An Australian in Jinan

What shop is that?

2008-06-06T06:20:00.013+08:00

How difficult is it to exist in China without understanding Chinese? Earlier I promised to post a range of photos showing shop fronts. I defy anyone who has no Chinese to identify these shops. Hint: most of them are restaurants and liquor/gift stores. And one is a foot massage shop - look for the feet!

Photos the Chinese do not see

2008-06-06T05:33:00.009+08:00

This photo was on the front page of the International Herald Tribune, the first image I saw as I was stepping onto the plane leaving China. "Jiang Guohua, the Communist Party boss of Mianzhu, pleading for an end to the protest by parents whose children were killed in a school collapse during the earthquake". Source: Shiho Fukada, for the New York Times.

Kids and tops

2008-05-28T17:44:00.004+08:00

Ultimate day

2008-05-28T17:38:00.003+08:00

Penultimate day

2008-05-27T22:05:00.006+08:00

My favourite student Roy presents a gift of plaques of a dragon and a phoenix; the mandatory class photos; and a banquet with the University officials.

Seated on my right is George Galanis (VU coordinator), on his right is the host, Prof Wang Xinping, Dean of Office of International Exchange and Cooperation. On my left is Prof Jiang Zhenjian, Vice Dean of the School of Business. In the standing photo, on the far left is Prof Wang Haizi, Dean of the School of Business, on his right is James Forsyth, another Melbourne teacher.

Soundscape on a Sunday morning

2008-05-26T08:43:00.003+08:00

Thwack! Whoosh! A father practises badminton with his six year old son.
Tinny Chinese music. A dozen elderly people doing Tai Chi.
Murmur, shuffle, murmur. The older woman's walking group managing a few words as they walk past with exaggerated arm movements.
Melodious humming. A women walks past, backwards.
Sound of pee on pavement. Toddler relieves himself holding on to Grandma's hand.
Put put put. A motorised tricycle laden with large bottles of drinking water.
Hack hack! Lungs protesting.
Hoik! Ptui! Phlegm up and out.
No sound. An electric bicycle comes from behind and nearly knocks me over.
Bird call. Hadn't heard that one before. Delightful! There it is! It has a long tail.
Giggle. Coo. A silly frilly filly in an embrace with her uni boyfriend. Gender equality is in reverse in modern China. Mao would mourn.
Off campus - the distant sounds of traffic, and never ending building construction work, interspersed with ther sounds of fireworks at any time of the day or night. Poor dogs.
BEEP! BEEP! A car with a very important person in it drives along the footpath and scatters the pedestrians.

Getting things into perspective

2008-05-25T20:27:00.007+08:00

My previous post on being miserable in a dumpling restaurant reeks with maudlinness. Let's put things into perspective.

At least I am not one of the 62,664 people who died in the Sichuan earthquake two weeks ago.

Or of the 350,000 who were injured.

Or of the 23,775 who are missing, believed dead.

Or of the 45 million who have been adversely affected.

Bad weather, impossible terrain, "quake lakes", landslides, and hundreds of aftershocks hamper the concerted rescue efforts. Only this afternoon, an aftershock measuring 6.4 occurred - just imagine the fear this would generate to the fortunate survivors who are so traumatised anyway.

There are remarkably poignant and harrowing stories emerging. Like under the rubble of a school, the bodies of two teachers, each found protecting three students below them. Those students mercifully lived. Now those teachers are heroes.

What is noteworthy is the apparent openess and round the clock reporting by the government news media channels prompting considerable ongoing international aid which is being gratefully received - this of course is in stark contrast to the the 1976 earthquake at Tangshan which killed about 200,000 and at that time the government refused to acknowledge that any earthquake had occurred.. Ah, the days of the Bamboo Curtain.

It was interesting to note that one report grimly notes that two provincial officials were remiss in carrying out their official duties and were "punished". (That'd be the end of them.)

Three days of mourning were declared last Monday, and three minutes of silence at 2:47pm competed with the proclamation that trucks, cars and ships should sound their horns as a mark of respect. I was in Qindao at the time - the effect was quite eerie. There now exists a remarkable sense of nationalism, which will culminate in the Olympic Games in August.

Although 45 million people have been adversely affected, the other 1.255 billion in China are now getting on with their lives.

A worthy slideshow can be found at the China Daily website. Photo: China Daily

Alone in a dumpling restaurant

2008-05-24T21:33:00.002+08:00

Or ... "Down in the dumplings"

It's the last weekend in Jinan. My student has given me a map of an "excellent" dumpling restaurant. The taxi driver couldn't find it and charged me 50% more than he should have. I eventually found it myself. It was noisy, busy and brash. Maybe 50 staff. I was given a table near the door and two waitresses spoke Chinese and waited for my Chinese menu selection. "No Chinese! Only English." I pointed to a dumpling dish on another table. Giggles of embarassment. I produced a specially prepared paper with Chinese translation of my food likes and dislikes. More giggles. The submanager was summonsed. He spoke to me in Chinese. "No Chinese! Only English." He spoke louder Chinese. The girls giggled. The neighbouring tables were beginning to participate in this sport. An employee who allegedly could speak English was summonsed. No joy. More giggles. A more senior manager was summonsed. By this stage there were no less than ten curious staff hovering, plus four neighbouring tables eaves-dropping. I once again showed my Chinese translation sheet showing my likes and dislikes, and mimed that I only wanted one plate of dumplings, just like that one on the next table. He read the sheet gravely, then opened up the sheet to read about my likes and dislikes for hotel rooms, where I needed to get a taxi to return home, and my request for a foot massage. I snatched the sheet back and folded over to the relevant paragraph. But he immediately opened up the sheet again - he was more interested in my life story. I snatched it back and made to leave. "Sorry, sorry!", he muttered. And snapped a few orders at the inanely giggling waitresses. I was also able to order a beer, perhaps unwisely, as I received a whole jug of draught beer. An extraordinary thing: anybody and everybody on staff (I swear even the cleaner did once) would top up my glass after every sip. I was not allowed to lift the jug. Eventually I received the spinach/egg/chili dumplings specially chosen for me by the senior man. I called him back and graciously invited him to read everything else on the translation sheet. He then understood, and we forgave each other. Perhaps it was the beer.

I looked around - some men were only wearing singlets instead of shirts. I watched the groups and families feasting, sharing varieties of wonderful dishes on their table. Hubbub and happiness.

I'm sure that Confucious himself would agree that eating dumplings alone in a Chinese restaurant is not happiness.

(The dumplings were ... excellent.)

Cheap haircut

2008-05-24T17:59:00.004+08:00

The woman on the wall behind thinks that the hairdresser's top-knot is quite cool!

(Note the leather belt holding all his tools of trade.)

A head wash and head massage before and after 20 minutes in the chair for 10 kuai AU$2.50

A cheap haircut? Well, there's not that much hair, after all ....

HIV in China

2008-05-24T00:22:00.005+08:00

China has 200 million migrant (Chinese) workers, of which more than 120 million work in cities. The remainder work in towns. China is at a key stage in its fight against AIDS/HIV. A report from the International Labor Organization estimates that China could lose five million laborers by 2015 if it doesn't take effective measures to address the grave problem.
(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2007)

Not until 1998 did China have a national, long-term plan to combat HIV. The notion of condom ads was quickly shot down by the Chinese government after an ad played one time on the national television network in 1999. Condoms were viewed as illegal sexual tools by China’s State Administration of Industry and Commerce and were banned from the airwaves. That ban persisted until 2001 when the Chinese Ministry of Health reclassified condoms as “medical devices” instead of a sexual commodity. Still, condoms are not an acceptable part of mainstream China, they are in short supply and are of poor quality.
About.com

China is estimated to have about 700,000 HIV/AIDS cases, with tens of thousands of new infections each year, the government said Thursday, but activists warned the problem was far greater. "The result of estimates is that at the end of 2007, China will have about 700,000 HIV/AIDS cases, and 85,000 with AIDS," Health Minister Chen Zhu told a press conference in Beijing. Chen said there were an estimated 50,000 new HIV infections in 2007, when 20,000 people died from AIDS, figures he described as a slightly better than previous years. ... But independent AIDS activists have long warned that these figures underestimate the rampant spread of the disease. Read more at http://www.terradaily.com/reports/China_says_estimated_HIVAIDS_cases_rise_to_700000_999.html

Weekend in Qindao

2008-05-19T20:38:00.015+08:00

I've just had an excursion to Qindao (pronounced tChindao), the coastal city for the Olympic Games yachting in August, and ate too much food and drank too much beer.

