Happy Halloween

Today was Halloween in China, and as such my kindergarten had fun activities this morning... meaning I didn't have to teach. (oh yeah!) Instead we got to hand out candy. It was a ton of fun to see all the costumes and to be the bearer of all that's holy to 4-6 year olds... candy.

Also, my friend Christi came over last night and we made cookies. The recipe was for pumpkin spice cookies with a hershey kiss pressed into the center... like peanut blossoms. And as my previous posts have indicated things in China are different, and never really go as planned. So, here's how things went.  ... We planned for a week to get together. The day before we realized we didn't have an oven. But, borrowed one from our neighbor. Then, in order to get pumpkin puree I boiled chunks of pumpkin and removed the skin once soft, then mashed it. (I'm a regular pioneer cook). While that was happening, we baked pumpkin seeds. Then, I didn't have a bowl big enough to mix the dough, so we used my wok. Yes, very China. Also, China doesn't have shortening... but a quick internet search revealed a substitute of mashed banana. So, in went the banana! The dough ended up being very sticky, but we managed to get it into roughly ball shape and onto the pan. Speaking of the pan, we oiled it rather heavily because things burn quite easily here in the orient. After a while of much anticipation and frequent checking they were done. The cookies were a bit dense, but we pressed the kisses into them and stuck them in the fridge... the kisses were sliding off. After a short wait, it was time to taste test!! They looked good, they smelled good, the dough tasted good, and I was ready... I'd like you to know that they are good. But because of the banana they have a certain banana taste. Yep, that's China.

Oh, and today when I went back for the afternoon one of my teachers gave me a snack. She said it was fruit from the ground. It was a white-ish transparent slice of a pie. I asked her what it was, and she had to go look up the English.... apparently it was water chestnut or something. It was odd.

Lastly, I biked a ton today. The route to school is about 2.6 miles (I have an app) and I biked it four times today. Then, I biked the 3.6 miles to Wenli... Where the guys live to get dinner. In case you don't want to add that all up its roughly 14 miles.

Okay, now I'm sitting at Tony's with Laura, Jason, Seth, Tony, Angela, and Tony's parents watching Hocus Pocus as per required for Halloween.

Until next time.

Manic Monday

Hello again,

For those of you that know me, you could skip the first paragraph. For the rest of you, I'll enlighten you a little. When I was in college (a long five months ago) I had some struggles in my senior year with regards to my choice in career. When I was student teaching I was not sure that I'd made the right choice, that I'd make a good teacher, that my students would learn anything besides sarcasm from me. Well, after some consideration I decided to finish out my endeavor.... a.k.a finish college... after all I was so close to the end. Then, because the timing was right and I was still unsure about teaching (and traveling appealed to me) I chose to come to China.

Well, I'm here to say that teaching sucks. But keep reading... Teaching sucks much of the time because of the setting. Teachers in China are not a unit like a faculty in America. They are very independent, and they don't care so much... At least, that's the vibe that they give off. In my school in particular this seems to be the problem. I've been talking to some more veteran teachers - they say my kindergarten has not been able to keep any one teacher for more than a year because the teachers are unhappy. If it were America, I'm sure there would be someone saying "we should look into this" but here in China everything is very non confrontational.

Other reasons that the teaching sucks is because I'm a foreigner. The kids don't speak English besides what they've memorized, and I don't speak Chinese (at least nothing useful in a classroom). The teachers don't participate (although it depends a little) and it's hard to do anything with the kids apart from flash cards (which they become sick of or stop paying attention to).

