The beginning of the week was a typical beginning – and consisted of nothing but teaching. On Wednesday Adam and some of the other foreign teachers made their way to Wei Wei’s via an alternative route that led them on a 20 minute meander through a dark and damp area of Jinan.
The area had a ‘real’ feeling to it – as we wandered along we could see the locals tending to their daily chores. It felt like we had been taken back in time because they were doing things the way that we imagined they would have been done 100 years ago. In a flash we turned a corner and were thrust back into the reality of the city that is under constant renovation – it seemed like the area we walked through was completely untouched (well, for now anyway).
After some beers at Wei Wei’s we had an impromptu Chinese lesson from Wei Wei’s wife and as they closed up Matt and Adam headed to a nearby bbq kebab stand to indulge in some local meaty treats.
Attempting to take a taxi home (normal an easy task with Dovid or Liv directing the taxi driver home), we were soon lost as the driver couldn’t understand our directions. However, in the end our minimal Chinese skills did deliver us home and only cost us an extra 5 kuai.
On Thursday we headed out into what appeared to be a relatively sunny day – oh how a warm apartment can be deceiving! By the time we made it to town we were freezing, so we hurried into a local restaurant for a warming lunch. Not wanting to stay out without our jackets for long, we zipped into the fruit and vege markets for supplies. The markets had fresh and cheap produce that was better in quality than at the supermarket – so we will come here from now on to get our fresh food.
We also managed to get some of our things fixed for a couple of dollars by the lady sitting on the corner - very convenient if you ask us! 
On Saturday Adam and Matt went to Da Fo Tou Shan (Big Buddha Head Mountain) in town while Liv had her first Chinese lesson at home. As part of the reason for coming to China was so Liv could polish her Chinese skills, she figured that she should invest in some lessons – and even after one lesson she can see that one-on-one tutoring will help a lot!
The weekend bus traffic was phenomenal – four sardine tin full buses went by before Matt and Adam decided to catch another bus that went halfway to the mountain, and then walk the rest of the way. Wandering up the mountain we came across Bruce, who happens to be a PE teacher at Shandong University. Bruce then took us to a temple on the mountain that is older than Jinan itself, which had huge golden Buddhas carved into the rock face, with springs at its feet.
Following Guide Bruce’s lead we climbed our way through the temple caves while listening to his narrative about the mountain, the buildings that have been destroyed and the places where ancient kung fu was practised.
At a junction we parted ways with Bruce and headed on our own path that led us in a loop over four peaks that make up this particular mountain. The aim of this was to find some friends who were practising kung fu on the mountain somewhere, but they were nowhere to be found so we made fun for ourselves. The highlight came as we were wandering through a forest that suddenly opened up into a flat clearing where in the trees surrounding the clearing there were a number of pieces of exercise equipment. The equipment was made from the trees themselves, and showed their age as they were rubbed smooth over the many years of use – so we’re sure whoever made them won’t mind that we had a wee training play ourselves!
After a slow start to the day on Sunday, we eventually headed out into the cold for a walk into the hidden hills and suburbs around our home.
After a brief walk down the highway we turned into a small township where the dirt roads seem more like alleyways made up of small concrete houses. As we walked almost person we came across greeted us with a smile and returned each “ni hao” we offered. Even though it only took us 20 minutes to walk to, this area of Jinan is like the China we had expected to see and in is complete to the sprawling, sky-scraper filled city in downtown Jinan.
As we continued our exploration we found ourselves walking past dry, barren fields that have been for the year harvested and are now awaiting next season. The simple way of getting rid of old dried up weeds is to burn them – although this tactic is employed worldwide, the fact that the fire is burning is in the middle of a vast and parched area with no one watching over it, would be enough to scare the daylights out of any rural fire fighter!
We ended up wandering up past a lone woman picking cotton in a field, and she appeared as intrigued by us like we were of the cotton – as neither of us had ever seen cotton plants before. Soon, as we walked up a nearby hill, we were accompanied by an old man who chatted away to us often saying “you don’t understand me, and I don’t understand you”, along with a chuckle each time!
Once we made it to the top of the hill we were rewarded with 360 degree views of the city and its skyscrapers, the small towns like we had just visited, the larger suburbs and their pollution making factories, and the hills that were slowly being dug away to make room for the soon to be towns.
The only negative aspect of the day occurred on our journey home when a dog attacked us! As we are both very used to dogs, we just stood quietly together while it ran up to us barking, but even though we didn’t think we were being threatening, as a warning it still decided to bite Liv on her ankle. Following Doctor Adam’s advice, when we got home Liv washed her ankle continuously for 5 minutes (seriously, she was being timed) and applied alcohol and antibiotic cream! Adam has warned Liv to look out for symptoms such as erratic, violent behaviour, and foaming at the mouth.
