Gosh I haven't written in a while have I? Mostly because this week my room ran out of internetz and when I went to get more, the geeks weren't there. I suspect their mothers had found them and carted them off to feed them something green. But I'm back on the lines:)
On Friday I finally braved the hairdressers'. I went with Helen and Becka, who both needed a haircut, and we went to a place that had been recommended to Helen. Normally the hairdressers' I see are much like the restaurants: small sheds with questionable stains but this one was nice and shiny, if you ignored the unfinished bits. After getting our hair washed and shampooed, we had a massage whilst we waited. At least I think it was a massage, at one point I felt as if I had seriously offended the assistant and she was taking her revenge on my spine. Then came the Point of No Return. I had toyed with getting a fringe and bravely requested one, complete with hand movements to indicate severing. The hairdresser nodded and wielded his scissors.
I now have a fringe! Somehow, despite the blond hair, I now look very Asian as he cut rather a severe one. Complete with my new ipod and Converse shoes my transformation into 大学生, uni student, is complete! I am still getting used to the fringe but I'm glad I changed something about my hair- it had been the same for so long. Plus it was only 40元, 4 pounds, so rather a good deal!
When I was in the bar last night I saw Axel come in and waved and he completely did not recognise me. I had to go over so he could see past my fringe!
Went for a walk in Fushan with Becka yesterday. During the week there was a dust storm in Qingdao, I think blown down from the north. You could hardly see a thing. I had forgotten what an horizon looked like! It was very odd to be walking around at midday as the light had that orange glow you associate with late evening. It also acted as an insulator so yesterday was surprisingly warm. Becka and I were scrambling around in t-shirts! There was one point where we were walking through some bare trees over dead grass in this half-light, our warmth completely at odds with the winter landscape, when I got that same eery feeling I had felt on the ferry from Huangdao- that perhaps this is what it will be like if we ever have an apocalypse. Dead trees and an orange glow... *Shiver*
On another note, Chinese woods do do Autumn very well. Their trees don't half blush bright red!
Today the winds were back and Qingdao was lovely and fresh again. I was once again reminded that an horizon is a line between land and sky which I swear was more distinct today than I remember:P
2010-11-14
2010-11-07
Bigfoot
Starbucks, as well as being a reliable supplier of Earl Grey tea, has one other useful function in my life. It serves as a cocoon in which Becka can cool down as the intervening days' interactions with Chinese people angers her more and more. For example, today at lunch it took ages for her meal to arrive. She had paid as soon as we ordered but the waitress didn't bring the change for ages-not until I had asked twice in fact. Normally I just lol but Becka gets Irritated and little things like that build up until she is snorting fire. But in Starbucks she is surrounded by courteous people and can drink a nice coffee to relax.
I spent a while playing with my new toy. It does many wonderful things. In the end, Becka conviscated it so I would do my homework.
In Starbucks I bumped into Peter who suggested I try Mykal- rumour has it they stock bigger shoe sizes. *Fingers crossed*
Met up with Vivien and her roommate, Candy, for dinner. Candy was utterly petrified by two Laowais and didn't say much at first. But she burst out laughing when I told her my shoe size (42? HAHA!) so I think we got on ok. I like Vivien- she is very cute. I think I might brave the hairdresser's next week and she said she couldn't wait to see the end results:P
Viven asked what the English was for the restaurants we eat at. I said we still say restaurant but that word is rather grandiose for what can often be a simple room, plaster cracking, with mismatched stools and tables. Cats weaving between the legs. Owner's bed behind a screen at the back. Although what is impressive is that the menus tend to be quite extensive yet anything ordered arrives pretty quickly. I wonder- do they cook it from scratch, or do they have pots of common denominator ingredients they pick and mix from? I'd ask to see the kitchen but I've been told ignorance is bliss when it comes to Chinese kitchens. Not very clean apparently...
I spent a while playing with my new toy. It does many wonderful things. In the end, Becka conviscated it so I would do my homework.
In Starbucks I bumped into Peter who suggested I try Mykal- rumour has it they stock bigger shoe sizes. *Fingers crossed*
Met up with Vivien and her roommate, Candy, for dinner. Candy was utterly petrified by two Laowais and didn't say much at first. But she burst out laughing when I told her my shoe size (42? HAHA!) so I think we got on ok. I like Vivien- she is very cute. I think I might brave the hairdresser's next week and she said she couldn't wait to see the end results:P
Viven asked what the English was for the restaurants we eat at. I said we still say restaurant but that word is rather grandiose for what can often be a simple room, plaster cracking, with mismatched stools and tables. Cats weaving between the legs. Owner's bed behind a screen at the back. Although what is impressive is that the menus tend to be quite extensive yet anything ordered arrives pretty quickly. I wonder- do they cook it from scratch, or do they have pots of common denominator ingredients they pick and mix from? I'd ask to see the kitchen but I've been told ignorance is bliss when it comes to Chinese kitchens. Not very clean apparently...
2010-11-06
Remember, Remember, the 5th of November...
So yesterday was the 2nd and final mid-term exam and it was hard at first, but with a little perseverance I think I got most of the answers down. Tingli, the listening class, was excruciatingly slow so Anthony and I escaped at the break and sat outside in the sun and talked about twin things. He is also a twin and his is coming out in a few months for a while. Can't wait for Sara to come here! Eventually though we crawled back in and struggled through the remaining 30 minutes before blessed freedom.
We had lunch at the baozi place. I walked in first and blithely marched to the back but a high pitched squeal from behind stopped me in my tracks. Becka had spotted the owner's new (pet) puppy...
We spent the next 10 minutes going EEEEEEEEEEEEITSSSOOOCUTEEEEEEEEEEECOOTCHYCOOOAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH
It was very cute. Although it seemed far too little to be away from its mum. The owner had bought it the other day apparently. It kept lurching around onto our shoes. Becka scooped it up and mothered it on her lap for a while. I didn't touch it. They don't vaccinate dogs here- and they have far more interesting diseases than we do back home...
