Sex. Education lessons

I started the sex. ed. unit this week and I will continue teaching it next week. 10 days of sex. ed. The boys have been looking forward to it all semester! However, they were not very interested about the sex. organs of a female. They only wanted to know where the penis goes or some of them already knew all about it... I did not want to hear any of their personal stories. They were more excited when I taught them about their sex. organs, erections and masturbation. Maybe they were embarrassed that I was teaching them sex. ed. I use a lot of humour and they love it!

On Thurs. it was the BIG Day! As you know from the previous post, I bought condoms for each of my students and bananas. By the middle of the day, I started running out of condoms. I think some of my students took some of them with them or other students from other classes took one.... I gave the boys a hand out about how to put on a condom and we discussed about it. One of the students jokingly said, after using the condom, wash it and hang it to dry and another student said keep it as a souvenir. I had to tell them not to use it again and I tried showing them it is hard to put it back on and their semen might still be on it. These are the kind of boys I teach... We all laughed about it. I also told them it's not too expensive to buy more. I taught the boys how to correctly open a package of condom and check the expiry date. Then I showed them how to put it on a banana (penis). They were shocked about the size... In all 4 of my classes, when I finished showing them how to correctly put it on either clapped or said that I was a pro. You might even see a video or a picture of me showing them how to put it on correctly...

It was their turn. The lubricant on the condom that I bought smelt odd and it got all over the place. Some of the boys started taking out tissue to hold the end of their bananas and showed their classmates they did it correctly. I allowed the kids to explore a bit. A student tried wrapping it around a large water bottle and it did not work. A kid told him his penis is definitely not that big and another one said maybe his is. Some of the boys started blowing their condoms into balloons. I just had to make sure the students knew the difference between a rubber birthday balloon and a latex condom. I told them to not use birthday balloons as a condom because it is not the shape of a penis and it won't protect them. They laughed so hard that some of them fell to the ground! A few of my kids filled the condoms with water. Two boys filled it up to a size of an adult cat curled up and brought it into the classroom. They were impressed about how strong latex is. I also showed a picture and talked about the female condom. Overall, it was a good day and I was exhausted. However, all my students were engaged!!! I also learned a lot about the Chinese culture of what they tell students. For example, if a girl uses a tampon, she is no longer a virgin because the hymen might be torn. I guess they do not want girls wearing tampons. Tampons are not very common here at all. Also, if a female has her period, she cannot drink or eat cold things or she will die.

The boys are learning a lot and having some fun too. Thank you boys! Next week, they will be watching "Juno" and learning about STI/HIV/AIDS. I will post some of their sex. ed. questions on my blog sometime next week.

Next week is going to be crazy but festive. I do not get two weeks off for winter vacation. I will be attending a staff Christmas party tomorrow night, the English Corner Christmas party on Sun., wrapping Christmas gifts for an orphanage with the Outreach group, supervising at the student co-ed Christmas party, Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas breakfast and many other festive gatherings! There is a lot of Christmas spirit here but it's not the same as back home... I MISS YOU GUYS!

Shopping for Condoms in KFQ

I went into town this afternoon and my main purpose was to find 120 condoms. I found a sex store! Thank goodness the sign was in English, "Adultstore". Hmmm.... I wonder what is inside. So I went in, the first thing I noticed a 4 year old boy in the store... okay... He was playing with his age appropriate toys, such as trucks. His mom owns the store. I had a hard time telling her that I needed 120 cheap condoms because they are only for showing the kids how to use a condom on a banana/carrot/cucumber. I think the number of condoms that I needed shocked her. I played charades and used my limited Chinese skills and it WORKED! I came out with 120 condoms. Each box had 10 condoms and each box cost me less than $2.00. 20 cents per condom??? hmm... As she was looking for the boxes of condoms, I looked around the small shop. The shop had many different sex toys. They all looked very cheap and not in very good quality. So I only bought 12 boxes of condoms. When I was about to leave, she asked me if I wanted anything else and I said, "No, thank you." She then proceeds to take something out of the drawer; she took out birth control pills. She had several kind of Chinese brands. I quickly left! I will be teaching my grade 10 boys how to use a condom on Thurs.

They thought I would show them porn in class... They were a little sad that I said no and they can watch it on their own time. They have very good questions. I had a good laugh. Maybe I'll post a few of them in a few days.

Quick Summaries ....

I am so behind with blogging...

