Saturday, September 23, 2006
Pictures That Mark the Hike
Down the meandering steps and through the forest, we are led out by a Chinese friend who adopted us at the beginning of the trail.Up and down and the climb gets arduous.
The vistas are spectacular.
The tallest spire is our up destination.
The Buddist temple in a stone cave.
The hike begins.
Hiking Da Hei Shan
What a glorious day it has been. Leslie, Evan, Becky and I met Tony at the hotel this morning to go on a hike to Big, Black Mountain which we can see from the 12th floor of the hotel and several other places in the city. The mountain has been calling for several weekends and this weekend the stars aligned auspiciously and we were off.
Tony is a delightful young man who walked up to us in the Trust Mart supermarket and introduced himself. He has just graduated from university. He aspires to being an English translator and also teaching. He called Becky and Evan several times to get together and do things after school. Now, Tony is tutoring Evan in Mandarin and others may sign on with him too. He is very personable and interesting.
We took the number 5 bus to the end of the route and walked the rest of the way out of the city and down a country road. The road began to climb and soon we were at the beginning of a stone, stepped path that climbed and climbed and climbed. At the top of the steps is a series of buildings and entrances built in traditional Chinese fashion with intricate and elaborate roofs and rooflines and beautifully painted walls and gargoyles. The buildings were one after the other on up the hillside. At the very top was a Buddist temple built into a stone cave. Incredible and incredibly spiritual. I had carried stones up the mountain for Mary and Susanna and placed them on an altar. It became very clear to me that the day and the hike were dedicated to remembering these beautiful souls. They carried me on and up and on and up.
The hike got arduous and the vistas got to be more and more spectacular. And the hiking party grew. We started out as 5 hikers, picked up a Chinese gentleman who does the hike every Saturday and we were 6. Then we came across a mother and her son and a friend who were curious about us and so joined us and we were 9. Then we came across 8 students who joined us and we were 17! The Chinese are very friendly and very curious about Americans.
We had a simple fruit, bread and peanutbutter picnic high up on a cliff in a huge pagoda. After lunch we parted company from the students and the mother/son/friend trio and the 6 of us climbed down many many steps, stopping at yet another Buddist temple. The rest of the hike was down more steps that meandered through a steep ravine and forests of spectaular trees. Once down, we walked a long road back into the edge of town and strolled through neighborhoods of tall apartment buildings to the number 4 bus. There we parted company from the gentleman who had joined us on the road into the mountainside to hike and jumped onto the bus which dropped up us off one block from the hotel! Tired, sun dappled, calm and full of peace.
Tonight the school staff is going out to dinner to welcome Bill and Blanca who have just arrived from Peru via the southwest states. Bill is the science and math teacher for the middle school as well as the computer teacher. Blanca will be organizing the library. I told you that a lot of life revolves around eatings. We must introduce Bill and Blanca to life in Kai Fa Chu in a proper fashion.
Tony is a delightful young man who walked up to us in the Trust Mart supermarket and introduced himself. He has just graduated from university. He aspires to being an English translator and also teaching. He called Becky and Evan several times to get together and do things after school. Now, Tony is tutoring Evan in Mandarin and others may sign on with him too. He is very personable and interesting.
We took the number 5 bus to the end of the route and walked the rest of the way out of the city and down a country road. The road began to climb and soon we were at the beginning of a stone, stepped path that climbed and climbed and climbed. At the top of the steps is a series of buildings and entrances built in traditional Chinese fashion with intricate and elaborate roofs and rooflines and beautifully painted walls and gargoyles. The buildings were one after the other on up the hillside. At the very top was a Buddist temple built into a stone cave. Incredible and incredibly spiritual. I had carried stones up the mountain for Mary and Susanna and placed them on an altar. It became very clear to me that the day and the hike were dedicated to remembering these beautiful souls. They carried me on and up and on and up.
