Toby, our Waiban

On Sunday, Nov. 21^st, our Waiban, Toby, took us to Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius.  It’s about a two hour drive from Jinan where we live.  We left at 8:00 AM from our home at the Hanlin Hotel, and by10:30 we were walking around the family mansion of the great philosopher.  It was reminiscent of the Forbidden City in Beijing, but on a smaller scale. Toby chose a nice week-end to take us.   The weather was crisp, but not cold.  The sun was shining, and it actually couldn’t have been much better.

This is a picture of Toby.  He’s our Waiban, which means facilitator.  He takes care of the foreign teachers for the Shandong Normal University.  We’re really lucky to have him.  During the Mid-Autumn Holiday, he brought us moon cakes.  He took us to Taian for the Mountain Climbing Festival and gave us watches for the 60^th anniversary celebration of the school.  He helped us get our resident Visas by taking us to the police station.  We wouldn’t have had a clue as to what we were supposed to do to be legal when we first got here if it wouldn’t have been for him.  When I’m having a hard time communicating with any Chinese person, I call him up and he translates for me.  After we’d been here for about two months, and it was past-time for me to get a haircut.  I decided to risk the beauty-salon here on the 7^th floor of the Hanlin, and see what kind of a cut they could give me.  I put Toby on the phone with the stylist, and asked him to tell them to take an inch off all around, and leave me with the same style.  It worked fine!  He’s also talked to the guys at the “Good Brothers” foot massage place.  I’ve gotten great treatment.  My last adventure with Toby was this afternoon when he took me to his “TCM” (Traditional Chinese Medicine) practitioner.  I’ve wanted a good neck and back massage, and today was my lucky day.  We didn’t have far to go.  The office is just across the street from our University, and I ended up paying about $15 for an hour and a half of foot, back neck and shoulder work.  It was heaven!!  So at this Thanksgiving time of year, I’m thankful for Toby.