Last night was Anthony's birthday as well as 5th November so we all trooped off to a teppanyaki restaurant. I have never had teppanyaki before, well sort of but it was in Spain and the food was suspiciously Spanish... The food was fantastic and I loved it. I really like Japanese and Korean food and I'd never have tried them in the UK. Plus there was sake flowing freely, as well as Qingdao beer, so everyone was very merry. I was sat next to Axel who is a fellow B Ban classmate. He is 43 and from Germany but has lived all over the world. He dances salsa at the salsa club in Qingdao (I know- a salsa class in China!) and I'm thinking of going. I did a bit in Edinburgh and it was great fun. Axel also told me about his ancestry-his family used to be some aristocrats in the the Baltic states but they've lost it all now. All he has is a very long surname and a signet ring which I thought was cute. Interestingly one ancestor, Paul von Rennenkampf or something, fought in China for the Russian army.
The food was fantastic- did I mention that? It was very well cooked and the chef obliged us all by creating these huuuuuge flames in front of our eyes (the food is cooked at the table on a hot plate). My favourite was when he chopped up fillet steak with onions. I love fillet steak. I'd sell my soul for that.
Afterwards we went outside for fireworks. The restaurant is in the marina so there was a square outside with lots of flags. We set off the fireworks and whooped happily. Then some policemen came running. Fireworks, believe it or not, are actually banned in China. However a couple of the guys explained that it was our festival today and ended up posing for pictures with the policemen. One of them had obviously been having a nap as his shirt was done up wrong but he straightened himself up for the shot. Instead of saying cheers the guys shouted "fuck the police!" but the police obviously didn't understand and smiled along anyway. I think, sometimes, that some laowai take the piss a little too much.
We walked to a bar nearby but passed some other people setting off fireworks-it was also Diwali yesterday- and more police turned up. Becka, some Chinese girl we'd met and I were stood outside and got accused of setting off the fireworks. We denied it "we're only laowai we don't know where to buy fireworks" but they did ask to check our passports... A passport here is very important. It has my residence permit in. To replace it would take a trip to Beijing to the Embassy, several pounds for a new one and then a trip to the Entry/Exit Bureau (please god never again) and several pounds for another permit. So understandably neither Becka nor I had brought ours on a night out. And you are supposed to always carry your passport with you... We ended up going to the 派出所, police substation, which turned out to closely resemble an American suburban detached house complete with decking, and arguing with the police. Becka got very angry at one point. Then she went back to fetch our passports and I was left to make sure she came back. While we waited I ended up giving an impromptu English lesson to an eager policeman. He wanted to know what Louise meant- I had to explain that in the West, names don't mean anything but are just names. Then he wanted to know my 小名-my childhood name so I had to explain that we don't do those either. The police were all very nice and a bit embarrased. I suspect that the only reason we had been taken back was because the boss was around. The others realised how silly it looked cracking down on us. It is a requirement that you carry a passport but we know, and they know, that if they went to an expat bar noone there would have one with them. I suspect they would much rather be hanging around enjoying their rather large selection of tea than making a point with us but hey, when the boss is around appearances must be kept up.
Becka returned and we departed all with big smiles and waving enthusiastically. Bless them, it's so hard to take a policemen seriously when he has socks and flip flops on.
This morning the two of us headed out to shop. We felt rather delicate but soldiered on. We went to the proper converse shop to get me some non-heeled shoes but they didn't do sizes big enough. I am actually kinda worried now as I have one pair of tatty trainers and one pair of faded boots as my only non-heeled shoes and this is not enough. And I don't see where I am going to find anything big enough. The only jeans I could find were also too small.
I feel like Gulliver.
Becka looked for some jumpers but they were so expensive. Clothes here are either stupidly expensive or really bad quality. And all are too small. An emergency trip to Shanghai might need planning...
In other news I did pluck up the courage to buy an ipod touch. I have it now, all shiny and new and modern. I can afford it if I eat nothing but baozi for the next month. It is great for the Chinese dictionary.
My dog-eared dirty paper dictionary and my old, small, slow mp3 player are sat on the desk. Abandoned.
*Feels guilty*
I've been reassuring them that I'll still use them. My ipod is too precious for me to use it in daily life I think- when I walk places and am on bus I'll use my old mp3 player as noone will want to steal that. Plus the paper dictionary has one huge advantage which is that it does not need batteries. There may come a time on my travels when I can't recharge my ipod and it will come in very handy.
*Still feels guilty*
We had lunch at the baozi place. I walked in first and blithely marched to the back but a high pitched squeal from behind stopped me in my tracks. Becka had spotted the owner's new (pet) puppy...
We spent the next 10 minutes going EEEEEEEEEEEEITSSSOOOCUTEEEEEEEEEEECOOTCHYCOOOAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH
It was very cute. Although it seemed far too little to be away from its mum. The owner had bought it the other day apparently. It kept lurching around onto our shoes. Becka scooped it up and mothered it on her lap for a while. I didn't touch it. They don't vaccinate dogs here- and they have far more interesting diseases than we do back home...
Last night was Anthony's birthday as well as 5th November so we all trooped off to a teppanyaki restaurant. I have never had teppanyaki before, well sort of but it was in Spain and the food was suspiciously Spanish... The food was fantastic and I loved it. I really like Japanese and Korean food and I'd never have tried them in the UK. Plus there was sake flowing freely, as well as Qingdao beer, so everyone was very merry. I was sat next to Axel who is a fellow B Ban classmate. He is 43 and from Germany but has lived all over the world. He dances salsa at the salsa club in Qingdao (I know- a salsa class in China!) and I'm thinking of going. I did a bit in Edinburgh and it was great fun. Axel also told me about his ancestry-his family used to be some aristocrats in the the Baltic states but they've lost it all now. All he has is a very long surname and a signet ring which I thought was cute. Interestingly one ancestor, Paul von Rennenkampf or something, fought in China for the Russian army.