But the point of this blog is not pure negativity. I'm here to say that sometimes teaching doesn't suck and that's what I like to focus on. Today, for example, was a good day. This morning during classes we reviewed shapes and I had the kids put bean bags on certain cards. Then I read them 'I'm a little teapot' (tomorrow we'll learn the song). One class had a shortage of kids due to sickness. There were only 9 of them. The teacher asked if we could have class outside because the kids needed more sunshine. It was pretty gorgeous today. So, the nine kids and I walked the 30 feet outside and had class for 15 minutes and then played on the jungle gym for the rest of class. I enjoyed being able to interact with them in a non-class setting. I biked home during lunch, rested a bit and caught up on some tv, then biked back. Today, we spent the afternoon in the small classrooms (those are the ones I teach-we rotate based on the day). I visited D class and caught them during snack. Afterwards, we went outside and sang 'London Bridge'... I was half of the bridge. That was fun. Then I went to C class. This is the one that had only 9 kids earlier in the day... now they were down to 6. We played with clay/playdough and made shapes!! Which was great to see them making the shapes we had talked about earlier. I had a lovely conversation with Gary and Frankie. I knew their names because they are some of my favorites, and C class is my favorite. I know that as a teacher, we're not supposed to have favorites, but let's face it... it happens.

So, moral of the story is that teaching sometimes sucks, but then there are days like today where things just go right.... Today just might get me through the week.

Until next time.

Extra! Extra!

Over the last few days I've had multiple moments where I've thought to myself... 'Self, you should put this in a blog.' Then later when I'm sitting in front of my computer the internet is being dumb and I can't blog. So I put it off. Well, I'd hate for my ever loyal readers to miss out on anything so I'll give you the headlines and elaborate the more interesting ones. 

Sports day huge success, walking and dancing. - Thursday and Friday last were sports day on our campus and I volunteered to walk I the opening ceremony. Picture the Olympics less organized. We walked the track and when we reached the 'front' a few of us danced a little Zumba number. I walked and danced and had a grand time. 

Street food continues to satisfy Megs daily lunch needs.

Shaoxing has visitors bringing cheese, enjoyed by all. - Tonys parents are visiting from America. They live in Green Bay and brought Simons string cheese. Mom is planning to make chili next week. I am excited beyond words because if we can make it I will definitely be duplicating it this winter. 

Huge turnout for Friday night study - great times had by all.

Shaoxingers trek to hangzhou for Halloween party- I went as Sheldon from Big Bang because I have a shirt that says bazinga. We had dinner and hung out and ventured to the roof for a fire. It is really awesome to have a bonfire in a bucket on the top of a seven story building surrounded be other high rises. I was just thinking how I missed fall camping and bonfires. Also great to connect with old friends and new and catch up. 

Little teapot booklet and song initiated this week, results in following blog.

New scarf looks amazing, purchase determined worth while

Power outage at Zion makes life interesting- due to the typhoon (and possible windows left open) there is some electricity issues at Zion. First floor lost power on Wednesday, guy came to fix on Friday, it works!, then second floor goes out, guy returns, fixes second floor but certain lights trip the circuit. The whole apartment goes out and the big breaker needs to be flipped. Guy informs us to not use those certain lights that trip circuit.... (Oh China) it's still being worked out. 
As, you've probably noticed, my postings have gotten further apart in frequency. I don't mean to do this... I have things to say nearly everyday but I've gotten busier. Also, my daily life has transitioned to 'normal' and I tend to overlook things that you might find interesting. However, I post pictures nearly every day. =)

Until next time.

So, I thought you might like to see where I live.... 

Here and There

The last few days have been spent here and there. School. Kachow. Apartment. Downtown. Fung Yan Yuan.

All these places are around town, some farther than others. What I've noticed is that I look for markers to tell me I'm in the right place. There's rubbish street to let me know I'm back at campus. There's a road full of construction stores before I have to get off for school. The opera house is downtown where I need to get off the bus.

But sometimes the markers I see, are not just for navigation. The other day I saw a black VW bug drive into school and I paused for the 15 seconds it took to drive by. I had to make sure my mom wasn't driving it. The grass near the kindergarten was cut and I took a few deep breaths reminiscing about Autumn...how I probably won't have one here, and missing my piece of crap lawn mower because I love to mow the lawn at home. Waking up and putting my slippers on. The ones I wear because the tile is cold. The same slippers that I wore through winters at school, and trips to get wood at home.