The hike got arduous and the vistas got to be more and more spectacular. And the hiking party grew. We started out as 5 hikers, picked up a Chinese gentleman who does the hike every Saturday and we were 6. Then we came across a mother and her son and a friend who were curious about us and so joined us and we were 9. Then we came across 8 students who joined us and we were 17! The Chinese are very friendly and very curious about Americans.
We had a simple fruit, bread and peanutbutter picnic high up on a cliff in a huge pagoda. After lunch we parted company from the students and the mother/son/friend trio and the 6 of us climbed down many many steps, stopping at yet another Buddist temple. The rest of the hike was down more steps that meandered through a steep ravine and forests of spectaular trees. Once down, we walked a long road back into the edge of town and strolled through neighborhoods of tall apartment buildings to the number 4 bus. There we parted company from the gentleman who had joined us on the road into the mountainside to hike and jumped onto the bus which dropped up us off one block from the hotel! Tired, sun dappled, calm and full of peace.
Tonight the school staff is going out to dinner to welcome Bill and Blanca who have just arrived from Peru via the southwest states. Bill is the science and math teacher for the middle school as well as the computer teacher. Blanca will be organizing the library. I told you that a lot of life revolves around eatings. We must introduce Bill and Blanca to life in Kai Fa Chu in a proper fashion.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Pictures to Capture the Day
I thinks he's got me.
Big Jellyfish
Zoom !Zoom
! Sidney and Friends
Tasy looking lunch and tempting to indulge in the chocolate fountains, but refrained. REALLY!
Adventuring in Dalian
Taking the light rail, Leslie and I went into Dalian today to find the antique mall near the Shangrila Hotel. After much walking and finally a taxi ride, we found the building and spent a couple of hours looking at goods in stalls on three floors. There was jade, pottery, calligraphy, furniture and knickknacks. Some of the goods were obviously reproductions and some may actually have been antiques. We heard a lot of Ming and Qing, but were dubious shoppers so only ended up buying little charms for our telephones. Perhap we'll go back another time with someone who is more in the know.
We then proceeded to have a tasty lunch in the cafe of the Shangrila.... la dee dah dah! Very tasty indeed and beautiful besides. Tony, a host at the cafe kindly helped us figure out how to get to Haizhiyun Square which is a beach area. We walked to a trolley car stop and hopped on the 203 after first inquiring if this 203 went to the end of the line. Pointing to the map and a questioning face yielded a firm no from the first 203 trolley that happened along. The next trolley driver nodded and beckoned us aboard and we were off. At the end of the line we found Haizhyun Square and the Sea Charm Park. Charming it was so we paid our fee and hiked on into the park. The park meandered along for many kilometers. We hiked to the end of that particular park area and then hopped a gas multipassenger tram back toward the entrance. The hightlight of the multiple hour hike was all of the sculptures! Enjoy pictures in the next entry!
So today's transportation consisted of light rail, walking, taxi, walking, trolley car, walking, gas powered tram car, walking, a three wheeled taxi, walking and light rail again. The total cost for transportation today on the 7 hour adventure was $10 split two ways. The most expensive transport was the gas tram car back toward the park gate. 40 yuan! Tai gula!!! (but it was pay or hike back and the feet said, "PAY" so we did). It was a glorious day and a glorious time was had by all ( two of us that is).
We then proceeded to have a tasty lunch in the cafe of the Shangrila.... la dee dah dah! Very tasty indeed and beautiful besides. Tony, a host at the cafe kindly helped us figure out how to get to Haizhiyun Square which is a beach area. We walked to a trolley car stop and hopped on the 203 after first inquiring if this 203 went to the end of the line. Pointing to the map and a questioning face yielded a firm no from the first 203 trolley that happened along. The next trolley driver nodded and beckoned us aboard and we were off. At the end of the line we found Haizhyun Square and the Sea Charm Park. Charming it was so we paid our fee and hiked on into the park. The park meandered along for many kilometers. We hiked to the end of that particular park area and then hopped a gas multipassenger tram back toward the entrance. The hightlight of the multiple hour hike was all of the sculptures! Enjoy pictures in the next entry!
