Blogs from Shandong, China, Asia - page 6

You look at the jeans you have been wearing for the past 5 days and go, yeah sure why not; another day or two would be OK, it’s not as if I’m sweating at all. All the marigolds have been taken out of the flower beds and replaced with the “cauliflower” plants. Two colours, purple and white, they look just like cauliflowers. All the trees have lost their leaves and the trunks are painted white, a paint to reduce fungus and insects apparently. The trees are wrapped up for the winter in a fetching arrangement of a wicker basket. The large shops have a huge thick blanket at the front doors to keep the heat in and the cold out. You look longingly at the lingerie shops, but not at bras and knickers; but at long ... read more

Paraphrasing and borrowing this famous saying attributed to the Jesuits, I would have to say that the children of Zhangqui Experimental Kindergarten in Jinan will be wonderful future citizens. This kindergarten has won many awards for not only Jinan but for the whole of Shandong province and it’s easy to see why. The centre is well staffed with 3 adults per room, 1 teacher, 1 assistant teacher and 1 assistant for 40-50 children. There are additional staff to clean and cook and administrative and directing staff on hand constantly. Children are signed in with a swipe card system and in each room there is a visual and light display showing each child represented as a number with the light on for being there, this was used as a numeracy tool in one of the rooms today. ... read more

After my 2 periods of teaching we got the 10-30am bus back to the city campus and had the bus driver stop at the Shandong museum which is near the Olympic Park complex. From the city you can take a 115 bus from the corner of LiShan Lu and JingShi Lu, east along Jing Shi for quite a long way, until you come to a very imposing domed building on the left hand side just before the Olympic Park complex. There are 3 floors of exhibits, all beautifully presented, innovative lighting and display techniques, easy to understand floor layout, lifts, escalators and staff galore. A café, clean toilets and free entry make this a must see when you visit Jinan. There are halls which each have a speciality such as Ming Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Calligraphy, Prehistoric, ... read more

Today I introduced Martin to English corner where he was a hit. His hat was certainly a great novelty item, with the guy who does the sketching drawing him and getting him to sign his drawing. Many people tried the hat on; his moustache was also commented on, as was his name on his jacket (old work jacket) Some people found his broad Aussie accent and colloquialisms hard to understand; we had many photos taken of us with various people and had we charged a fee we could have made a killing. Lunch today was at a Muslim place close to Black Tiger Springs, with lamb and cumin dish being a hit and the pulled long flat noodles also very delicious. No beer at this place, although many places do sell alcohol. We walked along the ... read more

With only 2 lessons to teach today we headed off after lunch to find cold and flu medication, train tickets and Thousand Buddha Mountain. Miming a sore throat and a cough plus with the help of the handy phrase book, we got something that seemed right, with a mimed instruction on when and how to take it all. Train tickets were easy; the train ticket agency is brilliant and worth the Y5 extra per person per ticket with our weekend trip to and from QingDao all booked and paid for with staff really willing to get us train tickets that suited us. Going via Jinan East station and coming back into Jinan Main train station on D train, so a journey of 2.5 hours each way. Next stop BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) No 3 and up ... read more