EcoRover, Art Model

Another busy week including sitting as a model for art students, joining the students for an international exhibit in Chongqing, archery with the Professor of Wushu (Baoqiang Chen), dinners and after-dinner walks with students. I especially like it when the students show up in a small group at the end of office hours (c. 5:30 p.m.) to take me out for some new dining experience.

I'm still finding lovely new contemplative spots on campus, such as this pond with walkway:

And, above it, the gazebo (凉亭): 

As an experience that both feeds the ego and induces a mild identity crisis, I sat as a model for an art class. It was 2-hour morning + 2-hour afternoon experience, thank goodness for strong tea and a student's mix-tape of American folk songs to keep me awake after a sumptuous lunch. "Jerry" on the right is a student from my graduate class and "Sugar" on the left is the graduate assistant in charge of the art class:

The studio was crowded with a dozen students plus a huge, jumbled assortment of paintings. Some of various town scenes:

And others that were interesting portraits. The first one here is by a Uighur student depicting the close ties of people in his homeland:

The second is by Professor Fu Nianping:

In preparing for my new modeling career, I drew inspiration from some of the find statuary on campus. Alas, I don't cut quite the figure of these stalwarts:

Here are some of the students' interpretations of EcoRover, in no particular order:

 Still hoping for the promised hike on nearby Jinyun Mountain--students in my class this morning (how many American college students would ask for a canceled weekday class to be rescheduled to Saturday morning?)  told me I am to meet them tomorrow morning at the Confucius statue at Number 5 Gate. OK. Now if I can only find the right gate....