A Vanilla Latte, please

For some reason I keep getting drawn back to Qingdao. However, this was by far the most fun I've had there. I went with four friends, to meet up with Yuri, who we stayed with while we were in Korea. She has an apartment a short cab ride from the city. Since we wanted to leave Friday from work we hired a private driver to pick us up at the end of school and drive us the 3 hours to Qingdao. It would have taken a really long time to go all the way downtown and get on a bus. The private driver was 120 rmb/person (~$18), but a little expensive for China standards. The ride down there was fine, but when we got there he demanded more money. We of course refused, but it was hard to fight in Chinese, as no one was fluent. We called one of our friends who speaks Chinese to talk to the driver. At the end of the conversation he stole the phone and refused to give it back unless we paid an even more ridiculous amount of money. After we threatened to call the police he lowered his price to the point where it was just easier to pay it than bother with this anymore. Not a great way to start our weekend, but we were glad to be done with that episode. It's unfortunate that people try to take advantage of others, thinking they don't know any better. I know people in my country can be equally as awful, but it makes me sad that there are people like that.

As most of my trips so far, this one too revolved around food. We quickly dropped our stuff and headed out to get pizza. The closest thing to real pizza in China. It was delicious. We just stayed in on Friday night, ate pizza and drank soju. It was a nice relaxing evening, especially after the shennanigans that started it off.

The next day we took our time getting up and ready and then went out for Indian food and Baskin Robbins. Amazing. We went straight from there for Starbucks (I told you this weekend was all about consumption - just trying to do my part). We spent a little time roaming around this very tiny, but beautiful, park. After that we just headed back to Yuri's to rest and get ready for the evening. We spent the evening touring several bars around Qingdao. The first place we went wast the Shangri-La Hotel, which was beautiful. It must be nice to be rich! Although Qingdao is significantly nicer than Yantai, the people there don't seem as friendly. They have a lot more foreigners, so we were stared at less, however the foreigners pretty much stuck to their own friends. Here in Yantai, everyone seems pretty happy to talk to everyone else. That is one really nice part about living here.
On Sunday we slept in and then headed to Metro, which is a Costco-like store, but you don't have to buy everything in bulk. I bought myself a very cozy robe, as the weather is getting coooold. I have realized this might have been a mistake as I have actually contemplated whether or not I can get away with wearing it to work. So far I've managed to leave it at home, but I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out. I also bought tortillas and refried beans that I am saving for a very special occasion. Perhaps my birthday next week!

We left there, happy with our purchases and headed to the bus station. After the debacle with the driver, we decided we should probably hop the bus back to Yantai. The bus decided to make an unscheduled stopover at some other, seemingly abandoned, bus station for a half an hour, which we weren't thrilled about. Gotta love China! We all made it home, safe and sound, around 9pm on Sunday. All and all it was a really nice weekend. Any weekend that involves Starbucks and mint chocolate chip ice cream can't be bad!

Happyland

sort of a crappy picture of Happyland

Yes, I actually went to a place called "Happyland". Guess what? Not all that happy. Instead of school on Friday, the whole school went up to Penglai (about an hour and a half away) to this new "amusement park" called Happyland. Clearly these people have never been to a Six Flags, or even the Taste of Glen Ellyn for that matter.

Mark, Leo, Alexis, Carrie

However, the kids had fun, and we were able to create some fun of our own. I'm definitely not complaining as it was far superior to working. The kids all enjoyed karoake before running off to do whatever is was they did in Happyland. We basically ran around and took pictures of ourselves.

Mark inside the bucket balanced on the girl's feet being ridden by a small Chinese boy

The rest of my weekend was pretty uneventful. I went out with friends on Friday night. On Sunday my landlord called me (at 10:15AM - the nerve!) and said he wanted to have lunch at 11. So I dragged myself out of bed and had hotpot with him. He speaks very little English, and I speak very little Chinese. It's like one long game of charades. I asked him what we were eating and he put his fingers on his head, which I took to meaning I am definitely eating an animal with either horns or ears. I also ate sheep. But to be honest, once you dip the meat in the oh so delicious peanut sauce, it pretty much all tastes the same.

