After an often unbearable winter, the blossoms are out, and warm winds invite seaside bbqs and evenings outside with good friends. The last four months have been whirlwind, counting down the time until my next movements, yet enjoying the way of life here, and the people I spend this time with.
Work is the same, easy and unchanging. The students love me and classes are generally fun and entertaining. It does frustrate me that after nearly a year and some of the other teachers and staff have never even tried to have a conversation with me. They are afraid of speaking English in an English school. This is China, they study the language at University for years, but very few ever want to actually use it.
University papers for me are a tremendous headache, in that my brain feels worked to the max. I wake up thinking of these syntactic brainteasers that I have for my current assignment, and the last two months was spent in agony of trying to figure out how to get phonetic script on my word doc. For a not so computer savvy person, but one with brain enough to figure anything out, I spent months with this issue driving me up the wall. After sending my final assignment in five different ways, I land an A-, not bad.
Social life and Dalian is awesome. I spend time with good friends out to dinner and lunch, and there's always blurry memories of open mic nights at Pandorra. Often meals turns into a weekly event and people join until giant tables of merry expats enjoy lush food. I am the co-founder of an Informal group of food enthusiasts 'the eating in Dalian club', where we developed a motto; 'food is good, eating is nice.' Last night we did the first 'beach' bbq of the summer, with about 30 people attending, it was super, and we even made a small bonfire when darkness settled. Soon after the blaze took hold we were chased away by the beach officials. Some favorite spots here in Dalian if you ever visit, make your way to Unome for huge salads YUM and Brooklyn for a hearty meal, the best thickshakes EVER and a well stocked bar, Calvin and Niko will help you out with whatever. We all love massive nights at Niko Japanese all you can eat for around 35nzd, that includes beer and sake, and it is TOP quality!
To finish off this well delayed entry in my log of travel stories, I will say the most recent highlight would be the trip to Shanghai. 5 days with Jenia, a Russian beauty. Twas her birthday so we planned lots, and went with the flow as plans changed due to surprises of other friends showing up. I managed to make new friends on a massive night out, and nights after that, See old friends who worked the cheek and stomach muscles laughing so much, And have a ball with current friends, making it just the perfect few days away from work and Dalian. We also ate a crazy amount of tasty food there!
And so with travel plans brewing on the horizon, and dates settled for my return to nz in October, my feet are twitchy and my brain is buzzing with anticipation. These last months will be grand, the following months will be another adventure. The homecoming will be the best prize of all!
