The Adventures of Tai'an

I was very excited to see I had a western toilet in my apartment. There is one huge problem though - it never flushes. Firstly I need to explain that the toilet doesn't have water in the bowl like ours do. But when you flush there is water. Obviously this is not enough pressure to flush the toilet.

Successful flushing comes from a plastic bucket! Fill it up and put it down the toilet bowl. Works every time!

I have become obsessed with toilets. I try not to go unless I'm at home. The other occasion is whenever I eat in a nice restaurant. I always have to check out the toilets. The Ramada has the most beautiful bathrooms with Western toilets. Other restaurants have squats but clean squats. Knowing this I am still keen to visit.

Recently I was at school and had drunk too much water for my bladder and I to make it home safely without any embarrassing situations given the bus drivers do not know the purpose of speed bumps. I had no other option but to the new school campus toilets. Much to my surprise although they were squats they were clean.

I will store this in the back of my mind for any other future requirements but not make a habit of it. I know later in life I will curse my time in China or any other Asian country for my bladder!

Saturday 26 April 08 I received a phone call from one of the teachers. Her and her husband had broken their contract with the school and decided to head home. I wished them well. In the back of my mind I was thinking about who was going to inherit those classes, knowing that it was probably going to me and Barbara. As I had 10 teaching hours/w and Barbara had 8 teaching hours/w although we were being paid for 20 hours/w.

Shortly after this I got the dreaded phone call, "Can you come to the office, please?" Off i went to the office knowing why I had been summoned. I was inheriting Alice's classes. Now she never spoke highly of her classes, but I was keeping an open mind.

So my first day back from holidays I would start new classes at the new campus. Being the organized person that I am I had already prepared my classes for the week of my return. I had wasted that time as I would not be needing them. I didn't have anytime before leaving for Qingdao to prepare any lesson plans. I was not going to worry about it as there was nothing I could do on my holidays.

On my return from Qingdao I quickly looked through the teachers guide and put something together for my classes on the Monday. The new campus has a different timetable to the old campus and I have to catch the school bus. I set my alarm for 6.20am as the bus leaves at 7.40am. This time is before I would have normally been out of bed.

Up at 6.20, breakfast, showered and ready for my first day. Victoria meets me at the bus. She is going to show me my classrooms. The bus takes 20 -25 minutes to get to the new campus. I am amazed by the new campus. It is beautiful.

Victoria comes to my first class with me. The biggest class I have had at this stage was 12. Here I was with 54 students eagerly awaiting. We did some introductions and then it was on to the workbook.

All of the students I had had so far spoke good English and were keen. I do not understand why these students are doing English. That are not 1 bit interested. So now I have 5 classes twice a week, a few of them have English names and a few are interested. I decided that if they are not interested that's Ok and I will put my energy into those that are provided those that aren't do not interrupt the class.

Every class I collect mobile phones, magazines, novels, playing cards, mp3 players, newspapers and anything else they think is appropriate.

I look forward to Wednesday and Friday as I have Jikong 06-2 and they are fantastic. Whilst they may not always be correct they put in a guts effort. That's all you ask of them.

So my 10 h/w has now turned into 20 teaching h/w + 9.5 travelling h/w + what ever time is takes me to do lesson plans. Yes I know I shouldn't be complaining cause this is what I would have done in 2 days in my old life, but I had got used to working 10 hours/w.

God help me when I go back to the real world.

Qingdao has a population of 1.6M

Qingdao was a fishing village. German forces wrested the town from the Vhinese in 1898 after the murder of two German missionaries and Qingdao was ceded to Germany for 99 years. Under the German rule the famous Tsingtao Brewery opened in 1903, electric lighting was installed, missions and a university were established, the railway to Jinan was built, the Protestant Church was handing out hymnals by 1908, 2,000 men were deployed and a naval base established. At least there are some positives about the German invasion.

In 1914 the Japanese moved into town after the successful naval bombardment of the port. They held the city until 1922. They returned in 1938 after the start of the war and occupied the town until they were defeated in 1945.

Today Qingdao is the 4th largest port in China and the 2nd largest city in the Shandong Province.

Sleeping Lotus Spa
Whilst in Qingdao is was my birthday. So I wanted to do something for me as I do every birthday. Of to the spa it was. We took a taxi thankfully as we would never have it ourselves. It is inside a community.

Well we went in and the interior was immaculate the furniture was traditional Asian. It was absolutely beautiful. The owner sat down with us and asked what we would like. We were here to be pampered. We wanted a facial and a massage.

Next we got a cup of tea. The owner then took us to look at the view. This was right on the beach. The view was uninterrupted. We sat outside and drank our tea. It was so relaxing.

Next the owner took us upstairs to show us the different rooms. There were decks up here that I could imagine myself sitting on with a nice glass of wine and some cheese.

Then we went to get changed and have our facial and massage. The experience was divine and I would say the best spa I have ever been to. The total cost for this indulgence was Y480 ($80). It was worth every cent. Barbara said that she was expecting to pay Y900+. That would have been the cost at home.

Nails
Still in some need of pampering we wanted a manicure. We searched everywhere street in, street out, shopping centres. We couldn't find a shop anywhere. That night I was looking through a magazine and found a place at Carrefour. The next day we headed of to Carrefour to have a manicure. It was fantastic. We had the best hand massage. They also put your hands into massaging gloves. Highly recommended.

Renmin Foot Massage Centre
We decided towards the end of our holiday that we needed a foot massage. Off we went after finding this centre in a magazine.
When we arrived we are met by a Chinese man, who has limited English. Barbara points to foot massage, he says, "No, for Y148 ($24AUD) you can have a foot massage, a full body massage and refined oil knead back." Barbara looks at me I nod in agreeance. It appears Barbara and I are alike. No need to ask twice when it come to pampering.
This experience was unbelievable and I would go again if I had the opportunity.
Apparently Renmin Foot Massage Centre is a chain. The massages were more based on reflexology. I felt so good after it. I wish there was one in Tai'an.

Night life is non existent in Tai'an. Being able to go to a pub or a club was a big deal for us.

Club New York
We went on a Friday Night. The place was pumping. They had a fabulous house band which consisted of 6 members - 4 male and 2 female. Everyone in the band was Chinese and they spoke/sang perfect English. Each band member could sing or play an instrument. I stuck with Corona's as my choice of drink whilst Barbara enjoyed a Cosmopolitan or 3. We were awarded as "Mug Club Members" and issued a German Style Beer Mug.

The King's Head English Pub
A fine English pub in deepest China that has a selection of European beers, pool and live English Premier Football. That was the reason for me going! It is a great design and responsive staff contribute to the atmosphere.
I stuck to a Corona with lime whilst Barbara tried a Martini. Apparently it was good, olive and all.
They had live music. The solo artist spoke/sang perfect English. He played all the norm pub songs. We sang along and had a good night.
The Bar tenders name was Wei and he was very accommodating with drinks and service. He also played the violin with the solo artist in particular songs and was also very good.