So, since last week, I've been just settling in and exploring more.
I'm still pretty homesick, but being able to facetime with family and friends helps a lot.
On Friday afternoon, I got the windows tinted in the car, and Friday night, I had dinner with a colleague at his hotel. Saturday the A-yi was supposed to come and clean but did not show up. I later found out that shes scared of Kody, but supposedly will be back Saturday as long as he's crated. So Saturday, I cleaned the floors and the bathrooms, and did laundry, and watched it rain outside. In the evening, I went out for a little drive and then stopped at a street food vendor outside my neighborhood for some meat skewers (see pictures). They were good, but eating from a street vendor does have risks.
Sunday, Bob, my colleague and I went into Qingdao for our 'day in town'. He was looking for a hotel that had a nice brunch, but he couldn't remember the name or street it was on, so after 2 hours of aimlessly wandering, I made the decision that we would stop by "Sunshine Center" which is another high end shopping mall downtown. Inside they had a very upscale buffet, which we were lucky to get a table without a reservation. The food was great, international choices and fresh seafood. In the afternoon, I took Bob back to his hotel and went by the farmers market to get fresh fruits and vegetables. I ended up with 4 bags of stuff for about 12 dollars. I went home to meet the AC Repair man (on a sunday!) who misdiagnosed my AC unit, and would be back "later in the week" with the new part. Kody and I went for a little walk, and I headed off to find a place to get a haircut. There was a place close by the house, and I walked in, and it seemed pretty fancy. I got a little nervous because I figured it would be pricey, but the staff told me the haircuts were 38 RMB, a little over 6 dollars, and included shampoo and blowdry, however, If I bought their "preferred customer card", for 200 RMB, (32 dollars), I could get TEN haircuts, which is what I did. And they dont accept tips. I later told a local chinese colleague about the 20 RMB haircut and he told me that it was too expensive, and he pays 10-15 RMB. Go figure. Afterwards, I did some shopping at another Walmart/Target type store, and this one was the nicest one yet.
This week at work, I have decided to leave the office for lunch, as I'm getting a little tired of the cafeteria food. Its been nice to get away for an hour, and also helpful to learn the local area around work. Customer emails have been flying back and forth but it appears that as fires are being put out, people are beginning to mellow out quite a bit.
As far as preventing myself from going insane, this weeks entertainment includes more CHiPs from Itunes, and Hells Kitchen (latest season). There is an expat meetup tonight, but its in town and I'm seriously considering going and taking a cab (police like to do sobriety checks at night, and I dont have an official Chinese license yet). I'll be joining the gym in my neighborhood, but access to cash is not easy right now because china employers pay salary once a month. So I dont get a July paycheck till August. So I go to a bank that actually accepts Visa Logo ATM cards and I pull out the equivalent of 300 USD at a time. Fortunately, I finally got a gasoline card, so that helps with the amount of cash I need to lay out for gas.
Yesterday, I went to a steak place for lunch, Steaks in China are different. Where in the US, we're used to nice, thick cut steaks, with a nice pink center, (rare or medium rare), the Chinese steakhouses serve steaks like Pork Chop thin, on a sizzling plate, well done. I ended up ordering some chinese food they had instead. If I do want a steak, there's a place downtown called "Wang Steak House" , which is a franchise all over Asia, and they're as close as you can get to a western steak dining experience.
Thats all for now everyone, I hope you are all well!
