FREE BEER

Today is Sunday and I'm just composing myself to the fact that I don't have to go to school tomorrow. Something that I've been looking forward to for a long time, however due to the excitement of the past few months it has come around rather quickly. Yes, indeed I'm officially on summer holidays and am looking forward to getting out and about a bit more and soaking up the atmosphere, that is China, 2008, year of the dog, earthquake, green seas, tibet trouble, train crashes, winter freezes and the Olympic games.

I've got 6 weeks off and since during the last few years my past short breaks have had a full itinerary of travel, job-searching or both I've decided to plan little and aim to enjoy a lot. Coming to China has been a fantastic opportunity and the school has been fun, very stressful and busy at times, frustrating at other times but overall a good decision on all accounts.

Summer here has hit with all its force with days around 30 degrees and nights around 25. Humidity is thick at times. However, Qingdao, being a coastal city, the light sea breeze does make it really pleasant. The morning fog that hangs over the mountain behind my school is one example of a picture not dissimilar to any tropical island with the lush green trees in the foreground. Anyway, I digress. Free beer is the headline and I should let you know what that's all about.

During my year on Jeju-do I really didn't party it up too much. Because, well. There's just so much more to do and see there out-of-doors and the folks I mixed with... We had a few good parties but It just wasn't the place for regular night's out compared to the time before that I spent in Seoul.
This suited me very well at the time, as I've written about before. But Qingdao is different, the atmosphere is more festive and my friends here, well they love a party too.

Having said that, I've found it very difficult nye-on impossible lately to pay for a single drop! I've played soccer regularly on Thursday nights with a bunch of teachers at school and the owner of the school has joined in and has insisted that many of us head to the bar with him afterwards for much needed refreshments. So regular, in fact that the owner of the local bar we frequent after soccer has saw fit to furnish us with boxes of water during the game. I'm sure this is a savvy move to ensure we all visit his bar continuously, well hydrated and fit to drink copious amounts of the amber stuff. After which time the owner of our school in true Korean form insists on paying for everything.

The bar I mention is not the only one near the vicinity of our school but it is a recently opened one that John and I discovered prior to it's official opening. John shares the same desk block as me in the office and is a top bloke. John; Mid fifties, super experienced teacher with no baggage and he's enthusiastic at school and at anything else he chooses to undertake. This includes sniffing out local haunts for a beer or three.

The place I mentioned before that we go to after soccer we both discovered, being drawn in no small part to the fabulous large poster inside the door of a silhouette of a naked lady with another hand reaching out to pinch her breast. Cartoon style. Surrounded by a red circle and a diagonal cross similar to a no smoking sign. But in this case we thought it may be a "gentleman's club" of sorts, the sign being a deterrent to those ungentlemanly acts that may occur in such places.

Alas, no such luck however the staff and owners who are Korean-Chinese, an ethnic minority here, gave us such a warm welcome that it has become the spot of choice for after school drinks with Koreans and our western teachers alike. Anyway, with regular such sessions there with John, who has recently got a promotion to academic director of the school, a position that didn't exist previously and since many of us have been totally dismayed at the fact that the school had no academic direction we are all excited that he has got this job which will in turn give teachers good direction rather than nothing. Which the existing management have been forced to acknowledge did not exist in this area previously.

Getting back to the subject of free beer. John has also been kind enough on a number of occasions recently to pick up the tab after extended hydration sessions. We have a great working relationship and have shared many ideas so this has been a bit of a thank-you I guess for the support I've given him. He's also supported me immensely and together we have made some really positive changes. So I'm equally thankful to him however I'll have to be cunning in the future to ensure I pay my way.

There is another bar a few hundred meters from the school in another direction which is a dingy cave of a place but frequently a good spot to meet on a Friday night. Not totally free, but very cheap, at approximately $1 a stubbie. This generally means that upon entering said establishment you are quickly bought or buy a cheap round for/by the teachers there and can get happily refreshed for the night for around $10. Couple this to the fact that the bar is co-joined to a beauty salon next door, whose employees, not gainfully employed at the time often come in and say hello too.

About three weeks ago they threw a party there for all the foreign guests who have been coming there and the invitation read something like this:
"Welcome foreign friends. You are invited to a party with free beer, bbq and about 50 university girls."
Kid you not. That was what was on the invitation. Needless to say a fun filled night was had by all that attended. Finally, on Friday night just gone we had two barrels and a bbq put on at school for all the teachers and staff at school. This was lots of fun and my overall impression of the school and those that work there has improved considerably since the first couple of months which were diabolical.

So, first semester has finished and there has been some interesting bits and pieces going on at school since I last wrote. But mainly its just been busy, busy, busy butting heads at times but overall things are improving steadily. One major thing that I was immune to on Jeju was the office politics that goes on and since the teachers here in China, both Korean and western ones are a different breed to the general rule. Some of course being fantastic, however others seem to have come over here with their baggage full of spanners ready and willing to throw them in the works at any opportunity. Enough said really, however I have commented before about what a freak show the foreign teacher community can be.

Onwards and upwards. 6 weeks. What to do..? I have a few little jobs to do for myself but other than that not much other than what I said before. That being to get out and about a bit more and see a bit more about what this city and China has to offer. The Olympics are coming soon and Qingdao like all other host cities has undergone an amazing face lift. Other than the obvious "Green Algae Bloom" problem which you have no doubt heard about the city looks fantastic and the people are ready to welcome the games. The torch comes through here on the 25th of July and I'm looking forward to seeing the fanfare. Also I'm off to Tanjin to watch the Olympic soccer which was the only sport I could get tickets for. I may still go to Beijing to try my luck at the gate but as yet I have no concrete plans to do so.

Tomorrow, with luck I'm going to enroll in some Chinese language classes with another mate that I've been playing tennis with so that will hopefully give me something to do each day to get me out and about, plus I plan to visit the gym again as that is something I've dropped in recent weeks.

Overall things are great and I'm really looking forward to getting on top of a few things at home that i've neglected lately. Just been tooo busy.. This blog also is my first in a while and I regret not keeping it updated more regularly. I know I've said that for nearly all the posts for the last six months however It has been quite a ride and now it's time to cool my jets for a while.

All the best to you wherever you are reading from especially those friends and family back in Australia. I miss you all and hope the winter is as enjoyable as the summer here.. But I doubt it :) :)