From Jinan airport to our digs

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.