The food was fantastic- did I mention that? It was very well cooked and the chef obliged us all by creating these huuuuuge flames in front of our eyes (the food is cooked at the table on a hot plate). My favourite was when he chopped up fillet steak with onions. I love fillet steak. I'd sell my soul for that.
Afterwards we went outside for fireworks. The restaurant is in the marina so there was a square outside with lots of flags. We set off the fireworks and whooped happily. Then some policemen came running. Fireworks, believe it or not, are actually banned in China. However a couple of the guys explained that it was our festival today and ended up posing for pictures with the policemen. One of them had obviously been having a nap as his shirt was done up wrong but he straightened himself up for the shot. Instead of saying cheers the guys shouted "fuck the police!" but the police obviously didn't understand and smiled along anyway. I think, sometimes, that some laowai take the piss a little too much.
We walked to a bar nearby but passed some other people setting off fireworks-it was also Diwali yesterday- and more police turned up. Becka, some Chinese girl we'd met and I were stood outside and got accused of setting off the fireworks. We denied it "we're only laowai we don't know where to buy fireworks" but they did ask to check our passports... A passport here is very important. It has my residence permit in. To replace it would take a trip to Beijing to the Embassy, several pounds for a new one and then a trip to the Entry/Exit Bureau (please god never again) and several pounds for another permit. So understandably neither Becka nor I had brought ours on a night out. And you are supposed to always carry your passport with you... We ended up going to the 派出所, police substation, which turned out to closely resemble an American suburban detached house complete with decking, and arguing with the police. Becka got very angry at one point. Then she went back to fetch our passports and I was left to make sure she came back. While we waited I ended up giving an impromptu English lesson to an eager policeman. He wanted to know what Louise meant- I had to explain that in the West, names don't mean anything but are just names. Then he wanted to know my 小名-my childhood name so I had to explain that we don't do those either. The police were all very nice and a bit embarrased. I suspect that the only reason we had been taken back was because the boss was around. The others realised how silly it looked cracking down on us. It is a requirement that you carry a passport but we know, and they know, that if they went to an expat bar noone there would have one with them. I suspect they would much rather be hanging around enjoying their rather large selection of tea than making a point with us but hey, when the boss is around appearances must be kept up.
Becka returned and we departed all with big smiles and waving enthusiastically. Bless them, it's so hard to take a policemen seriously when he has socks and flip flops on.
This morning the two of us headed out to shop. We felt rather delicate but soldiered on. We went to the proper converse shop to get me some non-heeled shoes but they didn't do sizes big enough. I am actually kinda worried now as I have one pair of tatty trainers and one pair of faded boots as my only non-heeled shoes and this is not enough. And I don't see where I am going to find anything big enough. The only jeans I could find were also too small.
I feel like Gulliver.
Becka looked for some jumpers but they were so expensive. Clothes here are either stupidly expensive or really bad quality. And all are too small. An emergency trip to Shanghai might need planning...
In other news I did pluck up the courage to buy an ipod touch. I have it now, all shiny and new and modern. I can afford it if I eat nothing but baozi for the next month. It is great for the Chinese dictionary.
My dog-eared dirty paper dictionary and my old, small, slow mp3 player are sat on the desk. Abandoned.
*Feels guilty*
I've been reassuring them that I'll still use them. My ipod is too precious for me to use it in daily life I think- when I walk places and am on bus I'll use my old mp3 player as noone will want to steal that. Plus the paper dictionary has one huge advantage which is that it does not need batteries. There may come a time on my travels when I can't recharge my ipod and it will come in very handy.
*Still feels guilty*
2010-11-04
Anything But Revision
Becka and I finally met up with Daisy for lunch- long time no see! Her mother has come to visit, which is why Daisy has been so busy lately. I'd been looking forward to meeting Gillian, the mother, as she was a student in northern China 30 years ago. It was fascinating to hear her compare China then and now. Apparently, China is now "unrecognisable". When she was here she had a Chinese minder with her constantly. She wasn't allowed to travel independently and the roads all had signs saying "No Foreigners Past This Point". There were hardly any cars- all motorcycles. Water and electricity were unreliable and she travelled everywhere by bicycle. She went back to the town she had studied in and the bits she remembered had all been plastered in high-rises.
How things change!
Although I have received confirmation that the government does indeed control the central heating. Apparently, it will be switched on "some time in mid-November". I remember one of our teachers saying that in 黑龙江, Heilongjiang, Black Dragon River, the most northerly province in China, it is actually very warm in winter as they have heating ooh! I don't think they are allowed central heating south of the Yangtze either. Worse than my mum! The thermostat rarely went above 15 but at least it came on in October!
I found out two of my teachers' names today. Our Oral teacher is 徐晓晖, Xu Xiaohui. Becka and I have chosen to translate this as "Sparkling Light of the Rising Sun" which sounds lovely but over-eggs it a bit. 晓 is the rising sun and 晖 is sunshine so still a pretty name nonetheless. 徐 is a common surname. Our Listening teacher is 宋晨, Song Chen. 宋 is her surname and 晨 means dawn. So we have Sparkling Light of the Rising Sun Xu and Dawn Song. Chinese names are so much more fun...
We had lunch at the restaurant I shall now call Narnia-due to it being far larger than would appear from the outside. We have been there three days in a row now and every time have had 锅巴肉... We also ordered 黄瓜something蛋 which was basically omelette with cucumber in (the Chinese for cucumber literally translates as "yellow 瓜" which is odd as cucumber is undeniably green. However, not for me to question. 瓜 is the word used for fruit/veg like melons, pumpkins etc). The omelette was very tasty. We also had shredded bits of this and that as well as rice. Yum yum. Neither Gillian nor Daisy had eaten 锅巴肉 before and now are enthusiastic converts!
