Blogs from Dalian, Dalian, Liaoning, China, Asia

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 ... read more

I admit it--I've been slack. Almost 8 months slack. I apologize (to you family members and friends who keep asking me where my blog is)--I'm sorry! Things got pretty crazy. But here's an entry just for you, probably my last one from China. 1. CHINA: I'll start with the beginning of the year: it was absolute chaos. We have a whole new system in place this year (we changed from a linear to a semester program), we had new policies in place, and we had an extra class to teach, and bigger classes. September to November are pretty much a blur; the only thing I really remember is going to Shanghai with my friend Jessica for the week break, and having my first-ever surprise party for my 30th birthday. Everyone was very burnt out by November, ... read more

well a few nights ago me and my german girl walked to get dinner. it was a really nice night, and we were walking on the beach. then she had to stop by an atm, where we saw this woman with her little dog. they were both wearing strips, so we had to get a picture of them! haha! after that we went to youhome to find green friendly product labels. it was hilarious! the workers in the store had no idea what we were doing, and they didn't know enough english to ask. we got some strange looks, but she got here homework done. i also found a box of condoms that read" medicated for long love making. she took a picture of it haha i also recently made a trip to the forest zoo, ... read more

so the majority of my xi'an pics are on my dad's laptop, so i will post them as soon as i can. the xi'an pics i have in here are of the last day we were there. out hotel room was insanely awesome. it was probably the best hotel i have ever stayed in. on the last day there we went shopping, visited a very old mosque and ate delicious food. it was a fantastic trip! since i have been back, one of dad's amazing coworkers showed me and ze german around another part of this city. we ate donkey, shopped and had Japanese food for dinner. then i hung out at the tea shop till two of the girls got home, they taught me a fun card game. i have been keeping up on my ... read more

so the other night i went out partying with some Germans, Chinese and Australians. it was a fun time. we got really cheap bottle service, and danced. in china you can literally drink and smoke everywhere: street, bus, train, taxi, bars, ect. i love china! there was free coat check in every bar, and the drinks were insanely cheap. i don't think i will go out partying here again, but it was an experience. the next day me and one of the germans went hiking. we weren't feeling very well, but we hiked for about 3 hours. it was a very beautiful day to hike, and the scenery was really neat. we hiked through some mountains to the ocean. some locals took a picture with us and about 8 random locals said "hello", haha. we stopped ... read more