Not sure if this will work, since I have to email my blog posts from my email system. But here goes!
I had the pleasure of sitting next to a friendly older gent and retired psychologist from Comox (via Amsterdam via Indonesia) who was on his way to Indonesia for the first time since he left for Holland as a child (before coming to Canada in his 20s). Talking to him made the flight zip by, in combination with watching 3 movies on the way over. I had to leave the Victoria bus station at 5:30am that morning, so it made for a long trip to Vancouver before heading over the Pacific.
The time in Tokyo was fairly short-lived. I landed around 2:30 on Thursday afternoon and caught a bus to my hotel a few minutes away. The rest of the day was spent at the hotel trying to understand what was happening on the nutty Japanese game shows that were featured on the local TV stations, along with showering and attempting to stay awake as long as possible to prevent the impending jet lag. It didn't work out as well as intended. After a shower and a massive (and expensive) but delicious sashimi dinner, I sampled to local hop-flavoured water and was out like a light by about 7pm.
The clouds set in the next morning as I ate a huge buffet breakfast at my hotel before flying out to Dalian. The plane was pretty empty, but it was nice to be able to stretch out and watch another movie on the way to China. About the time we were flying over South Korea, the clouds seemed to part and the Pacific was shining clear below me. You could see the extensive shipping barges below and the green hills around Seoul. Within the hour, I caught a glimpse of the shoreline that would soon be home.
I knew that Dalian was a coastal city, but I guess I wasn't sure what to expect. The little I knew about NE China didn't really provide me with a sense of what I was in for. But as the plane dropped it's altitude in preparation for landing, I was stunned by the beautiful countryside and what seemed to be quite modern apartments/condos surrounding the airport.
After getting through customs, I was met by a small contingent from the school I'm teaching at. However, it wasn't what I was expecting. Since it's a national Chinese holiday, none of the actual teachers from the school were available to come pick me up, so I was escorted to the school two men who worked at the school in different capacities (neither of whom spoke English) and a grade 9 student who was being used as a translator. Doris, the friendly middle schooler, was one of about 23 kids out of the 1100 that didn't make it home for holidays, and since all the other teachers were gone, I'm pretty sure they dragged her out to the airport to be my language guide.
My friend Mandy (her husband Darren and I did our teaching practicums together in K-town) was also at the airport briefly to meet up with me, hand me a cell phone stocked with minutes and a charger so that her and Darren could call me once he finished classes. Hopping into the car, I was taken through the chaotic streets of Dalian through to the middle school I'll be teaching at. It's amazing how modernity is immediately contrasted by poverty, and how order is mashed together with chaos. There are thousands of people around, and the drivers zip in and out of lanes, brushing by jay-walkers everywhere. The amount of honking is tremendous, but I was really impressed at how clean and modern everything looked here. After being dropped off at the school in my new apartment, I was shocked at two things: the fantastic view of the ocean and hills around Daheishi (the area of Dalian I'm in), and the huge size of my new place! It's probably twice the size of my apartment in Victoria and the view in unbeatable. The main drawback was the lack of people around. Since it's a national holiday, our school is out until next Thursday, so there was no one really around to help me get settled.
Luckily for me, Darren and Mandy came to my rescue shortly thereafter. Since Friday afternoon, I've been staying with them in Kaifaqu, which is a suburb of Dalian where a number of the Jinshitan teachers work (Jinshitan is the BC high school campus Darren and Mandy work at, and is the school I hope to get a job at sometime this year).
I'll tell more stories about my weekend soon, but I can't help but know that I would've been in a world of trouble and confusion if I didn't have D&M around to give me a crash course on Chinese living. I have a tonne to learn, and I know I need to work hard on my Mandarin in the next few months if I'm going to survive my time here. But, so far so good! Oh... and the food has been fantastic!
Just a quick sidenote... I'll have little or no access to Facebook while I'm China (commonly blocked unless I'm visiting with D&M, who can access it through a web portal), so if you'd like to get a hold of me you'll have to email me or get me on Skype. Until again. Ni Hao.
T
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