November 29 - December 5:
- In Planning 10, I taught the students the different steps in solving conflicts. I gave each group a different scenario and I said they could bring props if you want. Some of the scenarios were stealing a cell phone out of a classmate's bag, fight after a basketball game, parents not happy with school marks, etc. One of the skits was a group of friends are smoking, drinking, not doing their homework, and will probably be kicked out of school. Again, forgetting that I am in China, two students brought a cigarette, lighter, and a can of beer to class. There is no legal age here for those products but there are school rules. They started acting and then took out the props, I was shocked but I let them keep going. The students in the class were laughing their heads off. One of the students opened the can of beer and one just lit the lighter but not the cigarette. Thank goodness they did not start drinking the beer and smoking in my classroom.... Next semester, I think I need to change that scenario!

-At the school, the students eat all their meals in the cafeteria almost 7 days a week. The cafeteria has 4 floors. However, students can order out of school grounds. The delivery people can only pass food through or over the fence on one side of the school grounds. The students and delivery people have a system. They give the money, they get the food and then they leave. There are many different businesses though but they somehow figure it out. I will take a picture sometime this week. On Dec. 2nd, I was one of the people purchasing food over the fence, even though I am allowed to leave school premises. We had an office pizza party so I ordered in. The pizza here is not the same as in Vancouver... It's not very good. The delivery guy had to deliver food to students at the same time so we met at the fence. I felt like I was violating school rules. In addition, I was too short to grab the pizzas over the fence so my co-worker and students helped me. There are bars so the delivery man couldn't slide the pizza of that size sideways without tilting the pizza to one side.

- Erin and I went into Dalian City on the weekend. I went to "Olive Garden". It's not the same as in Langley and in the States. However, it was a nice venue and the food was not mad. I ordered a lunch size pasta and it came with pumpkin soup, salad and a coffee and I ordered a dessert, tiramisu for about $12.00 CAD. I will definitely go back =)


December 6 - December 12:
-On Sat. I went into Dalian City on my own. I had to go pick up my wool pants that I got made and a few Christmas presents. I did NOT get lost and I didn't have to take the taxi either =) I resort to taxis if I'm lost here in China. I instead took the train into the city and then I took the trolley. I find it fascinating that the trolley is in the farthest lane from the curb. People get off and dodge traffic to get on to the curb and people on the curb would dodge traffic to get on to the trolley. Remember, I told you before even standing on the curb is not safe here in China.
- On my way home from the city, people were selling long johns on the side of the street in black garbage bags! They are only $2 CAD per pair for the thin ones. Let me know if you want a pair! On the train back, someone brought a clothes hanger and she hung her grocery bags on the hanger to the bar. That's an awesome idea. Why didn't I think about it earlier???
- In the evening, I went to KFQ in the Hong Mei area, where a lot of Korean people live, for a Charity Concert. It was put on by a grade 12 student at Maple Leaf. She is a very talented young lady. She plays the violin beautifully, can sing, organized and has a huge heart! There were Korean food, bake sale (thanks to the Maple Leaf teachers), Christmas card sale (thanks to the Outreach Club at Maple Leaf), and great entertainment. I witnessed the Korean break dancing and dance off. WOW! There were a lot of talented youth that performed from dancing, rapping, singing, playing an instrument to throwing a stick around and hitting someone in the face (a teacher from Maple Leaf). I had a fun night!

It's snowing here, windy and in the negatives.... I guess I should start wearing my long johns. Tomorrow I start teaching 120 grade 10 boys sex. education. Any tips? I'll keep you posted!!!

First time being very sick in China

Fri. night was nothing! Sat. I was pretty good.... Sun. was the WORSE. I woke up running to the washroom and throwing up. I am NOT pregnant!!! I either had food poisoning or the stomach flu. I tried to drink water and then I threw up again. I even had Pepto Bismol for nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea. It stayed in my stomach for a little while but then that came out too. I had to stay hydrated so I had little sips of water throughout the day and slept all day. I was either really hot or had the chills. I did not have any solids the whole entire Sun. I really wanted my mommy =( I am a big baby when I am sick. My parents were concerned of course because I haven't been so sick for a very long time. I couldn't even stay awake for 1.5 hours before I got dizzy or a huge headache. Today, I stayed home and woke up at 9am and slowly started eating solids again because I was too weak. Then I took another LONG nap. I have so much work to catch-up on....

Thank you for all the caring people who came to my rescue!!! Catherine, the ginger and honey water stayed down and the Sprite did too =) I had the chicken breast for dinner today. Thank you for all the phone calls and knocks on the door. Also, thanks to people who offered to cook for me =) Will, thank you for offering me an oatmeal cookie, I promise I will try it next time. We will have a bake off!