So today's transportation consisted of light rail, walking, taxi, walking, trolley car, walking, gas powered tram car, walking, a three wheeled taxi, walking and light rail again. The total cost for transportation today on the 7 hour adventure was $10 split two ways. The most expensive transport was the gas tram car back toward the park gate. 40 yuan! Tai gula!!! (but it was pay or hike back and the feet said, "PAY" so we did). It was a glorious day and a glorious time was had by all ( two of us that is).
School Construction Site
Trees are transported for replanting.
Time for the construction debris to leave.
There is the job of getting the job done and the job of making sure the job gets done.Another Sunday Arrives
I do not know how it happened,but another Sunday has arrived. This was the first full week of school and the kids and I found ourselves very happy, but very tired by Friday! Had forgotten the stamina that it takes to make it through a busy day and week with children. Different stamina than traveling and sightseeing and riding camels and the such.
The evenings after school were very tame too. One evening shopping expedition yielded 2 pair of earrings and a bag full of fruit and yogurt for the mini fridge in the room. Dinner was a bowl of glass noodles, veggies and chicken at the food court on the top floor of the Trust Mart building. Not thrilling?( Must say that dinner was, for me)
Another evening found Leslie, Becky and me at a nail salon. We all three had manicures and pedicures. Still not thrilling? It gets better!
Yet another evening found the three of us at a restaurant across the street from the hotel enjoying a hot pot dinner.Thrilling for us and delicious too! A huge bowl of broth came to the center of the table. A cylinder full of hot coals in the center of the bowl kept the broth simmering. Yielding chopsticks, we proceeded to put noodles, leafy greens, and beef into the pot and anxiously wait for them to be done. A very pleasant hostess mixed us up a bowl of fish ball batter, very adeptly formed the fish balls with a small spoon and pretty soon the fishballs were simmering away in the pot. I think that customers usually form their own fishballs, but the staff took pity on us and helped out. We then proceeded to have a leisurely dinner fishing with chopsticks. There were several tasty garnishes and a sesame seed paste as a dip for the food. Have you figured out that eating figures largely into my days here?
So life seems to have settled into routine and the mundane on one hand and yet communicating and figuring things out keeps it all very adventurous and novel.
Saturday, Leslie and I went to the school and faculty building sites. The progress is staggering. They are slated to have the school building done by September 25th and I think they will actually accomplish that. The faculty building is another week or two behind that.
Spent the rest of the day doing a walk-about in the Dalian Development Area ( DDA or Kai Fa Chu to the locals) and then took the light rail into Dalian proper to go shopping with Brian at the Metro. It is a Costco type store. Scoped out all the "stuff" they have for when I set up the apartment at school and bought Grand Marnier, Glenfiddich, brie, instant coffee, and herbal teas. Very satisfying shop! Look forward to yet another trip into Dalian today to find out more about the city.
The evenings after school were very tame too. One evening shopping expedition yielded 2 pair of earrings and a bag full of fruit and yogurt for the mini fridge in the room. Dinner was a bowl of glass noodles, veggies and chicken at the food court on the top floor of the Trust Mart building. Not thrilling?( Must say that dinner was, for me)
Another evening found Leslie, Becky and me at a nail salon. We all three had manicures and pedicures. Still not thrilling? It gets better!
Yet another evening found the three of us at a restaurant across the street from the hotel enjoying a hot pot dinner.Thrilling for us and delicious too! A huge bowl of broth came to the center of the table. A cylinder full of hot coals in the center of the bowl kept the broth simmering. Yielding chopsticks, we proceeded to put noodles, leafy greens, and beef into the pot and anxiously wait for them to be done. A very pleasant hostess mixed us up a bowl of fish ball batter, very adeptly formed the fish balls with a small spoon and pretty soon the fishballs were simmering away in the pot. I think that customers usually form their own fishballs, but the staff took pity on us and helped out. We then proceeded to have a leisurely dinner fishing with chopsticks. There were several tasty garnishes and a sesame seed paste as a dip for the food. Have you figured out that eating figures largely into my days here?