I'm not sad, or homesick, I'm just really appreciating the small things that are different about my  life now. I'm technically a working adult. But instead of driving a car, I ride a bike. Instead of pulling into a driveway, I have 6 flights of stairs. I don't mow the lawn, vacuum the living room, or make dinner. I change the water tong, hang up all my laundry, and get cheap (sometimes mysterious) street food.

I'm fairly confident that everyone envisions their future. Either the grand scheme or the finer details. Looking around sometimes, I know I never envisioned any of this. Who would have thought I'd end up in a foreign country living life nearly opposite to how I grew up or living in a city of 4 million people. I definitely did not, but then I pause to think about what it was that I did envision. I come up blank usually... Sometimes I think about hidden, secluded mountain or forrest homes. Living off the land and raising animals and children. Then I think 'nah' and jump to a high rise in a big city with a view full of lights. Basically, the vision always changes and I've got no plan on where I want to end up. Is the lack of an end goal detrimental? I don't think so. I think I've got the opportunity to go anywhere, and be anything because I've got no preset notations of what my life should be. My book is being written day by day. I've got no future plots lines sketched out. I'm just reading. And I can be happy anywhere.

Until next time.

P.S. I bought a bike.... gonna tackle these Chinese roads!

Thursday

The internet in our apartment hasn't been working for a few days. So these last couple posts are all coming on the same day. 

The newest point of interest is the weather. It has cooled off significantly. The last few days have been starting out around 55 and the days haven't gotten above 72 all week. I'm still wearing shorts and tees, but have added a fleece. And today I went for shorts and a long sleeve. 

Also, I might be getting sick. I woke up with a dry throat and a minor sniffle, but I might have slept with my mouth open. Today at school I felt a little light headed but lunch remedied that. The tiredness has not parted though. 

Today's mission: find a cheap backpack. I was supposed to have the afternoon off, but Sophie didn't come to school today, so I'm covering. It sucks but it means I'll have all of next week off....hopefully. I came back to campus to shop on rubbish during lunch and then caught the bus back. Mission accomplished. Found a backpack! Only 35 kuai. Also picked up a loofa or lufa or however you spell it and a vegetable peeler. 

Observation: I think adults use everyday occurrences to excuse kid behavior. For example, some of my kids were feisty, naughty, wild today. My thought was 'what is up that's making them this way?' And the first thing that popped into my mind was the weather just changed. But what effect does a drop in 15 degrees have on the behavior of children. Now I'll admit the first snowfall at home does have an effect on kids, but it effects us all. Adults are just better at focusing in other things. Honestly, my kids are feisty most days... And some classes are consistently better than others. (I'm going with better teachers in the better classes). But today I was just not having any of it. 

That' s the hinkly piggly of my day. A bit random and tiring. I wrote the above statements at intervals through out the day, so some of the tenses might not match. But now, I'm off to go reheat some fried rice and perhaps watch a tv show.... 

Until next time. 

Zumba!

I'm my four years at MLC I never went to Zumba. It never worked time wise or motivation wise... But tonight Emma took me shopping for veggies and I made fried rice in my apartment (very satisfying to cook again, and it was tasty). She invited me to go to Zumba here on campus, so I said sure, why not? 

It was fast paced, tiring, major cardio, and awesome!!! It was sorta dancing and took all of the little coordination I had but no one was super great so I felt comfortable messing up. It was about an hour and twenty minutes. A good workout. Plus there were a handful of foreigners (one of them being the teacher/leader). 

I have been more active here in China. In the last two days I've walked two or more hours because I've taken to walking home from school. It takes about 50 or 55 minutes to do so. And each one ends in the hike up to the sixth floor. But I enjoy my walks.... A lot. 

Now I have Zumba to add to my active lifestyle. There might be class tomorrow if our leader doesn't get called into work... And they're gonna text me. Yay! 

Until next time. 

Well Traveled

The definition of well traveled is a person widely traveled, or a place often visited. Vague, I know. Laura told me it means you know your home well and you've been outside the country. Basically, it means you've seen a few things. Now, I've always thought that I'm not well traveled. I know... I know, you're thinking "Girl, you're in China!" But let me explain. 

