Days 3-6, Josh – Home Stay, Shanqing World, Shandong University and Tai Shan

hi people …

sorry i have not been blogging alot, been really busy .

 

so what do you need to know .. well life in china is different to the UK, not only are the people much friendler but there way of life is a lot slower then back home.

 

whilst i have been in jinan i have had an amazing host stay.. my host Mr White was a student at the shangdong university were he is studing to be a teacher. as he is living in student halls, we ended up spending the night with lara’s host family who cooked us dinner, they were very interested in the english culture, and were very excited when i showed them pictures of my family. the next day  we met up with his friends, who were also hosting members of the group and spent the morning at  jinan zoo were i had the chance to ride a camel and see my first panda. also traveled to jinan springs before going off to have lunch. if i am honest i am getting SICK of chinese food and really want to tuck into a BIG MAC  or a ROAST DINNER.

 

on monday we spent the day at Shanqing world, were we took part in team building activites,  the best part of the day was the water fight at the end of the day

 

we also had a welcome banquet where we were presented with more presents from are hosts. yesterday we travelled to the shangdong normal  university and meet up with students who gave us a guided tour of the campus, after exploring the uni we went of for lunch before going to visit the shangdong medical university, this was just  as interesting as the first university we visited. in the evening my host mr White and james’s host asked if they could take us out to explore the city centre at night, the mixture of culture was amazing, young people hang out with old people, chav’s hanging out with emo’s there seemed to be no divisions between the groups and the town centre at night looked amazing!!!  more attractive then any city centre in the UK ( see photos on blog ) the night time is when the city seems to come alive, and unlike young people in the UK people here dont need to drink to have a good time.

 

as for today well were do i start .. well my new job is as wake up call guy, this morning i was up at 6:30. we left are hotel about 8ish and drove to mt tai- shan. the mountain stands at 1500 meters, myself and a few other decided to climb the mt tai-shan we ended up climbing over 3.3 killometers up steps to the top of the mt ( see photos on blog ) i thought i was going to die !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! jane had to drag me up as after 1hour of walking my legs had gone to jelly !!!! it was one of those laugh or cry moments as we struggled up the last flight off stairs to the top known as heaven. after a tour of the top of the mt and a nice lunch we traveled down by cable car before getting back on the coach and driving to qufu the home of confucius … where we had dinner …. tomorrow we are visiting the temple of confuius as well as another university. right well there is a que of people waiting to write there blogs so im off ski now … hope your all ok back home and not missing me  to much !!!!! ( dad i know you are really ) keep checking are blog for more info love josh xx 

 

The Group at Shanqing World

West Sussex China Exchange Group 2008

 

Photos – Day 4

Jane and the President of Shandong Youth Federation

 

Banquet with Shandong Youth Federation

 

West Sussex Youth Service China Exchange group at Shanqing World

Days 1-4, Will – Beijing to Shanqing World.

Hello

 

My first impressions of china were confused ones, I saw a beautiful country but it had some terrible poverty. The housing was cramp and small and the roads busy and dangerous. I was pleasantly suprised when i actually got to know the country, even though the people live in small apartments in cramped conditions a lot of them are very happy, first two days we did a lot of tourist like things, we went to the great wall, forbidden city and tian’an’man square.

 

The more interesting part was the home stay on day 3 and 4, i got put with a 12 year old boy who had good english but lived in a poor apartment complex, it was an interesting experience to see how most normal chinese people live. I felt bad because of the fact that my home in england and our way of life is much richer. I spent the night talking to the young boy about the differences between our cultures, he enjoyed hearing about england and we chatted for a long time. The next day we went out to the park, were the main focus of the park was a 25 foot statue of chairman mao. We then moved on to lunch which we ate with my host family’s mums work colleagues, which again was an interesting occasion. After lunch we climbed hero mountain, one of many large mountains overlooking jinan, It was an amazing experience, because jinan is a huge city that looks about the size of london.

 

I had to leave my host family after that because i had a busy day with the group the next day. In the day, we went with the group to shaqing world which is an activity centre. It was a very good activity centre with very original ideas, we built huge catapults and flung water bombs at each other, which was great fun. Im having an amazing time an i hope to continue, the only real problem i have encountered at the moment is the food, eating chinese food for breakfast, lunch and dinner doesn’t go down well. I will continue to enjoy myself and blog again soon.

Days 1 – 4, Lara – Beijing to Shanqing World

Hi guys this is Lara, and this is my first blog to date, so will include all details I can remember from the trip! Be prepared for an extensive blog! Plane journey was good, first breakfast was SPICY, Great Wall was amazing.

 

Oh, and while we’re talking about the Great Wall, a few members of the group and I decided to travel down the Great Wall in a most imaginative way! We found a ride that travels down the mountain and it completely controlled by a little man who makes use of a single handle to brake. That was mighty exciting. When we arrived at the bottom we were in a market/bear place…! There were several pits, one of which was around 5m x 10m and contained 10-15 black bears. It was one of the most distressing and upsetting sights, especially as there was nothing we could do.

 

Anyway, skipping a few fun-filled and eventful days, on Saturday night we were off on our home-stays which was quite simply one of the most insanely wow experiences ever. I can’t even explain! The family were so friendly and were constantly taking photos (photos took about 1hr 30m!). Wow. I got presents (including something impressive for the lounge, Mummy and Daddy), I ate good food, we talked as much as permitted and generally had a great time. The next day, having been hurried out the door after a few more photos, we went to the zoo with a few other members of the group and their hosts. Taxis were fun, as were buses and walking and GO-KARTING! Woop! So much to talk about but no time.