So life seems to have settled into routine and the mundane on one hand and yet communicating and figuring things out keeps it all very adventurous and novel.
Saturday, Leslie and I went to the school and faculty building sites. The progress is staggering. They are slated to have the school building done by September 25th and I think they will actually accomplish that. The faculty building is another week or two behind that.
Spent the rest of the day doing a walk-about in the Dalian Development Area ( DDA or Kai Fa Chu to the locals) and then took the light rail into Dalian proper to go shopping with Brian at the Metro. It is a Costco type store. Scoped out all the "stuff" they have for when I set up the apartment at school and bought Grand Marnier, Glenfiddich, brie, instant coffee, and herbal teas. Very satisfying shop! Look forward to yet another trip into Dalian today to find out more about the city.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
The Second Sunday in Dalian
The second Sunday in Dalian, dawned bright and beautiful. Leslie, Becky and I took the light rail into downtown Dalian. It is about 27 kilometers away....about 6 light rail stations. We explored by foot near the station and then found our way to a bookstore that we had heard had books in English. Mistake... teachers loose in a bookstore!!!
Many hours later, we made our way back into the sunshine and found our way to Victory Square. We decided to look at the area from the central plaza... down a stairway and under the street... up into the square ( which is really a round). We were immediately met by a young boy speaking marvelous English. And then.......whoosh ,we were surrounded by young children, older children, young adults and adults!
We had stumbled into ENGLISH CORNER which is an every Sunday gathering of people who practice speaking English with each other! Native English speakers, all the better practice. The three of us spent the next hour and a half conversing with huge groups of people. Dare I say that it was AN ADVENTURE???? We were invited back for every Sunday, even in the winter. Bundle up, the natives say. I am thinking that there must be an English Corner in Kai Fa Chew ( the real name of the Dalian Development Area, where we currently live and teach).
Saturday Story in Pictures Continues
The farm fishing fleet is in at Golden Pebble Beach.
There are interesting sights and a fun park with funny buildings at Golden Pebble Beach.
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The school as seen from the light rail.
The faculty building ( and a design on the train window) as seen from the light rail.That Brings Me to Saturday!
After a leisurely morning, Leslie, Becky and I took the light rail out to Golden Pebble Beach. This beach is just 2 kilometers from where the school is being built. Do I dare say that it was another adventure? Perhaps the pictures that I post should speak for themselves.
The day ended with Becky and me going on a shopping and bargaining extravaganza at the New Mart around the corner from the hotel. We bought still more teaching materials. You know markers and colored pencils and a variety of paper. Things that THRILL teachers. Then the piece de la resistance.... we bargained for an iron. 100 yuan later ( $12 divided two ways) we were the proud dual owners of an iron. It feel quite sturdy! Have not put it to the test. Another day in paradise.
Friday Night Celebration
With two sucessful days under our belts, Audrey and Beatrice ( school investors from Hong Kong who were here to see the opening of the school and take care of a busy business agenda as well) treated us to another amazing meal in Dalian. They took us to a Brazilian restaurant where copious amounts of meat were served up at the table on huge skewers. The person with skewer sliced off pieces of meat. MANY, MANY kinds of meat.
Our director, Brian tries out the carving job. He will kill me for posting this picture!
Surely, I will weigh 500 pounds at this rate!!!
Another night of hilarity and staff comraderie. Eating is such a bonding experience.
The School Launches
Recess is a trek down this street to the square....we make quite a parade!
Thurday and Friday were busy school days. The days include P.E. at a local minority university, Mandarin class with Louisa, art class, music class and intensive English class. Oh yes, lunch is catered ( choose from a Western lunch or a DELICIOUS Chinese lunch... guess what the teachers eat). After lunch recess is 14 floors down and a long stroll down into the square of 5 Color City. The entire student body and 3 or 4 staff people fit in the elevator for the trek to recess.