I've been planning my travelling at Spring Festival. The first half, 3 weeks, will be spent in Macao, Hong Kong, Guangxi, north Vietnam, Kunming in Yunnan, then Laos, float down the Mekong river, north Thailand, avoid tourists, Cambodia, avoid landmines, and then back to Qingdao with a tan and hopefully without malaria.
So excited!!!
(Yes I am supposed to be revising for exam tomorrow. Funny how much fun planning holidays are when you have vocab to learn...)
How things change!
Although I have received confirmation that the government does indeed control the central heating. Apparently, it will be switched on "some time in mid-November". I remember one of our teachers saying that in 黑龙江, Heilongjiang, Black Dragon River, the most northerly province in China, it is actually very warm in winter as they have heating ooh! I don't think they are allowed central heating south of the Yangtze either. Worse than my mum! The thermostat rarely went above 15 but at least it came on in October!
I found out two of my teachers' names today. Our Oral teacher is 徐晓晖, Xu Xiaohui. Becka and I have chosen to translate this as "Sparkling Light of the Rising Sun" which sounds lovely but over-eggs it a bit. 晓 is the rising sun and 晖 is sunshine so still a pretty name nonetheless. 徐 is a common surname. Our Listening teacher is 宋晨, Song Chen. 宋 is her surname and 晨 means dawn. So we have Sparkling Light of the Rising Sun Xu and Dawn Song. Chinese names are so much more fun...
We had lunch at the restaurant I shall now call Narnia-due to it being far larger than would appear from the outside. We have been there three days in a row now and every time have had 锅巴肉... We also ordered 黄瓜something蛋 which was basically omelette with cucumber in (the Chinese for cucumber literally translates as "yellow 瓜" which is odd as cucumber is undeniably green. However, not for me to question. 瓜 is the word used for fruit/veg like melons, pumpkins etc). The omelette was very tasty. We also had shredded bits of this and that as well as rice. Yum yum. Neither Gillian nor Daisy had eaten 锅巴肉 before and now are enthusiastic converts!
I've been planning my travelling at Spring Festival. The first half, 3 weeks, will be spent in Macao, Hong Kong, Guangxi, north Vietnam, Kunming in Yunnan, then Laos, float down the Mekong river, north Thailand, avoid tourists, Cambodia, avoid landmines, and then back to Qingdao with a tan and hopefully without malaria.
So excited!!!
(Yes I am supposed to be revising for exam tomorrow. Funny how much fun planning holidays are when you have vocab to learn...)
2010-11-03
Elephant On A Bicycle
Yesterday Anthony told us an amusing but piercingly accurate comparison of China with an elephant on a bicycle. So long as it pedals fast, it keeps going, but the minute it slows down, it will wobble and fall off... Everyday you are slapped in the face with signs of China's rapid development but I do wonder that when the rushing waters of growth die down and subside, what social problems will be revealed stuck in the mud... There is a huge divide growing between the rich and poor. The rich can afford education so they will only get richer whilst the poor... will be living in shoddy housing, victims of rising prices pushed up by the wealthy. There is also the 4-2-1 problem- namely 4 grandparents supported by 2 parents supported by 1 child.... Not to mention the psyches of several million hot-housed Little Emperors.
As Axel said, China is great fun, if you're not Chinese...
Over the past few days I have noticed something. I no longer crave mash potato. Or pie. Instead I spend my last lesson of the day drooling over the mental image of 拌饭, banfan-rice with vegetables served in a hot pot with a fried egg on top-Korean dish. Or dreaming of 锅巴肉 (deep-fried pork in sweet sauce). What had seemed a ridiculous idea at the beginning of my stay here, that I would "get used to the food" has indeed, to my disbelief and surprise, happened. The very idea of slaving away with an oven when I could just go to a restaurant and happily munch my way through several dishes with rice seems risible. Becka and I have almost mastered the art of the chinese restaurant too. We drink the hot water (the Chinese can't believe we drink cold water in the West), know more or less what we want from the menu and will quite happily bellow FUWUYUAAAAAN to get the waiter's attention. Well almost, we tend to try the hopeful catching of the eye first but I did call fuwuyuan yesterday :P
A common topic of conversation amongst us expats is The Future. I think China infects you with its ambition. We are forever talking about plans. For example Becka and I are thinking of persuading Edinburgh to let us take private classes, rather than University classes, as these are cheaper and it would be in a small group of us and Anthony. We'd learn far more in an intensive class. But we have to see if we can get next semester's fees, which we have already paid, back from Ocean. Anthony met a Russian with perfect Chinese who'd studied at Ocean and at a private school and said that while Ocean was good, the private lessons were better. And Plans for after uni. Before I came here I had never actually considered getting a job that actually had much to do with my Chinese. I always said I'd like a job where I could use it, but wasn't really that fussed. Now I'm tempted to come back when I graduate and work here for 10 years or so. Earn a nice amount of money and then head back to the UK.
Anthony says that his friends back home all ask when he is returning from China, as though "he is on an extended gap year". They wonder when he is coming back to real life. But what is real life? Does life only count as real when you have a mortgage and kids?
As Axel said, China is great fun, if you're not Chinese...