As a kid, I never wanted to go anywhere other than up north to my cabin. That was as far as I needed to travel because the woods around my cabin were alive and quiet, homey and mysterious all at once. Plus, I got to roam around on a four wheeler. What kid wouldn't be content. As I've gotten older I've had the yearning deep inside to see more things. Go new places. Get lost and then found again. And until very recently I still thought I was not well traveled. Then I began to think..... I have done more than the average 22 year old. I've been to Disney world. To Augusta, and Portland, Maine. I've been in the Atlantic Ocean on a yacht and swimming at a beach. I've been to Connecticut and seen the beaches there. I've visited Boston twice where I walked the freedoms trail of our ancestors. I saw New York City once (and need to go back). I've seen Franklin Delano Roosevelt's home in New York State. I've been to Dallas and Fort Worth. Seen a classic Texan street and watched them drive long horns down the cobblestones. I've been to Arizona and visited an old west ghost town. I've visited Seattle and surrounding areas twice, seeing puget sound and the giant troll. Not to mention the two claims I have on the gum wall. I've even seen the rolling hills and windmills that are scattered through Iowa. I've seen the Great Lakes and the cascade mountains from an airplane. And that's just what I've had the opportunity to see and do inside the U. S. of A.  

Now I'm in China and I've seen a lot of things here in Shaoxing that have become normal for me. I forget that not everyone experiences this. The canals and bridges that make this city unique. He old men playing cards and shouting hello! 

Come February, the plan is to visit Southeast Asia... Thailand and perhaps Vietnam or the Philippines. 

It always takes me a second to remember that I'm pretty well traveled for a small town, Midwestern girl. My first response is always 'I've not really been anywhere.' But the truth is, I have. I can navigate my home town and state real well, my country pretty well, and now I'm attempting to navigate a foreign country. 

I don't mean this to be a brag posting. I'm so very thankful for those opportunities and this one. It truly amazes me sometimes to realize "I'm in China!" 

I don't know if I'll get another year over here or if I'll venture in another direction. That's in HIS hands, and wherever I go, it'll be another addition to my list of experiences. 

Until next time. 

P. S. No matter how 'well traveled' I get, I know where home is...always waiting and welcoming. 

Month

Month. One Month. Thats how long I've been in China. (plus, two days)

I arrived here on the 14th and today its the 15th, one  month later. I'm still alive. I'm still walking and talking. (not that there was any concern) For me, it has been only a week and yet it seems like a lifetime. Granted, I'm only 22, so my concept of a lifetime is a bit short. I digress.

My month in China has been full of experiences that I would never have had in other circumstances. From the good, to the bad, to the strange and the ugly. My first morning here I saw a guy peeing on a building from my kitchen window. Today, I saw a guy peeing in the bushes on the way home from school.... Now this doesn't happen often, but the irony is amazing in this instance. Ha. I've had the opportunity to make new friends, I've been on a trip, I've swam in the Yellow Sea, I've eaten a few crazy things, and I've absorbed so many sights.

Along with this. I've shuffled, trudged, and flown through an array of emotions. (global relocation is not a walk in the park) I've been excited, thrilled, and curious. I've been homesick, confused, and frustrated. I've been content, happy, and relaxed. Although, not necessarily in that order. I've told a few people this in my time here, and perhaps I've told you but here goes. I don't know what I was expecting, but this isn't it. All my preconceived notions (I'll admit there weren't many) have been shattered. Don't get me wrong, I'm not disappointed. Rather, I'm pleasantly surprised, and amazed.

One month. China and I have gotten along so far. Some of us foreigners in Shaoxing have a saying when we do something successful here... 'We China so well.' It's true. I ride the bus to school, I teach, I get fruit, I put money on my phone, I sleep, I China pretty well.

I've been here a month! Did I say that? Still seems crazy to me. Only 8 more to go.

Until next time.

Oh, one more thing!

Thanks to all of you, this here meager blog has been viewed over 1000 times!! 