Outside of the restaurant was 2 wedding celebrations. The celebrations here involve lots and lots of fireworks. Therefore every weekend it's insanely loud. It was pretty cool to see the festivities up close. The bride wears white, but changes frequently throughout the day. At some point she will wear the traditional red dress of China.

After lunch I promptly went back to bed and then just took it easy Saturday night. On Sunday I began teaching a University class. The students are amazing! They are all college freshman and can speak English decently well. They are very excited to speak with a real live American girl and hung on every word I said. So different than the Korean students I teach on a daily basis. Since these Chinese students are not English majors they do not have the opportunity to have a native English teacher. They paid extra to take the class I'm teaching (oh no!). They were great though, and very very nice. They all said that they are taking this class to improve their oral English skills and to make new friends. It is 3 hours every Sunday so I must start planning something interesting. My first lesson: all about Chicago :)

Cute??

I bought these new slippers yesterday at the night market. Little chinese people. I couldn't resist, plus it's starting to get cold. I also bought a snuggly blanket with pigs on it. What's happening to my style??

Korea

We had Wednesday to Friday off last week in honor of Chinese National Holiday. Most of China gets the whole week off, but I won't complain too much! I decided to tag along with some of my friends to Korea. I'm glad I did - it was really fun.

We stayed with a friend, Yuri, and her parents ( the picture above is the view from their front yard) on Wednesday and Saturday nights, and we spent Thursday and Friday nights in Seoul. Seoul truly seems like the city that never sleeps. I've never seen so many people out during hours that most people should be at home sleeping. The two friends that I traveled with haven't been home (one to the US, the other to Australia) in a long time, so they were very happy to see western conveniences. The first thing we did was see a movie, unfortuately it was Mama Mia...the sing along version. Mom and Dad: if it ever comes to the Music Box I know you'll be first in line. Luckily no one at my theater was singing along. Despite my decision to take American Musical Theater in college (what???), I have never been one to enjoy musicals, especially if it isn't live. Anyway, I digress. We then spent the rest of the evening shopping--until 3am! Luckily stores in Chicago are not open that late, or else I would be in big trouble.

Thursday we headed to downtown Seoul and poked around at an old palace for awhile. It was crazy to see something very old, contrasted with the new buildings in the city. We also drove past the "blue house" where the president lives.

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out in Seoul and snacking. That night we went out for Indian food and headed for the bars/clubs. It was all going well until Alexis fell down around 4am and our night then concluded in the emergency room of the hospital. Alexis ended up with a bandaged ankle and some crutches.

The rest of the trip just involved roaming and shopping around the city, eating, drinking and mostly just hanging out. There were actually a bunch of Korean people that we knew from China there so we all met up at various points throughout the trip. The last night we sat up on the rooftop of Yuri's parents house and talked and drank Soju, the traditional drink of Korea and much better than Baijou. The next morning Yuri's mom made us breakfast and we were off to the airport.

It was a very short trip and went by very quickly, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to go. Korea is very beautiful and the people were very friendly. I suppose they could have been insulting me at the time and I wouldn't really know the difference. There are a lot of foreigners in Korea, which is way different than where I live in China. It's surprising if you see another foreigner on the streets in China, but Seoul is full of them. I already miss some of the luxuries it had to offer, such as real coffee and paper towels.

I'm trying to get out and see as much of the world as possible. It seems like there is a lot to learn from other people and customs and traditions. It's so interesting to see how other people live their lives. Not to mention I have seen some pretty beautiful places so far. I feel so fortunate that I have had as many opportunities as I have had to see, and now live in, new places. It is truly amazing to get out and see different pockets of the world. As for right now, I write in my cubicle area in the teacher offices, looking out the window at the rolling hills somewhere in my little city of Yantai.