Adlibing the real Jinan that’s hidden away.
The area had a ‘real’ feeling to it – as we wandered along we could see the locals tending to their daily chores. It felt like we had been taken back in time because they were doing things the way that we imagined they would have been done 100 years ago. In a flash we turned a corner and were thrust back into the reality of the city that is under constant renovation – it seemed like the area we walked through was completely untouched (well, for now anyway).After some beers at Wei Wei’s we had an impromptu Chinese lesson from Wei Wei’s wife and as they closed up Matt and Adam headed to a nearby bbq kebab stand to indulge in some local meaty treats.
Attempting to take a taxi home (normal an easy task with Dovid or Liv directing the taxi driver home), we were soon lost as the driver couldn’t understand our directions. However, in the end our minimal Chinese skills did deliver us home and only cost us an extra 5 kuai.On Thursday we headed out into what appeared to be a relatively sunny day – oh how a warm apartment can be deceiving! By the time we made it to town we were freezing, so we hurried into a local restaurant for a warming lunch. Not wanting to stay out without our jackets for long, we zipped into the fruit and vege markets for supplies. The markets had fresh and cheap produce that was better in quality than at the supermarket – so we will come here from now on to get our fresh food.
We also managed to get some of our things fixed for a couple of dollars by the lady sitting on the corner - very convenient if you ask us! On Saturday Adam and Matt went to Da Fo Tou Shan (Big Buddha Head Mountain) in town while Liv had her first Chinese lesson at home. As part of the reason for coming to China was so Liv could polish her Chinese skills, she figured that she should invest in some lessons – and even after one lesson she can see that one-on-one tutoring will help a lot!The weekend bus traffic was phenomenal – four sardine tin full buses went by before Matt and Adam decided to catch another bus that went halfway to the mountain, and then walk the rest of the way. Wandering up the mountain we came across Bruce, who happens to be a PE teacher at Shandong University. Bruce then took us to a temple on the mountain that is older than Jinan itself, which had huge golden Buddhas carved into the rock face, with springs at its feet.
Following Guide Bruce’s lead we climbed our way through the temple caves while listening to his narrative about the mountain, the buildings that have been destroyed and the places where ancient kung fu was practised.At a junction we parted ways with Bruce and headed on our own path that led us in a loop over four peaks that make up this particular mountain. The aim of this was to find some friends who were practising kung fu on the mountain somewhere, but they were nowhere to be found so we made fun for ourselves. The highlight came as we were wandering through a forest that suddenly opened up into a flat clearing where in the trees surrounding the clearing there were a number of pieces of exercise equipment. The equipment was made from the trees themselves, and showed their age as they were rubbed smooth over the many years of use – so we’re sure whoever made them won’t mind that we had a wee training play ourselves!
After a slow start to the day on Sunday, we eventually headed out into the cold for a walk into the hidden hills and suburbs around our home. After a brief walk down the highway we turned into a small township where the dirt roads seem more like alleyways made up of small concrete houses. As we walked almost person we came across greeted us with a smile and returned each “ni hao” we offered. Even though it only took us 20 minutes to walk to, this area of Jinan is like the China we had expected to see and in is complete to the sprawling, sky-scraper filled city in downtown Jinan. As we continued our exploration we found ourselves walking past dry, barren fields that have been for the year harvested and are now awaiting next season. The simple way of getting rid of old dried up weeds is to burn them – although this tactic is employed worldwide, the fact that the fire is burning is in the middle of a vast and parched area with no one watching over it, would be enough to scare the daylights out of any rural fire fighter!We ended up wandering up past a lone woman picking cotton in a field, and she appeared as intrigued by us like we were of the cotton – as neither of us had ever seen cotton plants before. Soon, as we walked up a nearby hill, we were accompanied by an old man who chatted away to us often saying “you don’t understand me, and I don’t understand you”, along with a chuckle each time!
Once we made it to the top of the hill we were rewarded with 360 degree views of the city and its skyscrapers, the small towns like we had just visited, the larger suburbs and their pollution making factories, and the hills that were slowly being dug away to make room for the soon to be towns.
The only negative aspect of the day occurred on our journey home when a dog attacked us! As we are both very used to dogs, we just stood quietly together while it ran up to us barking, but even though we didn’t think we were being threatening, as a warning it still decided to bite Liv on her ankle. Following Doctor Adam’s advice, when we got home Liv washed her ankle continuously for 5 minutes (seriously, she was being timed) and applied alcohol and antibiotic cream! Adam has warned Liv to look out for symptoms such as erratic, violent behaviour, and foaming at the mouth.Adlibing the real Jinan that’s hidden away.
1 comment:
But whats the point of Liv watching Adams regularly erratic behaviour?????
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