That's so awesome! It really means a lot to me that you take the time to keep up with what I am doing.

This blog is what connects me to all of those who I love so far away. 

Keep reading! and I'll keep posting! Also, feel free to comment. =) 

Love you all. 

Until next time. 

Higgly Piggly

Okay, lots to tell, but they are all short... Here goes!!

I forgot my headphones at home today... So no musical moments. *sad face. But fear not, the day was still quite nice.

I had four hours to kill in the middle of the day between teaching sessions. So I ate at McDonalds for the first time in China. It was pretty good. I had a spicy chicken sandwich. Then, I walked around ending up sitting on a bench reading my nook with coffee. I got two (i may or may not have a problem) and sipped for a little over an hour in the shade. twas so lovely. Then, when I was sick of sitting I headed for the busstop.... It was too early to go back to school, but I was bored. But rather than stop and wait for the bus I just kept going (I just felt like walking... twig; movie quote!) and after about 45 minutes I found myself back at school. I just walked in the sunshine and rather enjoyed myself. :) I was still early so I sat on a swing by the river and read some more.

On the bus after school I came to a conclusion. I'm fairly confident the term 'wizened old man' was coined by someone who visited China. There was an elder gentleman who was sitting next to me (well, I was standing, but you get the idea) and he had work worn hands, and his hat was on a little crooked and he looked well aged by the sun. The term 'wizened old man' popped into my head like I had read it out of a book. Which prompted me to think about some of the other old men I've encountered.... and it applies to them too. Even some of the old women fit. But I think a wizened old person would be sorta smiley... and the women here don't smile. Like ever... But the old men smile. Especially when you say 'nihow' or 'hello'...

Today at school we had a mini sports day. The kids did their dances for the parents. They all had on matching outfits... either shirts or track suits. Super cute. (I took pics.. they should be above)

I think thats all. Ummmm........  ........ ... .. . . . Yah.

Until next time.

Music

This is the theme this week I guess. Music.

Perhaps it is because I've been riding busses by myself a bit more the last few days, so I've been turning to my headphones, and tuning the world out.

Today's selection includes Avicii, Michael Jackson, Ed Sheeran, Melissa Etheridge and Guns-n-Roses... As all music selections should.

But the song that caught me today has these lyrics.

Fare thee well; My own true love; Farewell for a while 
I’m going away; But I’ll be back; Though I go 10,000 miles


Now depending on your personal musical tastes, your movie knowledge, and I think some factor should be given to your age.. You may or may not know this song. It is called 10,000 miles sung by Mary Chapin Carpenter and rather prominently featured in the movie Fly Away Home. The song by itself is about losing a loved one and finding them again either in another life or heaven. The movie uses the song to commemorate the loss of a mother and the characters actually travel a great distance...

I like the mellow, easy feel of the song. I always picture myself flying when I hear it... (In the movie, Fly Away Home, the song plays while flying) Anyway, I did a little research. From my home in Appleton, to my second home in Shaoxing, it is approximately 7,200 miles. (as a plane flies)

When I found this number, my first reaction was 'That's all?? It should be farther shouldn't it??'

Then I realized.... distance is not really measured in miles. It's measured in the flight time; it took me 24 hours to get here. It's measured by who is or is not with you. I'm always home among my friends here. But my family is a very long way away. It's measured in moments. I wish my sisters could be here to see some of the things I've seen. Kaitie would love all the little kids I get to see everyday (as naughty as they are sometimes) and Hannah would love the old places mixed with the new. My Grandma's would just love everything and make exclamations about all of it. My parents would love to see me navigate this crazy city... (I also think they'd love to go home after about a week or so). Everyone else would find something here fun, crazy, or amazing just as I have. I've been in the foreign state for a while and things still shock, amaze, and puzzle me. 

So, even though I go 7,200 miles or more... I'll be back. I'm going (gone) away but I'll be back. 

Much love, 

Until next time. 