A slide show can be seen by clicking here. (No titles yet, sorry!)

And here is a lovely video - first of school children at recess, then a bird man I found in the park, teaching his birds how to sing.

And another video of a the train ride from Jinan to Qindao.

And I thought it was just a moisturiser

2008-05-19T19:02:00.003+08:00

One Minutes Dispel Horniness

Xi'an

2008-05-12T22:10:00.007+08:00

I flew to Xi'an this weekend (and survived an earthquake!) Xi'an (pronounced "Shjiaan") was great. Here's me with the terracotta warriors. And a special video of the fabulous Muslim Quarter in the old walled city - Beiyanmen Street. Most of my wants from visiting China were fulfilled in this one city! There are no less than 65 photos in a slideshow, if you click here.

Earthquake - thousands dead

2008-05-12T21:31:00.007+08:00

A fairly powerful earthquake happened just when we were waiting to move on the tarmac bus at Xi'an Airport. I thought the bus was jumping up and down due to the lowering hydraulics (as they do these days). Then airport officials came running out of the terminal and screamed that we get out of the bus and move onto the tarmac away from the building. General panic.

It seems the epicentre was less than 250km from where I was in Xi'an - Chengdu is the next capital city of the neighbouring province. Reports are now coming in that thousands of people have died. 900 schoolchildren buried by their school buildings. Here is a link. (see later post)

Fish tank, LCD TV, Hairdresser

2008-05-11T00:26:00.005+08:00

It's midnight in Jinan on a Saturday, and a large LCD TV lights up a fish tank in front of a hairdressing salon.

Catch a bus and see where it goes

2008-05-10T19:59:00.005+08:00

A delightful sunny Saturday afternoon, so I caught a bus to see just where it might go to. A mid -30's woman sat beside me and started practising her English. Then she promptly announced "you will come with me to see where I work!" I got off the bus and dutifully followed her through back streets. It turns out that she was a cardio-vascular doctor (2nd in charge) in a small hospital. That's her with the pony tail. Check out the Mao picture. After the handover, we conducted a short patient rounds - she explained to the patients that I was specialist from Australia. I was honoured in more ways than one.

Ming Music

2008-05-07T20:17:00.005+08:00

I tripped over this delightful performance of classical musicians (performing for the tourists) in the ancient pavilions of the Summer Palace, Beijing. At the end, check out the man in the cool garb, walking over to gong the gong. I'd love to do that!

These oldies don't need the internet

2008-05-07T20:15:00.007+08:00

These oldies don't need the internet. They can get their (not really free) news, for free!

Line Dancing Chinese Style

2008-05-07T20:15:00.004+08:00

Seen in a pavilion in the Summer Palace, Beijing, a bunch of good friends strutting their stuff. Chinese style.

The freeways of Jinan

2008-05-06T20:13:00.003+08:00

Jinan is renown in China for its extensive freeway system. Here is a short video of the trip from the airport, arriving into the city. When there is a centralised government, any large project is possible.

Sign in the washroom, Beijing Airport

2008-05-05T20:19:00.002+08:00

Toilet paper is usually not provided in public toilets in China. However, here in a washroom (outside the cubicles) in Beijing Airport, the tide is turning. But I'm not sure what "Bumf" is!

Boutique Bedoir in Beijing

2008-05-04T20:29:00.000+08:00

Fortune-Land International Hotel. A strange mid price "boutique" hotel with outrageous decor. Sadly, even though the place is only two years old, there is obvious evidence of lack of maintenance, so it will maintain its 3-1/2 star rating. The entry lobby looks as if the designer was worshipping magic mushrooms, but I think the objects on the ceiling are lotus flowers, with the lotus roots providing the down lights. I upgraded after the first uncomfortable night, to a beaut, quiet room, complete with bath. The red steel structures at the entrance portico light up at night, much to the amazement of the taxi drivers. I have never liked design for the sake of showing off, if it is not also apt and functional.

Hotels in this part of the world devote part of the space in a revolving door to a flower arrangement - I am proud of this photo. I watched a cleaning lady trying to clean the floor in a revolving door - I just wish I had a video for you! You will
see below photos of the two rooms,and why I preferred the upgrade!

What a difference a rain makes!

2008-05-04T20:01:00.013+08:00

Storms and heavy rain washed away the "frog", and left everything sparkling and clean, with a rare blue sky. Today was my day to discover Beijing, and I think I did a pretty good job!

I successfully caught four underground trains

I travelled by four different buses

I walked for miles

I visited the Summer Palace, a delightful garden and countless pavilions (see slideshow of 32 photos)

I ventured into Tien'anmen Square (see slideshow of 14 photos)

I experienced for free (as it was closing time) a national Art gallery exhibition (see slideshow of 17 photos)

I finished the day by eating at a Japanese restaurant a filling buffet for $12, six delicious dishes.

I returned to my hotel for a long, relaxing bath.

It was wonderful! Beijing shines in the sun. People are generally considerate and helpful and have much better English than in Jinan. How different the weather, and lack of air pollution, makes for enjoyment!

The previous night I also took in the Chaoyang Theatre Acrobatics Macrocosm - which was great! Good photos at their web site : www.bjcyjc.com

(Tomorrow I return to Jinan).

The Wall

2008-05-02T19:52:00.007+08:00

Been there, done that.
Here's my mandatory photo to show it.
In previous posts I have mentioned that the journey is more important than the destination. Getting to the Great Wall of China was not pleasant, but the destination was worth it!
Here is a slideshow of 43 photos posted at FlickR which includes a few of Beijing and glimpses of the Birdsnest, the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall.

The number of plastic bags consumed daily

2008-05-02T19:42:00.000+08:00

3,000,000,000

The government has just announced that consumers will need to pay a levy commencing 1 June 2008. The incredible amount of overpackaging is another issue.

Tour Guide Chinglish

2008-05-02T17:08:00.011+08:00

This tour guide was so confident with his English, but his pronunciation was simply terrible. For example, for "Chinese" he'd say "Chess". Here is a short video:

Frog in Beijing

2008-05-01T13:59:00.008+08:00

After last class Wednesday, and sporting a filthy cold, I was driven in a University Car - whoo hoo - (at the gates the sentries saluted, and I saluted back), to the airport, for a later Beijing flight. I whiled away the waiting time chatting to a delightful young Chinese man who turned out to be a reporter with the China Daily, and who was returning after an assignment covering the terrible train crash. He was exhausted. Being dispassionate has its price. He assisted me to get on the correct shuttle bus to the area of the city I was going to (there are no less than 5 different shuttle buses). "Welcome to my home city, Beijing."

Woke this morning to see a thick fog. Well I think it's fog. But sadly, I suspect it's not.

Update: 2pm. It's not fog.

Update 2 days later after a rainstorm, which washed the "fog" away. (some locals say "frog".)
This is what it looks like:

Train crash 70km from Jinan

2008-04-28T16:17:00.004+08:00

There was a terrible train crash nearby Jinan early this morning. Seems that 70 are dead and about 410 injured. Here is a link, with pictures.

Chinglish

2008-04-28T15:28:00.006+08:00

The benefit of having a deformity.
Who'd want to?

Please go somewhere else to die ==>

<== I think it shoud say "pear".

To my Chinese readers: please do not take offence. Chinglish celebrates just how difficult Chinese is to translate to English. Three images from http://www.engrish.com/

How many mobile phone subscribers in China?

2008-04-26T18:32:00.005+08:00

574 million

The reward is a banquet if you'll just climb this gorge

2008-04-26T17:18:00.013+08:00

The university twice a year shows their gratitude to the foreign teachers, by organising an all expenses paid bus trip to a local scenic attraction. With one day's notice, this happened today - the sky is blue(!) - only the third day in 5 weeks. We drove about 60km out of the city to a steep gorge called Jiu ru shan, which has some springs and lakes. It's a (local) tourist attraction and there were a lot of (local) tourists there. I'll let the photos tell the story.

Tethered monkeys perform for the tourists

Look out for the Bucket Beast

Life can be good in Jinan !

2008-04-24T18:09:00.009+08:00

After several days of spring rain and some wind -

the streets are clean,
the vegetation has been washed,
people are smiling, and whistling,
kids are laughing,
the air is clear,
and there's blue sky!

