Yantai Air Plaza Hotel

... that when you are happy, you see everything in a good light, or notice only the positive things; and when you are unhappy, you can feel that fate is conspiring against you in everything. I began to move from the former state to the latter as I arrived in Qingdao. This was undoubtedly catalysed by the state of the hostel I checked into. A section of the carpet was so wet it squelched underfoot; the plaster on the neighbouring wall fell off in large chunks ...

<br><br>Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,<br><br>Arrrgh, the sea matees!<br>Remember the first time you saw the sea?<br>I don't as my family has been swimming and boating for as long as I remember!<br>Not always at the sea but we've shared our time between rivers and the sea/ocean.<br>Big boats, small boats, fast boats, slow boats, speed boats, row boats, house boats, sail boats.....You name it my family has had ...

... that before I got to Yantai, while my Chinese has improved tremendously already (especially speaking and listening comprehension) and our teachers are fantastic, I was kind of wondering why I came to China at all. Maybe it's just the water, but I already feel at home and am so glad I'll be here for another six weeks and in a similarly "rural" area for another few months. I swear my Chinese has improved has improved in the ...

... out. Turns out the song was playing real loud on some Chinese guy's cell phone, he was trance-dancing right there in middle of the mall! I said, "Say man, what's the name of that sweet song?" That boy didn't even stop dancing, he just said,"Bing He Shi Dai". Needless to say, now I jam to it on my iPod. For the best China travel information and tips on the Internet check out: www.askreddragon.com

... learning a bit of Chinese, snacking and drinking tea - taking it easy until training starts again tomorrow! Our group has a week until we're to be tested on the first proper fist form that we've been taught so I imagine this week will be a tough one. That's about all there is to report but will hopefully start updating sometime this week

... stopped talking. I spent most of my free time on weekends at a place in Muping that most people called the "hot springs". They were not natural hot springs or anything, actually they were just hot baths frequented by the upper class Chinese businessmen from the town. It actually served as a hotel, a bathing place, an internet café, a massage room and a gym. It was all pretty good for 20 yuan for 24 hours (about 1.3 pounds). The place was ...

... the drunken master form, gotta love it. Du Shifu was injured at one point during training because a a messed up mat arrangement. He did a spinning back flip off a mat suspended in mid air (not healthy) and landed on his neck. It looked pretty bad but he was ok a few days later. He went away for 5 weeks soon after that though to take care of his master who had been in an accident. During the meantime our training was taken by young Master Du (little Du ...

... that charged 10rmb to get in (that we didn't pay.. you could see the whole square from the fence). But then, all of the buildings looked deserted. The only building that looked like it was actually functioning was a post office. There were a few nice, old looking hotels with broken windows, a lookout point at the top of the island that was covered in graffiti and looked like it was meant to be something more ...

... the end, Mhairi had given in to Sprite, but as I was sitting next to the teacher who could translate I became picked on as the one to have a toast with every other minute - not wanting to reject what they kept calling "their Chinese traditions" I got on with it much to my full stomachs pain. I actually got clapped every time I finished a drink and numerous words/looks of encouragement and approval were thrown my way - or at least that ...

Well I'm in Taiyuan now, having said my fond farewells to Yantai, so thought I better update you briefly on the events on the last few weeks. Sorry about all the drinking parents, too many goodbyes to say! Um, well after returning from my travels we had the joy of a week of saying goodbye to Alex and Emily in various guises. We went for an amazing meal the night before they left at a restaurant where u could basically pick anything you wanted to eat, it was very ...