Life, Down Under. The digital diary of Vera & Alex Olah: Post #114 6 July 2016

Gentlefolk,

Another post about different aspects of our life in Huangdao (note: all dollars are US$; the exchange rate at the moment is US$1 = Yuan 6.5).

As you can see I'm trying to do as many posts as possible before we leave in 3 days. While things are still fresh in my memory.

On Saturday we fly from Qingdao direct to Frankfurt (Lufthansa); overnight at Frankfurt Airport; then on Sunday fly to Budapest. Three weeks in Hungary, followed by four weeks in Germany.

I doubt there'll be time for blogging while we are touring around - so want/need to get as much done on China as possible before our departure.

But I'm almost done - only one, possibly two posts to go - thank god, because Vera is getting pissed off at the time I'm spending on the computer (instead of packing, etc).

The bus stop outside the university's East Gate.

Bus #6 took us into town; usually a 6 minute ride to the stop near the gym.

Michael Christensen and Vera on Bus #6 going to the gym, I've never seen an empty bus in China - always passengers, usually full. But great service every 10 minutes and still only Y1 ($0.15) for a ride across town.

The entrance to the Gold Coast Gym. It occupied the 3rd and 4th floors. We belonged to the original section on the 4th Floor (cost Y800 - $125 - for 8 months). Later they opened a new section on the 3rd floor, better equipment, sauna, more expensive.

The treadmills are popular.

The gym had a range of equipment.

I usually used the treadmill for 35 minutes (walking and jogging), then did some light weights and stretching; finished with a shower, all done in 90 minutes. The round-trip from home and back took about 2 hours. I often walked home (about 20 minutes).

Vera on the treadmill. We usually went three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 9 to 10.30am.

Our friend Vivian was a regular at the gym. Lately she's been taking her mobile phone (like most people) and her intensity level has dropped. The man next to her is Qin Lin Min, a piano teacher, also a regular attendee. Other regulars were Pan Jin You (Danny) and Chris from India. Liu Guo Ming looked after the Men's Change Room. Mo Han was beautiful behind the counter (and lifting weights), she reminded us of Fiona Simpkin (nee Low).

I took some photos of the view from the treadmill. This is looking slightly West, toward the Jia Jia Yuan Shopping mall.

The view directly in front of "my" treadmill. Big hole in the ground. This will be the main metro station for Huangdao - open in less than 2 years - will connect to Qingdao Metro system, parts of which have already started operating.

Looking slightly East from "my" treadmill. View of Li Qun Supermarket and MYKAL Department Store.

We had a farewell lunch with one of our ex-student friends, Li Zhi Wei (Lena), in the Teacher's Dining Hall. She will do a Masters in London.

Vera with her Brazilian friend Lulu. Lulu's husband manages a factory making exercise equipment for export to Brazil and other countries. Vera met her at Chinese classes and they became good friends (chatted in Portuguese).

Saying goodbye to our friends Daniel Elsaesser (German) and his wife Zhao Hai Jie (Hayley). Daniel is fluent in Chinese and works for the Sino-German Eco Industrial Park in Huangdao. They have a son, Oliver.

Hayley is good at painting and calligraphy. She likes pole-dancing, and they they installed a pole in their apartment.

Vera with Zhao Yin Xin (Oliver), Daniel and Hayley's son.

The Shi Yan Experimental Middle School, about 3 km from our campus, has a swimming pool and we usually went there on Sunday for a swim. I walked back to the campus afterwards (about 20 minutes).

The main quadrangle of the Shi Yan Experimental Middle School, with statue of Confucius.

The indoor pool at the school; 25 m. Water temperature was around 25C. A single visit (max 2 hours) costs Y40 ($6.15) but we bought a 90 visit ticket which brought the price down to $2.75 a visit. We normally went at lunchtime to avoid the crowds.