Thursday, December 10, 2009
THE PROFESSOR HOLDS COURT

This morning after breakfast we headed to Eling Park. It is a park on the top of a hill here in Chongqing. On the way up to the top the bus stopped at what is a combination of a WWII war memorial and an art gallery. The memorial part of the museum is a memorial to the Flying Tigers. They were a group of U.S. led fighter pilots who helped to protect the city when the Japanese were invading. We got a short synopsis of their role in the war and then we were introduced to an artist that the tour guide referred to simply as The Professor.

The Professor was a short Chinese artist that sounded a lot like Jackie Chan to me when he was talking. He is in his sixties and has been doing Chinese water color painting since he was in his childhood. As he began to paint for us I was amazed at the speed and accuracy with which he used the brushes. I have tried to paint in this style before. I bought an instructional book and kit from Dodsons in Colville that had everything you needed to get started. It was difficult but Amalie and I both had a blast trying. This man is truly a master of the art. His specialty is painting birds and flowers.

I asked our guide why they called him The Professor. She told me that before he retired he taught at Sichuan Fine Arts University. After a few prying questions they told me that this school is regarded as the best Arts University in not only China but also in all of Asia. What we were watching was a man with a unique gift, honed by over sixty years of practice. I felt privileged to watch him create. In about 15 minutes total he had created a stunning work with unbelievably vibrant color and form.

I asked if the paintings were for sale. They had a selection it turned out and we were fortunate to get one for each of the girls with their names on them in both English and Chinese. The paintings were also hand dated and titled. Brandy and I commissioned him to make a larger painting for our room at home in Kettle Falls. He painted another stunning flower scene for us in practically no time at all.

Opal was transfixed by the art. She badgered the women that were assisting the professor to let her try until they finally gave in and gave her a brush. She studied him for a moment, and then off she went. I think that it was the first time I’ve seen her truly happy and so focused. The professor looked up at what she was doing for a moment and then announced that she was gifted. She spent the rest of our time there smiling and painting away. She even had the women loading the brushes with paint for her and giving her a private art lesson. As we left I felt sad for a moment. We had just seen firsthand a master with a true gift painting for the love of art. I will never forget him. His name is Luo Lun.

We piled back into the bus and headed to the top of the mountain. On the hike up to the top of the park we saw a beautiful bench with 2 live peacocks on it. For 5 Yuan (less than a dollar) the woman let the kids feed the peacocks and pose for a picture. I thanked her and we headed further up the hill. Next we came to a small kid’s park that had electric cars for the kids to ride in. Amalie and Opal piled into one car and Sophie into another. They drove around laughing and smiling for about 10 minutes. Sophie seemed to have a special knack for running into things. I told our guide that Sophie would make a perfect Chinese taxi driver. She cracked up.

When we arrived at the top of the park I saw for the first time the 7 story pagoda that had a platform with a view of the entire city. We hiked up to the top. I was amazed at how easily Sophie zoomed up the stairs. Today was the clearest day yet for us in Chongqing. The views from the platform were amazing, even with the little bit of fog in the air. I took over 200 pictures today. It was just one of those rare days when it seemed like every time I turned around there was some new cool thing. On the way down the hill we passed by the old WWII bomb shelters. It’s hard to imagine why they are still there. It was evident to me that the people of China are proud of the stand they made against the Japanese in Chongqing. Perhaps that is why the shelters remain.

When we got back to the hotel our guide told us she would be going to the Notary Office. Brandy asked if she would see anyone from Opal’s orphanage. She said yes so Brandy packed another bag of clothes that did not work for our girls and asked her to take them with her. We sent a bag of clothes to each of the girl’s orphanages with the ones that we found did not fit, but we found even more that did not fit this morning. From the wear on Opal’s clothes, it was obvious that the Chongqing Institute could use the clothes more than the Goodwill at home.

I was busy trying to get Opal to understand what time-outs are all about when Sophie came to the room. It wasn’t going very well either. Our guide helped me explain it to her and then she helped us order lunch. A short while later we got our food and I think we all felt better after we ate.

After lunch we broke out the balloon animal kits that we got at Wal-Mart yesterday. We got a kit for each girl. A pump and a fist full of balloons for less than a buck. I figured that it would make for some cheap fun. We started blowing up balloons and twisting away. There were pictures of a bunch of different animals on the back of the package but no instructions on how to make them. Luckily they were all animals that I have made in the past.

I twisted flowers, dogs, and butterflies for each of the girls. Sophie pointed at the picture of the bear on the package and said, “Aye yaye yay”. This is her catch all phrase. What sounds like karate can be used to ask for just about anything if you have her unique set of facial expressions and gestures. I knew right away that she expected me to twist a bear. One small problem. I haven’t twisted a bear in…………. oh……………. At least ten years. I couldn’t really remember how to twist the head, I’m ashamed to admit. After about 10 minutes of screwing it up, I gave up and just twisted the body. She looked at it, studied the picture, looked at it again and then shook her head as if to say, “Close enough Daddy”. I was happy she let me off the hook!

Opal meanwhile had moved on to doing some school work. She must have assembled and taken apart our alphabet puzzle at least 8 times. A couple of times with help from mom and dad and then the rest of the time by herself. She seemed very happy with herself that she could do it alone. Amalie did some speech therapy. Sophie did the puzzle a time or two. I got to watch some badminton. All in all a very good afternoon.

We headed back to the restaurant across the street for dinner. This time Brandy managed to block of the requisite number of seats so I actually got to eat with my family tonight. I got the food in record time. I’ve learned not to be apologetic about pushing to the front of the line to get my food once we have ordered it. It seems to be the Chinese way. He who waits, eats dust.

We stopped on the sixth floor at the White Jade Room for the kids to play and let off some steam. They had a blast. The night culminated with a special modified version of little kids bowling. They have 6 plastic pins, but no ball. I convinced the girls it would be alright to use the big green pogo ball. They laughed and bowled for the next 20 minutes. Amalie would shout and sign, “One, two, three GO!!!” and motion for Sophie to throw the ball. After several minutes of missing Sophie finally hit all the pins. They switched. Sophie shouted “EEEE, AAAAH, ERRRR (which I gather is her Chinese for one two three) and then motion for Amalie to throw the ball. In the end they had us all laughing with their antics. We drug three of the hottest, sweatiest, and worn out little girls that you have ever seen up to our room for a bath. We tucked them in for bed a short time ago. Opal was laughing and laughing. It was contagious. Now they are all out like the lights!

A warning for the blog addicts…Tomorrow we are in Chongqing until we can get Opal’s passport in the afternoon. We will fly to Guangzhou in the evening so our post will be late by the time we get the girls into bed. Our flight lands at 8:30 P.M. and we will still need to get settled into our hotel room, set up the internet, blah, blah, blah after that.

Signing off for the last time in Chongqing,

Brandy, Ted, Amalie, Opal, and Sophie