Well that’s it we have finished with Harbin. It has been absolutely hectic at times but it was a great introduction into China. The other students were very friendly and though we didn’t keep up with their relentless partying we were always included, we usually went to the dinners but only went to a couple of the nightclubs. We really enjoyed ‘Box’ it was more of a lounge with pool tables, the building was in a dodgy side street then up a dodgy lift but you stepped from the lift into a brick paved New York street it was all very American and actually kind of cool. In the same area was the ‘Fox’ which is decorated in an English pub style and it served very nice fish and chip’s. We had been hearing tales of the ‘Russian Size Bar’. So on our last night we visited another Ice Sculpture Park, had our last Russian meal, tried to get ice creams at an American Café then walked up to find this now famous place. We made our way inside and it appeared to be just another night club, as you would expect the staff were very welcoming and quickly directed us to a table near the dance floor. Then another staff member appeared with two Budweiser’s which jolted my memory to why the other students like coming here. The beer is free to any westerners – not bad. Then another staff member hauls a tray of goodies over – chips, popcorn, a bottle of vodka and 4 cans of coke. They seriously want us to stay, I was now recollecting some of the drunken, brawling Russian tales so we guiltily drank our beers and slipped out before we could get involved with any of the other patrons.
On the home front we had been looking forward to some down time at the apartment as our two flatmates have moved off to start their teaching jobs and we have the apartment to ourselves - sounds good! There had to be a catch – the electricity was off when we got home on Saturday night and it took until 4pm Sunday before it came back on, we could still heat water for cups of tea and the heating was Ok and there was still hot water for showers but no internet or lights. We packed up ready to stay in a hotel but it was sorted in the end.
Our mandarin has improved greatly, we found the morning classes a bit fast so have employed a private tutor ‘Faye’ - she is great. The classes were trying to teach us ‘everything’ but Faye is just concentrating on the basics – pinyin sounds, numbers and some survival mandarin so we can talk restaurant, shop and taxi. It sounds like we have been going to a lot of western restaurants but that’s not true we have eaten mainly local food and are semi-confident we can make ourselves understood without pictures. I am not speaking full sentences and it’s hard to speak quickly but Faye has sorted my tones out enough that people can now understand me – though they still tend to laugh. Oh well at least I make them happy.