The weather is highly agreeable - bright warm sunshine with a cool breeze.
For the first time, I can now see fascinating mountainous hills encircling much of the city - they often have pagodas on the top of them. Very aesthetic.
At work, the half way point has been reached, and the tortuous essay assignment has been concluded. Moderation is complete. (We are now starting on an assignment involving surveys, reports and an oral presentation).
My colleagues are agreeable. The students are a delight as always.
In my own time, and on the behest of my boss, I sat in on a Chinese teacher's English class, and was most impressed. I offered her a reciprocal experience.
In my absence, my apartment has been cleaned by Jo the lovely cleaning lady. Such a pleasure to open the door to a clean and tidy apartment!
I have just opened a cold beer (cheap and excellent quality), chomped on a hard boiled egg (cooked in soy sauce).
Now I'm settling down for a Skype chat with my partner, whom I miss so much!
What's this? An SMS message from my boss? We won't get paid tomorrow as promised?
Oh, well....

Street food

2008-04-21T15:05:00.011+08:00

Steamed pork and vegetables buns
The making of noodles
The making of the steamed pork and vegetable buns

Pig snouts, and other pig parts

Hygiene in Jinan

2008-04-20T14:25:00.008+08:00

Many Chinese have some interesting habits that, well, are not hygienic. Like not using toilet paper, or water, when they defecate. Like not washing hands afterwards. Like snot blowing. Like public hemming, hawking and spitting. This can be quite offputting!

However, I find that I am becoming increasingly localised, as my lungs struggle with the unceasing pollution. Apart from the sore and perpetually watering eyes, I hawk up terrible globs that are grey-yellow. If I don't have a tissue on me, these globs I try to surreptiously spit in an appropriate place - convincing myself that I am simply recycling Jinan's dirt.

I am listening to the jingoistic Chinese Olympic song on television, "One World, One Dream". It contains the remarkable lyric: "the smell of fresh air everywhere". Perhaps that's the One Dream bit.

Here is an interesting picture. I recently visited a fancy rest room in a mid price restaurant. Look carefully, not just at the dirty artificial roses. The urinals were full of ice cubes. They didn't mask the rank smell. (But they were fun to melt when having a pee !)

University campus sports fields

2008-04-20T13:57:00.014+08:00

The boarder's quilts are airing in the dusty sun, next to the dusty soccer ground and dusty asphalt basketball courts with the stadium in the background. The stadium "lawn" is synthetic, with dust. The track is rough red hard bitumen. The mountain you see behind the stadium will soon no longer be there as it is inexorably being quarried.

The language barrier

2008-04-20T13:28:00.007+08:00

I regret not learning Chinese in the months before I left Australia. From past travel experiences I had found that one could get by without necessarily learning the local language. But here in China, because the writing is not in Roman characters, and because so very few people speak or understand English, the language barrier is firmly set.

I am collecting some photos of shop-fronts, which I will post soon. The Chinese love signs, and the Chinese characters can be very descriptive. But for me they hold no clue as to what sort of shop it is, and if you cannot see through the window, you remain clueless. Rarely are pictures or logos used. One night I was coming home late from work and from the bus I was able to see the lighted interior of many shops - and was delighted to realise that there was an optometrist, there a baker, a dentist, a photocopy centre, an estate agent ... etc.

Here is a photo of one shop I could easily understand. They sell pears ....

What is annoying is that, although it is quickly obvious I am a foreigner with no Chinese, locals still expect me to understand them, as their voices get louder and shriller each time they repeat. Or (in the case of a group of women), start giggling inanely, and others crowd around to join the fun. I am a rarity, of course, and most locals seem never to have had the experience of trying to assist a foreigner. But neither do they seem to want to.

But some succeed, and very well. A taxi driver, when he realised I had no Chinese, uttered not another word for the rest of the journey, but mimed and pointed. He was able to successfully convey this somewhat complex message:

"Look over there, at that fat pig of a traffic policeman, chatting on his mobile phone, instead of doing his job and directing traffic, and helping me get through this terrible traffic jam! He should be sacked!" (Photo: Google Images)

The irony about not learning Chinese before I left is that where I used to live in Australia - directly opposite my house - was a regular Saturday morning Chinese language school.

Street Scenes 3

2008-04-17T20:45:00.006+08:00

Boys, and construction sites, and big pipes, just big enough so that you can crawl though. Irresistable!

Isn't it just the same in for every country in this world?

Exploring Traditional Chinese Medicine in China

2008-04-16T11:47:00.010+08:00

My previous career was in natural therapies, which includes Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I was delighted to find a TCM University here in Jinan, and decided to pay a visit, and get some of my health concerns attended to at the same time at their clinic.

On arrival at the huge, imposing building I found to my dismay that it was under renovation. So as I stood there scratching my head, I was approached by a 23 yo Chinese student, a girl with an "English name" of Joan, who offered to help me.

And help me she did. She accompanied me as my guide and translator for the next four hours as I went through an amazing process. First I had a consultation with a beautifully preserved woman at the student clinic who referred me to a clinic at the nearby hospital, that was affiliated with the university. We walked a kilometre through back streets to a building I would not have recognised as a clinic let alone a hospital, and paid 6 kwai to see a another beautifully preserved woman doctor. She took my pulses and looked at my tongue and apologised that apart from Chinese she didn't know English - only Russian (which dated her).

Amazingly, during the consultation, the next patient just walks in and sits down, very interested to hear about my medical problems. And then the next patient and her husband. There were now six in the room. I was causing a log jam. I was astounded to see in the next cubicle a patient smoking while he was consulting the doctor.

It was somewhat embarrassing for me to have to translate my medical symptoms through Joan - but she seems to be enjoying the experience of putting her "English major" into practice. I would have been absolutely lost without her, with all the bureaucratic steps (I had to go back to the cashier's office three times as my consultation progressed). I was expecting acupuncture. I was given an ECG for 60 kwai (the cost of the previous night's meal!) and prescribed some western drug (drat!) as well as liquid Chinese herbs in sachets (150 kwai). I needed to return at 5.30 that evening to collect them.

In the dispensary I was amused to see one staff member in a dirty white coat with an ancient abacus in front of her, using a modern mobile phone to do her calculations.

Interestingly, when I asked Joan whether I needed a referral to a specialist, and would the doctor be offended if I asked her, she replied "In China we have a saying that you need to visit at least three doctors!" When asked whether the doctor would refer me, Joan looked shocked. No, that wasn't the doctors prerogative. It seems you have to find your own specialist?

To show my gratitude, I took Joan to a restaurant (with English translations on the menu), and as she was currently seeking a job, introduced her to a travel agent I had been dealing with, who happily advised her how to get a job in his company.

I had to return that evening and was chuffed to catch the right bus and get off at the right place, but it was 6pm when I get there and found the place closed! But an affable man at a side door barked instructions to a student to take me around the back of the building and I was able to collect the (still hot) brewed herbs. Which taste vile.

Wrong culinary decision

2008-04-16T11:19:00.005+08:00

I was issued with a small laminated card which displayed essential addresses in Chinese characters. It also lists some recommended restaurants.

I usually like dumplings, so armed with some pieces of paper with food translations, I thought I'd venture forth to "The Dumpling Restaurant". But the information on the card turned out to be wrong. Despite enlisting the help of several people, The Dumpling Restaurant was a mystery.

So I chose a restaurant with the biggest neon signs. I should have noticed that here were not that many local people eating there. It was one of those places that had booths, so you couldn't see other diners.

The waitress thought it quite funny when I produced my translation sheets. I thought I ordered roast pork and vegetables and rice. What arrived (apart from some rice) was a HUGE bowl of fishy (eel?) chili soup, which was impossibly hot and oily, plus another plate of overcooked vegetables swimming in oil. I could manage only a few mouthfuls and paid an outrageous price (65 kwai) for the experience. (Most locals can eat out very well for about 10 kwai).

But the worst part of this learning experince was that all stages of my discomfort was relayed by the waitress across the restaurant to the kitchen at the top of her voice, to hoots of laughter by both staff and other diners.

Old campus

2008-04-15T19:54:00.009+08:00

I live on the old campus. There are some older retired people who live on the old campus, too, probably for most of their lives. They would have seen some enormous changes in their country over their lives.

You can greet them with a friendly smile, but they stare back impassively.

Students may have lessons at the old campus but need to commute back to their dorms in the new campus. So they queue for the shuttle bus.

