What I did on Sunday..

..on Sunday I was a judge ;)

My boss in the university asked me to be a judge in English speaking competition held in my Uni and I just couldn`t refuse an offer like this :)

So on Sunday as soon as I arrived I was dragged to the stage and seated next to the rest of the jury (and photographed from all the possible angles)...


At that point I was clueless about what would actually happen...the hall was full of people: kids in different costumes, their parents....it was hard to imagine having an English speaking competition with such a crowd ;)
(that`s how it looked from where I was seated)


The main organizer (or the one able to speak English) asked me to say something when my turn would come... no problem (bla bla "excited to be here"...bla bla..."good luck" :)

...and after 20 minutes of speeches I was taken to a freezing classroom for English speaking competition (so much about the performances I was hoping to see ;(

There were 50 kids competing: introducing themselves, telling stories, singing, playing musical instruments - really cool & cute kids :) ...and we (me + 1 more judge who had no idea how to deal with kids :( ) had to evaluate each kid (not so cool)...

Here are some of the competitors (& me :)


When English competition was over I still managed to see a bit of the talent competition in the main hall


All in all ...fun, but real freezing experience after which I politely declined lunch invitation and rushed home to de-freeze ;) (central heating at home is on for almost 1 week already :)

WELCOME TO RIZHAO :)!

Welcome to the sunshine city Rizhao!
(translated from Chinese 日照 "Rìzhào" means "sunshine")

Rizhao is a city by the Yellow sea with ~ 2,8 million inhabitants and it is located in Shandong province of China.



...where new buildings are growing as fast as mushrooms after the rain


...where streets are wide


...where sea is within 5 minute reach from where we live


...and society is civilised ;)



Been living here for a couple of months now and will be for some more...so here`s what you get if you come over to visit :)


YOU WILL SEE:

1. Beach...



..with alien ships as changing rooms, showers, etc


...with plenty of sea creature exploration possibilities


...with fun rides and seafood restaurants (closed for winter ;)


...and with a beach promenade that stretches for several kilometres...



2. Lighthouse & armies of lovers :)

Lighthouse is 5 minute ride from where we live...

..and it`s always a fun place to observe wedding shoots...with armies of lovers arriving ready to pose no matter what

When it`s warm & sunny the best rocks & spots of the lighthouse beach are all taken..

And even now that temperatures have dropped to +5...+7... there are still random couples desperate to pose ;)..

...whatever it takes (off ;)



3. Main harbour





4. Small traditional ports full of action & fresh seafood






5. Many different markets & the dog!

...to be more precise - dog meat!


Rabbits - the next year is the year of Rabbit and it shows ;) (let`s hope these are not meant to be dinner ;)


huge market halls with loads of different stuff you never even knew you might want ;)


Seafood markets!



Fruits & vegetables - fresh & cheap!



Meat section...as fresh as it gets!



6. Pink streets (feel free to move this to "You will Enjoy" section if you like :)

Plenty of them as in a true port town! ...next to train station...not far from our home...then another not far from our home....and then there`s also a backstreet where same is offered in the dark ;)

Getting beautiful


Happy customer


Window-shopping is free ;)..


And this is why we call them pink streets...all of the "pink" establishments will switch on pink lights...even if it looks like a hairdressing saloon or KTV...you know what you can actually get there!




7. Rizhao municipality



8. The only cinema in town...posters borrowed from Russia?! ;) (anyway, films are all dubbed to Chinese...sniff sniff... luckily managed to find DVD shop with plenty of new movies ;)



9. Cool old house lanes (these are step by step being taken down to be replaced by huge empty living compounds..)



10. The new mega swimming complex..(even though it`s ready .. nobody knows when they`ll actually open it)





YOU WILL ENJOY:


1. KTV = karaoke
Pure fun :)


2. Taxi & private carriage rides as a mean of public transportation :)
3 km ride by taxi costs 6 RMB (0,6 Euros) and ride in this lovely local carriage costs even less!




3. Massage (1 h - 1,5 h of full body massage for 58 RMB (about 6 Euros)



4. LOGO bar...bar in our house that has so far qualified as the best in town! (for some B52 and moments of stardom on the stage ;)




5. Cinderella romance club...just to see it and most probably leave as they simply don`t know anything about serving drinks in a club



6. Some more different clubbing that you`ve probably never experienced before ;)
..with some funny shows...

..teddy bear auctions and other true local clubbing experiences ;)



7. Bath house
Photo will come as soon as will test the bath house ;)


8. Billiard
Lots of places to play and one of them in our house!


9.Badminton
Twice a week it`s badminton time ;)




YOU WILL TASTE:

1. Seafood (including many different types of seashell)



2. Street food



3. Home-cooked meals...fresh seafood....packaces...cream soups... etc :)



4. Local delicacy: sea cucumber (that I haven`t dared to try yet ;)




5. Korean BBQ
Has been so good that I haven`t actually had time to make pictures of it ;)


6. Japanese "all you can eat" :)...with sushi, tempura, meats, soups and all kinds of interesting foods...order as much as you want from the menu ;)



7. Traditional local food



8. Mushroom hot pot (most probably you`ve never seen most of those mushrooms before ;)



9. "Hudson`s bar" ...to see more westerners ;) and borrow foreign books


10. "1996" for some live music in the bar and cosy restaurant feeling


11. a local "Cafeteria" - to taste Chinese version of Western food ;)



And when visiting Rizhao you also have a chance to see more of Shandong province:

--> Qufu (3 h bus ride):

--> Taishan (3,5 h bus ride) :


--> Wulian mountain (40 min ride):


--> Qingdao (2 h bus ride): to reach Rizhao you will anyway first need to fly to Qingdao (no airport in Rizaho) and Rizhao is 2 hour bus ride away from Qingdao, so Qingdao is kind of a must on the way ;)



Sooo...start packing.....see you in Rizhao!?! :)