 

Today was lots of activities for team building etc which was awesome. The Shandong Youth Federation hosted the day and the banquet in the evening which was so nicely organised. Had the best time. The Chinese are so friendly. I wish I could stay just to get more to grips with their culture etc. Lots of toasts after which you must finish your drink! And I thought Asians had a low tolerance…! Wow just, so much has happened.

 

The best thing has to be the food. Love it. Something different every time. My friend Dahlia and I have been daring each other to eat chilies and the like. Funny as hell.

 

Another great point is I LOVE THE GROUP OF PEOPLE! Everyone’s different and I just know I’ve made some lifelong friends. Couldn’t ask for a better group. And the leaders have been amazing too.

 

Big shout out for Tom! Miss you! (Because he asked )

 

So, bye guys! Hope everyone’s well, and will see you in just over a week! x

Day 4 – Jeremy – Shanqing World

This evening we attended the official banquet at Shanquing World, Youth Activities Centre. There wasn’t much tap water because there was a power cut and the pumps stopped working, but plenty of other drinks.  Speeches were made from the hosts, Jane and myself. Those I was sitting next to were very nice and spent a lot of time making sure I had enough to eat…which I did.

 

Jeremy at the Banquet

During the day we spent the time bonding as a team. We built catapults and played a trust game where by someone would stand on a platform about a metre and a half off the ground and have to fall back to be caught by the rest of the team. It was quite an experience because we all knew that we might not have been able to do the things we did today because of all the health and safety laws but we were assured that if it had been too bad we wouldn’t have done them. I am having a really good time although missing people at home. I feel very honoured to be spending the week in China experiencing culture particularly with such a wonderful group of young people.

 

Tomorrow we are going to visit the Shangdong Normal University meeting with students and taking part in an English lesson.

Days 2-4, Dahila – Home Stay, Zoo and Shanqing World

Adventure day (and a bit about yesterday!)

 

I had so much to say about yesterday, so much in fact that I didn’t think I could possibly write a blog, not to mention I was quite tired, so I will give a quick update on here, but I believe there is a film somewhere, an interview, in which I properly express my experiences from yesterday.

 

We had our home stay the day before yesterday which was, in short, very interesting and a worthwhile experience. My Chinese friend was Wenwen Gao, a petite 20 year old student who lives on the outside of Jinan. Shortly after we met our new friends, we were whisked off out of the hotel and onto the streets. After a moment of complete confusion amongst us Brits and a lot of discussion between the Chinese, two of the male friends disappeared with James and Josh’s luggage and the rest of us, including James, Josh and Lara plus the female friends and one of their friends, headed off in the opposite direction! We walked for at least half an hour before they hailed two taxis and headed off to our new homes…

 

Where I stayed was, quite simply, in the middle of no where. It was far out of Jinan in a small community of land workers and children. The house, although large on the outside, was small on the inside as most of the space was concreted outdoor space. Wenwen has a brother, 8 years old and lives with her two parents. I had a very polite evening, listening to lots of Chinese and meeting all their neighbours and their children as they came in and out. I was quite tired though so headed to bed considerably earlier than everyone else in the house. To be honest, my experience at the house wasn’t thrilling but it was really nice because the family were so polite, friendly, smiley and welcoming. My worst experience there was most definately the toilets. The house had no running water, meaning no taps which leads to no sinks, no showers and no flushes. The toilet is, quite literally – and I’m not exaggerating, a brick hut – no door – outside with a rectangle cut out of the ground leading to a deep ditch… That, was all. I’m having difficulty with the toilets here… A lot of difficulty, more so in the sense that I don’t feel clean after using them or even as I enter them (particularly public toilets!), but even toilets in restaurants!! 

 

The following day, ie. yesterday, Wenwen and I headed out of the house, with my black, white and red spotty suitcase, to the zoo. We waited and met (eventually), with Jeremy, Lara, James and Josh and walked, with my suitcase, down the long side road in to the zoo. We spent the day there, saw a baby Panda and Siberian tigers, fed elephants and deer and stroked camels… Not to mention we drove (super fast) go-karts around a track – grreeaatt fun! After that we headed to one of the four Jinan springs… then went to Wal*Mart and then had lunch before heading back to Jeremy’s friends house, where my suitcase had appeared (magic.) and then back to the hotel.

All in all, it was a great experience and I am really glad we did it! We also got on the *1 Yuan* busses, the bus that costs 10p to get absolutely anywhere in Jinan from absolutely anywhere – very interesting experiences there as well.

 

Today was another day though… And to be honest, I will probably write a lot on that too, despite the fact that I am going to try my best to keep it short and as interesting as possible…!

 

First thing in the morning we bundled in to the coach and headed to Shan Quing World, the adventure centre combined with a hotel, restaurant and farm plots. We did some team building activities, had some lunch, catapulted water bombs at each other, played some tennis and basketball, climbed a few walls, got changed and headed to the banquet dinner. The banquet was nice, we were sitting with very important people from the Youth Federation and chatting to them all about things and letting it go through the translator first… The food was the same as at lunch time and most of us didn’t eat much, but it was pleasant because they are so kind, polite and friendly, despite their status.

 

I’m tired now. Good night xx