Hello from Qing dao and Yantai
Trip Start
Apr 26, 2006
1
12
14
Trip End
Sep 09, 2006
Qing Dao,
China
Monday, June 5, 2006
Since I last spoke to you I have been to Qing Dao beach resort, said goodbye to Ben and Sam and welcomed 3 new volunteers single handedly!(kind of)
Last weekend we (me Sam Ben and Helen) all took the bus to Qing Dao (around 4 hours south of Yantai- where the sailing part of the 2008 Beijing Olympics is going to be held.) It was incredibly wet for the 1st day, so we just looked around the shops which are really good in Qing Dao, all very unique little bootiques which are owned and run buy the people who make the clothes themselves. And then got ready to go out to the 'John Lennon' bar, which btw probably doesn't exist! Beforehand though we had a few drinks in the hotel and I learned 2 new drinking games: never have I ever where you say something like 'never have I ever had my ears pierced' and everyone who has to have drink
Activity square done properly
. 21 which is a great game but slightly too complicated to explain but what I will say was that Bens rule that no one could drink without removing and replacing the little green man on their drink was rather too effective and should be banned from all games of 21. A bottle of great wall wine or two and a few un savoury revelations later (which will never ever be discussed again) and we were off on a lying planet (aka 'Lonely planet') wild goose chase to find the John Lennon bar. In the end we settled for the taxi drivers 'many white people here' bar which was fine, but I didn't see much of the famed Qing dao nightlife to be honest. But we were offered a job in a supermarket que, and I think if I come back to China to teach it would be to Qing Dao from what Iv seen so far.The following day the weather had cleared up and we went to the beach, me hoping to go for a swim. However I discovered that along with using beauty products to whiten the skin Chinese woman dont go in for swimming in the sea/sunbathing to keep themselves as white as poss. So I was surrounded, to my horror, by middle aged Chinese men in black speedoes which made for a speedy retreat up the stony beach on my part. The pier that evening was lovely though, and I would recommend Qing dao to anyone with the time. That evening we said goodbye to Sam, which was sad as he had been with us in Yantai a week and had virtually become part of the furniture. We went home on a private run bus that night which was 10 yuan (60p) cheaper than the air con comfy government bus, not worth it
Aim
. The next day me my head and my ass were definitely what is termed travel hangover.Monday was 'back to school' and Iv discovered (kind of by accident) that the best way to get through to my moody high school/western Korean students is to make them laugh. SO all week Iv been miming ' picking up smelly sock' and 'drinking beer and watching TV' etc etc for verbs. Which has been lots of fun and I have even made a few friends in high school, who today gave me a huge bag of cherries! (My 1st present!) However I cant really eat them as Im trying to cutback. Im really starting to like Chinese food. If you are a vegetarian in China it is only difficult if you eat out in resteraunts a lot or dont like spicy food. If you buy from street vendors what you see is what you get you just have to experiment at the start. In Yantai at almost all 'plastic chair, alfresco beer from a keg places' (as I call them, as they all appear around 6 and disappear at 1 and remain nameless) you can get any kind of seafood you want, lots of different kinds of tofu deep fried, veggie pates, veggie crepes, deep fried spinach/cabbage. Its very cheap but is also mostly deep fried and it is this and a combination of the stodgy school dinners that are getting me a little portly (lol fat) I also have two food revelations for those that know me well, I have started actively ordering spicy food as opposed to just eating it sometimes, and... Have started eating a very particular kind of mushroom
Aviators in Yantai
! The Wood ear mushroom (hopefully with more to follow.)During the week me and Helen said goodbye to Ben, who was off to India for a month and as he had become a stalwart part of me and Helens little crew, a sad occasion. But we were soon cheered up by the arrival of Carlos, a Phillipino who is studying at Tenasse, and has already accrued many humorous catchphrase such as 'Its not anti bacterial wash, its hand cream!'and 'Whos drinking my protein shake?' (yes he brought protein shake from the states and is on a major healthy makeover, so I dont come home 2 stone heavier rather than thinner) On Wednesday evening Hong arrived, who is originally from China but has lived in Colarado most of his life. Me and Carlos thought Hong was going to be a girl though, and were rather bemused at the sight of him (classic China communication error) and on Thursday Jenny arrived whos family are from Hong Kong but she was brought up in Torronto. All are here for a month in summer break and all speak good to fluent Mandarin and Jenny speaks Cantonese. So I have spent the whole weekend playing the odd westerner out :) and saving money because of it as Helen went to Gulin (southern China) to meet up with Sam.
Friday night I took the new volunteers out on the tiles in Yantai, which was weird as I was no longer the new volunteer but the only one who new where anything was. Also as there is only two bars, I am getting to know almost every ex pat in them, which is funny
Beijing adds
. Think Cheers but in China and with lots of mangy sailors hanging around the bar. Jenny and Hong seemed to think the bar/red light area was a bit dodgey but apparently there is worse that we just haven't seen yet. I guess most people feel like that when they come to a new city. Nothing has happened here yet though to change my mind that Yantai seems to be reasonably safe, I certainly feel safer here than I do in Glasgow or South America. That weekend was also my 1st evening out in a proper seafood resteraunt in Yantai, you cant beat being right next to the sea for seafood and in Yantai 90 % of the seafood you eat was alive 10 minutes before you ate it (very big on fresh meat out here.) Natuarlly it was really good.
SO its back to school today after a generally lazy weekend eating/shopping/going out. I have discovered a new shopping buddy in Carlos, who likes to go to random markets and shops just as much as me, and has been well trained by many female Phillipino relatives. He also offered to put me up in Manilla in the Phillipines if I go after I finish teaching (which is a big incentive to actually go for it and stop being such a baby.) We also have group plans to go to Qing dao again at some point, and to Beijing (poss this weekend) to meet Paul or Lofty or the Loft as he is better known who I traveled with in South America last year (what goes around comes around)
Last week films that I watched of note were Princess Mononoke, one of Miyazakis best that I have seen (creepier than Spirited Away) and would definitely recommend
Ben Sam and Helen
. As I was feeling a bit lonely I also had a Leo night and watched Catch me if you can (really good film, would recommend) the Aviator(good but a bit on the long side) and The Basketball diaries. This week there is going to be an Arnie evening and a Kung fu action movie evening but you will all have to wait for up dates on those! As you can tell although one of my packages with my 1st year reading list for Glasgow has arrived (currently reading Emma) but my Chinese language Cd has gone AWOL somewhere between Glasgow and Yantai and is presumed M.I.A (too many war films guys). So still plenty of time for dvd watching, I should really be doing film studies. This weeks lessons are mostly based on directions and games of knots and crosses which is always fun. Ok must go update photos, look out for funny random videos, bye bye for now, will update on plans for weekend soon! Love m
