Going back to Qingdao was, on the whole, a far different experience than I had expected. After having lived there for 5 months, experienced my first independence and something approaching adult life, I was very much looking forward to going back to the place that has arguably most shaped me as a person, outside Adelaide. This time around was very different though. I had a strong feeling of "been here, done this." Which is probably a good thing, but it made me a little sad that Qingdao will never be the same for me. The first time round I was there with very close friends, this time I was with different groups of people with different priorities and some people I'd only known for two days, which wasn't bad, I think it just made me feel like a stranger in my own city. The local was being renovated, so we couldn't drink there! I was so disappointed. Le Bang had closed, there was no longer a buffet lunch on the TV tower, for some reason fresh beer was hard to find on beer street and places kept trying to charge us Y40 for one jug. There's a subway now under construction in Qingdao, which was being talked about when I was there. All that said, Qingdao remains a beautiful city, a great place, but now I feel very ready to grab Beijing by the horns.
I did have a great time when it came to sitting down and drinking fresh beer (even relived the thrill of Baijiu, why I thought that was a good idea I don't know), went back to Feeling with the bouncing dance floor, everyone enjoyed that. I definitely wish I went back and visited my old school. Unfortunately I have mid-term exams next week, and yet am still procrastinating by updating this blog. I don't know when I'll go back again, but I will, hopefully they'll speak to me in Chinese not English this time and help me practice
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