First, National Holiday....seriously, our 4th of July could never top this type of stuff. As it was the 60th Anniversary, China went all-out to show to the world what it is becoming. From what our RD told me, 60 has a special signifcance to the Chinese and is equivalent to our century. I would suggest using a search engine to read up a bit more, but being in the midst of it sure was interesting. Tiananmen Square was closed off and has been closed for a couple of weeks now; it should be opening up tomorrow. The pomp and circumstance of it all almost reminded me of a North Korean-esque parade, although obviously much more colorful and less militaristic. However, the military was there in force as well.
Now, to the important stuff. :D A group of 6 of us: Stephen, Daren, Joe, Troy, Bartosz and I all decided to go to Qingdao for the holiday. We left Saturday night in a sleeper train from Beijing there: 8 hours total. For my first sleeper train experience, it wasn't too bad. I was actually quite comfortable. Daren and I had the top bunk, while Stephen and Troy had the middle and Bartosz and Joe (who drank the night away) had the bottom.
Upon arriving in Qingdao, we were met by our tour guide to start our tour of the city. I must say, the coast line here was something I'll probably never forget, because I can say I've seen the Pacific Ocean from both sides of the world. The more I saw it, the sadder I felt because it made me realize how far I am from home.
This was the first time homesickness REALLY hit me. There's a song I have on my phone (oh..we're getting to that in a minute) that I always listen to for some reason. It's a sad song from a soap opera I once saw. Every time I saw the ocean, that song kept playing in my head. It made me realize how truly alone I was, despite all the people with me. I was alone in my thoughts and in my soul.
Anywho, we went off through a tour of this mountain...which was quite large. Stephen, Daren, Bartosz and I all went to climb it while Troy and Joe decided to enjoy some tea. -_-'' Nonetheless, we arrived at the top, and the view was beautiful. I loved it...you could see such a mix of trees, mountain, and coastline. California can probably offer something like this, but where else in China would I have this opportunity?
After the mountain and our descent from it, we went to another place that served tea. Their tea was quite good...there was this one that tasted like potatoes...and I fell in love with it. It was THAT good.
From tea tasting, we went to this Buddhist temple, where I lost my phone while taking a picture. -_-'' RIP Blackberry Pearl Flip....you did a good job, but you also died too much for me.
After the temple, more driving down the coast and finally, we reached our hotel room, which was quite nice. I actually think it's the best hotel room I've stayed at throughout my time staying here...well, ZhongGuanXinYuan the first weeks was the best, but this one gave it a run for its money. The group went out to dinner at this fabulous restaurant where I had the best mushrooms I've ever had. =) The taste was really good...I must find a mushroom dish to rival this one.
After dinner, Daren and I decided to explore the beach a little more while the rest of them decided to go look for the Bar Street of Qingdao (there's another famous street that we'll get into in a bit) Daren and I tried some durian,which was actually not too bad....not something I'd want to try in the immediate future, but I would eat it again.
Afterwards, we walked on the boardwalk and saw many people set lanterns into the sky. 
I was tempted to do it, but went against it. If I did do it, there was so much I would be wishing for with it that I would pray my message somehow got to Heaven. Afterwards, we returned to the hotel to rest up for the next day.The next morning, Daren went to complete the tour while the four bar-hoppers were sleeping with a hangover. I decided against continuing the tour for two reasons: A. It'd be difficult for me to understand anything, but I wanted to see the city in a different light, and B: I wanted to hang out with the other four, seeing as other than Stephen, I wasn't really comfortable with them. I wanted to have the opportunity to just hang out with them with an open mind....something Daren suggested later that night during a conversation I'll go into more detail with.
We decided to rent a speedboat, which took us up and down the coastline...we even got to drive. It was well worth the money to just be able to hang out with these people, seeing as I wouldn't have done it under most any circumstance because my version of fun and theirs varies. The below is a pic of Troy (my roommate in Inner Mongolia) and I. It was quite chill.
Afterwards, we went to the other famous street in Qingdao: Beer Street.
This is where the Tsingtao Brewery is located, and it's one of the oldest in China. We walked around a couple of places before settling at a restaurant near the brewery. We tried four different types of beer: a green one that's really light and I wasn't a fan of, a dark Coke-colored beer that was alright, a Hefenweizer-style beer that was quite good, and (my favorite) a pineapple flavored beer. I stuck to the pineapple one, because it was that good.
Anyway, after Beer Street, Daren and I hung out and went to the same restaurant for our favorite dishes: chicken wings, eggplant with bacon, and mushrooms. How I miss those mushrooms.
Daren and I had a serous conversation about how I was feeling and the like. It was nice to be able to tell him how I felt about certain things, mainly how I felt about drinking and why I wasn't as big of a drinker as the rest of them, homesickness, what makes me happy, etc. He noted that I felt uncomfortable around certain people and that my face showed it. Although that is very true, I tend to not say anything about it for the fear of conflict. I'd rather avoid it at all costs. It's important for me that there's harmony among everyone, so I'll swallow my own feelings for the sake of a group. Meanwhile, I also have been isolating myself quite a lot and doing a lot of stuff alone, which further exacerbates the problem. I still haven't really found who I'm comfortable with here, although I do have a decent idea of said concept.After dinner and this conversation, we explored the city and walked to this shopping street. It was quite luxurious and was the creme de la creme of shopping malls, with luxury brands galore. Daren and I took one wrong turn and we found ourselves in this crowded street. It was full of people sitting on the street eating and people selling trinkets. Another turn took us to a place I now refer to as China's Europe, as it reminded me so much of the area, with high buildings and narrow streets.
It was so great to see that...I even got a crepe.
Finally, we went walking along the shore for the longest time....it was worth the walk.The last day we were there, we went to the Tsingtao Brewery. Before that, we sat at a restaurant and had various types of food.
Troy and I decided to drink and we polished off a lot of beer (which I'm not a fan of, but I digress), and the feeling was only made worse at the brewery, where we tried more beer. I probably won't have beer for an extended period of time because of this but it was interesting to see.
Looking back on this, I'm quite happy with the way things turned out....I'm alright with these people, although it'll be a daily struggle with homesickness from here on out. Hopefully, I can fight on...
0 comments:
Post a Comment