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After almost a year abroad each, mom and I have finally converged on the same city in China. Julie left for the states and I arrived in Dalian at the start of June and have been here ever since. Compared to crowded, polluted Beijing (which I still loved), Dalian is so pleasant, green and out of the way. It is a cosmopoitan shopping city maybe the size of Seattle, then 30 minutes away from there is Kai Fa Qu, a quirky little town that I love to hang out in especially in the pirated movie section or with Becky (another teacher), then 20 minutes farther than THAT is Jin Shi Tan, where mom lives with the other 8 teachers or so in their apartments right next to DAIS, the international school.
It really is lovely out here. Right down the street is Golden Pebble Beach. I'd seen the name before and was hesitant to believe the title, but it really is a beach full of golden pebbles, not a sharp edge in site. This makes for good beach glass collecting. Really nice hiking hills (which I have not hiked but mom, Sidney and Becky have) surround the school below which are numerous flat roads for biking around.
The teachers all live on the third floor of the apartment building in a setup that is extremely reminiscent of dorm life. Everyone is on the same hall, and all that is missing are the white boards with doodles and notes written on them. Doors are opening and people go visiting each other all the time. The only problem is the constant construction noises going on, more school buildings are going up, plus track, field and swimming pool.
The school itself is lots of fun. Most of it takes place on the first floor, the other two floors will open up as more students come in in the next few years. Right now, mom has 8 adorable kids in her 4th/5th grade class, most of them Korean but one beautiful little girl from India. They are just the sweetest kids and I love listening to them talk in their limited English.
I have been up to a bunch of little things since I've been here, I'll just quickly go through some of them...:
Last week the students had an end of the year assembly for their parents which was probably 90% in English, so I thought it was wonderful, their parents however, may not have understood most of it if they still speak primarily Korean. Ah well, at least their kids are learning.
One of mom's students, Sara, and her mother invited mom and I over to their house last weekend to teach us how to make Kimbob! It is pretty much the Korean take on sushi, and it was so much fun! (Julie! I can't believe you missed it!) Can I reiterate just how cute Korean kids are? Especially the ones missing their front teeth.
My Japanese friend, Ayako, who came to Gig Harbor for Christmas a few years ago, is now a flight attendent in China. So at the beginning of her vacation, she flew up to Dalian to visit mom and I! It was so random to meet her here! We had a great time exploring Dalian and Kai Fa Qu, eating tons of good Chinese food, watching movies and wandering around.... Now she is off in Bellingham visiting University friends.
Another random visit: Marilyn put mom in touch with one of her teachers from last year since he was looking into coming to China to study Mandarin for the summer. Mom gave him some information, then didn't hear from him for a while. Then just two days ago got a note from him saying he was staying in Kai Fa Qu for the next 2 months! That is so random. It's the tiniest place, I doubt it's even on any map. She was surprised, but wrote back with her phone number in case he wanted to get together or whatever. Not 3 hours later we were in town shopping and we ran into him at Starbucks. Oh My Gosh. Mom barely even remembered what he looked like, but picked him out. Agh! We had him come out to Jin Shi Tan on Sunday to check out the beach and school, then took him to a great restaurant for dinner. That was a really unexpected bit of the weekend. :)
I had my first birthday abroad this year! I turned 24 to the sounds of "Happy Birthday" being sung shakily to me in 3 different languages by adorable Korean kids. Then a lovely dinner at the local Japanese restaurant (geez I've missed tempura.) We made the red-faced discovery there that wasabi in China is about 5 times more potent than it is on Okinawa. It was a good time.
Well, I've been attempting to put pictures of Dalian on here, but this site is giving me problems, so check back later for that if you're interested. I can't belive this trip is almost over! I will be back in the states in August and looking for work, how exciting. ;) Until then....
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