The Center Hotel Weihai

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Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

Today I had a massive history lesson, but then when isn’t any given day in the country that has the worlds longest continues civilization a history lesson. Living here for so long I know a lot about the tensions and hatred that the Japanese and the Chinese share but today I found a new reason. Well it wasn’t entirely new to me but ...

... Although it was painfully hot, 3 hours long and all in Chinese it was totally worth it to see Helen warbling at the end and a few cute kids falling and getting lost on stage, however there was not much of that in this super ordered communist country, and the backstage word is that they were really punnished for making mistakes. Im definitely off to Beijing this weekend with Andrew, Carlos and Hong. Give me an email anyone who is going to be there too. Ciao

... pollution as the sun. And as I have been discovering much to my skins anguish, just like most beauty products in the UK are geared towards the 'bronzed' look, in China they seem to be aiming for the bleached look (Im on my 3rd bar of soap now, as the other two turned out to be skin bleaching soaps.) The nightlife there is also supposed to be better(which means less Chinese dance music/phillipino band schmaltzy coldplay covers.) However this week there has been a bit of a weird ...

... make you feel purified and tranquil, which I can vouch for (or it may of been more of been more the fact that I had boards of Canada and Zero 7 on my i pod and had just hiked up this hill.) The night before had been our 1st night out in Yantai, which was interesting to say the least. Something had been bothering me about Yantai, it is a seaside town and smells and has similar weather to say Brighton for example. However ...

... An escapee crab running over my flip flopped foot in the local sea food and suspiciously illegal looking items market (they appear to be selling real coral, puffer fish and pearls down by the sea)Que much squealing on my part and much enjoyment on the part of the locals and some of my students. Will keep you updated with more

... Then we went off and drank too much and left during daylight the next day, had two hours sleep and then taught three lessons, ouch! I did however manage to teach the Seniors 'New York, New York' which they loved! Anyway we had a weekend of slightly more chilled out enjoyment. On the Friday I went to a friend's student's house for dinner. It was wonderful food and after a few beers we were taught the card game that all the old men play. Jon was rubbish (sorry but ...

... Chinese! I was photographed looking suitably like an idiot, and then taken away for an interview. Perhaps the most special bit was when the photographer asked if he could have a photo with me himself, because I really am that special out here! Oh summer is here as you can see by the gorgeous cheery blossom! On a rather less inspiring note, I visited Yantai zoo this week. What can I say, I normally am distinctly unphased ...

... sadly lacking! Half of the day there is no water in my taps/toilet/shower. How does your toilet flush without water I hear you ask... exactly, good question! When I can finally get water it is a dribble and cold... Finding five minutes of hot water for a shower is an absolute mission and one that is starting to get to me! Sometimes the shower pretends it has water, then after one minute, suddenly decides to have a laugh at my expense and stop. Seems every day ...

... my mark on China, it's been leaving its own on me! This week has involved quite a lot of food in a variety of guises. The canteen food has been as one would expect canteen food to be. My least favourite... battered fish so heavily battered, head, tail and spine are all unrecognisable until you bite into the thing and find it yourself! Nice. Equally as shocking ...

... and boy are they tired by then! Senior students are exceptionally lucky and have Saturdays at school too! Woo! Anyway I have finally met some of the other volunteers who all seem quite nice. Most of them are younger although 2 are a good bit older than me too...so a bit of a mix going on. That's me for now... I shall leave discussions of some of China's less appealing habbits (driving, spitting etc) for a future entry... I bet you are looking forward to it! Take care, Helena :)