http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Liaoning , Dalian en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:23:05 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:23:05 +0000 Been a long time shouldn'ta left youwithout a witty and insightful blog post to step toPart One Medieval StorksOne of my coworkers James is a 50somethingyearold man who is currently starting his fourth or fifth life here in China. He works at the downtown school so I don't see him that often but he's definitely a trip. He's been here in Dalian for about two years and he has a Chinese wife http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Kaifaqu/blog-463448.html We have not disappeared since our last blog which described our Yangtze River cruise at the end of September. We just haven't been anywhere but have been busy. On several weekends we take the QingGui down to Dalian and wander around seeing the sights visiting markets and attending Church. Since I am not burdened with a job I get to scout out many locations so we can find things on our trips toget http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Jinshitan/blog-459253.html As I'm sure most of you folks back home are aware Thanksgiving was last week. Here in China obviously it's not much of a holiday but those of us teaching English to Chinese kids did our best to make it one.For us Thursday is a work day but thanks to the tireless organizing efforts of our resident Holiday Coordinator teacher by day my own term we had a Thanksgiving feast nonetheless. The http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Kaifaqu/blog-458488.html We joined the biker crowd in October. Who would have thought that this would have been our mode of transportation in China Many of the locals and quite a few of the teaching staff have bikes which really opens up your world. We have seen so much already that we never would have been able to on foot or by train. It is quite the sight for see us on the road white haired Rick driving along wit http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Jinshitan/blog-453108.html Yet again it's been a while since I've written anything. Don't worry loved ones I'm not dead yet. I'm sorry to keep you from tales of my exploits but you should take my delay to mean that I am growing more and more accustomed to everyday life here so much so that I don't find many things significant enough to write home about. Or that I'm too busy to think about writing. Or that I'm just lazy http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Kaifaqu/blog-451168.html Our latest trip was only a weekend adventure but it is amazing how much you can fit in to a couple of days. Fairy is the Chinese wife of a B.C. teacher. She runs a small shop with a variety of services travel guide massages trinkets as well as funding several charities in the region. She is quite an amazing woman. We signed up for a trip with her in october which turned out to be much more t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-448919.html I've been busy lately but as opposed to the first month of utter chaos I have managed to develop a daily schedule. I wake up and run in the morning which due to the increasingly chilly weather has caused me to catch a cold. I have tutoring three days a week with a softspoken and very studious Chinese college student majoring in English. In my spare time I hang out at the local university baske http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Kaifaqu/blog-446961.html Day 5 the final day of the trip saw us leave the boat after breakfast with our Chong Qing guide Jeff. He took us to a few places in the city and then to the airport It was a bit disappointing because we should have checked out a few places that we wanted to see rather than leaving it last minute to him. We were exhausted by the time we returned to Jinshitan about 7 that night. Great trip http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Jinshitan/blog-441689.html Day 4 The excursion today is the the city of Feng Du city of the dead. Ancient Chinese belief is that when a person dies they automatically go to hell but there is a special way to get out of hell and into paradise. First the body stays in the house for 7 days in case they come alive again. At the end of 7 days the son must light a candle under the coffin .If there is no son too bad you http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Jinshitan/blog-441667.html Day 3 of our travelsTodays excursion is on a small tributary of the Yangtze Chang Jiang River called the Shennong stream. It is well known in China for the 'trekkers'. Because the water level in the stream was very low the men would often have to get out and pull the boats for long distances this ws the only method of transporting goods to the people who lived here. Now because of the flood http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Jinshitan/blog-441652.html Day one Our cruise down the Yangtze River was amazing. We started out on Monday morning 540 a.m. to catch a flight from Dalian to Wuhan about a 2 hour flight. There we were met by a guide who took the 4 of us Gail Rick Peter and Dianne by a small bus to the city of Yi Chang about a 4 hour trip. The ride went by quickly watching the small farms with water buffalo ducks fishing ponds lo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Jinshitan/blog-441500.html After 25 hours of Dandong I went to the second place of interest of this weekend trip. The bus arrived around four in the afternoon in Dalian and again by leaving the bus there were touts waiting to sell me a room. This saved me a lot of time looking for it myself and the final price was lower than the lowest price stated in the LP. When we took the elevator and saw the guy pressing number 28 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/blog-440052.html One of the great pleasures of our second year is running into students from last year that are now in Grade 10. They seem genuinely happy to see us and they seem to find it amusing that I am staying home to cook clean and whatever. We were out for a walk one evening and ran into one of my students returning from Majiatan with the telltale white plastic grocery bag. ldquoI hope that isnrsquot http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Jinshitan/blog-437290.html Part One WestThis week was a big one for celebration here in Dalian. In addition to Freddy's birthday this Sunday my roommate Tim had a birthday on Wednesday which he happens to share with the G.M. of the Goodyear plant over here. So we went down to an expat bar in the city called Brooklyn owned by a ChineseAmerican who can actually speak Chinese my boss knows enough to get around probably http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Kaifaqu/blog-435701.html Our day with our neighbour Thomas was especially great Having not seen anything of the area other than a short walking distance away we were thrilled when he offered to tour us around the local countryside. Thomas a native Calgarian resident of Vancouver and married for 30 years to a Chinese woman has spent many of his married years in China teaching and visiting inlaws so has a wealth http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/blog-435107.html Chinese food appallingly familiar to most Americans is a very different beast in its home country. Learning how to order food was always the slowest of my grudgingly accelerating language skills when I was in Beijing mainly because all the restaurants we went to had pictures on the menu. Since I've been back I've been trying to learn the names of some of my favorite common foods. Eggplant here http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-433797.html Life here continues to be actionpacked. My boss Freddy has the energy of a preschooler which might explain why he works in a school he is constantly bouncing around talking at 300 miles an hour calling every 15 minutes to see if I need anything do I want to get breakfast how is my A.C working will I be in school tomorrow am I still alive and able to teach for him. Consequently my work e http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-432609.html These last few days have been actionpacked. They have me jumping right in at the school. This week I have been shadowing teachers in classes taking notes on how to manage a room full of 4yearolds and helping out when necessarypossible. These little Chinese kids are as cute as I remember them. Classes are 90 minutes long with a 10 minute break. The kids seem to be amazingly proficient with th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-431590.html Wersquore back in China for a rest from our busy time in Canada. 43 nights in Canada 15 different beds. I had hoped to get caught up on my blogging this summer but it appears summer has caught up to me. We managed to see many relatives and friends during this hurried visit but didnrsquot get to see everyone we wanted to. Maybe in the Winter Holiday. Our priority was to spend time with the gr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-431266.html Due to my diligent practice of staying up til 5 AM back in the States I am quickly defeating my jetlag. Last night I slept from 10 to 7 pretty normal. Because China has only one time zone which is exactly 12 hours ahead of EST for those who are keeping track the sun rises here very early and anyone who knows me knows that the sun is my mortal enemy when it comes to sleeping in. My neighbor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Liaoning/Dalian/Dalian/blog-431049.html