Food Poisoning =(

I've been in China for almost 14 weeks. I haven't had food poisoning until LAST NIGHT! Let's start in the beginning. I had quite a long week because the Ministry inspectors from BC were at our school and I was starting to burn out. Yesterday, we went into KFQ for the evening and went for dinner to celebrate that we had survived for the week and to be with Anjali. We went to the East Hotel for dinner. Before dinner, I bought a very big loaf of banana bread for $2.00 (15 RMB) =) We were going to order something for A La Cart but we decided to go for the buffet because there were many different options for the buffet. The buffet was about $18.00 (115 RMB). You can just see from my pictures of the variety of food. There were pastas, soup, potatoes, pizza, turkey, sashimi, fresh oysters, mini crabs, scallop, all sorts of meat and you can pick the ones you want barbecue, etc.

After dinner, I was so FULL. I went to buy a few things and walked around a bit. I even had a cup of Toffee Nut Latte at Starbucks. However, around 9:15pm I felt like I wanted to vomit. I ran outside with my stuff to get some fresh air. Our school shopping bus was going to pick us up at 9:30pm but I was not in any good condition to go on the old, smelly, cramp, and no air circulation bus. Carrie, Catherine, Anjali and I took the taxi home instead. I was holding a plastic bag the whole entire way. The taxi driver was amazing, not like majority of the China taxi drivers, I was able to hold it in the whole way home and then I had to use the washroom at home... I will spare you the details. I haven't felt that horrible for a VERY long time. Today I just relaxed and did barely anything. Not sure if I'll go back to the East Hotel for dinner anytime soon.

Another Relaxing Weekend

On Fri. night we had a ladies night and we watched "Leap Year" on Sui Ki's L shaped couch. I do not have a couch at my place =( Catherine, thank you for the delicious 4 layers nachos dip. It was so nice to just relax and watch a movie with the ladies.

On Sat. I slept in a little and then I went out to the market to get some groceries for the week. Erin and I played "Love Jenga" again. It is definitely a good ice-breaker game. I'll let you decide on what some of the actions/comments asks you to do. Pictures attached this time. I ordered ice-cream again =) Does anyone know what ti zi is? It tastes like taro ice-cream to me. In the evening, I did go back to school to get some work done. There is just not enough time in a day to get everything done so I have to stay late at school or go in during the weekend. Anjali and I are in the same office so we work in the evenings together and we walk each other home. On our way home on Sat. night, we walked home before the campus lights went out at 10pm, we saw a man riding his bicycle and holding a flashlight with his left hand for his front bike lights. At least he had lights on!

Today, I woke up early and went into Dalian City with Anjali. I went to the tailors and I am getting 3 wool dress pants made. I gave him a pair of dress pants I have now and he measured me and told me that I have lost weight so he can't copy the one I gave him =) I walk a lot here and go up and down many flights of stairs each day. At 11am, we went to a church in Dalian for worship and also for a Thanksgiving lunch. Thank you for inviting us ladies! After lunch, Anjali and I hired a driver to drive us to IKEA, Metro and home to buy some groceries and more furniture for our places. I need to stop spending money at IKEA!

I do not have a lot of time off during Christmas and New Year's here so I will not be coming back to Vancouver, Canada. However, I do have a long weekend from Dec. 31st- Jan 2nd. Here are my options: go to Harbin, China for the ice-sculpture city festival and the temperature is usually around -30 or go to Sanya, China, on Hainan Island, where it's going to be hot and sunny. Sanya supposedly is the beach paradise in China. I might go to Harbin because I think it might be a mild winter so it'll be a good winter to go but the ladies will be going to Sanya and it'll be much warmer. Any input?

I promise I will start catching up with my emails...

Motorcycle Ride

I went for dinner with a few colleagues, Carrie, Jim, and Cole, at the American School near where I live for a buffet. Every week there is a different theme, this week it was Western theme. The potato salad and apple pie were delicious! There was a lot of cinnamon. Thank goodness it was not red bean. Sometimes I think some of the pastries have cinnamon on it but it's red bean. It's not the same....

Jim and Carrie both own motorcycles. Cole rode with Jim and I rode with Carrie. I know I was too scared to ride on one in Vancouver. I rode on one in China instead! I did not have a helmet on either and it was freezing cold. I thought I was going to take the taxi home so I was not dressed appropriately. I held on to the back part and just went for a ride. We went around the corners very slowly. We lost Jim and Cole for the last part because we were busy talking and followed another motorcycle. Carrie found a way home. It was fairly dark so we drove slowly to make sure we were actually driving on a road. We drove along the beach and it was quite nice. The small white bridge is lit with fluorescent green lights at night and there are many big sculptures on the beach, such as a crab. Where we live, we conserve a lot of energy by turning the lights off quite early and there aren't a lot of street lights. The sun starts setting around 3:30pm. Overall, it was a fun ride home and I might ride on another motorcycle in the near future.