Thursday

I am not musically inclined. I can plunk out a melody on the piano, and I love to sing... but its usually off key or pitch or whatever. Along with this, I've never really been one to be moved by music. I don't get goosebumps when a singer gets a high note, or a long belt.... However, its been known to happen. 

Today on the bus to school I had a moment. I was listening to my iPod, and this song came on that made me pause from my game of 'candy crush' and just listen. It made me feel happy and sad, content and lonely, and moved all at the same time. I can't really explain what it was. I just knew in that moment that things in life were okay. After the moment passed, I didn't really give it anymore thought until this afternoon when I put my headphones in on the way home. I hoped it would happen again. 

I wonder why things like that occur in life. Perhaps it was just a brain pause, or the sound waves between my ears.... or maybe it was Him. Giving me a moment of clarity amidst this craziness that is currently my life. It worked because I've been thinking about it, and Him all afternoon now. 

Go with Him today. And always. 

Until next time. 

Supper

So, today I decided to eat in... rather than in the school canteen. I stopped by the campus store and bought a cup o noodles. Yay!! Didn't give it another thought as I grabbed some crackers and hi-chews (they're like starbursts). 

(Below, is the picture that accompanies this story.)

So, I'm super ready to eat, and pretty excited about my beef noodles. Then, to my dismay I realize that the directions are in chinese... Oh boy. But, I can't let that deter me, I'll figure it out!! I turned to my chinese dictionary on my phone, and looked up a few words that I figured were on the directions. Turns out I was right, and doing things okay. However, I wasn't sure how much water to add.... There was kinda, sorta a line on the cup... Well, thats the line I used! 

Then I put it in the microwave and waited anxiously for it to ding!... thats my reflection in the microwave, by the way. Well, it dinged! but the noodles were still kinda crunchy. Back in! I think they were in for about 3 minutes... or so. They came out looking okay. But REALLY SUPER HOT! So, alas, I could not eat them immediately. So, I made a cup of coffee. Took my contacts out, and checked Facebook waiting so (or not so) patiently for them to be cooled. When I could finally eat them (my glasses still fogged a bit) they were delicious!! 

All in all, a successful dinner experiment. I China so well. 

Until next time. 

Real world and a typhoon

Nihow!

Hello again, and welcome to typhoon season. Two days ago we got a warning about an incoming storm/typhoon/hurricane.... I'm not sure exactly. Rain began on Sunday, got real heavy Sunday night, and into Monday... Let up a bit on Monday afternoon, and got heavy again during the night. Today, Tuesday was fine it was a drizzly, rainy, pouring kind of cycle that went off and on. Of course, it rained heavier while we were outside walking or waiting for the bus. Typical. The rain is tapering off tonight, and tomorrow is only a 10% chance...I think. I learned today that October/November and possibly into December is considered typhoon/hurricane season here. Don't worry though (gram!) we are far enough in land that we won't get too severe of winds. Just alot of rain. If you noticed, one of my pictures today was of our bench by school.... It's underwater. So the water on that little river/canal has risen somewhere from 3 to 5 feet from the rain we're getting. The river/canal... I'm not really sure what they are, but they have brick/stone edges, so we'll call them canals. The canal by school has risen too, but only by 2 feet or so. The sidewalk out side our apartment building is near a tree line and has about and inch or two of water on the far side. Luckily, it's still dry on the side by our door so we can get out.

In other news, my school schedule changed. Thank goodness! We now only teach in the mornings, and stay to observe/help three or four afternoons a week. It's not a huge change in time, but we're teaching more manageable classes, and getting at least one afternoon off.

And in sports.... haha, just kidding. Although I wore my flip flops today because I didn't want to get my tennis shoes wet. But, I forgot that china + water = super slippery! So, I was pretty acrobatic today in order to stay upright sometimes. Only really slipped good three or four times..... You know, arms waving kind of slip. Which was probably comical because I was carrying an umbrella. But I didn't fall!

Much love,
Until next time.

Qingdao

Qingdao: the basics. Qingdao is located on the coast of China, on the Yellow Sea. Basically across from South Korea. It was influenced heavily by Germans and has quite a bit of European architecture. It is known for its seafood, and its beer.