There are police who guard the entrances of the campus. From what, I'm not sure.

And here is an old lady shuffling down to the police post to see what the day might hold for her behind her breathing mask.

Sunday afternoon in Quandeng Square

2008-04-13T20:05:00.007+08:00

This enormous square, with a big blue two legged sculpture at the centre, and a shopping mall beneath, is in the middle of Jinan.

It was a warm, Spring, Sunday afternoon, with just enough breeze to lift the kites. People are entertained by the amazing fountains, and each other. Kite fliers, roller skaters, lovers, men spinning tops.

I've 25 photos on FlickR, so click here for a slide show!

And below is a short video of some top spinners, entertaining an appreciative crowd. Listen to the weird sound the tops produce.

Soft boiled eggs for breakfast

2008-04-13T10:41:00.007+08:00

Soft boiled eggs, on toast, for breakfast!

Big deal, you might think. The minimum culinary challenge for any man.

Well, here in Jinan, in my tiny windowless benchless kitchen, it was no small achievement.

Let me tell you why.

I didn't know whether the eggs I bought were already cooked. At least they didn't float - that was a good sign!
I didn't have a small saucepan - but I did have a large thin stainless steel pot.
The electric hotplate instructions are all in Chinese, and I had to buy an adapter for the plug, and even then, force the plug into it.
Bread that is not impossibly sweet is difficult to obtain in Jinan. The only knife we are issued with is a large Chinese chopper.
I didn't have a toaster. But I did have a large thin stainless steel pot! I used chopsticks to turn over the cooking bread.
I had some (expensive) butter, to be spread with a large Chinese chopper!
No egg cup, but hey, soft boiled eggs are great just spooned over the toast. But no teaspoon! I did have a chinese ceramic spoon, which is totally unsuitable for the task.
No salt or pepper, but a splash of soy sauce instead.
No knife and fork. (Eating softboiled eggs on toast using chopticks is stupid.) So fingers sufficed.

Scrumptious!

(It's so much easier - and probably cheaper - to eat out.)

Saturday in the park

2008-04-12T17:09:00.014+08:00

I walking through the adjacent park (trying to warm up) when I came across this boy, with his stick, and his puddle. I hurried back to the apartment to get my camera.

Other kids play, with or without a helping hand.

Older citizens, wearing warm clothing, play croquet. Vigorously.

From the park, we see a building being built in the distance with workmen perched precariously on top of it. And the recent rain has revealed that the dirty grey plants actually have delightful colour!

Eating out with affable people

2008-04-11T22:44:00.007+08:00

"Come on, join us for a meal at a great restaurant I know."

This has always been music to my ears, as I have learned from my travels that even if you are dog-tired (as I was), if you don't seize such opportunities then you are no richer for the experience. "Us" was a group of four young foreign teachers (American, German, Phillipino, Chinese) from my apartment block, with whom I had not shared a meal before.

The challenge of Chinese menus notwithstanding, a wonderful array of dishes (dry fried fish portions, egg and mushrooms, spicy noodles and a fried spicy mash potato) were quickly consumed. $11 total. Great company, good service, clean toilets, silly talk, lots of laughter, and a short walk in the brisk evening breeze to the city square afterwards, before a taxi home. And mercifully, an odourless sleep.

Photo: Google Images www.atlaspost.com

Bwaaahh pheeuuuuwwwww!!!! (2)

2008-04-11T21:29:00.009+08:00

I woke at 3 this morning and gagged. My apartment was reeking. I presumed it was the toilet burping again, or the shower drain (down which I regularly pour copious amounts of bleach), or from a drain or some other source outside. Or a combination of all of these. I still don't know.

I shut the windows, turned on the (windowless) bathroom extractor fan, dripped eucalyptus oil all over my pillows, sucked a menthol throat lozenge, and took short, shallow breaths. But I could only breathe through my mouth for short periods before being parched.

I just could not escape it, nor do anything about it. I felt powerless. It was just horrible. Eventually I fell asleep again, but the stench was still evident in the morning. Then after a cautious, exploratory sniff, I was able to open the windows again. To greet the morning smog.

Then a few minutes later, as I was getting dressed and ready for a full day's teaching, the power went off. It stayed off for 12 hours. (At least it's on again, now!) (You see - I think that the bucket is half full, rather than half empty!)

Speaking of stenches, and buckets, the Chinese sewer system cannot accomodate it seems, toilet paper, and so the local habit it to leave the soiled paper in a bin provided for the purpose, beside the bowl. I just wish the management of most establishments (otherwise relatively hygienic) would dispose of the bin contents frequently and periodically. Or better still that the sewer system was upgraded!

This is the entrance to the ground floor of my apartment. We are greeted by our own garbage bags (usually collected daily), in which, theoretically, is the aforesaid used toilet paper.

Trishaw - faster than the bus

2008-04-10T12:23:00.009+08:00

I was waiting for a bus, and saw this delightful man with a huge aspidistra plant cycle pass on his tricycle truck. The perfect choice, when one has aspidistras to deliver. I cursed because I did not have my camera at the ready. Twenty minutes later I got off the bus at my destination, and there he was - waiting for me and my camera! Quite rightly, he had stopped to receive a mobile call. And to get his photo taken. With his aspadistra.

Nope, it's not an aspidistra (just checked Google Images). I keep typing aspadistra coz its a marvellous word! So, what sort of plant is it? (see comment).

Later: another photo of another entrepreneur, at the same spot. Do you like his uniform?

Air Pollution

2008-04-07T18:47:00.019+08:00

Jinan is one of China's cities, indeed one of the world's cities, with the highest levels of air pollution. Apart from vehicle emissions and coal fired power plants, it has some heavy industry (making steel for truck manufacturing) not far out of the city.
I had thought that the past couple of windy days might have blown away the ever present smog, and give some needed respite to the eyes and lungs. But not so. Perhaps the wind was coming from the direction of the factories!

During the interview I had for this job, I was asked "do you have any chronic respiratory problems?" Duty of care, I was told.

One pleasant effect of the smog is the way the sun tries to penetrate it, especially in the evening. I took these photos tonight, from the park next to our apartments, where families play with their kid. The huge building site in the foreground (the cause of so much local dust) used to a be a sports field for the old University. Unfortunately the building labourers' temporary quarters, complete with a vile smelling latrine, have been constructed opposite the entrance to our apartments. Another form of air pollution. One learns when one must not breathe through one's nose!

Later: a night of RAIN cleaned the air (for a few hours). The result was marvellous! The trees, especially the conifers, had metamorphosed from dirty grey to clean green!

Jinan Universities

2008-04-07T08:59:00.003+08:00

We have got many universities in Jinan.
First:
Shangdon Institute of Architecture and Engineering (山东建筑工程学院) renamed Shandong-Jianzhu now with many more faculties - this is where I work.
Then there's:
Jinan University (济南大学) specialising in medicine
Shandong Jiaotong University (山东交通学院)
Shandong Economic University (山东经济学院)
Shandong Finance Institute (山东财政学院)
Shandong University of Chinese Traditional Medicine (山东中医药大学)
Shandong College of Arts (山东艺术学院)
Shandong College of Arts and Design (山东工艺美术学院)
Shandong Physical Education Institute (山东体育学院)
Shandong University (山东大学)

To distinguish the "normal" university from all these specialist universities, we have Shandong Normal University (山东师范大学) with a huge statue of Mao Zedong who, even though he died in 1976, with some interesting human rights legacies, is still much revered.

As with most institutions in China, there is a guard at the entrance on a dais with a red rope, standing stiffly to attention.

Little things do wonders for the mood

2008-04-06T14:51:00.011+08:00

This photo contains a several CD's of Mozart, some er, hem, cheap DVD's of recent recent release movies, some Skippy peanut butter, a French stick (the bread is impossibly sweet in China), some wheat puffs cereal (only UHT milk is available - but good sweet yoghurt). The Snickers chocolate bar is not there, coz i ate it - no doubt causing me cold sores. I also bought a pair of speakers to plug into my laptop so I could listen to the Mozart.

Also on the (supplied but rarely used) microwave with Chinese controls, sits a table lamp ($6) which has an incandescent globe, providing a blessed relief to the dim 25 watt purplish fluorescent in the ceiling. It makes the room livable (although it could do with a rug and a wall hanging or two.)

