Nov 2008

I went to the gym for a 9 am open. I then walked to the Post office near the train station to post some mail home. I had a bounce in my step as I was so proud of myself because I had achieved everything I wanted to and I would be home by 12 pm to shower and get ready for my 2 pm class.

When I got to the post office I took my back pack of my back and put it on the counter to only realize that the bag had been opened and the wallet had been stolen. I left the post office and retraced my steps. I was hoping they had taken the money and tossed the wallet. No such luck.

I rang a school leader and told him that my wallet had been stolen. He wanted to know what I wanted to do. I told him that I needed to report it to the Police. He told me he was too busy and I should go to the Police station myself. I told him that I couldn't because they don't speak English and I don't speak Chinese. He told me that they do speak English. I told him that I had been there last week and no one spoke English. He reiterated that he was busy. I reiterated that I had my wallet stolen that had Y600, QLD Drivers License, Mt Tai pass and my ATM card. He told me to walk back to the school and to go to his office.

There is no such expression for the angst when you are in a foreign country and you have no money or ID.

I walked briskly back to the campus. I went to his office. He told me to write a letter, get my passport and someone would meet me at the school gate.

I went back to my apartment and wrote the letter, however I couldn't print it as I was out of paper and that was on my 'to do' list. I emailed the letter to him for printing and I took my passport to the school gate. I was met by a Chinese Teacher who I have named - Lydia. She has just come back from 5 years of studying in NZ. Her English is good.

Lydia and I go to the Bank to report my card stolen. This takes over 1 hour. I had 14 minutes to get back to school and get changed and on the bus for my 2 pm class. I make it!

After class I go to the office to see Lydia. I apologize for having to run and she explains that we need to go back to the Bank on Monday to order a new card.

Later that day another Chinese person knocks on my apartment door to give me the letter I wrote translated into Chinese. I am to take that to the Police station.

I wanted to go to watch a football game in Jinan and asked if anyone was interested in coming. Andrew and Blair tagged along. Andrew had been to Jinan before but had not really seen anything and Blair was a first timer.

Well we left the apartment at 9 am and headed to the bus station. I left my book in the taxi! Damn! I had nearly finished reading it. We got on the 9.30 am bus to Jinan.

We arrive in Jinan at 11 am. The hotel I had booked I had not stayed at before so I didn't have a card, but I had printed the address in Chinese to give to the taxi driver.

We get into a cab and I give the taxi driver the info. Off we head. I find it quite amazing that the Chinese taxi drivers can not read Chinese. He takes us somewhere which is nowhere where we want to be. We eventually speak to someone at a hotel to see if they can tell the cabbie where to go. After about 20 minutes we find ourselves back on the road again. The taxi fare ended up being Y18. The return fare was Y8, from memory.

So it appears that it is me and not Barbara as no trip has ever been without an adventure of some kind.

We check into hotel and head to Jenny's Cafe for lunch. As per normal the food was sensational. Whilst at the restaurant I ask what time the football match starts. I am advised the it has been rescheduled to Shanghai. Guess I'm not going to the football.

The boys are keen to shop for western goods. I take them on a shopping tour. Firstly we go to U-Mart, RT-Mart and finally to Walmart. The boys surprisingly can shop. I was amazed. I didn't buy anything but I helped carry their parcels!

Back to the hotel for a quick tub and out for dinner and some entertainment. The boys had done some research and come up with two different locations. We chose one and headed there. When we got there it had closed and there was now a glasses shop there.

Not overly concerned about this we headed to the other site as it was also in the same street. The number of people in the street were amazing. The street markets were pumping. But the street numbers just never seemed to go down and we walked for 2 hours!

Eventually we decided to give up and we went to the first bar we saw. It was called the Seventh Avenue Club. We walked in. Oops I have done it again. It was a go-go bar. The sign that said 'no cameras' was the first clue, the next was the sex posters and the last was the pole.

No one was in the club so we had a drink and left. We decided to go back towards the many restaurants we had passed. We decided on this one particular restaurant. The food was delicious. It was Italian. Then the good old faithful - Bandjo Bar was the next stop.

This place is unbelievable. There is always something happening here. This night it was like a circus. There were probably 100 people in the bar. Everyone thought they were a singer and took turns singing on the stage. Every one thought they were a musician and played instruments. It was heaps of fun and a great atmosphere.

Home by 1 am I think and tucked into bed for a 9 am rise to go to Jenny's cafe for breakfast, and then the bus ride home!

Polly was keen to go to the hairdresser but not confident to go by herself. I made a date with her and off we went.

The hairdresser told me my hair was in bad condition from the chemical straightening. this is true. However, I believe it is more noticeable because they don't use conditioner in the salon. He tried to sell me a Loreal Conditioning treatment for Y600 ie $100. You have got to be joking. I buy Matrix Conditioning treatments for $20. This is much better quality.

He wanted to cut my hair. I haven't had it cut since June because they like to clip! I won't get it cut again here. I'm still trying to grow it back to it's length when I arrived.

Polly was very excited with her new 'do!' She insisted on having photos taken with the hairdresser and tea and tidy!

Yes we have mosquitoes in Oz but nowhere near as bad as here. There are mosquitoes everywhere. You can walk through a whole swarm of them at night. Apparently they don't bite.

Well I'm OK cause they don't like my blood. Barbara on the other hand had welts all the time. They were amazing. It didn't matter what she did they would find her.

My advice is:
Use a DEET insect repellent
Sleep under a mosquito net
If possible choose air conditioned accommodation
wear long sleeves and trousers
use coils
spray your room with insect repellent before each time you leave.

Well yes it could only happen to me! First I was hit by a motor cycle and now I have been involved in a motor vehicle accident in Tai'an. Not surprising given the amount of people who live in this small town.

I was on my way home from the gym. It was raining so I caught a taxi. The taxi turned the corner and so did a bike. The taxi driver yelled at the rider and kept going. I guess the rider was upright so he was OK.

There was a fair dint in the side of the taxi.

Just a small bingle!