We're in China!

Well, we’re here and mostly settled in. The flight from Victoria to Vancouver was a bit anti-climactic. Loading 6 suitcases plus carry-on bags into the van, driving to the airport finding two carts to shift the stuff to the check -in desk is a lot of work for a 15 minute flight. Then we had to pick up the bags and repeat the process in Vancouver because the Air Canada flight isn’t a connection to the Japan Air Flight. But at least our passports and visas were waiting for us there. Now that the Olympics are over the visa process should return to normal making these things a little less exciting. We were wondering what would happen if they had been delayed!

The flight to Japan was just over 9 hours. With 60 teachers, some spouses and an assortment of children in the group there was lots to talk about: where we were all from, where we were going, what to expect in terms of accommodation, markets, travel etc. A small group of us were standing at the back of the plane during a stretch break. It was a bit embarrassing when a flight attendant had to ask us to be a little quieter. I guess we were having too much fun! Just about the only land we saw during the flight was a bit of Alaska.

Landing in Tokyo for an overnight stay required a new set of line-ups for customs etc but the lines did go fairly quickly and there was still a lot of enthusiasm in the group; it was Tuesday midnight to our bodies and but Wednesday afternoon on the clock. The hotel Japan Air books you into is very nice and a short airport bus ride. The only distraction was the number of times you have to line up: customs, airport check in, airport subway, airport bus, hotel check in, then reverse it all the next day. The best part was not having to pick up the 6 suitcases. JAL holds them at the airport for the next day’s flight. This works well if you remembered to pack everything you needed in your carry-on. Dianne (of course) remembered all her stuff but I could have used a few more clothes. I hadn’t expected the heat and humidity we experienced while waiting in the airports.

The flight to Dalian, China was a lot shorter. We had a fairly clear day and saw some interesting sights flying over Korea. When we all collected our luggage and finally gathered outside the airport it was quite a sight to see how much luggage had to be transported to the school. The school brings a fairly good sized truck and it was more than full when it left. The school bus had some bags in the aisles as well as a few teachers. Luckily buses in Asia often have fold-out seats in the aisle that take up the overflow. We have used this feature more than once in the short time we have been here.

When the bus pulled up at the school, there were all the bags lined up outside the apartments. The room assignments were made in fairly short order with just a few last minute adjustments. All the bags were hauled to the rooms and the unpacking began. We were bussed us to a local restaurant where a meal had been pre-ordered. We were all getting fairly tired and not having to worry about anything (other than just what was in that dish?) was really nice. We went to bed early. During the night were we wakened by a heavy downpour. The main topic of discussion the next morning was what we would have done had the rain hit while we were carting the luggage from the airport to the apartments!

The next few days were a blur of trying to figure out where to find everything. Food stores, apartment supplies, how to get utilities hooked up, etc. Power is a challenge because there appear to be three kinds of plugs. Trips to the well equipped markets resulted in a series of power bars which allow us to plug in all our western electronics. The challenge became how to deal with the length of the power cord on these bars. They invariably seem to be too long or too short. Murphy also lives in China! The most interesting one was the bathroom. One plug 6 feet off the floor on one side of the room and the hot water tank 6 feet off the ground on the other side of the room, just over 5 feet away. But the power cord on the tank is only 4.5 feet long so even stretched out horizontally across the room it won’t reach. So a power bar with a long cord in installed to reach around the room and the problem solved. An additional benefit is Dianne now has another outlet for her hair dryer.

The school is quite a ways out of Dalian proper but there is a place named Kaifaqu (kai fat chew or Economic Development) which is part of Dalian (but only has about a million people) which is on the Qing Gui (Ching way) or light rail transit. The station is a 10 minute walk and the ride is about 20 minutes. The local “town” is Manjiatan and it has sights and sounds a little different from most places in Canada. But they have a store where you can buy almost anything you want (if you can figure out the labels) and on the weekend they have an outdoor “farmers market” where you can buy all sorts of food - including things you would not normally see in Canada. With many hand gestures, we bought a variety of fruits and vegetables. There is no shortage of fresh sea food. I wouldn’t even guess at what some of it is. This is when I realize I am a prairie boy.

We have started our professional development days, the ones for new teachers. Tuesday (was it just a week ago we left?) we go into full ProD mode including the returning teachers. The kids start next week! Yikes!

Off to medical exams - a requirement for all of us! But a final comment about "my" blog. Dianne has told me it is "our" blog. The text, spelling and typing mistakes are mine and the photos are hers. She will try her hand at the writing when she gets the timetable sorted out and teachers assigned to the various classes. Some things never change.

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