Later I found out that two of the Mozart discs, despite their printed covers in outrageous chinglish, had exactly the same tracks! The store was happy to swap, and I did, but who's complaining for RMB 12.80 (AU$2)?

I must remind myself that I am only here for another 8 weeks and that feathering my nest like this is a bit silly - unless I take stuff home with me. Which I probably won't. Sadly such bits and pieces of furnishings, although put into "the storage room" ostensibly for the next Australian to live in these apartments, will almost certainly disappear, snaffled up by the Chinese staff. A redistribution of wealth.

Street scenes 2

2008-04-06T14:24:00.012+08:00

An man snoozes, waiting for instructions from someone to cart something somewhere on his nifty green tricycle truck.

This woman is waiting at a bus stop with her husband and baby.

I had to wait a long time to get this shot, but I just had to! Look carefully: the baby has a special bumflap which is always open.

Bowels

2008-04-06T14:03:00.002+08:00

I'm learning, I'm learning. Although the food is probably quite hygienic (even street vendors use the old inverted plastic bag trick, and never touch the food when serving), one's fingers definitely are NOT hygienic. All sorts of bugs, including the dreaded hep, can be picked up on the fingers - just by handling money (it really is quite filthy), gripping rails in buses, pushing doors, even shaking hands. So what's the point of using your fingers when eating finger food, like steamed pork buns (yum!) if they have not been thoroughly washed first? I'm learning to use the old inverted plastic bag trick.

Street scenes

2008-04-04T10:51:00.008+08:00

Buildings that were there yesterday disappear almost overnight. Such is the might of a centralised government. The scavengers move in quickly and pick out the reinforced iron rods, and the aluminium from the rubble.

New tarmac also seems to appear overnight, with a bevy of labourers.

Children emerging from a bus that couldn't proceed any further down a footpath. Probably because of demolition rubble.

"Hello! Goodbye! What's your name? How are you?" Giggle giggle.

The class monitor leads the way with a red flag, under the guidance of his teacher. (In the background is an ubiquitous tricycle truck), lethal on the footpath.

English as it is pronounced

2008-04-04T10:34:00.005+08:00

You've just got to smile when you hear on the normally excellent CCTV news, a story of the Olympic Torch being carried by "the Torch Burier" [berry-er].

Well, I guess that would have to be the end of that torch.

Chinese don't like cheese

2008-04-03T12:26:00.020+08:00

The German teacher, Ralf, told me of another supermarket, RT Mart, which is only a short bus trip, or 20 minutes walk away. It has the predictable KFC and McDonalds on the outside, and the array is similar to Carrefour, but the fruit and vegetables seem better. Near it are several other shops catering for westerners: Jenny's Cafe, and a Unimart which stocks imported goods exclusively. It was there I bought a sliver (140g) of NZ cheddar, for the equiv of AU$13 a kilo. Chinese don't eat cheese.

One whole aisle is devoted to the conception and care of babies (in this One Child policy country, you've gotta make sure it's a good one) including "how to" books (somewhat dog-eared, probably from the university students), DVD's and CD's of prenatal music.
Some interesting products on the shelves: "Skippy" peanut butter; Australian oatmeal; and this woman is choosing which MSG she needs (seriously!).

Each supermarket has its own system, which you quickly have to learn. This one demands you show your receipt on exiting the shop, while struggling with all your bags of shopping. (Which reminded me of exiting the Jinan airport - I was obliged to show my luggage ticket stubs before I could leave with my bags - which makes a lot of sense I suppose. But I couldn't find them!)

Dear reader: you may be puzzled why I bother to make a post about supermarkets. Please forgive me. You need to understand that in Jinan, they are but a welcome oasis for a weary, dusty and battered foreigner who yearns for something he might relate to, just every now and then.

Classroom activities

2008-04-02T19:57:00.025+08:00

The computer classroom is in basement of this building on the right of the first picture. It is freezing cold. There are 76 computers here. There is no teacher's facilities (whiteboard, video projector or master computer).

The students are supposed to be studying English - there are plenty of activities they can do, including writing their journals for submission. But like most teenagers, they try to get away with more interesting things like playing computer games, or sending emails to the friends in Chinese, using the equivalent of Facebook. As I prowl around monitoring what they are doing they can adroitly switch between game and supposed work.

In the classroom we have about 25 students, who would prefer to be sending SMS messages to each other and making and receiving mobile phone calls. But generally they are a great bunch, and are polite and well behaved, with varying motivation (and ability) for learning English.

In this lesson we are doing gender studies - why do men behave differently to women (nature or nurture?), and why do women not seem to be able to get to the top positions? We are preparing at this time for a compare and contrast essay - only 400 words. Interestingly, China were world leaders with female equality back in the 60's (remember the images of smiling women tractor drivers under the farm collective system) and many of the equality issues, shamefully still a problem in many western countries, are really not so marked in China.

While my photo was being taken by an obliging student, a whole bevy of mobile phone cameras appeared from the rest of the class, to take my photo of my photo being taken! I am looking suitably officious here. Notice the raised dais, lecturn and blackboard and chalk - I'm not sure why I brought whiteboard markers with me.

Incidentally the first picture shows how the gardeners prune trees to an inch of their life, a stork's nest and a half a mountain behind which will one day no longer be there.

Commuting

2008-04-02T19:47:00.009+08:00

The shuttle bus takes 40 mins each way. If they had told me that this China posting would entail sitting on a hard bus seat (or worse still standing and lurching) for a total of three days, I may have reconsidered! Ear plugs are useful.

Ralf is a German teacher. He reads Brecht.

James and Effron (a Ph.D. English teacher from the Philippines) enjoy some technological dialogue.

Here is how I usually spend the journey, dreaming up my next lesson plan.

University - video views

2008-03-31T20:19:00.020+08:00

To give you an idea of the size of the university, here is a short video, most of it taken from the shuttle bus window.

The library is an impressive building. It has five floors around a large courtyard. One floor is dedicated to Foreign resources, and one room has stacks of high quality, Chinese published, English books. They hardly seem used. Unfortunately there seems to be no catalogue of them in English.

Waiting in vain for the heating fairy

2008-03-31T18:40:00.002+08:00

There must be a little fairy somewhere, finger poised over the "On" button for the central heating. She must be otherwise engaged. Probably mucking about with an elf.

I know the central heating works (both in my apartment and in the classroom) as the fairy did her job reasonably well in the first week I was here. But not since!

And it does gets cold! The other day it was 3-10 degrees, colder in the basement classroom for the computer lab.

After some investigation, it seems that there is NO central heating after 23rd March, despite the temperature. And it's not just for my apartment, or for the university, but for the whole province!

I'm told the air conditioner in my apartment is reverse cycle, but I haven't yet deciphered the Chinese on the remote, and all my button pushing has only yielded cold air. Never mind, the weather is getting warmer day by day. (Just over a month ago, many parts of China were hit by severe snow storms.)

Construction of four football stadia

2008-03-31T18:39:00.011+08:00

Of course, everyone knows that the Olympic Games will be held in Beijing this year (the torch has already arrived!) starting 8 August. But few of you might realise that in 2009 Jinan is hosting the All-China Games, and in 2010 the 16th Asian Games will be also be held in China - Guangzhou, to be precise.

It seems that Jinan decided to have a few more football facilities, and so not one, but four giant stadia are currently being built on one site near the road I travel every day to work. The scale of the construction is really quite enormous. Here is a video I took from the bus window, to the sound of Sabre Dance (so turn up your sound!):

Lunch at the University

2008-03-29T08:43:00.007+08:00

The University site is so large (161 hectares), it is difficult to comprehend how some 20,000 students and 2000 staff can get fed in 30 minutes at one place. The building is in the centre of the campus and is three stories of food serveries and dining area, efficiently catering for so many people.

It's not difficult to find. Just follow the throng at lunch time. It's a 15-20 minute walk from our staff room, quite pleasant through landscaped gardens and past a huge ornamental lake. But it would not be very pleasant in inclement weather. So we have been ordering our lunch from the same kitchens, to be delivered to the staff room.

A huge central kitchen with hundreds of white uniformed staff serving behind long rows of mainly hot food counters. Students can select from hundreds of options and they stick a "food card" into a special machine in front of them as the serving staff punch in the purchase amount, updating the balance on the card. All incredibly efficient!
The ground floor ("first floor" in this part of the world) is typical uni union refactory with lots of useful shops, fresh fruit and veges (strawberries!), photocopiers, computers, chemist, technology store, and a well stocked supermarket selling a good range of food and goods. This seems to be a better place to shop than the maddening Carrefour supermarket back in the city. And all purchases in the student building can be made using the "food card" - wonderful!