Over the past few days I have noticed something. I no longer crave mash potato. Or pie. Instead I spend my last lesson of the day drooling over the mental image of 拌饭, banfan-rice with vegetables served in a hot pot with a fried egg on top-Korean dish. Or dreaming of 锅巴肉 (deep-fried pork in sweet sauce). What had seemed a ridiculous idea at the beginning of my stay here, that I would "get used to the food" has indeed, to my disbelief and surprise, happened. The very idea of slaving away with an oven when I could just go to a restaurant and happily munch my way through several dishes with rice seems risible. Becka and I have almost mastered the art of the chinese restaurant too. We drink the hot water (the Chinese can't believe we drink cold water in the West), know more or less what we want from the menu and will quite happily bellow FUWUYUAAAAAN to get the waiter's attention. Well almost, we tend to try the hopeful catching of the eye first but I did call fuwuyuan yesterday :P
A common topic of conversation amongst us expats is The Future. I think China infects you with its ambition. We are forever talking about plans. For example Becka and I are thinking of persuading Edinburgh to let us take private classes, rather than University classes, as these are cheaper and it would be in a small group of us and Anthony. We'd learn far more in an intensive class. But we have to see if we can get next semester's fees, which we have already paid, back from Ocean. Anthony met a Russian with perfect Chinese who'd studied at Ocean and at a private school and said that while Ocean was good, the private lessons were better. And Plans for after uni. Before I came here I had never actually considered getting a job that actually had much to do with my Chinese. I always said I'd like a job where I could use it, but wasn't really that fussed. Now I'm tempted to come back when I graduate and work here for 10 years or so. Earn a nice amount of money and then head back to the UK.
Anthony says that his friends back home all ask when he is returning from China, as though "he is on an extended gap year". They wonder when he is coming back to real life. But what is real life? Does life only count as real when you have a mortgage and kids?
2010-11-02
If the Chinese Government Says It Didn't Happen, It Didn't.
Qingdao is finally starting to get cold. This would not ordinarily cause a problem however the Chinese attitudes to heating differ markedly to the West's... We Western Imperialists switch our heating on as soon as it gets cold whereas the Chinese consider it unecessary. The last few classes we have all been wearing coats as it has been so cold. The heating in our rooms hasn't been switched on either (it is centrally controlled) so last night I woke up several times from the cold. Becka is finding it a tad hard to breath in the chilly air. I, on the other hand, don't really mind. I suppose I have my mother to thank for that- seeing as the thermostat at home hovers around 14C so I am used to the cold! However I am forced to admit that it is probably better for everyone if we just wear extra layers instead of switching expensive, polluting heating on.
Although the receptionists downstairs have a heater on full blast.
Anthony asked what the Chinese for uncle was. Big mistake. The Chinese have a different word for every conceivable member of the family and our teacher spent about 10 minutes drawing a complicated graph to explain this. She conceded herself that even they don't always understand the hundreds of words. Does a language really need a different word for your mother's elder brother as opposed to the younger as opposed to your father's?
There was a poster advertising an essay competition. It specified that we were not to express views "contrary to the current consensus on historical fact".
My card has been unblocked! I have money. Lovely lovely money. Just as well as Becka and I are going shopping on Saturday for warm clothes.
Although the receptionists downstairs have a heater on full blast.
Anthony asked what the Chinese for uncle was. Big mistake. The Chinese have a different word for every conceivable member of the family and our teacher spent about 10 minutes drawing a complicated graph to explain this. She conceded herself that even they don't always understand the hundreds of words. Does a language really need a different word for your mother's elder brother as opposed to the younger as opposed to your father's?
There was a poster advertising an essay competition. It specified that we were not to express views "contrary to the current consensus on historical fact".
My card has been unblocked! I have money. Lovely lovely money. Just as well as Becka and I are going shopping on Saturday for warm clothes.
2010-11-01
2 Months Since I Last Saw The Motherland
So the weekend was rather busy! On Friday Raymond, the boss, and Edward (either a teacher or assistant-Chinese) and I drove to 沂水, Yishui. It was around 200+km away and took us three and a half hours. The first part of the journey was on a big wide highway. When we had left Qingdao it became very noticeable how few cars were on the road. In fact, apart from a few trucks, it was pretty much empty. The trucks in China are great, big, clunking hulks, covered in dust with a cover haphazardly lashed over a cargo. They drive in any lane on the motorway and when we drove past, Raymond would hoot and flash his lights. I think this was so they'd know we were there. It worries me that he felt that he had to do that because it implies truck drivers will just veer anywhere without looking... Some didn't understand land markings and happily straddled their vehicles over the lane markers. A few more aspects of Chinese driving I noticed was that when you are in a carpark, while the Brits will go to any lengths to avoid hitting an open door on the vehicle besides their car, the Chinese will happily fling their doors open and slam into the neighbouring car. Also, Raymond's car came with seatbelts but no buckles. So there was a strap. Which rendered it useless.
Chinese driving in general is rather, er, free in style. However I have to say that in general it works pretty well. The drivers are far more aware of what is around them whilst I think that in the UK, drivers go around in some sort of a trance and the minute anything unexpected comes up, they do not have a clue what to do. Here the rules are more like the unspoken ones you follow whilst walking on a pavement in a crowd. If you want to turn left, across a lane of traffic, you edge out and edge out until one car pauses briefly so you can cross. In the UK you just sit there for ages.
At first Raymond played some English story on the radio. I hope it wasn't for my benefit as it was fairly egregious. An American women, with a bizarrely 50s sounding accent, told us all how you should sacrifice friends for ambition.
We stopped briefly at a brand new service station. There were no other cars. Some of the workers came out to stare at me.
Then we turned off the highway. This wasn't a brand spanking new 6 lane artery, rather it more closely resembled my aunt's farm track. The road was wide enough for 2 cars, that is, in the UK it would be for 2 but here it was like, if it fits, we're cool, so perhaps I should say 3 cars. The road was covered in dust, the trees were covered in dust, the trucks were covered in dust. After a while the surface really detoriated into potholes. Remember, this was the main road to a city of 1 million people! The vehicles on the road became more and more creative as we progressed. As well as the trucks, and some battered cars, there were motorbike, electric bikes, small trucks and this weird, chugging contraption that consisted of a trailer and in front, a motor on a wheel with a headlight attached. It was steered with handles attached to the motor.
