Another weekend was spent in Kaifaqu and the focus seemed to revolve around food and a bit of shopping. I made the two hour public transit commute over to Kaifaqu on Friday night to hang out with some of the h.s. teachers for some food and beverage and a night full of playing Crokinole, Euchre, and watching the newest episodes of The Office. It's a show I never watched or appreciated while back in Canada, but one that I've definitely come to embrace (in all it's awkward glory) over the past few weeks. That night we ordered in some local cuisine to Damon and Shannon's place (good friends of Darren's and now of mine) and was really tasty... some spicy sichuan dishes along with some great chow mein and other entrees spread across a table. I can't remember what the name of the fried sweet and sour pork dish is called, but I'll let you know when I remember. Sooooo good.
Saturday was dedicated to running errands and finding some important sundries... a badminton racket so I'm prepared to play the Grade 9 boys this week (I ended up with two in a package for less than $10 Can), a new scarf (mine is pretty itchy on the neck and slightly bulky), and some foodstuffs to bring back for cooking this week. Saturday night I hooked up with some new friends from the high school (they all know D&M but aren't super close with them) who I met on Halloween and have become friendly with the past few weekends, and we hit up a local hotel for some delicious Indian food... again, SOOOO good. Even though they had absolutely no vegetable dishes available (why, you may ask? I don't have the slightest clue. T.I.C.), the butter chicken, spicy pakora and Tikka Masala was well worth the lack of vegetation. There were six of us there and we had a really good time watching strange Asian track championships on the tv and sharing battle stories from the week of teaching. It's also been good to meet some new people so I'm not overwhelming D&M with my weekly visits!
Sunday was a lot quieter and consisted of reading, a nice (though cold) walk up to the UFO hill (I'll explain another day), a bit of prep work and a bit of food. I caught the student bus back in the afternoon and relaxed in the evening. It's not so much fun to be outside when the wind is howling and the air temp is already -5. And so another week has begun! I'm thinking of staying here in Daheishi over the weekend this coming week and exploring the metropolis of Dalian on my own a bit on Saturday. I'd like to check out some stores, start looking at cameras, and maybe take a browse through Ikea. I need some lamps and a space heater so they're at the top of my list along with the camera. And since I haven't explored barely any of this city of 6 million, I figure it's probably about time. With my new scarf on, I'm feeling brave I guess! The teacher-boys from the high school are heading out on another hockey trip, this time to Jilin (in the NE closer to N. Korea), but I think I want to focus on sightseeing rather than spending my time in a cold rink for a weekend. Don't get me wrong... the last trip was fun. But I'm here to explore life and culture and all the strange things China has to offer. I'll learn to skate when I get back to Canada!
For now, though, my feet are freezing and I need to turn in. Most of you back home might just be rising (as it's nearly 10pm here and about 6am or 7am back in western Canada), so I hope you find more warmth than I've been experiencing lately. Who keeps windows and doors open in an unheated building in winter??? Oh yeah... the Chinese do. Like I said... This Is China.
T
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