Off to Dalian!

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We got up early to leave for the airport to meet the others and get our connection to Dalian. Caleb and I grabbed a drink and a Danish and used the hotel wireless to check our emails, we are important men afterall!

We checked out and took the shuttle to the airport where we met Hongbo and Ing who are Chinese national post-grad students from Durham who will be making sure nothing happens to us! We went through security where I had a dedorant, that i had thought i had left on the plane, confiscated, that could be an issue seeing how much I sweat and the fact that the Chinese dont really sell it!

Flight was delayed so it gave us some time to chat and myself, matt and max to grab some beers seeing as it was Matts birthday! We even had an indepth chat about wuthering heights deciding that its all about ghosts.... Also Katy bought some weird grape juice with jelly in it and didnt like it, luckily I was there to help out and i think I am now addicted.

Most people managed to grab some shut eye on the plane and then we arrived at Dalian, where we were met by some students and taken to Dalian University of Technology, DUT, our home for the next three weeks!!

We completed some paperwork and then headed for dinner still sweaty from the flight, something I would learn to be acustumed to here as I am always sweaty or sticky from suncream/bug spray! We were taken to some back room of a restaurant and treated to a spread of food served in traditional Chinese style on a around table with a turning centre so everyone can share, something that is totally alien for a bunch of Brits!

The meal was fantastic and we had a few beers as well. When we finished we went to a nearby shop and boughts some beers for 45 RMB for a crate of 12 x 600ml bottles! That works out at around 40p a beer... We also picked up some weird Korean alcohol that was 13 RMB for a 350ml bottle with alc. content of 20.1%, it was Matts birthday afterall.

We had a nice welcoming party in mine and Matts room which would be the first of many sweaty, drunkern nights! We also got to meet a group of swedes, two other english guys and a belgium all also on our course. Eventually we went to bed (which was more like a table than a bed!) anticpating the early start....

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