I found the countryside we passed through incredibly interesting as we went through tiny villages with houses made of grey, rough stone with red roofs, built around a courtyard-which is the traditional way. The fields were often terraced and I could see no tractor marks so I assume they were hand-tilled. Most of the fields were bare with stacks of what looked like reeds piled around. Occasionally we passed some woods. Previously, China had basically cut down all of its trees so the government went on a tree-planting drive to stop erosion, which is a huge problem in China-their country is literally washing away- so the trees here are all standing to attention in perfect rows and columns. I saw 3 or 4 cows in one courtyard we passed, as well as a couple of flocks of sheep. However on the whole livestock was very rare. I wonder, are they just hidden away for the winter? Because I imagine that Qingdao alone consumes a fair amount of meat so where are the flocks and herds?
The villages that we drove through all had China Mobile shops. I think it is a rather bizarre quirk that so many poor people here in China, and elsewhere in Africa etc, may struggle to afford decent food, healthcare and housing, yet they almost always have mobile phones.
I wonder what it is like living in one of those villages. If it's cold, you're cold. When it's dark, you can't see. When it's raining, you get wet. I have only ever lived in 20c, dry, light houses.
As we neared Yishui the landscape turned to brown. Just brown. Brown hills, brown plants, brown road. At first I thought it was scrubland but when I looked closely I could see terraces so I think they were just fields that hadn't been planted yet. No trees here.
Then we finally arrived in Yishui. Yishui is like the middle of nowhere. Only not so cosmopolitan. There is a river, mostly dried up, that someone has attempted to prettify but away from there, it got a bit grey. The buildings were low and dilapidated. They don't tend to build things to last here so even fairly recent constructions rust, mould and crack a lot. It was dark when we arrived and I was feeling distracted, occasionally in China the food comes back to haunt you..., so I did not see much. Finally, after a detour via some toilets for me (I hate Chinese toilets- they tend to be hole-in-the-floor. I feel these introduce an unnecessary element of chance into proceedings), we arrived at what was probably the swishest hotel in town. It was nice, with girls in qipao ready to greet you, but there were, shall we say, cracks in the veneer. The English signs were unintelligible, there were a lot of flies, and the restaurant had run out of rice. A Chinese restaurant never runs out of rice. Except this one. My room view was of a building site.
Dinner consisted of various dishes such as lamb ribs, something that resembled squares of scrambled egg, veggies and a spicy peanut dish I didn't touch. I couldn't quite eat the ribs with chopsticks so just gnawed away. Seeing as I am a barbarian, might as well act like one!
I got rung up again-making it the 4th time- by the modelling company wondering if I could do their shoot. Popular :P
I probed Raymond's and Edward's minds on China. I asked them about religion and neither had one. Interestingly they both said China needed religion as right now it is rather soulless. Amusingly, I asked them which religion they thought China should have and neither could come up with one... However I do agree that China right now resembles some great clanking machine- lots of parts working furiously away but just bits of dead metal. The Chinese only want money...
After dinner, Edward and I went for a walk up Yishui's main road. We passed through a park and there was one group dancing the waltz, another doing some sort of synchronised hopping dance, another playing the drums and another practising taichi. I like that adults here go to the park. It keeps them very healthy and mobile. Everyone stared at me. Some with open mouths.
The next day I went down to breakfast early and had to sit on a big table with other Chinese. There was a hush as I positioned myself. Then conversation slowly restarted as I concentrated very hard on my plate. Chinese breakfasts don't really differ from other meals which sucks as I don't fancy rice and pepper for breakfast. However I found some fried egg and tucked into that. I also found some melon and had a devil of a time trying to pluck it up with chopsticks.
Then we drove to the Kelloggs' factory. Re-read the paragraph above and then return to this one. See Kelloggs' problem? They first came to China in 2000 and left in 2001 because no Chinese person wants to or needs to buy expensive cereal and milk for breakfast. I asked Raymond and he dithered a bit saying that sometimes children ate a bowl of cereal but I have never seen any cereal other than imported Western brands in shops. This implies that only Westerners eat it- and at around 6pounds for 24 weetabix, only they can afford it! Anyway, Kelloggs came back in 2008 and decided, very wisely, to concentrate on their cereal bars. However in some of the factory rooms the products were all laid out and I saw not one Kelloggs' branded box-only a Chinese brand. So I think that Kelloggs' might not be in China much longer.
Teaching went well-the first class were very enthusiastic but the second class were terrified. Both classes would have had an equal amount of teaching so the 2nd class consisted of the lost lambs of the world, plus some too cool for school. I persevered and by the end Cherry had stopped trembling, and Frank had stopped checking his phone long enough to speak some English. We finished off with a Halloween themed lesson and then we jumped in the car and got out of Yishui as fast as possible.
I would not recommend Yishui as a holiday destination.
On the way back, it was virtually night the whole way. So pitch black. At no point, until we got to Qingdao, were there any streetlamps. There were four lanes of traffic out of Yishui and not all the cars were staying on the traditional right side of the road. So we were driving along in the pitch black, with blazing headlights directly in front. Occasionally a slight shadow hinted at one of those motor-only contraptions in front that would need to be avoided. When we came up behind a truck the dust thrown up would hide it. All you could see would be a haze of light and then a shadow sillhouette of a truck. It was a striking image, if you saw it in a magazine, but driving behind it was worrying... Finally we reached the highway and spent the next hour playing dodgems at 140kmh. Cars will just veer into you, unless you blast the horn. Fun fun.
I was dropped off near Carrefour and got a taxi back home. Then I hurriedly got changed and called Nick to take me to LPG. When I got there I had fish and chips and a beer. Ah, civilisation! (The fish and chips would have been classed as mediocre in the UK but was bloody ambrosia here-if a tad cold ambrosia.) Then we headed to Q bar, which was a bar in Shangri-La which is a lovely, shiny, hotel. Q bar was very nice and almost classy, the pole ruined that vibe, but there was a live band (phillipino I think) and I rather enjoyed it. There was a 57 year old American wandering around with a necklace of toothbrushes and a ballerina skirt conducting an informal survey to see which nations understood the concept of the tooth fairy. I also met a very very gay South Korean. He amused me greatly. He'd been in the navy.
