Days 123-128 - Relaxing the week away in preparation for an action packed weekend

After 9 days off teaching, we have to admit that getting back into work again was a bit of a drag! However the week's classes went well, and our light schedule still gives us lots of time outside of class to do what we want. It just so happens that this week we didn't really want to do much, until our day off on Thursday.

On Thursday it rained. Not the normal kind of rain from above, but the kind that arises when Liv has a bad day in China. Despite China being a phenomenal experience that we wouldn't give up for the world, the reality of being pushed out of our comfort zone so far away from home and on such a regular basis has the effect of stretching our emotions to the extremes some days. On such days, Adam usually takes the role of the sensitive comforting boyfriend, but on this particular Thursday Adam's own strained emotions meant Liv's tears were met with an indifferent "what the heck is your problem, you're the one who wanted to come to China in the first place?" attitude.

Luckily, after a silent bus trip downtown we found a restaurant with vege dumplings and all Liv's worries were forgotten - except maybe some resentment at Adam's previous attitude! Never fear, as Adam knows how to solve these problems and soon we were off shopping - the bargains of the day being more dvds and some new glasses for Liv, which she paid a ridiculously low price for! On the way back to the bus we detoured along 'our' river, and past Black Tiger Spring, where we did our fair share of people-watching and hanging out on the local bridges.
Giving our emotions a chance to recover, our Friday was literally spent sleeping in, eating, teaching 2 classes, eating, and then sleeping again. On second thoughts, this teaching life may not be too bad after all ...

Come the weekend it was lucky that we had had such a lazy week, because our weekend was jammed pack. On Saturday we explored Jinan's sights, and on Sunday we undertook some high altitude adventuring.

On Saturday we went to the food street for a feed, where we ordered enough for an army, and then on top of that we were brought out another dish that Liv swore she didn't order! The thing is that we started eating before we realised that we hadn't ordered it, but that's what happens when you undertake the "yi ge zhe ge" ("one of that") style of ordering - you're never quite sure what's going to come out to the table! The short (and fat) of the situation, is that we spent the next hour and a half chopsticking away, and at the end we had almost cleared the entire table. Adam was still licking his lips after his own personal meal of garlic shellfish, and Liv was scared that Adam was considering a re-order!

Hardly capable of walking, we wobbled out of the restaurant towards one of Jinan's many Springs: Five Dragon Pool. As mentioned before, Jinan is world famous in China for its 70+ underground springs that bubble up to the surface all over the city, creating a sparkling, clear oasis in a normally dusty and polluted city. The locals even fill up their water bottles from these springs, an act that elsewhere in China would result in a visit to the doctor. We spent a good few hours ambling along the pathways that twist along the river, in and out of bamboo forests, and zig-zagging our way between the many springs that over time have been made into small ponds - complete with rock sculptures and Chinese pagodas. Adam managed to make a spectacle out of himself by climbing on ornamental frogs perched in the middle of springs and undertaking the Chinese tradition of throwing coins into a spring for good luck.
Our peaceful wanderings were interrupted on several occasions by teenagers wanting to capture a photo with the laowai, as well as being stopped by parents and grandparents wanting their kids to say hello to us!

On our way home we ambled our way through Quan Cheng Guangchang (Spring City Square), which is the focal point of Jinan city. Here we gazed upon dancing kites (which, compared with the kites back home, are more like 10 kites all stretched along the same line) being flown in the cloud blanketed sky by people of all ages while relaxing in the warm autumn evening.

At the end of our stroll we got up close and personal with some Chinese heroes from the past. Unfortunately they weren't in a talkative mood, so we didn't hang around for long!We have a lot to say about our adventures on Sunday, so check out our next post where we'll take you to one of the highest points in Jinan for views of the city!

Lazily adlibing the bubbling Springs.