Places we visited day by day.... Here is the day by day break-down just to get you acclimated to the events I'll be talking about more later. 
- Monday: Teach school and head to Hangzhou on the train
- Tuesday: Get on the bus for Qingdao!
- Wednesday: Arrive in Qingdao about 8am, drop stuff at the hostel and go exploring, hit up the beach. Swim in the Yellow Sea! 
- Thursday: Beer Street, tour the Tsingtao brewery, walk a beachside path, climb out on some rocks, basically just see the city. We ate dinner at crazy BBQ lady's restaurant. 
- Friday: Visited the German Prison, boat ride and more walking. We walked a different beach side path and found a park where I bought and flew a kite! Then we hiked up to this colorful tv tower.  
- Saturday: We went to the Christian church near our hostel and then packed up, had lunch and parted ways. 

The people.... We had 9 in our group. Seth, Jordan, Laura, Jason and I from Shaoxing, and Jen from Shanghai. We all traveled together from Hangzhou. Dan, Becca, and Leona came from WuHan. Leona was our unofficial guide (being Chinese helps) and Dan helped navigate the map. It was good to see everyone, and make new friendships. We thought perhaps 9 was too big a number to travel all together around Qingdao, but it worked out real well. The only time we ever had trouble was a few nights for dinner it took us a few tries to find a place that would hold us all for dinner. (restaurants in china are notably small). 

The Hostel.... was awesome! We didn't spend a whole lot of time there, but it was very nice. I have never been to a hostel before this trip. The Kaiyue Youth Hostel used to be a Baptist church or something and it has the Old Church Lounge. We had a 3 person room, a family room, and three beds in the mixed dorm. Since our friends from WuHan were there the afternoon before we arrived, they stayed in the mixed dorm. The three girls from Zhejiang (thats our province- includes Shaoxing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai) had one room and the 3 boys had the other. The lounge was real nice. It had a pool table and lots of seating. They gave us beer tickets for each night. It was good for one free beer between 7 and 9 pm. We always made it back to the hostel by 9 ;) and then usually went out for more beer in a bag. 

Travel experience.... Okay, I gotta tell you about how we got to Qingdao. Sleeper bus. Ponder that for a moment. We left Tuesday at 2:30ish... and arrived in Qingdao about 8am the following morning. We left Qingdao about 4ish on Saturday afternoon and arrived in Hangzhou about 6:45 or 7 Sunday morning. Now, the sleeper bus. It is a coach bus size, but instead of seats, there are beds. It sleeps 32 people. Mind you, these beds are meant for stereotypical chinese people. So, on the way there I slept on my side, knees curled, and back bent to fit in this bed. It was not comfy. On the way back the beds were a little longer and I could almost stretch all the way out. It still was not super comfy because we were on a bus and China is not known for their paving abilities. But it was better. During training for China we were told that a sleeper bus is something to experience, but generally avoided. I have experienced it, and will avoid from now on. 

Beer.... Qingdao is noted for its beer. Which is Tsingtao beer, most famous beer in China. I heard you can get it in America. Anyway, the beer itself, while good, it not the most interesting part of the Tsingtao beer in Qingdao. It's how they serve it. In China, you can walk around anywhere with your beer. They don't have 'no alcohol in public' laws or regulations. Well, in Qingdao, the way you walk around with your beer is in a bag. No, not a can or a bottle inside a bag. I mean a plastic bag filled with tap beer and a straw. There were a couple different sizes... On beer street, they filled a pitcher up with beer and they poured that into a bag for 10 kuai. (which is $1.60 or so). Now, it seems like everything should be in a bag. The Americans loved beer in a bag, and could not understand how the Chinese beat us to this ingenious idea. 