Strolling back to my own building I delighted in the blossoms appearing on the ornamental trees, and the first blush of green of the willows and other decidious trees, all with white painted lower trunks.

Canal walk

2008-03-27T20:11:00.008+08:00

Not far from the Hotel Sofitel is the huge Quancheng Square,
which buzzes on weekends. Today it was almost deserted (by Chinese standards), but there were a couple of kite fliers. Here are some first photos :

Then I walked back along the canal, which boast some of the springs that the city is famous for. It's not an easy walk for arthriticky knees, as there are many ups and downs. The springs themselves are only of mild interest, but they seem to excite the Chinese tourists. The locals fill up their water bottles as you can see in the photos.

I then got lost in some interesting back lanes, which was not at all unpleasant in the spring sunshine, and then found some food stalls - one offering delicious potato / onion pancakes.

The old buildings are gradually being demolished to make way for the modern monstrosities. I am witnessing an end of a bygone age.

It's not the destination, but the journey

2008-03-27T19:50:00.010+08:00

I bought a web cam for about AU$8 at a giant computer emporium - six floors of every conceivable piece of technology. It didn't work, when I got back home. :-(

I decided to valiantly pursue my consumer rights and so returned early the next day with my computer. I had to wait a while until the shop opened, so I took a few photos. I then finally found the shop, and showed to the manager my problem. She ummmed and aahed, and enlisted the help of several other stall-holders. Another more expensive brand worked, but I refused to pay extra. Eventually it worked!

I left in high spirits, and hailed a taxi that was perhaps the oldest and dirtiest (inside and out) in Jinan. The driver was also old and dirty - but the meter worked - and I showed a Chinese instruction to take me to the Sofitel Hotel. Two minutes after being dropped (on an expressway), I realised that I had bequeathed this piece of high technology to the old taxi driver.

Undaunted, I found my way to the Business Centre of the swank Hotel Sofitel, and tried to get some information about taking a holiday somewhere in China (I may have four days off 1-4 May). The girls who spoke excellent English were apologetic in that they only knew the local tours, and that their attempts at getting other travel agents to help me resulted in "booking are not yet open for that date".

So I had achieved nothing, but had enjoyed the process.

Footpaths are not only for feet

2008-03-27T19:35:00.008+08:00

Look over your shoulder, when walking along a footpath in Jinan. Not only are there bicycles, but also electric bicycles that whip along an an amazing pace, (and you can't hear them coming) and motor bikes (with drivers without helmets, pretending to be cyclists) who may or may not beep their horn at you for daring to be a pedestrian on a footpath!

The man on the right was benevolently crazy - coming up to a few inches from my face and bellowing "Hello!"

A pedestrian crossing is no guarantee of safety (see photo). Indeed pedestrians seem to be the lowest in the pecking order.

The number of people in China

2008-03-27T16:00:00.000+08:00

1.3 billion. That's 1,300,000,000
This is a projection based on the last census in 2000.

Massage - with a cow horn

2008-03-25T21:34:00.007+08:00

Realising that I was particularly stressed - as my neck was like concrete, I decided to venture into a busy massage place - which looked quite legit. What an experience!

For AU$30 I had 90 minutes of foot reflexology, ear cleaning, back, neck and head massage ending with what can only be called a facial.

Hot towels, cupping (popular in Chinese medicine), prodding and scraping with various implements - one of which was a smooth edged cow horn. The young male masseur, probably straight out of massage college, was snappily dressed in a black trousers and shirt with maroon tie and maroon silk waistcoat. Our language difference caused few problems, as he was able to interpret my ow's and ah's.

While he was viciously prodding my feet, which was quite painful, a woman came in to the room with a miners light, and an assortment of gear including a swag of miniature bottle cleaners. After my lug holes were appropriately reamed, she chimed a tuning fork and held to an implement stuck in my ear causing my lug holes to resonate at the same pitch.

I feel better now! Although I have cup bruises (no less than 13) all over my back.

Here is a video of some other people's experience, probably at the same establishment.

A rosier view - something to do with good food

2008-03-23T22:41:00.003+08:00

Things are picking up - perhaps it's the bright Spring sunny Sunday.

We found a great restaurant near Daming Lake, which specialised in dumplings. It was clean, efficient, and we were treated courteously.

In the bus coming back, someone actually stood up and offered me a seat with a smile.

In the evening we caught up with our student contact (whom we met on our arrival at Beijing airport) who steered us away from the "dirty" local restaurants and after a ten minute taxi ride ($3) introduced us to a part of Jinan the likes of which we had never seen before. Clean roads, and buildings! Dozens of brightly lit restaurants each offering dishes from various provinces! We had a splendid Sichuan food, and it was a very enjoyable evening. Thank you, Luke. Jinan is redeeming itself.

For meals from now on, I don't mind paying a $3 premium for a taxi to a better part of Jinan.

Daming Lake in the centre of Jinan

2008-03-23T14:37:00.023+08:00

A chilly Spring overcast Sunday, and James and I went exploring one of the "must see" attractions early in the morning - Daming Lake, which is in the centre of Jinan. It was a photographer's paradise.

Quite a few photos can be seen by clicking here, and I reckon some are quite good, even if I do say so myself!

Here's a sample of my work:

But this is a photo from the official Daming Lake website.

"With an impervious rock bottom, the lake keeps a constant level the whole year through. The lake is recorded as early as in The Annotated Book of Waters by Li Daoyuan who was active about 1,500 years ago. With a waterly picture and quite a number of historical cites in the urban landscape, it has always been a tourist attraction through the centuries. The banks are overgrown with flowers and trees, dotted by picturesque buidings. On the water are birds playing and feeding on fish swimming in the wake of pleasure boats. Half the city is filled by mountain tints, the other half by the lake."

I've never seen the "mountain tints", let alone the mountains, due to the smog.

A walk downtown

2008-03-22T18:24:00.013+08:00

As my spirits were spiralling down dangerously, waiting trapped in my apartment for a colleague to get some keys back to me (that I had foolishly left in the staff room), I eventually set out in the afternoon in warm spring sunshine to explore the city.

I came back after several foot slogging hours, not really that impressed. Sorry, Jinan citizens! So far I find a grey, dirty, gritty city, that doesn't welcome a foreign visitor. I had hoped for much more. Cafes and restaurants seem to be subsumed by giant shopping buildings, and building with huge edifices, and little understanding can be made of the Chinese signs in front.

Although I teased James for eating Kentucky Fried Chicken recently, that is exactly what I found myself doing, in the absence of anything else obviously clean and inviting.

The only part of this excursion that was enjoyable was exploring a little of the "canal" (see photo) and a huge bookstore where I bought an English-Chinese dictionary for 1/10th the price I would have paid in Melbourne.

On dropping a parcel in a crowd, one person gruffly indicated my problem, but not one person bothered to assist me, although it was obvious I was having difficulties.

Here are some of the photos:

Boys going fishing.
Shoppers on a Saturday afternoon.

"At least I have my back to you!"

These old men playing a board game totally ignored me when I requested a photo.

I must explore this street - I think it has many restaurants in it. (Later - no, I was wrong).

Skype

2008-03-22T10:19:00.005+08:00

The cheapest way (ie free) of communicating (if you have a computer and broadband) is through Voip technology - eg Skype. The software is free to download. Click here to learn more. It helps if you have headset with microphone (cheap to purchase).

My Skype address is deedubble.you
Remember that I am 3 hours behind Australian Eastern Time. I am unavailable Tue to Fri until 6pm, although I may be home on Wed and Thu mornings. I look forward to connecting with you!

One child policy

2008-03-22T09:54:00.006+08:00

When making conversation with Chinese, one question we might normally ask is not very polite. You will be met with an embarrassed silence.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Since 1979 the Government has dissuaded people from more having more than one child through hefty fines, pressure to abort, and denial of benefits. Even forced sterilisations. This has resulted in new generations of incredibly spoilt,(mainly) boys. Known as "Little Emperors" they have little opportunity to learn about sharing and co-operating.

The rule, recently extended to at least 2010, has been estimated to have reduced population growth in the country of 1.3 billion by as much as 300 million people over its first twenty years. Source.

