once on board it was pretty clear the flight was not more than 15-20% full. So it was easy to have a whole row to lie down on. Which was good given the cramped leg room and the stupid foot rests that Air China have, which are only good if you are around 5 foot. If taller than this takes up your leg room and bruises your knees. The plane was only not in a great state with most of the seat back screens not working (I had several rows to test) and the seat pockets destroyed or hanging off. I think I got very lucky with this flight. The ample space made up for the inability to listen to music on my phone, work out when I could go to the bathroom as the seatbelt light was on the whole time, not use any electronics for the final hour of the flight and eat two meals which were identical. The normal quirks of flying with Chinese airlines. When I got off the plane I also realised the plane blanket had got fluff all over me 🙂
Robin Goes to Hollywood: The USASBE 2018 Conference
I have just returned from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) conference in Los Angles. The conference was held at the Lowes Hollywood hotel and ran over four days. The focus of the conference had been adjusted from being focused on research, to be having an increased focus on entrepreneurship education. This mix of an educational and research focus, made the conference very interesting. So I decided I would attend for my first time. It was also my first time visiting LA, so it made attending the conference even more interesting. I was presenting a developmental paper entitled ‘Challenges to Implementing Experiential Entrepreneurship Education in China’. The paper was based on a reflection of the challenges I have previously faced when trying to implement experiential curricular in China. The conference had a range of tracks and sessions, including tracks of experiential activities. I focused my attendance and participation on the experiential activity sessions as unfortunately it was not possible to attend everything. The conference venue was on Hollywood Boulevard, which gave me the opportunity to walk up and down Hollywood Boulevard several times each day and experience the atmosphere of Hollywood. I also had half a day free to walk up to the Griffith Observatory and get a view over LA.
New Year in Napa
For a break over the New Year I visited Napa after spending a couple of days in San Francisco. Napa seemed like an ideal place to spend New Year, with wine plentiful and the weather moderately warm. Previously, having stayed in Calistoga in the north of the Napa Valley it was nice to stay in Napa itself, to see and visit new places. Napa itself is probably not as nice in my opinion as the smaller and quaint town of Calistoga. However, there is a lot more there and more choice. It is nice to be able to explore wineries in the day and then visit tasting rooms in Napa itself in the evening, without having to drive or peddle too much. Plus, many of the tasting rooms are open later, so you really can make a whole of wine if you wanted too.
During our time in Napa we visited the Bell winery (the name prompted making an appointment there) which was very friendly and had some very fruity red wines. On New Years eve we had a day of bubbles cycling the 14 and a bit miles from Napa to Mumm Napa and stopping at Domaine Chandon for a tasting and sparkling wine cocktail class. It was interesting to visit Mumm Napa after visiting its glitzier mother GH Mumm a couple of months before. The tasting room was very nice, and the slogan ‘Crafted for Everyday Celebrations’ is quite nice, given the amount you get given for a tasting. At Domaine Chandon we made a festive Holiday Mule, a New Year Spirit and a Berry and Sage Sparkler. It was a good way to prepare for the start of 2018.
Robin Bell 