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!