Bwaaahh pheeuuuuwwwww!!!!

2008-03-22T07:04:00.012+08:00

The toilet in my ground floor apartment last night must have decided to "burp" gas.

The stench of Chinese sewers consumed my apartment. I opened windows and doors, left the extractor fan on all night, and was thankful for a few drops of eucalyptus oil on a tissue near my nose.

I can only hope it is not a regular occurrence :-(

Here is a photo looking into the bathroom. The wooden toilet seat is too small for me so I can't use it. The very Chinese hot water service provides the shower below it via very Chinese exposed plastic plumbing. To get hot water to the hand basin or kitchen I need to carry it in a bowl. There is no shower curtain, so everything gets wet. The floor is always wet. The mop is important. The hose runs from the washing machine hidden on the left to a large hole in the floor from which the terrible smell most probably emanated. The washing machine (as are all appliances) has knobs and buttons and dials in Chinese, which demands some intuitive experimentation.

The kitchen will now be cleaned

2008-03-20T09:26:00.006+08:00

It is difficult to describe how depressing a filthy kitchen can make me, particularly if someone is responsible to have it ready before I moved in.

So I negotiated with that person to get in another person to the job, and yes, I'll pay. I was quibbling over whether AUS$3.75 for 2 hours work was too expensive, when I realised that life was too short - hang the expense!

So a lovely woman called Jo, is furiously scrubbing, mopping and wiping, spreading the dirt elsewhere.

I look forward to actually entering my kitchen when she is done.

Postscript: Yeah! I was able to enter my clean kitchen! No, next task - the hotplate plug doesn't match the power socket.

The course

2008-03-18T22:26:00.008+08:00

”You need to be flexible and have a sense of humour” we were told in Melbourne. Well, on arrival in Jinan we find that the two classes for each of us of 20 students, has now changed to three classes of 26 students, that we share teach. This means a totally different approach to our lesson planning, to ensure that we integrate our teaching.

There is a workbook that the students will expect us to follow. (Unfortunately it is not yet available.) What we have to deliver and assess is quite prescriptive.

Today was my first day of teaching - 7:50 - 5:10. It went well. Although some students found it difficult to stay awake. (Not fair - this student was snapped listening to his MP3 player during a break time).

The program we are expected to deliver is the module "Compare and Contrast" in a course Certificate III ESL (Further Studies) designed and administered by the Victoria University, English Language Institute in conjunction with the Shandondong-Jianzhu University. The students are at an Upper Intermediate level, and in the first year at university. They live in shared dorms on the campus which is isolated and situated far out from the city. The Victoria University, through this joint project, hopes that some of these students might be interested in completing a degree in Australia - quite a costly undertaking for the student's family.

Food

2008-03-18T20:50:00.004+08:00

With the “kitchen” in my flat not properly commissioned until it is thoroughly cleaned, I usually eat out. There are many restaurants and food stalls. Sadly, the food I have experienced in this city is not as good as the Chinese food I have experienced elsewhere (including Melbourne).

Most dishes are oily. Watching the amount of oil being added during the cooking process is a definite turn off. James agrees, saying his experience of the cuisine of southern China was superb compared to this. But I shall persist and look forward to discovering the ideal restaurant.

Smoking in restaurants is something hard to get used to – yet it only a matter of what, five years, since we legislated against such a practice in Australia?

If I don’t eat out, I call into a local corner store and attempt to break through incredible communication barriers (eg is this egg cooked or raw?} and take home sachets of yoghurt, Nescafe, UHT milk, small oranges, apples, nashi pears, bananas, biscuits – even ice-creams! I also purchased a nine pack of Chinese beer, which is palatable indeed! My only attempt at asking for something in Chinese – la cha (green tea) – resulted in stunned expressions, experiments with various tones, the enlistment of a passing student, much mime-acting, and no I didn’t want a bottle of liquid green tea, just the tea leaves, please! Cha! In the end, it turned out they had none in stock.

Carrefours

2008-03-18T20:43:00.005+08:00

Within 15 minutes walk is an oasis – a shopping mall, with some western goods, and price tickets that have a (tiny print) English translation. Bliss! The prices are high for locals, but reasonable for us. It is here that I obtained some urgently needed goods such as cleaning materials as well a some CD’s of light classical music (playing on my computer as I type this) and a couple of DVD’s which can also be played on my laptop – “Elizabeth” and “Miami Vice”. This will be welcomed entertainment after experiencing the nth repeat of the government party line documentary on the only commercial TV channel. Any news is interesting – it seems that the unlawful scuffles in Lhasa were the work of the “Dalai clique”, and that the offenders will be caught and severely punished.

It is comforting to know that this store is nearby, but it still is difficult to get to, with the traffic and building works, and new sewer pipes being installed, effectively negating the footpaths. Which are often the preserve of motorcycles anyway!

Walking around the familiar layout of a large supermarket, I was able to find what I needed fairly well without assistance. Nevertheless, with the hordes of shop staff standing around, I was somewhat thrown when, undecided what brand cleaner I should get, a young woman thrust a container at Harpic at me, intoning in Chinese, perhaps, that this was the best product for stubborn stains. I accepted it with a curt nod, and fled.

One department to avoid is the toy department. With the one child policy in China, the little darling is allowed to run free and try out all the noisiest toys without restraint.

Out of habit, we look for signs, and labels and brands. Which is fairly useless when they all written in Chinese.

The travelator has tempting snacks to loook at while travelling.
The store has free lockers - something we don't get at all in Australia.

Contact!

2008-03-18T20:41:00.002+08:00

It still took several days before I was able to work out how to get them to ring my apartment from Australia using a phone card bought in Australia – by far the cheapest way. No less than 40 digits to press makes it a bit of a challenge.
Still no internet connection in the flat, though.

The caretaker woman insists all we need to do is enter an IP address on our computer. When requested to do so, she couldn’t. It is an ongoing saga, and quite frustrating, as my reliance on the internet for so many things, least of all lesson preparation, is considerable.

Postscript: all is now working - persistence has paid off! Thank you all, for your messages of support - they are very much appreciated.

The classroom

2008-03-18T20:20:00.002+08:00

Wooden or plastic desks and chairs in regimented rows for about 50 students. The teacher has a raised podium and lectern, in front of a large blackboard. Chalk provided. No overhead projector or AV equipment. No clock. Overhead fans. Heating in winter.

The classrooms are on the ground floor and the staffroom/office (for the VU staff) on the first floor – for which my arthritic knees will be most thankful. The computer lab is in the opposite building only 5 minutes away. The library, however, is a shuttle bus stop away. Photocopying needs to be ordered 2 days in advance, and is discouraged.

Three computers (connected to the internet !) in the staffroom. Simple but adequate facilities.

The university

2008-03-18T20:09:00.004+08:00

The apartment block is in situated in the compound of the OLD university (still in use by some facilities). Mercifully it is quiet and away from the frenetic main roads, although close to the centre of the city.

To get to the NEW university we need to travel some 40 minutes on a shuttle bus (for which we have to pay)queuing with the students and often having to stand the whole way. The timetable isn’t generous, and it wouldn’t be very nice to miss the last bus. Although there is an advantage separating home from work, commuting like this is a definite disadvantage. Admittedly living at the new university, away from all the facilities of the city, would be just as unattractive.

The new university is something else. It is so far out of town, and so large, it is almost a suburb by itself. When the Chinese embark upon a project they can do it on a grand scale. See the photo images at http://www.sdai.edu.cn
Students have to walk a long way between classes. (Luckily we don't!) The toadstool in the foreground is a rubbish bin. The streets of Jinan are surprising free of litter.

The apartment

2008-03-18T19:35:00.001+08:00

Spartan and gloomy. (Although for many Chinese, it would be luxury). High ceilings. Grey with clunky dark furniture. Low wattage bluish fluoro lights. (I’m going to buy some small lamps with warmer incandescent globes). The giant tiled floor would be freezing in winter – no mats or rugs. Nothing on the walls. No colour. My apartment is facing north so I get no sun.
Essentially two interconnected rooms (each with a keyed front door to the corridor), with a smaller windowless room in each (“kitchen” and bathroom) with ceiling exhaust fans.

Contractually there is a microwave, fridge, washing machine, hot water service, shower, TV, water dispenser (with a hot and normal temperature), large 3-piece lounge, a couple of small cushions wardrobe, double bed (ridiculously hard mattress), cheap linen and towel , desk and telephone and allegedly an internet connection.

