well neal and i are here in Qingdao. i know that means i have a lot to update on the past 10 days or more, but i figured i'd tell you what we're up to now. we arrived yesterday on a bus from Weihai. the bus was comfortable enough, but the movie line-up was less than pleasant. we had a typical early 90's asian action movie, followed by something starring patrick swayze and rowan atkinson, and then finished up with a Chinese action movie involving horses and swords and bad dubbing.

our accomodations, on the other hand, have been stellar. thanks to kimberly(i don't even know her last name), a fellow couchsurfer, we are staying in a spacious apartment with our own set of keys and a pretty cool gal to chat and hang out with. upon arriving last night, we dropped our stuff off at her apartment, grabbed a quick street dinner, and then hurried to the movie theatre to see Spiderman 3. !. it was not superb. i didn't expect it to be, and it certainly didn't exceed my expectations.

this morning we went to the Tsingtao brewery, possibly the number one attraction for westerners to this city, though i wouldn't quote me on it. we forewent the tour and just had a pitcher of beer instead. at 11 a.m. following our imbibing, we headed for Tortillas mexican restaurant. in China. it wasn't exactly mexican, but i know Neal was glad to break up the monotony of chinese food. this afternoon we visited the two churches in town, one catholic and one protestant, as well as a park overlooking the city and the waterfront. tonight we're aiming for a good dinner, the Paulaner bar for a german brew, and maybe a club to catch Kimberly's co-worker's band. tomorrow we're going to go to an International church, eat lunch, and then head back to Weihai.

if the internet connection gets any better in Weihai, i'll update on the rest of our trip. stay tuned...