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Published: August 24th 2009
The flights were long and sleepless. My flight to Shanghai was delayed an hour, and after little sleep and much fidgeting I arrived in Shanghai needing to go through customs, recollect my baggage, and then re-enter the security checkpoint to get my connecting flight to Dalian (the airline couldn't pass my luggage through to Dalian, either because they are lazy or because Dalian has no customs officers). I rushed through all of this to find I had two hours to spare, and then my flight to Dalian got delayed another two hours, one and a half of them while we were sitting in the cabin waiting to take off. I did manage to get a two-hour nap in the Shanghai airport stretched out on a three-person bench, which must have been either amusing or irritating for all the Chinese people waiting for their flights.
But I finally arrived in Dalian, and one of the school's managers was waiting for me, a chipper 30-something American-asian woman named Sarah. We drove the 30 minutes out of Dalian proper to Kaifaqu, where I will be living and working. She told me Kaifaqu is a suburb, but it has more skyscrapers than Denver or
Boston. They dropped me off at my amazingly beautiful and Westernized apartment (complete with sit-down toilet!), completely furnished and stocked with a complimentary booklet of bootleg DVDs. I posted some pictures of it here. I took a quick shower and then we were off to the grocery store, where my incredibly energetic boss and co-owner of the school, Freddy, led me around pointing out good brands of frozen dumplings (Jackie Chan we can trust, but not the Ping-Pong star), and the extensive selection of Pringles flavors (I chose "Aromatic Crispy Chicken", although "Seaweed" was beckoning me). He then took me hurtling in a cab to a restaurant nearby my apartment, where we both ordered by pointing at pictures. He's half-Chinese and has been living in Dalian for almost two years, and barely speaks Chinese. But his is better than my depressingly choppy attempt at the tongue. I hope it comes back soon.
So now here I am in my apartment, full and very sleepy. I have to get up early tomorrow to go register with the local police. But I am very excited about living here, and about my job at this school. The people seem very motivated and
helpful so far. China is everything I remembered it to be.
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The
non-member comment
Herro!
Well ted, it looks like you've gotten into some shit now. Unlike you, I have to register with the college bursar today, not the local police (that comes after my DUI ticket goes through). Sounds like you're going to have a great time though. And next time, may I suggest 'spicy seafood flavor' pringles?