Xinghai Park and Trains

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Yesterday Cat and I met for lunch at Sandy and Sunny's place. We had some peanuts and grapes for a snack while Sunny cooked us some food - including some great clams. Then we walked to Zhongshan Square and then met Russell in Xinghai Park. We were going to take a hike but just ended up taking a walk behind the Dalian Seashell Museum. We then went to meet Wayne and yet another of his girls at a fancy jaod-zi place. It looked like the inside of a temple and had a lot of Russians (generally meaning it's expensive). Later we got to go to Morgan's again. I then went home and packed.

Unfortunately, my alarm didn't go off again and I woke up at 8amto throw my stuff together and run to meet Cat and Craig to take a taxi to the train station. We said good-bye and were literally pushed along with a large number of people through a door where we quickly showed our tickets and jumped onto the train. I really like the train. The seats are similar to those in an old British train. The scenery from Dalian to Shenyang is a cross between the midwestern fields of Ohio and Indiana and the small mountains one can see in Santa Fe (except it is very green). Every now and then you'll pass through a "small town" about the size of Carrboro or Chapel Hill and it looks very modern. Cat brought some baod-zi for the trip and after a little while started talking to a nice barbershop man (32 years old) who we're going to meet when we go back to Dalian. He doesn't know much English at all but is very patient and really nice and lives close to where I live. I have learned much from him and will learn more when we meet. Now we are talking to some people in English, we have about an hour left before we get to Shenyang.

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