The latest in Yantai... And trip to Qingdao
Trip Start
Dec 28, 2005
1
33
55
Trip End
Sep 01, 2006
Yantai and Qingdao,
China
Monday, May 29, 2006
O.K. going back a few weeks... I still occasionally get woken up at crazy o' clock. Stupidly answered the phone on a Sunday morning (so wasn't happy) and had to get up to see a visitor from GVN - don't people sleep in China? Anyway, was informed there would be a new volunteer in the shape of Mhairi (Scottish version of Mary - pronounced Mar - e) - a very lovely girl from Glasgow. It's really cool having someone next door. We're getting on really well, although I'm more tempted to shop now I have a girl-friend - uh oh! Watch out jewellery stalls! Also realised how rubbish I was at getting around the centre of Yantai, so the last few weeks I've been determined to get my bearings - if any of you would like to visit, I am now an expert tour guide!
I've been teaching Primary and Kindergarten for the last few weeks - lesson plans have included animals, aliens, charades and hangman
01 The Walrus
! I basically stand in front of the class and do stupid things whilst they laugh - it's great! The kids are as cute as ever - telling a teacher you want to be their friend is followed with agreement, as opposed to scorn and endless bullying from fellow classmates, love it! The bursts of music that blast twice every hour from the school is starting to grate a bit - somebody change the record - but it is great to be in such a happy environment, such happy faces everywhere! One complaint I do have - they don't give any warnings here - everything is very last minute. Two minutes before lessons, I've been asked to teach songs, so I've had to run off, find the words and quick sharp think of a way to teach it, not to mention the fact that I can't sing and it is highly embarrassing. Yep, I've had to sing - and that's not the worst of it - I've had to sing "You are my Sunshine", "Auld Lang Syne" and, wait for it, "My Heart will go on!" Enough said. "Beautiful" is still being used very loosely (I think their definition is "pale") . One teacher upgraded it to "sexy, beautiful and cool" on MSN - impressive if a little creepy! And at one dinner outing the geography teacher proceeded to stroke my arm and coo over the colour of my skin - it's an alternate universe!Mhairi, Ben and I have been out for local drinks and dinner with the University students (Ma Long, Juan, Jesus - said Hey - Zeus
02 Having a stretch!!
! - Graham, Jonathan, Bella etc...) and then on to downtown where we have made some more new friends - Daniel, Andrew, Richard and co... They seem like a really fun group and they've promised to teach me martial arts - they all love it and have permantently purple knuckles - hardcore! Will let you know how the lessons go... Havannas and Cape of Storms (discovered it's not Caper Storms last week!) are still the spots to be on the weekend - games of fusball, darts and pool and lots of dancing to be done. Have had more excellent and blurry nights there, with crazy old men asking the guys their permission to dance with me despite my emphatic head shaking and loud no's!I was sick for two days a couple of weeks ago - was horrible. Thanks to those of you who kept me company on MSN at 3 in the morning. I was given 30 pills in one day and force fed porridge - but it worked! Getting fed up with the food, think that's what made me ill - I'm craving Western food big time. Plus I'm still terrible with a pair of chopsticks - I miss my knife and fork!!
Sam from Beijing came to visit me, so I showed him the sights of Yantai - local shops, downtown, night market, and the beaches. We spent our time going for beers at my new favourite cafe downtown, people watching (best free entertainment ever especially in China), taking many random photos and videos, doing one of the beach walks which included sea lions and a very classy statue of a walrus, and ends up at Moon Bay and the Giant Shell, went for a promanade wander, indulged in some puppy petting at a strange little market (really wanted to free the big dogs that they kept in small cages - so cruel!), ate many Western dinners (including a Pizza Hut - oh yes!), got through quite a few of my DVDs ( I splashed out on a DVD player, lotsa DVDs and a new pair of jeans!) and of course, Havannas and Cape of Storms
03 Sam joining in the stretch session
! Met some new crazy characters to add to our collection, the best being Wally (as in "Where's Wally?") who is the best face gurner I've ever seen and Wally's brother who loves to twirl his Chinese girlfriend about! Sam, Ben, Mhairi and I took a trip to Qingdao at the weekend - on the first day it rained, but we still had fun. We ate at a beautiful Italian restaurant - complementary bread and dips - soooooooooo good - and the best glass of wine ever! Then we just explored the town, ventured along the pier, played drinking games and had a night out. Seems like a really fun place.. Mhairi and I might go again before we leave China... Planning to go to Shanghai one weekend soon also...Ben is off to India this week for a month so we won't see him again. Will be sad to see him go. I will be taking over his tutoring so will have some money coming in, which is good - three children for an hour every day - should be ok.
So I guess that's all for now. Thanks to those who have called - has been great to hear from you. Those of you planning on visiting or joining me, I can't wait to see you! And can't wait to see you all when I get back.
Comments
Puppy love
You do realise all those dogs are bred for kebab meat..... hope all's well xx