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June 2, 2018September 18, 2021 robin-bell.com Teaching

Vocational School Curriculum Development

This weekend I travelled from Washington to Beijing to deliver a teacher training workshop on enterprise curriculum development at Beijing Information Management School, a vocational high school. This was only the second time for me working with a Chinese school, as opposed to further or higher education institutions. So this brought about its own challenges, as the curriculum’s are more standardized and fixed. During the workshop a range of enterprise activities were undertaken by participants and applied and slotted into curriculum’s as wide ranging as cooking, music and sport.

Whilst in Beijing I found time to hunt down the new Jing-A Brew Pub after the Jing-A Taproom closed in April. The Brew Pub has a very different feel to the Tap Room as it is long and thin and has numerous rooms and bars. It is not as open and fresh as the Tap Room and feels more like other local bars, which was a little disappointing. However, the beer and food was still good, although with a different food menu (I hate change). I am not looking forward to the 14 hour flight and 12 hour time difference on the way back, but I have a short break to the Finger Lakes and Niagara Falls to look forward to once back.

May 18, 2018November 18, 2020 robin-bell.com Teaching, Travel

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Alliance of Higher Vocational Colleges Workshop

At the start of the week I had the opportunity to deliver an entrepreneurship education workshop at Nanjing Institute of Industry and Technology. The workshop was delivered to members of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Alliance of Higher Vocational Colleges in China. It was attended by 60 educators representing 15 colleges, from 8 provinces. I always enjoy visiting Nanjing, particularly when going to the University Town district. It has modern campuses and is green and relaxed with good metro access to the city. The metro is rarely crowded compared to other major Chinese cities, so it is often possible to get a seat.

The workshop was rescheduled by a few days from its original dates and unfortunately on the new dates there was no direct flights from Frankfurt to Nanjing. This meant flying to Shanghai and then a subway journey on line 2 to get across the city from Shanghai Pudong to Hongqiao Railway Station and then a high speed train to get to Nanjing. The subway journey took just over 2 hours, whilst the train only took just over an hour and a half.

Wearing Trainers at the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Alliance of Higher Vocational Colleges Workshop

In my haste when packing, I picked up the wrong shoe bag from my wardrobe. So when opening my suitcase in Nanjing I was greeted by a pair of waterproof walking boots, rather than my brogues. The workshop was delivered in trainers, which was marginally more appropriate than waterproof walking boots, given the 30 degree plus temperature.

Going to Nanjing provided the opportunity to meet up with colleagues I am currently collaborating on research with at 1912. Although, with a busy schedule the next day there was no opportunity to enjoy the well-known 1912 night life.

April 17, 2018November 18, 2020 robin-bell.com Travel

Blossoms in DC

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.

April 7, 2018November 18, 2020 robin-bell.com Teaching

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.

April 5, 2018November 18, 2020 robin-bell.com Animals, Travel

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.

March 31, 2018November 18, 2020 robin-bell.com Travel

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.

March 18, 2018November 18, 2020 robin-bell.com Teaching, Travel

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 2^nd 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.

March 18, 2018December 9, 2020 robin-bell.com Teaching

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.

February 4, 2018November 18, 2020 robin-bell.com Home

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 3^rd 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.

January 18, 2018September 18, 2021 robin-bell.com Travel

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 🙂