Clapping Shrimp

Many of you know that I love baked goods. I've been trying a few bakeries around where I live and also in KFQ. I have found a few that I would definitely go to. BreadTalk for their very famous Chinese dry shredded pork buns. KEI bakery for their red bean filled donuts and Mexican buns. Donuts is very hard to come by here. Heisei bakery translates to black bakery for their delicious Chinese birthday cakes and Portuguese egg tarts. I find many of the other bakeries serve very dry and/ oily pastries.

I love grocery shopping. hahaha... NOT but I am starting to cook more often now =) I finally found teriyaki sauce at one of my most favourite import store, "Deli Harbour"!!! I do not drink a lot of milk in China unless it's in my coffee, tea or with cereal. I don't like the taste at all... However, I know I need to have calcium so I have been eating and drinking a lot of yogurt. Drinking??? The yogurt here is like YOP at home. I bought the small containers of yogurt so when I'm walking to school, I can drink it with a straw. Buying toilet paper takes me quite awhile because I need toilet papers' with a roll/hole in the center so it fits in my toilet paper holder at home but the paper must be soft enough. Some of the toilet papers here are quite weak and rough. That just won't do it.

The name of my post for today is "Clapping Shrimp" because I went to a Korean restaurant for dinner tonight and they always provide some side dishes to eat before the meal. There was a side dish with cooked tiny shrimps with the shells still on. I like seafood so I tried it. Morgan was petrified. I ate a few, it was yummy but chewy. The last one I ate had the antennas and two small claws that looked like mini lobster claws still attached. I wasn't going to eat it but I did!!! I haven't had anything too crazy in China yet. One step at a time...

Relaxing weekend...

On Friday night, I wanted to just relax after a very busy week; I finished my first set of report cards!!! I went to a massage parlour with a few of my girl friends. Before we started our massages we had to make sure females were giving us massages. We did not want the other kind of massage... We all got the back massage with oil and jade stones for 89 quai which is about $14.00. Firstly, we had to change into other clothes they provided us. I also felt a little violated because she pulled down my shorts and tucked it in and then she sat on my ass while she was massaging me. It was not a very relaxing massage because I was very tense. It was quite painful. I guess if it doesn't hurt, they aren't doing it right. She even massaged me with her feet while standing on me. Thank goodness I have an ass because she balanced on my ass. Yesterday, I was a bit sore and I think bruised too. Today, I feel much better! I think next time I'm going to go for a calm and relaxing massage. I should treat myself to a massage at least once a month.

Yesterday, I woke up early and went into Dalian City. Catherine, Anjali and I went to I55 for all you can eat western breakfast. It was about $11.00/person. There was no one smoking or spitting in the cafe. The ambiance was relaxing and quiet. This is not very common in China. We were there for awhile just chatting and drinking coffee/tea. Anjali and I went to Peace Square where the higher-end stores are located. I bought two sweaters from Giordano and two thick pink long johns. Yes, I did buy PINK long johns. Heeheee...... It is starting to get cold here so I need to be prepared. There are many different designs and materials of long johns. The men long johns have a hole or a button in the front so it is easier for them to use the washroom (WC – water closet). Children have holes in their pants too so they can just use the washroom for no. 1 and 2 in public on the streets. TIP: Do not step in wet puddles. After shopping we went for a snack. We found a place call “Kiss Mango”. We had to go try it out because we both love eating mangoes. We shared three different mango items. It was delicious! We got a drink which is almost like a mango slush bubble tea with mango jelly, a dish with different kinds of fruit with milk, and a mango, grapefruit, vanilla ice-cream, milk and tapioca dish. On our way home on the train, we saw a few students. While we were exiting the station we have to scan our train pass and go through the turning bars. A MALE student was so busy talking that he crashed right into it. OUCH! He could not walk for quite awhile. His friends were laughing so hard that they were almost rolling on the floor and in tears. TIP: Males, please be careful and protect at all times. Overall, it was the most relaxing day I have had in a LONG time.

Today, I went for lunch at a restaurant that serves very good Western food, such as pizzas. Erin ordered her pasta and I ordered a seafood pizza. My order was going to take a little longer so the owner gave us a game to play while we were waiting. The game was “Love Jenga”. The blocks were painted white and pink. Each block had something written on it, such as blow a kiss to an opposite sexuals across from you. A picture and quotes will be in the next weekend blog. After lunch, we went grocery shopping in the fresh fruit and vegetables market and on our way we saw a woman walking on the streets holding her IV bag with the needle still attached to her. That was a China moment. If people are sick in China, they go to the hospital and strapped to an IV. People in China rarely take medications. They think the IV will cure them faster. On the way home, I almost got hit by a car ... Of course, I had to go back to school and get some work done to end my day.