There is central heating and a form of air conditioning. There’ are adequate power points and all things seem to work. The kitchen consists of a few cheap cupboards, sink, hotplate, wok, frypan and 3 cooking implements. What more could a boy want?

Well, this boy would want it clean, at least. This responsibility apparently lies with the woman who met us with the keys. Although she had done a cursory job (the obvious areas were clean), the kitchen and bathroom and shelves and cupboards were not so good. In fact, filthy. And there was overriding bad smell coming from the bathroom. Or wardrobe? Or under the bed? I’m glad I brought along some eucalyptus oil. Later I purchased some bleach, toilet cleaner, and degreasing products, and got to work. (James fared better with his apartment – which is furnished identically).

Beijing airport

2008-03-18T19:32:00.002+08:00

This seemed nothing special, I remarked to myself. In fact it seems rather dated. I wonder how it will cope with the impending Olympics? We passed quickly customs without incident ( we were invited to vote on the custom officer’s performance using an electronic device and I bought a prepaid SIM card – with the help of James’ Chinese. We had a five hour wait ahead of us, and the plan was to “escape” the terminal and see a bit of the area from a taxi , or preferably get into Beijing city and back. But this was not to be. We first had to find domestic departures, for our last leg to Jinan.

What fun! A new country, hordes of people, countless signs in Chinese, and conflicting advice from various officials we approached. We met a cockney soccer player lad in the lift as we all struggled with our luggage trolleys: he was only wanting to get out of the building. He’s been going up and down and was lost – he may still be there! “They won’t go without me”, he weakly reassured himself, “as I have all their kit”.

It seems we were in the wrong building. “Take a shuttle bus to Terminal 3”. So we got back into the lift again, nodded at the soccer lad who was starting to mutter gibberish, and after several false starts found ourselves being whisked through the yellow tinted atmosphere to a modern marvel : Beijing Airport Terminal 3.

Commenced only five years ago, and finished on time within budget, this building is a testament to dogged determination, political will, intense labour and bold, brilliant architecture. This is where the Olympic visitors will be arriving and leaving – their first and last impression of a proud, emerging nation, with the fasting growing economy in the world.

It was a pleasure to be in extended transit in this brand new building, although it was almost deserted. And even more enjoyable as we welcomed the company of a 24 year old student from Jinan, the city we were soon to call home. “Luke” is studying his masters in UK and returning to visit his family. His English was excellent and he helped us enormously. He is the face of the new generation of young Chinese who are dispensing with older systems and embracing selected western values. James, of course, practised his Chinese on him, and was appropriately guided.

Our pathetic efforts of trying to find the taxi rank, let alone secure a taxi to take us on a one hour “excursion” ended in our giving up, and having a cup of (very expensive, relatively) coffee. We said goodbye to Luke at the luggage carousel at Jinan, but hope to catch up with him again. He has a fine mind.

From Jinan airport to our digs

2008-03-14T14:30:00.004+08:00

The not small size of Jinan airport is an indication of the size of the city (5.5 million people). We were mercifully met by a University representative and his driver, who drove at breakneck speed along an efficient freeway which gradually disintegrated into chaotic traffic as we neared the city. A variety of horns and sirens employed by our driver aimed at cars and trucks all around generally had no effect. It seems true that Chinese drivers do what they want oblivious of rules, as I watched a car driving the wrong way down a five lane expressway, causing mild mayhem.

Dust is the overriding impression. (Later: Grit pervades through clothes, hair, bed linen and the whole apartment.) Few street lights accentuated the dusty gloom, even in the centre of the city.

All we wanted to was to get to our apartments and sleep, but the Uni representative insisted on buying us a meal. He was somewhat annoyed that task of meeting us had interrupted his normal mealtime. A dubious looking restaurant with staff wearing old and tattered red brass band jackets, and some rather unremarkable food. It turns out the restaurant was opposite the living quarters of the boorish rep, who bade us farewell and left us with Mr Dong, the driver, to get to our quarters. I’m unsure how far we detoured.

The woman responsible for the apartments (housing 18 foreigners, all working at the Shandong Jianzhu University) met us and handed over the keys for the ground floor apartments. We briefly met George, our co-ordinator (another teacher from Melbourne, who arrived several days earlier) and who was also new to Jinan, although he had had prior experience with working with VU in China. Then we crashed, after 24 sleepless hours.

Second leg - Singapore to Beijing

2008-03-14T12:43:00.002+08:00

As the flight was only a quarter full, this leg of my odyssey was so, so much better, and my spirits lifted accordingly. I could stretch out over three seats and snooze. I could walk around and stretch my legs. At one stage I had no less than six Singapore Airline hostesses attending me! What beautiful women they are! And superbly groomed – just like the advertisements. Singapore Airlines certainly redeemed itself with good food and great service.

Descending into Beijing, the light outside became rather strange. Winter sunshine struggling through smog yields a decidedly yellowish tinge. Why was the countryside so brown and bare? Of course! This is a country emerging from a severe northern hemisphere winter. We don’t see this Australia, where most vegetation is evergreen. (The next day I found near my apartment magnolia in bloom, and willow trees showing their first flush.)

A salutary lesson

2008-03-14T12:35:00.000+08:00

When using one of those new-fangled loos - you know, the ones that have a sensor to know when to flush - do NOT bend down to tie up your shoelaces whilst still sitting.

Impressive rest rooms at Shanghai Airport! (Although an airport employee was VERY suspicious of my taking this photo!)

Where was James?

2008-03-14T06:30:00.001+08:00

I had feared that my colleague had missed our flight from Melbourne, but eventually caught up with him at the departure lounge at Singapore. It transpired that he had been arbitrarily selected for an upgrade to Business Class. Er ... right. While I was having claustrophobic panic attacks in the 2nd back row window seat? I felt a little less peeved when I learned that, despite his luxurious accommodation, he didn’t get any sleep. Here he is, back in economy class, studying Chinese.

James is proficient in Chinese, which is a good thing, as I know not one word. I have declared to him that I don’t intend to learn, which I think he finds somewhat odd, as our imminent immersion experience is a perfect opportunity to learn.

He has a Chinese wife and a three year old son waiting for him to return to Melbourne. He is consumed with regret about leaving them for so long, which is somewhat understandable. But as he is teaching his son Chinese (children are so adept at learning languages), indeed uses Chinese exclusively in his home, I think it is a very positive thing for him, to not only earn an income, but to improve his Chinese to better teach his son. Apparently his son is even starting to correct him ! Here is James’ website.

Singapore - in transit

2008-03-14T06:27:00.000+08:00

The last time I was at (what was then) Singapore International Airport, was about 30 years ago. At that time you could be refused entry to this Island State if your hair was too long! Or if you did not show civility to the immigration officials. It was hot, humid, dirty and incredibly busy.

My, how things have changed! (Apart from the paranoia about drugs). The splendid Changi Terminal is a pleasure to explore when in transit. I'd forgotten how many rich people there are in the world, just looking at all the boutique shops. It's 6am and all the shops opened promptly. I have found a cluster of free internet terminals and am pounding away on the keyboard while standing up.

I have just endured a 7 hour night flight from Melbourne. Never settle for a window seat for a night flight - you are at the mercy of the other two sitting (and sleeping) next to you. And I found to my horror that I had a dose of the trots! The person next to me refused to stand up, and I had to climb over him. A sleepless, rough flight, and the rear seats of a 777 are the not the best place in plane - there was definitely a side to side "wiggle" all the way, playing havoc with a delicate stomach! I got a case of diarrhoea induced claustrophobia in the darkened cabin, while getting cramps, imagining DVT as the seat was pressing into my thighs, and the guy in front lay his seat back.

We haven't come very far to eliminate cattle class.

Now, a three hour wait and then on to Beijing. I have secured an aisle seat in an access row. Whoo hoo!

I don't know where James (my Jinan colleague also from Melbourne) is.

Where is Jinan?

2008-03-13T09:47:00.001+08:00

Between Beijing and Shanghai, Shandong Province.

View Larger Map

To begin at the beginning

2008-03-12T15:28:00.002+08:00

Trepidation, a modicum of excitement, with a liberal dash of exhaustion. I suppose that's how I might explain how I feel the day before I'm due to fly from Melbourne to Jinan, to take up a teaching post at Shandong Jianzhu University. People keep saying "You must be so excited!" People don't know.