My name is Tanja, I am from Germany, and I will spend the next six months in Qingdao. I other words, I will probably see a few of you at the beach, where we organize beach volleyball or little trips across the bay to silver or Golden Beach during summer.
What do I like the most about the city? Its Germanness! And I do not just refer to the Tsingtao beer here, which goes back to a German recipe from when Qingdao was a German colony. It might help that I haven’t lived in Germany for a year and a half now (I have travelled South-East Asia and then lived in Sydney/Australia for a year) and therefore are more likely to notice things. But Qingdao is just too cute! I love the tiny little alleys of old town with houses just like old German ones, the apartment blocks with their red roofs, and of course the old train station and the church right next to it. This city of over 8 million people feels like a German small town, and I mean this in every good way.

Pictures will definitely follow, I was just way too busy as there are like a zillion things to do: Dinner with the other interns became a real institution, there was the monthly student’s round table for all interns, their host families and friends (great opportunity to get to know everyone!), our colleague Leo’s house warming party, jogging by the seaside, and then there were two more after work events I will write more about soon. Anyway, this is where I have had my dinner yesterday:

Real German food and beer at the pre-opening dinner of the Paulaner restaurant in the new Kempinski Hotel. It was too foggy to enjoy the view of famous Silver Beach, but that will only serve as an excuse to come back.