Odd Day

This morning I did not want to get up... "Why is it so dark outside?" I should have stayed in bed. As I was heading to school, my 10 min. walk was a little longer than usual because of the thunderstorm. I was trying to walk in a straight line but it was so windy that I was just trying to balance myself. I did make it to school in one piece! The thunderstorm did stop and it was just cloudy for a few hours. And then, right after lunch, we looked outside and there was an orange tint. Thankfully I made it to my next class before the sandstorm. I was teaching in a theatre today so the kids asked me if I can show them a movie before they die because of the crazy weather. They kept saying "2010" and "The Day After Tomorrow".  In Vancouver, I always pack an umbrella and sunglasses. In Dalian, I pack a toque, gloves, sunglasses, umbrella, a hot baby (small hot water bag that I can just plug into the wall to charge and it will be nice and toasty), scarf, layers of clothes, and a flashlight.

I invigilated a Grade 10 English e-exam today during my prep block. Personally I like writing a test in paper form because I'm always scared that the computer will crash on me and everything will be deleted. I walked into the computer lab and everything was going smoothly. They were doing their exams on a netbook in the classroom I was in. The netbooks are brand new so I thought I did not have to worry. However, about 30-45 min. before the exam was supposed to end, about 8 netbooks ran out of battery life, one side of the wall did not have power to recharge the batteries. The students were starting to get antsy and I had to get some tech people in to figure it out. I found other netbooks with battery life and had to sign them back into their accounts and make sure everything was still there. The e-exams are designed to save every 5 second. We had to move students to another wall or into another computer lab. Thank you Will and the tech. guys for helping me out! I can always trust my friendly neighbour, Will, to help me out at home and at work. Everything worked out in the end!

Coming home to a clean place =)

This is my first time living on my own and working as a first year teacher in another country. I thought I could manage everything: teaching, cooking, socializing, and cleaning but cleaning takes up A LOT of my valuable time. It is very dusty in China and I'm always working so by the time I come home, I have to make and eat dinner. I hired an Ai Yi (maid), Ms. Bo; she is amazing. Today was her first day and she will come once a week. She not only helps me iron my clothes, sweep and mop my floors, clean my washroom, wipe down the tables and counters, wash my dishes but she also helped me arrange my place to make it more spacious! I feel so spoiled =)

Happy Diwali!

On the weekend, I attended an Expat Diwali event in Dalian City. Sumi was very kind and lent me her salvar kameez. It was a remarkable event. I witnessed a Diwali prayer before dinner. Also, the food was delicious and so much to choose from. They had butter chicken, naan, roasted fish, fried fish, tandoori chicken, chole bhature, and many other dishes I cannot pronounce or spell. There were at least 13 different dishes. There were Indian performances from gorgeous females from the medical school in Dalian. After the performances, we started dancing on the stage and I thought the stage was going to collapse because there were so many people on the stage we were jumping and having such a great time. Dalian City is very multicultural; there are people from Canada, Germany, Pakistan, Korea, Japan, Nigeria, etc. Maybe I'll be in the Dalian Today magazine again!!!

Invigilation

I never thought I would invigilate provincials and midterm exams like my high school teachers. I invigilated as a TOC earlier this year and also at Maple Leaf. I wonder what my high school teachers saw students doing while writing exams... This is what I saw or heard from colleagues: students cleaning their glasses, taking a short nap, picking their nose, killing bugs with their exam papers, fidgeting with pens, drawing on desks, checking their braces, combing their hair, cheating by using their cell phones, playing with a Mentos bottle, and a student found his exam quite "arousing" (he was doing something inappropriate in public... hmmm....). Sorry, no pics included in this post.

Last Sat...

my friend, Erin, and I went into Dalian. I bought a small side table at IKEA the weekend before but there were no screws inside the box. Thank goodness IKEA is super organized, I showed up with my receipt and she found the screws for me. There were hundreds of screws organized right behind her. Of course I had to have an IKEA ice-cream! I bought A LOT of winter clothes at Decathlon. It is similar to MEC in Vancouver but better prices. I bought yoga pants for $5! I bought a pair of sweatpants and I don't need to get them hemmed =)

We then took the train to a city between where I live, Jinshitan and Dalian City. I bought a pink and white Hello Kitty laptop sleeve! I am very happy and proud with my purchase. We then went to new deli in town. They had olive bread and bagels from a European bakery, many different types of cheeses and deli meat. All of these items are hard to come by in China. While we were in the store we met a kind American lady, Lisa. We were talking about different places we can purchase import items. When she was just about to leave, she offered us a ride home because she had a driver. Her husband, Steve, works for Intel so they have their own driver. Erin and I took the offer right away and got into the van. I would never do this in Vancouver. I guess in China, when you find someone that can speak English and generous, you automatically trust them. The driver was amazing, I did not fear for my life at least once. It was the best ride that I had in China thus far. When I got home, I made a cherry tomato, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni bagel for lunch. It was DELICIOUS! 

