Jun 2008

In Australia it is an offense to let off fire crackers unless you are licensed to do so. Predominantly because of the risk of people being injured and causing fires especially in the current drought. We see fire crackers only on special occasions such as New Years, River fire, Ekka etc.

In China it is very different. I recall on my first day I heard this thunderous racket. I though we were being bombed. I was soon to learn that fire crackers are let off all the time. They let off fire crackers as celebratory fire crackers. It could be that a new business has opened, a schools birthday, end of exams, broken a sales record, someone has passed, it could be anything. I think it is great that they celebrate their achievements in this way.

Some may think it is strange to set of fire crackers if someone has passed but the Chinese do it to celebrate that persons life.

What I find interesting is in a country that has a severe problem with pollution they are adding to it by the regular occurrence of fire crackers.

I hope they pass the required level before the Beijing Olympics!

So you probably have already read that we hang out at the same restaurant.

Well on Saturday Night we went to A Dong DE Shuijiao. This restaurant is near the Dai Temple. It is a clean dumpling restaurant. Between the 3 of us we ordered 1/2 a serve of the meat and mushroom dumpling and the same size for the vegetable dumpling and then braised eggplant. The meat dumplings were good. But I have to admit I didn't try the vegetable ones because they didn't look that appealing. The eggplant was fantastic. It was sweet and laced with garlic. The restaurant also has another site around the corner.

The meal cost very little ie Y40 ie $6 or $2 each this included drinks

On Sunday after English corner we went to Dong bei fan Dian. This restaurant is just passed Silver Plaza. The food was fantastic. There were 6 adults and 1 child. We ordered fried potatoes, onions and peanuts, mutton, green beans, duck and eggplant of course.

The fried potatoes, onions and peanuts are the specialty of the house. It is served like a salad and you toss it and place it inside a thin pancake and wrap it and eat it. It was delicious. The mutton and eggplant were also very good. The beans and duck were OK but I could live with out them!

This meal also cost very little at y93 ie $15 or $2 each

I was fortunate when I first arrived I only had 10 Students and one classroom to attend on the campus that I live on. The classroom is very basic with a blackboard, chalk and a wet cloth to clean it with.

The desks are timber and appear to be very uncomfortable. There are no curtains so viewing anything would be difficult. Not that it mattered because I don't have any equipment to use anyway.

This lasted for 2 weeks because these students then went to Singapore on a scholarship.

I was still fortunate though as my next class I had 12 students and one classroom to attend on the campus that I live on. This classroom was in a different building and on the fourth floor. I was excited to learn it was called the interactive learning centre (ILC).

My students were Chinese Teachers who were going to Brazil. The Electric Power Company is opening a power plant in Brazil and these teachers need to go there to teach the Brazilians how to use the plant. I was teaching them how to read English.

The ILC was very impressive. It was set up by Chisholm Institute. It had computers down both sides of the room, a ceiling drop screen, data projector and a host of technology. I was very excited believing I could use the computers in the classroom for activities. I soon found out that they weren't linked to the internet. The only resource I was able to use was the laptop and projector for watching English movies.

In May all my good fortune came to an abrupt end. Two of the teachers had decided to break their contract and go back home. I inherited one of the teachers classes. This meant that instead of my luxurious life of 1 class, 1 classroom on the campus in which I lived and a max of 12 students I now had 5 classes, 5 different classrooms on the new campus and an average of 55 students per class.

The new campus is a 25 minute bus ride. The school provides the bus and also pays for you to take the bus. The facilities at the new campus are much superior. The classroom has a blackboard, chalk and duster, TV, DVD and CD player. Still no curtains. However we have watched movies and it doesn't pose that much of an impact.

My classrooms are all in the same building and all on the fourth floor. I sometimes wish that they had installed lifts. But hey the exercise is good for you!

They are always curious when the see a foreigner. There are apparently only 20 of us in this city. I haven't found 20 yet.

I am told that the street vendors are illegal. Perhaps its monthly when you see they are gone for a few days. This is when the police move them along. After a few days they come back to their same haunts. Some stay and hide behind trees.

You can buy just about anything from the street vendors. Predominantly outside the school we have a couple of Chinese Hamburger ladies, fruit and vegetable markets, seafood market and fresh meat.

I had been warned when I arrived about the fresh meat, however I am not in the habit of checking my watch to see if it is safe to walk down the street. I have had the unfortunate experience of seeing animals arrive alive and when I've come back the head and feet are in the gutter whilst the animal has been skinned and is now hung for cutting. At least I know the meat is fresh!

Then of course there is the cage full of chickens. You know how may have been purchased by the number of heads in the gutter.

Every night it is a common occurrence that some of the foreign teachers meet and have dinner together. We are so adventurous that we eat at the same restaurant every night.

This is true about eating at the same restaurant but not because we are not adventurous but because it doesn't matter where you go the menu is the same. We go to the same restaurant because it is close to the campus, the service is good, they have written an English menu for us with our help and the food is good. There is always plenty to eat, it is tasty and we know what we are eating. Typically the meal is somewhere between 10Y - 15 Y per person ie $1.60 - $2.50. This shouldn't break the bank.

Generally we order one type of food per person. The staples are sweet and sour pork, spicy beef soup, pork dumplings, eggplant, cauliflower, cabbage, tofu, chilled beef, egg and tomato, cucumber, eggplant, potato etc. The food is not as we know it in the west.

Every now and then we venture to new ground. The Ramada is good when you want a western fix, expensive by local standards but cheap by our standards.

The local BBQ is interesting. You sit on short tables with little chairs. You get a selection of meat on skewers and you cook on a BBQ at your table. The only time we have done this our BBQ caught on fire and they decided it was safer for the city to have them cook for us. The only problem with this dining selection is you get nothing but meat and you are inhaling the smoke from the BBQ. The positives are it's outside dining and quite pleasant in summer with a cold beer.

Taishan Huaqiao Hotel is where we have our English teas every second Sunday. Have not eaten there but the tea is good.

There is a restaurant we go to after the Sunday English Tea's, have no idea the name but it is in the street down by the lake near the hotel. Food is very tasty but need a Chinese person with you to communicate.

The Porridge restaurant was not for me. Loved the eggplant but was not overly interested in the rest and in particular the porridge. It was like a runny risotto.

Have been to a Hotpot Restaurant but once again one visit is enough for me. Basically your order lashings of beer and sweat it out around the hotpot fishing for strips of lamb, fish balls, mushrooms, tofu, potato slices, cabbage from a boiling broth.

I recently located a bakery. It's called Daoxiangyuan. It is fantastic. It is a Chain and there are several around Tai'an. They have a great selection of fresh, chunky chilled sandwiches with tuna, chicken, bacon and ham. On the sweet side they have tarts, breads, cream puffs with real cream! and cakes that taste the way they should. I'm somehow thinking it would have been good if I didn't find it. Sometimes you buy stuff because it is familiar to you, not because you would buy it or eat it at home. Is this comfort eating????

Kevin's restaurant is a traditional Chinese restaurant up near Silver Plaza. We go there if we are in the vicinity around dinner time or if we are trying to avoid others dining with us!

For breakfast I keep it simple and have yogurt or fruit or a protein drink. Lunch I have fruit and a protein drink if I am still hungry. I snack on jelly if that doesn't work for me. Every now and then I will get a Chinese Hamburger for lunch.

The Chinese Hamburger is pork and an egg cooked on a hotplate and served in a heated roll. Very tasty and only cost Y2 ie 30c