Food I ate.... We ate all over qingdao. One place, just a block from the hostel, had jioutsa. Which is basically potstickers. We had lunch there on the first day and so e of the jioutsa had donkey meat and some of it had tiger shrimp. You read that right....donkey. It was actually pretty good. I should make you aware that meat in China is, at best, iffy; and at its worst can turn your whole digestive system to liquid, you catch my drift. So, donkey wasn't bad. Being a Midwest lass I haven't been exposed to much seafood. China will change that. It started with the tiger shrimp, which was okay if not a bit fishy tasting. We also had clams at multiple meals. Some spicy some not. And it's basically a plate of opened clam shells and you either use chopsticks or just suck the meat off. I actually enjoyed them. I didn't eat a ton because it was still a little bit fishy and I have this mental aversion to seafood. I know it's weird. Finally, my seafood initiation included streetfood one night of fried, seasoned squid on a stick. I didn't get a whole one but had a bite. Now, to get this picture right you have to understand this is the whole squid. Tentacles and all, skewered and fried on a griddle. I had a bite from the middle, didn't feel up to a tentacle.     Another new item was fried lotus. It's a starch I think.... It doesn't have much taste but the seasonings were good. Had some tofu noodles with pork and green peppers. That was delish!!! The. Walking about we found street food vendors with these fried eggs on sticks. ( everything is on sticks ). They were dove eggs and boy were they good too. But I haven't had eggs, decent eggs, since arrival here in the Far East. I had some fried sweet potato balls that were purple on the inside. Then reading was normal; bit the potato was purple! I was told it was the vanilla that made the coloring...huh. But the most interesting hing I ate, and it was on a dare/peer pressure; was a numbing pepper. These are little hard and moderately bitter but the oddest part is that they set your mouth to tingling and basically numbs the part you chewed the pepper with. It was weird, a little gross, and part of the experience.  

Things to remember.... Or to tell you about...
     The crazy BBQ lady. She was this older chinese woman with a very large beehive hair style that was red. Not natural red, but bright red. She stood out in front of her restaurant and beckoned people in, yelled at her staff, and basically just stood watch. We ate there one night, and it took forever! for our food to arrive. So, we made to leave before the second half of our food came, but she gave us free beer and we stayed a little longer. It was still a wait and we ended up leaving before our last dish came and went to get street food instead.  
     One day we went on a boat ride. It was a speed boat, and boy did the driver go fast. We were probably on the boat for a total of 10 or 15 minutes tops, and we didn't go far, but it was fun, fast, and we got to take some pics of the sights. It was 40 kuai, which seems like alot but its about 6.50 in US dollars. Then, one day we were walking along a beach front path and saw a wedding party taking pictures. We said hello! and congratulations! and some of the groomsmen knew English, so they invited us down to take a picture. Then, the photographer suggested a jumping picture. Three tries and we got it! There were about 8 or 10 in the bridal party, and the 8 of us foreigners. We drew a bit of a crowd. 
     The day we ended up at the park, there were a bunch of kites being flown. We had seen some kites on the beach the other day, and more from a distance in the air. I told Laura that I wanted a kite. I recall being pretty good with kites as a kid... I also spent some time retrieving them from trees too. Well, at this park they were selling kites!! I did some looking, and bartered a guy down from 30 to 20 and to throw in the string too. So, I now own an awesome fish kite!! When I was flying it at the park after I bought it, I got it to the end of its string and was keeping it steady when the guy selling kites behind me came up to me and gave me the thumbs up. He must have thought I was pretty good. =)
   Finally, I made two purchases in Qingdao. My first non-survival needs purchase. I got a little pig made out of shells from a vendor on the beach. And I got a present for Samantha back in America. Oh, and as a side note, we did a TON of walking. And our hostel was on a hill, so we did quite a bit of uphill walking. But we didn't see the sense in taking a bus because we might miss something. My calves and my shoulders are rather sore. 

Well..... Thats Qingdao. And thats what I did for my national holiday. I definitely needed this week to see friends, see China other than Shaoxing, and relax. Now, its back to school on Tuesday... But tonight the Xing-ers are going to night market to do some shopping, and we're gonna watch the packer game late tonight/ early tomorrow. 

Until next time.