In the evening, we had Autumn, a friend and a driver, drive us to the Caribbean Bar for our staff Halloween Party. Autumn has driven me to many different places in Dalian and she is a fun and sweet person! The party was awesome. Everyone was dressed up and in creative costumes too. I dressed up as a scarecrow protecting the sunflower. I had my costume made! What should I be next year? hmmm... Overall, it was an amazing Sat. because I met two very warm-hearted people and I had a blast at the Halloween Party. 

Thanksgiving

I was invited to two Thanksgiving dinners! We had all the works, such as, cranberry sauce, gravy, stuffing, mash potatoes, pumpkin pie, soup, freshly baked bread, vegetables, and even turkey. It was an actual TURKEY, not a pigeon or another kind of bird. I even made stuffing by scratch, I did not go buy boxes of Stove Top stuffing. It was very yummy! We watched some good old hockey games on Sunday night, it felt like home. I am thankful for meeting such wonderful colleagues and friends in China.

Shanghai Trip (Sept. 26th - Oct.2nd)

We had a whole week off for National Day so a few of my friends and I went to Shanghai! I had a lot of fun and many adventures. Here are a few highlights of my trip:

• I barely slept the night before because we had a girls night and I was very excited about going to Shanghai! In addition, I packed the night before I left so I didn't have enough time to find a smaller luggage. I ended up bringing one of my large suitcases with me. If you have gone camping, Whistler, events or band trips with me, you know I ALWAYS overpack. I pack enough for me and another person. My excuse was if any of my other travelling buddies buy a lot of stuff, they can use my suitcase too. I actually bought too much stuff ... When I got to the airport I remembered that I didn't check the luggage size limit for Southern China but the lady was nice and she let me go. Dalian airport is very small so for the smaller flights we have to go on a bus and it takes us to the plane and then we board the airplane. It was warm when we got to Shanghai! We took the Maglov and it was only a 6 minute ride. The Maglov went 301 km/h. In the evening, we went to Tianzifang to explore. The area was full of small alleys with many cute shops. We went to the Teddy Bear restaurant where they serve Thai food and you can make a teddy bear. The food was very good and the bears were cute! We then went to a coffee place after which was only a few blocks from our hostel but we didn't know that, so instead we took 3 metros to get home. Hahaha....
  
  
  
  
  
• We got free tickets to the Expo (Thank you Andrew!). We went to the Expo from the time it opened until closing. Our hostel was so close that we could walk to the Expo. It was a good day too go because it wasn't too packed and hot. I bought the special edition Expo passport; therefore, every Pavillion I enter, I have to get the stamp. I counted and we went to 12 different Pavilions in one day. We lined up for 2.5 hours to see the Korean Pavilion and there was a cute cartoon show. I did cry at the end of the showing because it was a very touching show. We got into the France Pavillion without lining up because of Andrew again. I liked the France one because it was so grand but everyone wanted a picture with Louis Vuitton's sign and tree. It was a little crazy in that section. I liked the African Pavillion the most because the people were so nice. I met so many people from all around Africa and we exchanged email addresses. One day I will travel around Africa! The Expo was very big, they have buses to take you from one side to the other side. Most Pavillions had their own restaurants with their own type of food. We went to the Peruvian Pavillion for lunch. Everyone was excited to be at the Expo and it was not chaotic at all.
  
  
  

• We took the train to Hangzhou in the morning. We went to Hangzhou because we wanted to see the West Lake. It was very pretty. It was drizzling so the lake was very misty. When we got back into the city we went to “Element Fresh” for dinner. It was DELICIOUS! Thank you Sarah for the recommendation. If anyone goes to Shanghai and/Beijing you MUST go to this restaurant. The food is very fresh and mouthwatering.
  