Then the guitarist, a fat Chineseman in drag, did a strip tease. Rather bizarre. And Tinkerbell did a pole dance which involved some rather impressive moves.
I left at this point as Nick's friends include one female- a vey obnoxious, fat, American. Who resents me as the other female. And shows this by not saying one word to me except for standing in front of me, with her back in my face. Plus I was rather tired! I only had 9元 left so I hailed a taxi and persuaded him to take me home for 9. He did, very kindly, and we had a conversation! At first I didn't understand and then I realised he was asking what I wanted to do after graduation. I said I wanted to become a taxi driver like him, which made him tell me off and tell me to become a teacher. He doesn't like being a taxi driver. Then I told him I was 20 and he didn't believe me. Then I told him I was a twin and I don't think he could have been more surprised if I'd told him I had been to the moon. Fun times :)
On Sunday I borrowed 1元 from Becka, for the bus, and sailed down to withdraw money. But the atm refused. As did the next, and the next. So Natwest, after allowing me to withdraw the maximum every day for a week, have only now blocked my card. Have you ever been in a foreign country with only a battered 1元, 10p, note clutched in your sweaty palm? Faintly scary. It presents problems- as I like to eat. I hiked back up to the halls gently smoking with rage and borrowed 100元 off Becka and went to Starbucks to cool down.
I miss money.
At 4pm Vivien came to see me. We talked for around 2 hours in English and Chinese-the longest conversation I've had in Chinese definitely! She brought me a gift of a bottle opener shaped like a Beijing Opera mask. I felt rather guilty as I had nothing for her... Anyway, she was lovely-even if she did accidentally take my pen! And it certainly helped my language!
On the way back from Yishui, the opening bars of We Will Rock You came on the radio. I was like yeaaah Queen. Then a Chinese voice started. He was singing about Chinese people standing up for themselves. Oh well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...
Chinese driving in general is rather, er, free in style. However I have to say that in general it works pretty well. The drivers are far more aware of what is around them whilst I think that in the UK, drivers go around in some sort of a trance and the minute anything unexpected comes up, they do not have a clue what to do. Here the rules are more like the unspoken ones you follow whilst walking on a pavement in a crowd. If you want to turn left, across a lane of traffic, you edge out and edge out until one car pauses briefly so you can cross. In the UK you just sit there for ages.
At first Raymond played some English story on the radio. I hope it wasn't for my benefit as it was fairly egregious. An American women, with a bizarrely 50s sounding accent, told us all how you should sacrifice friends for ambition.
We stopped briefly at a brand new service station. There were no other cars. Some of the workers came out to stare at me.
Then we turned off the highway. This wasn't a brand spanking new 6 lane artery, rather it more closely resembled my aunt's farm track. The road was wide enough for 2 cars, that is, in the UK it would be for 2 but here it was like, if it fits, we're cool, so perhaps I should say 3 cars. The road was covered in dust, the trees were covered in dust, the trucks were covered in dust. After a while the surface really detoriated into potholes. Remember, this was the main road to a city of 1 million people! The vehicles on the road became more and more creative as we progressed. As well as the trucks, and some battered cars, there were motorbike, electric bikes, small trucks and this weird, chugging contraption that consisted of a trailer and in front, a motor on a wheel with a headlight attached. It was steered with handles attached to the motor.
I found the countryside we passed through incredibly interesting as we went through tiny villages with houses made of grey, rough stone with red roofs, built around a courtyard-which is the traditional way. The fields were often terraced and I could see no tractor marks so I assume they were hand-tilled. Most of the fields were bare with stacks of what looked like reeds piled around. Occasionally we passed some woods. Previously, China had basically cut down all of its trees so the government went on a tree-planting drive to stop erosion, which is a huge problem in China-their country is literally washing away- so the trees here are all standing to attention in perfect rows and columns. I saw 3 or 4 cows in one courtyard we passed, as well as a couple of flocks of sheep. However on the whole livestock was very rare. I wonder, are they just hidden away for the winter? Because I imagine that Qingdao alone consumes a fair amount of meat so where are the flocks and herds?
The villages that we drove through all had China Mobile shops. I think it is a rather bizarre quirk that so many poor people here in China, and elsewhere in Africa etc, may struggle to afford decent food, healthcare and housing, yet they almost always have mobile phones.
I wonder what it is like living in one of those villages. If it's cold, you're cold. When it's dark, you can't see. When it's raining, you get wet. I have only ever lived in 20c, dry, light houses.
As we neared Yishui the landscape turned to brown. Just brown. Brown hills, brown plants, brown road. At first I thought it was scrubland but when I looked closely I could see terraces so I think they were just fields that hadn't been planted yet. No trees here.
Then we finally arrived in Yishui. Yishui is like the middle of nowhere. Only not so cosmopolitan. There is a river, mostly dried up, that someone has attempted to prettify but away from there, it got a bit grey. The buildings were low and dilapidated. They don't tend to build things to last here so even fairly recent constructions rust, mould and crack a lot. It was dark when we arrived and I was feeling distracted, occasionally in China the food comes back to haunt you..., so I did not see much. Finally, after a detour via some toilets for me (I hate Chinese toilets- they tend to be hole-in-the-floor. I feel these introduce an unnecessary element of chance into proceedings), we arrived at what was probably the swishest hotel in town. It was nice, with girls in qipao ready to greet you, but there were, shall we say, cracks in the veneer. The English signs were unintelligible, there were a lot of flies, and the restaurant had run out of rice. A Chinese restaurant never runs out of rice. Except this one. My room view was of a building site.
