Just got back from Beijing after spending the weekend there. Actually that is quite a cool thing about living in China. Travel is pretty cheap. I booked the flights 2 days before leaving and got a return flight to Beijing for under $130. So it means I can always pop up to Beijing or down to Shanghai, when things get a bit claustrophobic in Qingdao. For your information, Elong.net will deliver plane tickets to your door, and they speak English.

So the weekend was pretty fun. The thing about living in Qingdao is that it can get quite dull going to the same bars over and over and it is nice once in a while to go out somewhere different.. Also I spent the weekend re visiting all my favourite restaurants. There is a dearth of quality international eating establishments in Qingdao. So I gorged myself for 2 days straight. The lack of decent foreign food is actually a problem for me at the moment, due to an acute case of food poisoning where I was both sitting on the toilet in agony while chundering into my bathtub at the same time. Ironically although it was Japanese food that poisoned me, I am now completely unable to stomach Chinese food. So have been surviving on a diet of pizza and McDonalds for the past month. Am hoping this phase will pass soon, because I have seen Super Size Me and I am following that diet closely. Apart from the decent food I have noticed how much the air has improved in Beijing since the Olympics. That is a major disadvantage of living in this city. I reckon I aged about 5 years in one year and everyone comments on getting more spots and breakouts. I am a fully grown man, so getting spots is a bit ridiculous. The only consolation is that it happens to all of us out here. Either way, any improvement in the air quality seriously welcome. I am now on the flight home again back to Qingdao and am completely ignoring the instructions to turn my computer off for landing. It is quite fun in China that you can pretty much do what you want when you want.

- Nick

Anyway I am very hungover today, so probably not the best day to start my blog as my usual sunny disposition is not evident. So if you get a negative impression of my life here, probably best to take it with a pinch of salt. Come to think of it, I do seem to have been hungover a lot recently. I blame the fake booze. Oh yeah if you have not made it to China yet, you will not be familiar with the rare pleasure that is the fake alcohol induced hangover. I was not shit faced last night, only mildly drunk and I got a good lie in. So why the hell do I feel like I was gang raped by a gaggle/caravan of silver back gorillas? Well the answer lies in the fact that most of the bars in China will serve you fake liquor. The beer is real but the moment you utter the words, “lets do a round of shots” you are moving into dangerous territory. My boss actually went to one of these fake liquor factories. You can choose pretty much any brand of any booze and get a perfect copy. Inside it tastes like piss but you cant tell when it is mixed in a cocktail. The sad thing is that I never learn my lesson and within a few days I will go through the whole thing again.

Anyway back to my point. I am hungover, and want to go to bed. Last night (Wednesday), I went out to Ladies night in Q-bar Shangrila hotel. It is a strange thing, but no matter where you go in China, Ladies Night is always on a Wednesday. But I digress. I was dragged out rather against my will by the only other ex CSAer in Qingdao. Night life here is quite limited. There are about 3 clubs and 10 bars to choose from, which after Beijing is a massive difference. But having said that the reality is much the same, because when I was living in Beijing, I always ended up in the same places anyway. But the real issue is that when you hook up with someone here, it is everyone’s business in about 5 minutes. It was like that in Beijing but it is 10 times worse here. Also if you are just sticking to the foreigners, then there are only about 200 of us. That means that if you have a random fling with one person, you will continue running into them time and time again. So the best advice is to learn Chinese quick enough to chat up girls in bars.

- Nick

So Jason asked me to write a blog. I’m not really sure that anyone will care what I get up to in my oh so fascinating life, but he thought it would help potential CSAers get know a bit more about life in China. Also I enjoy talking about myself. So it’s a win-win situation. I get to ramble on about my life and dreams and Jason gets…….well a load of drivel probably, but I will leave that up to you for judgement.

Anyhow, so just a very brief introduction about me. I am from England, and after graduating from Manchester University, spent a year working in trading before deciding to come to China to study in order to improve my career. One and a half years later I am still at it. I spent a year in Beijing before deciding to come to Qingdao where it is much cleaner and less crowded, and there are loads less foreigners, which means more chances to practice Chinese. I got an internship here. In the mornings, I study Chinese and in the afternoons, I work. Seeing as how I work in Chinese, it is very good practice allowing me to improve my levels of speaking and writing. To give people an idea of what Qingdao is like, it is the only attractive city in China that I have been to. It is by the ocean with clean air and few crowds. It was mainly built by the Germans so the city looks very European at certain locations. Makes me feel much more at home. It is also quite a bit cheaper than most of the big cities which is great. At a guess, it has about 1000 foreign students so much less than Beijing. In addition, you can get a pitcher of Qingdao beer, made that day for 15 Kuai. It is really good and one of the best things about this city. That is only beaten by the keg which you can get for 80 Kuai. I have not actually hosted a kegger yet but it is in the pipline. I will update on that when it happens.

- Nick