  
  
  
  
• We slept in on Wed. because we wanted some down time and we switched hostels closer to the Bund. The funny story is we thought we were smart to take a taxi with all our luggage to our next hostel so we wouldn't have to worry about all the stairs and switching metros and we found the cross streets to tell our taxi driver where to go; however, we did not notice that the streets crossed again on the other side of town (West and East side of town). The taxi driver took us to the cross streets but the wrong side of town. A tip for travellers, know how to say east, south west, and north in the language the country you are at. We then used our maps and took the metro to our hostel. It took us the same amount of time to get to our next hostel as Sui Ki making it home from Shanghai to Dalian. That was not the end of our adventure for the day, the metro station near our hostel closed earlier because it was the main station to the shopping area and also the Bund and it was the National Day weekend and we had to take the metro to see the Chinese Acrobatic show. We did not know about this so we had to find a taxi but it was a busy night. We ended up getting to the show on time! The show was quite silly because of the music and some of the stunts but it was a lot of fun. I haven't laughed so hard and so much in a long time.

• On Thursday we took the train to Suzhou, where we wanted to go see a water town. We had no idea what to expect in Suzhou. When we got off the train, we had no idea which bus to take and where to go but we randomly met a Canadian man. We asked him if he knew where to go and he told us he was taking a bus to a water town and we should go too because it's totally worth it. We bought our ticket to join him and his friend. The bus ride was about 1.5 hours. We did not buy a return ticket to the train station but we had a return ticket from the Suzhou train station back to Shanghai that we ended up not using because we took a 2 hours bus ride back instead from Zhou Zhuang, where the no. 1 water town is to Shanghai. Zhou Zhaung was quite touristy but the temple was gorgeous. It was definitely worth the trip even though we didn't know where we were going on the bus and the uncertainty of our two new friends we had met. In the evening we met up with a few friends for Vietnamese food. The restaurant is in the French Concession area call “Pho Real”. The owner came to sit and talk with us and the food was so yummy. Something that I miss about Vancouver is the food because where I live, there aren't a lot of varieties of food. 
  
  
  
  
  
• On Friday we went to Yuyuan Garden. The infrastructure reminded me of the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden in Vancouver but on a larger scale. Vivian, I still remember telling the students about the meandering walk way and how women walk on one side and the men walk on the other side. It was fun going through many unique door frames. There were a lot of people there because it was the National Day weekend. We also went shopping on Friday and Saturday at the Science and Technology area. I did okay with bartering but I will continue to practice!
  
  
  
  
  
• When we got back to Dalian on Saturday night there was a rain storm. The roads were flooded and there were lightening and thunder. Our first taxi driver was too scared to drive us after a few kilometers so I asked him to drive us back to the airport and we got another taxi driver to drive us. The second taxi driver was not scared at all, the water was up to the door. Rachel and I were quite scared though because he drove very fast in the rain ... Many cars were stuck and people tried to push their cars. We stayed in the city for the night and the next day we went to explored Dalian City. 
  
  
  

Overall, I had a lot of fun and I look forward to my next trip in China. I might do a weekend trip to Beijing next or a long weekend to Haerbin for the ice festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Yesterday was the Mid-Autumn Day, also known as the Moon Festival. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar. Usually families get together for dinner and eat moon cakes together. There are MANY different kinds moon cakes here. I asked my boys which kind would they recommend for me, some like the variety one (with everything in it, one said there are spiders in it too, he was trying to scare me), red bean, egg yolk, sesame, and five kinds of nuts. My friends and I went for hot pot because it already feels like November in Vancouver for dinner. Most students did not get to celebrate it with their families because they live on campus and home is too far and we have vacation time all of next week. Therefore, on the girls campus, we lit lanterns. It was a unique experience. The girls lit the lanterns, then they have to wait, the girls will let go, and then it will float in the air with all the other lanterns. It was very beautiful! Next year, I am going to go to the beach to see hundreds of them lit up at once.

Dalian City

Subway
I went into Dalian City on the subway on my own to meet up with two friends for lunch and to do some shopping. It takes about 1 hour which doesn't seem too long because it took me about 1.5 hours to get to UBC from Burnaby; however, I stood for an hour with people pushing in and out of the subway and I did not have to transfer. I also learned that my mandarin is still quite weak because when I asked an attendant where I could buy a subway pass they directed me to the Discovery Land, an amusement park. In the end, I did not end up getting a subway pass. FAIL! I will try again next time I go into the city after I ask someone how to say it properly.

Apple Store
I found a registered Apple store. Most of the products are the same and it felt like home. Many of my boys like my MacBook Pro but it's not very common in China yet. Time will come..... All the IT workers on the boys and girls campus always give me a long sigh when they see my laptop. hahaha.... I haven't had any problems. WHOOP WHOOP!

