Remembering a good rest...Dawukou

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Taking a break…

Have you ever found yourself needing a vacation from your vacation? You find yourself on holiday and after visiting relatives or the sites you are just ready to go back home and you're ready to give your welcome mat a bear hug. My time here in Dawukou has been great- I would not change it for anything. In a week thought, I will be going off to Nanjing and then Shanghai. This trip is my holiday during my vacation.

This past week my birthday was on Wed and even that day was full of excitement, and gifts consisting of three pair of gloves, three scarves and many meals. On the morning of my birthday I had an American breakfast with my friends which consisted of Austrian Apple something; it was "Hao Chir" (Good Eat). They then gave me their gift which was a DVD player. This is because I am regularly inviting people over to watch a movie with me and there was only one DVD player for the 5 of us. I wasted no time in hooking it up and watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. That afternoon my Little Brother came over and we broke even playing chess and Uno.
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I will say that at this point my birthday parties are not very big. This is because January is in the middle of winter and not many people go out during winter. This changed here in China for the better and at least for this one night as 25 people came over to the party I threw. Peanuts anyone? The biggest present, besides passing my first Chinese language test, was the people coming over to my home. The second biggest was playing with fireworks with my little brother (and my cop friend). The only regret I have is…..nope…no regrets.
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The next day my students at my newest classroom sang happy birthday to me and finished off my cake. In China the cakes are HUGE and very sweet and are guaranteed to give a three day sugar high. One of my students also took me out for lunch to a dumplings restaurant. Dumplings in China are allot like popcorn- you cannot eat just one- and they fill you up quite quickly. That afternoon my little brother came over for more chess games and fireworks. These ones were loud enough to be heard throughout my apartment complex I think. I told my little brother that on my last day here in Dawukou we will fire off a few more, however, we'd have to do it in the mountains. While the park that has been the focus of two newsletters looks ugly right now, it would be a shame to set it in flames, although it would make for a great newsletter… Sorry, perish the thought, just not the park.
On Friday the birthday celebration continued with more food and a badminton game. The food was great at dinner time. However, then it was off to a game I love but have not played in 10 years. While the language barrier was great, simply hitting the birdie across the net was fun. Once I am back from Shanghai my new friend, the Cop, and I will be playing once a week. Provided my arm does not fall off.
The week of my birthday ended yesterday (Saturday) for me. My boss took me and my fellow teachers out for dinner. While I was heartbroken that they did not have green-beans and garlic, the meal was great nonetheless. And now I have another cake to finish off-yeah!
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To the reader: I hope that you have enjoyed these newsletters. While I am on vacation I will be taking a slight break from these. Look for the next newsletter late February!

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