Many happy returns to China

The first two and a half months back in China have been fast-paced but fairly decent if I examine the experience holistically. It was a little dull for the first few weeks back, considering a large number of my close friends chose not to renew their contracts from last year, but those of us remaining quickly formed new bonds and there have been some good times had by all of us now. The school itself is causing some headaches among staff and students alike. As of this year, the new school across the street opened and became the girls' campus, while the school from last year is strictly boys. This has brought on a variety of predicaments and annoyances. First, the office where I spent a great deal of time is in the oldest building on the old campus. This means we get plywood desks, dirty bathrooms, and freezing cold spaces. The one good thing is that I love my classroom. We have a view out the window of the still-standing trees in the (likely to soon be bulldozed) lot next to the school, and it is quite spacious in comparison to the other classrooms in that building. The split also means that all clubs are gender-divided, as well. This makes it difficult for me to offer the German Club I promised last-year's students of both sexes. The last and most recent frustration came in the form of a cancelled halloween dance; two days before it was set to go, the Chinese owner of Maple Leaf shut it down. Hours of hard work on behalf of both staff and students went to waste. The boys were particularly crestfallen, and morale has plummeted. All of this has made me reconsider staying next year, but for the sake of my finances (and my students), I've decided to stay on a third year instead of looking for a new school quite yet. I'm probably overly-optimistic when I say I think things will get better from here.

Aside from school, things have been busy. For the week-long break in September, I flew down to Shenzen, which is near to the border of Hong Kong. I met a former Maple Leaf coworker and her boyfriend there, and we took the ferry to Hong Kong, explored a market in Shenzen, and ate well. Hong Kong was fascinating. I went there partially as a way to decide if I would want to live there (there are a handful of good international schools, including one exclusive Canadian international school I doubt I could be hired with). The restaurants made me happy (The Flying Pan was a personal favourite), the people were well-dressed, and everyone, absolutely everyone, spoke English. The grocery stores were clean, fancy, and stocked with every imaginable thing. It felt like I had been transported back to North America, and, in fact, the experience of being there left me a bit homesick. I loved the atmosphere there, but I think the congestion of both buildings and traffic would get to me after a bit. I left Hong Kong ambivalent about living there.

Returning to Dalian, we celebrated Thanksgiving with a delicious take-out turkey (a local restaurant, Eddie's, caters to expats), wine, and good friends. A few days later, I celebrated my 29th birthday with an Indian dinner at a local hotel. The next day, about 40 minutes before school ended (with permission of the admin, of course), four of my close girlfriends and I flew down to Shanghai for the weekend to celebrate our birthdays. The admin wished us well, dubbing us "the Shanghai Five" (three of whom are department heads, are department heads and therefore received special treatment--kidding), and watched us drive off for the airport. We arrived at our "hostel" at 10pm. This place was more like a 3 star hotel. We had two rooms with three beds and ensuite washrooms with funky, modern appliances, TVs, phones, and an option for room service, all for $10/night each. We went for a drink and some food, then went to sleep early, knowing we would be off and shopping the entire next day. The next day, shopping is exactly what we did. We hit up the area around People's Square, went for lunch at the delicious n' healthy "Element Fresh" chain, then shopped in the French Concession area for hours. We headed back to the "hostel" to get ready for the night, and around 8.30pm went for dinner at a great Latin restaurant called Azul Viva (maybe. I might have gotten that a little wrong). From Azur we went on the hunt for a good dancing locale, and, after finding several that didn't suite us (one filled with literal teenagers who were in braces and whose voices hadn't changed; one you absolutely had to have paid for a reservation or you wouldn't get in; one filled with people swaying with lighters), we hit the motherload and found a fun pub/club combo in a huge old house that had dance floors downstairs, upstairs, and outside. We befriended a group of Chileans and Spaniards and danced until 4 in the morning. Birthday celebrations complete, the Shanghai Five headed back to Dalian a little worse for the wear.

So completes the first two and a half months. Next weekend is our staff halloween party (I'm going as Miffy--the Children's book rabbit--and my friend is going as Hello Kitty), but after that, we have a long stretch of 10 weeks before term two is over and our winter holiday begins. I'm heading to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam this holiday, this year on my own. I have plans to dive the coast of Cambodia (there are a few live-aboards that are supposed to take you out to decent spots) and some of Vietnam, so that should keep me busy and not too lonely. I'm not sure if I'll update again before the end of the 5-week break, so if not, rest assured I'm busy teaching, planning, marking, and dreaming of my next holiday! Life is tough.

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