Taxi Ride
Taking the taxi is very common here because it's very convenient and cheap. I took the taxi on my own in Dalian City and the driver was very scary. He was quite nice in the beginning of the ride but at the end he wanted my number and he wanted me to sponsor him to Canada. His driving was fine but he kept turning around, looked at me, and then told me that I am very pretty. He even took off his sunglasses. CREEPER. I just said thank you. He wanted to know if I had a boyfriend and if I wanted to be his girlfriend. I wanted to get out of the taxi when he was driving but that wouldn't have been safe. He drove on the main streets the whole time so I knew I was okay. In the end, I sweet talked myself out and he didn't charge me for my taxi ride. Next time, I'm just going to sit in the cab and not say anything except for directions.

I also had another frightening experience with another cab driver with some of my friends. We flagged down a taxi and two taxis stopped. A senior woman walked off the curb at the same time, so we thought she'll take the first taxi and we'll take the second one; however, she was just trying to cross the street instead of taking the first taxi. We were already in the second taxi, the first taxi driver was very ANGRY. He followed us and drove very close to us. He kept yelling at us and pointing. I bet if it was traffic and all the cars had to stop, he would have jumped out and probably smoked us.

These are just a couple of bad incidents with taxi drivers but there are many good ones in China.

Overall, Dalian City is a very busy city. I have learned how to stand on the lines and dodge buses and trolleys when they are turning. There's a lot of shopping locations and parks to go see. 

Catherine, Monica and I at Erqi Square shopping

Summary of my month in China

I arrived in Dalian, China on Aug. 21. I was very excited but nervous at the same time. First, I had to find all 3 of my luggage on the luggage bell. I did find them and all my colleagues helped each other out. The hard part was not over yet; we had to dodge taxi traffic with our carts and luggage. I SURVIVED! When I stepped out of the airport, it was very hot and humid, and it was LOUD. Cars were honking everywhere and about everything, from telling you to move out of the way to do you need a ride to your destination? I was a little frightened on the bus to our apartments because the driver was driving quite fast, dodging traffic, and honking. However, that is how people drive in China. Pedestrians have no rights and cars make their own lane and sway in and out of lanes.

When we arrived, I was very excited because I was in one piece and I have arrived to a new place, my new home for at least a year. I live on the third floor of one of the buildings and it's a nice size. I'm the first one to live in this suite. I had A LOT of cleaning to do because they had just finished constructing my building. I have great apartment buddies! We are always looking out for each other and our doors are usually open.

The first few days here were a rush. I did a lot of shopping for my apartment, attended meetings, went exploring, and went for a medical exam. I spent a lot of money at IKEA to furnish my apartment. My flat sheet for my bed was doubled the price of my toaster oven. I could not believe it!

I also explored a town near where I live, Mafachu, it's about a 15-20 min. walk from my apartment. I live in Jinshitan, which is about an hour away from Dalian City. There is a great market in town with a lot of fruit and vegetables, buns, tofu, chicken, meat, etc. I have to work on my Mandarin. The locals do not understand that I look Chinese but I do not speak Mandarin. When they try to speak to my caucasian colleagues, they turn to me and speak Mandarin. Or they just stare at me and my friends because I'm speaking English fluently instead of Mandarin. On one of the weekends, I walked about 20 minutes from where I live to a beach. It was a very nice day because the sky was blue and there were fluffy clouds which is very rare here. Not too many people were in the water because of the oil spill. A lot of wedding couples take pictures at the beach. There is a bridge that connects the two beaches together, one side has a lot of small rocks and the other side has soft sand.

I go into a city about once a week call Kafachu (not sure about the spelling), there's a lot of restaurants, shopping locations, bars, markets, etc. It's about 15-20 min. drive from my apartment. I can take the trolleybuses into the city too but the last one out is 6:30pm. Everything here is a lot cheaper than in Vancouver so hopefully I can save some money. I've been eating out a lot because it's so cheap, such as a large bowl of noodles would only cost $1/$2 here and about $12 in Vancouver.

I've been teaching for about 2.5 weeks now. I am teaching only Planning 10 on the boys campus. I really enjoy it. The boys are very sweet. Some of them even help me carry my stuff to my classroom or office, they are gentlemen's. The boys understand my humour. They always call me teacher and they say good bye teacher every single day. Most of them work very hard in class; however, I have a few sleepers. I did not know that some students can fall asleep while writing an exam. I hope I can make a connection and a difference in my students. We have house events on each campus to encourage school spirit and participation. GO BLUE TEAM GO!

I have met many great friends and colleagues here. I will try and blog more often. In the meantime, if you have facebook, a lot of my pictures and updates are on there. I am heading into Dalian City sometime this weekend to do some exploring!