For our last weekend in Yantai some of us wanted to go dancing (I didn’t want to go this time) and some of us just wanted to chill somewhere. Of course, we didn’t know where to do the latter so we all headed out to go dancing. Some guys suggested we stop by a “Russian” bar to get a few drinks since they’d be cheaper than at BabyFace. Of course, the only reason we called it a Russian bar was because the brochures that one lady was handing out on the street for it had both English and Russian, but strangely, no Chinese.
When we got there the place was absolutely deserted. It was the four of us who decided to check it out, and three staff workers. Mind you, it was only 13:00. (By now, I’m used to using the 24 hour time format so if I say 16:20 next time I meet you, that’s why). But, that was fine because there was a Wii with Wii tennis, an electric guitar and a drum set, and a hilarious attempt at an English drink menu. For instance, Jack Daniels was Flak Danels and pudding was put down as padding. We ended up playing cards while two guys tried to rock out on the musical instruments. Too bad they were really badly kept up. More fun than actually listening to them was watching the looks on their faces as they first looked at the condition of the high hat (a type of drum set symbol).
Sunday was spent sleeping and if not sleeping, then studying for Monday’s final. The final didn’t go so badly in my opinion, but who knows. We haven’t gotten it back. I’ll assume the best and then erase it from my memory.
With the end of the final, came the unofficial end of the program. What would anyone do when they finish a 9 week Chinese intensive learning program? Why sleep of course! For five straight hours. I can’t even justify the amount of time spent sleeping on mental exhaustion because while it might have been taxing, it wasn’t THAT taxing.
Tuesday morning we were headed to Qingdao to spend a few days sightseeing and so once again, people wanted to go dancing. Now, I like dancing, but dancing every weekend gets a little tiresome, even with the previous days coffee bar break. But like a good fellow student I went along. Of course, the fact that we were meeting a couple of Russian’s had absolutely nothing to do with my decision to go. Nope, not at all…
We went to a different bar then we usually went to. It was more of a play pool club. Pretty nice place to just hang out. The Russians were also awesome kids. They were from Sibera and studying either Chinese or Business/International relations with their school for a month in Yantai. Why Yantai I’m not really sure. Through a series of events, myself and another girl ended up going to (yet another) dance club with the two we’d met at the pool place and two of their friends. There was so much language sliding that anything we tried to speak was just being murdered without chance of revival. Besides the fact that between the two of us girls, I knew more Russian (I totally impressed them with my ability to say “Without you I can’t see the sun” and “I don’t want to live without you” in a grammatically correct fashion), and they knew only a serviceable amount of English, both of our Chinese skills could have used a lot of work. But as things often do, everything worked out and we had a fantastic time. By the end of it, I couldn’t speak in any one language continuously. It’s a great experience trying to use the Russian you know to describe a Chinese word so you can explain a situation in English. Not generally very effective, but fun nonetheless.
The bus ride to Qingdao was uneventful, though a almost a bit of a shock to be in a big city again. Yantai is a large city of about 6 million people, but it has a small town feel, especially where we were staying. Qingdao is much more urbanized and shiny. They also had Olympic stuff everywhere since it’s the host city for sailing and wind surfing.
After being waited on hand and foot at lunch, we took a small siesta and then headed to the major attraction of Qingdao- the Tsingdao beer factory! After learning how beer is made, it almost makes me want to not drink it. The idea of drinking yeast is a little weird, but I’ve eaten weirder things while here so I was totally over that feeling in about five minutes. Some people I know would have loved to spend days in that place *coughPapaandUncleJeffcough* but I was suitably impressed myself. The history of the factory is very interesting since through most of its history it was owned by either Germans (the instigators of its creation) and the Japanese. There was a bunch of historic machinery, labels, etc. of the various stages the factory and the beer has gone through. One label read “Tsingdao Beer-Absolutely Pure” and under it was a swastika. I’ve got a good picture of that one. You can guess who owned the factory at that point of time.
I also tasted the best beer I will ever consume in my life. Less than a day old, Tsingdao unfiltered beer was a joy to behold. Never again will I get to hold such a young specimen of perfection. For something like 40 kuai we could get our picture taken and put on a label for our very own bottle of beer. A keepsake if you will. I declined, but would definitely recommend it if you ever want to show something off on your mantle or liquor cabinet.
After seeing the factory and the various levels of production that goes into bottling beer, I can completely see how factor workers routinely lose fingers, arms and their sanity. The bottles and cans fly past at sometimes literally blinding speed and the staff are meant to make sure that everything’s A-ok. We watched one man sit on a stool and stare at bottles going past. He probably does that 6 days a week for 10 to 12 hours. I can’t imagine a more perfect version of hell. A green tinted hell of mental atrophy.
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