Dinner consisted of various dishes such as lamb ribs, something that resembled squares of scrambled egg, veggies and a spicy peanut dish I didn't touch. I couldn't quite eat the ribs with chopsticks so just gnawed away. Seeing as I am a barbarian, might as well act like one!
I got rung up again-making it the 4th time- by the modelling company wondering if I could do their shoot. Popular :P
I probed Raymond's and Edward's minds on China. I asked them about religion and neither had one. Interestingly they both said China needed religion as right now it is rather soulless. Amusingly, I asked them which religion they thought China should have and neither could come up with one... However I do agree that China right now resembles some great clanking machine- lots of parts working furiously away but just bits of dead metal. The Chinese only want money...
After dinner, Edward and I went for a walk up Yishui's main road. We passed through a park and there was one group dancing the waltz, another doing some sort of synchronised hopping dance, another playing the drums and another practising taichi. I like that adults here go to the park. It keeps them very healthy and mobile. Everyone stared at me. Some with open mouths.
The next day I went down to breakfast early and had to sit on a big table with other Chinese. There was a hush as I positioned myself. Then conversation slowly restarted as I concentrated very hard on my plate. Chinese breakfasts don't really differ from other meals which sucks as I don't fancy rice and pepper for breakfast. However I found some fried egg and tucked into that. I also found some melon and had a devil of a time trying to pluck it up with chopsticks.
Then we drove to the Kelloggs' factory. Re-read the paragraph above and then return to this one. See Kelloggs' problem? They first came to China in 2000 and left in 2001 because no Chinese person wants to or needs to buy expensive cereal and milk for breakfast. I asked Raymond and he dithered a bit saying that sometimes children ate a bowl of cereal but I have never seen any cereal other than imported Western brands in shops. This implies that only Westerners eat it- and at around 6pounds for 24 weetabix, only they can afford it! Anyway, Kelloggs came back in 2008 and decided, very wisely, to concentrate on their cereal bars. However in some of the factory rooms the products were all laid out and I saw not one Kelloggs' branded box-only a Chinese brand. So I think that Kelloggs' might not be in China much longer.
Teaching went well-the first class were very enthusiastic but the second class were terrified. Both classes would have had an equal amount of teaching so the 2nd class consisted of the lost lambs of the world, plus some too cool for school. I persevered and by the end Cherry had stopped trembling, and Frank had stopped checking his phone long enough to speak some English. We finished off with a Halloween themed lesson and then we jumped in the car and got out of Yishui as fast as possible.
I would not recommend Yishui as a holiday destination.
On the way back, it was virtually night the whole way. So pitch black. At no point, until we got to Qingdao, were there any streetlamps. There were four lanes of traffic out of Yishui and not all the cars were staying on the traditional right side of the road. So we were driving along in the pitch black, with blazing headlights directly in front. Occasionally a slight shadow hinted at one of those motor-only contraptions in front that would need to be avoided. When we came up behind a truck the dust thrown up would hide it. All you could see would be a haze of light and then a shadow sillhouette of a truck. It was a striking image, if you saw it in a magazine, but driving behind it was worrying... Finally we reached the highway and spent the next hour playing dodgems at 140kmh. Cars will just veer into you, unless you blast the horn. Fun fun.
I was dropped off near Carrefour and got a taxi back home. Then I hurriedly got changed and called Nick to take me to LPG. When I got there I had fish and chips and a beer. Ah, civilisation! (The fish and chips would have been classed as mediocre in the UK but was bloody ambrosia here-if a tad cold ambrosia.) Then we headed to Q bar, which was a bar in Shangri-La which is a lovely, shiny, hotel. Q bar was very nice and almost classy, the pole ruined that vibe, but there was a live band (phillipino I think) and I rather enjoyed it. There was a 57 year old American wandering around with a necklace of toothbrushes and a ballerina skirt conducting an informal survey to see which nations understood the concept of the tooth fairy. I also met a very very gay South Korean. He amused me greatly. He'd been in the navy.
Then the guitarist, a fat Chineseman in drag, did a strip tease. Rather bizarre. And Tinkerbell did a pole dance which involved some rather impressive moves.
I left at this point as Nick's friends include one female- a vey obnoxious, fat, American. Who resents me as the other female. And shows this by not saying one word to me except for standing in front of me, with her back in my face. Plus I was rather tired! I only had 9元 left so I hailed a taxi and persuaded him to take me home for 9. He did, very kindly, and we had a conversation! At first I didn't understand and then I realised he was asking what I wanted to do after graduation. I said I wanted to become a taxi driver like him, which made him tell me off and tell me to become a teacher. He doesn't like being a taxi driver. Then I told him I was 20 and he didn't believe me. Then I told him I was a twin and I don't think he could have been more surprised if I'd told him I had been to the moon. Fun times :)
On Sunday I borrowed 1元 from Becka, for the bus, and sailed down to withdraw money. But the atm refused. As did the next, and the next. So Natwest, after allowing me to withdraw the maximum every day for a week, have only now blocked my card. Have you ever been in a foreign country with only a battered 1元, 10p, note clutched in your sweaty palm? Faintly scary. It presents problems- as I like to eat. I hiked back up to the halls gently smoking with rage and borrowed 100元 off Becka and went to Starbucks to cool down.
I miss money.
At 4pm Vivien came to see me. We talked for around 2 hours in English and Chinese-the longest conversation I've had in Chinese definitely! She brought me a gift of a bottle opener shaped like a Beijing Opera mask. I felt rather guilty as I had nothing for her... Anyway, she was lovely-even if she did accidentally take my pen! And it certainly helped my language!
On the way back from Yishui, the opening bars of We Will Rock You came on the radio. I was like yeaaah Queen. Then a Chinese voice started. He was singing about Chinese people standing up for themselves. Oh well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...
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