I love teaching. I have never been bored a day in my teaching life and now I am not only not bored, but everyday is an adventure too. I love teaching!
The Week That Evaporated
Setting up the classrooms
Brian, Louisa, Sidney, Curtis, Becky, Evan and Leslie after Open House
Tuesday was a busy, busy day.... we started to transform the offices into a school. No mean feat. There were lots of trips to the local stores to find storage containers, double sided tape to attach things to the walls, etc, etc,etc. The day also include a trip into Dalian to a government clinic to get health exams so that we can apply for business visas. Leslie, Evan, Curtis and I were accompanied by Ying Li and spent a long time waiting to be poked, electroded, x-rayed
and examined along with a million foreign and local students. That was an adventure in medicine and bureaucracy!!!
The work on classrooms continued into Wednesday and lo and behold, by Wednesday noon the rooms were looking like classrooms. Wednesday at 4 p.m., parents and children arrived for an Open House. What a wonderful community!
Mr. Wu was very happy with the Open House and took us into Dalian to a food carnival. It was yet another adventure in eating that included Leslie and I trying cooked silk worms. You pop the whole worm into your mouth,crunch and then suck the inside out and spit out the exoskeleton. Yum. Ying Li introduced us to the taste treat and says they are very nutritious. Just for that, I had two! It was a riotous and fun evening with an amazing spirit of staff comraderie.
How Can the Days Disappear Like That?
So you may wonder how it went from my first Sunday in Dalian to my second Sunday in Dalian with no postings in between! Well, believe it or not, I have been working!
Monday, September 4th was spent going to the bank with the Brian, the director and the rest of the DAIS gang.
Yes, my own bank account with a local ATM card for the Dalian City Commercial Bank. Pretty scary thought given that the yuan (also known as RMB) seems like play money.
We also met the local office staff who are an amazing and wonderful group of men and women. You will be hearing about Dawei, Ying Li, Kelly,Kathy, Ella,and Mrs. Chen from the office and Xiao Lan and David who are drivers and Mr. Philip who works as liason with the building site.
After meeting up with Christian (the P.E. teacher from Rumania)and Louisa (the locally hired Mandarin teacher) we were all off to check out the temporary school site which is an office with two rooms on the 14th floor of a building that is just a block from the hotel. Tough commute! Oh, did I forget to tell you that the building is under construction?
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Sunday Explorations of Dalian Development Area
Bagged the trip to the beach as the weather was much cooler today. Leslie, Becky and I set out on foot to explore a piece of the city. Seeing a strange object in the sky over there, we set out to find it. We walked the city streets and then found a beautiful green belt that sent us climbing a steep, steep hill. At the top of the hill, it is the UFO building. An elevator ride to the top, a 360 degree view and ice cream.... we joined the ranks of ET!
First Saturday in Dalian
Another day in Dalian dawns with new adventures. So far this morning the adventure has been to increase my techno savvy multiple fold. I now know how to post text and pictures to this blog AND I have a flickr picture account that I will be attempting to link to this blog so that I can post some of my pictures from Beijing, Mongolia and my days here in Dalian. So if you were sick of the huge email postings with pictures that took FOREVER to download, I think this will be easier. If I am truly more techno savvy then it should work. CROSSING YOUR FINGERS? I AM!!!
This picture is from Saturday. After we toured the school site we took a quick spin to the beach that is nearby. Left is Mr. Philip ( Mr. Wu's friend and a character as you can see from the hat), Curtis, Becky, Evan, Leslie and me. I am hoping to take the light rail back out to this beach this afternoon and go for a swim in the Yellow Sea. The days are hot and humid and gorgeous.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
New Beginnings
So I am finally here in Dalian, China.
Okay, so it took 25 plus days, visits to Beijing and Mongolia ( oh yeah, and a brief visit to the Chinese embassy in UlaanBator so that I could get back into China), loads of pictures and a lot of hilarious happenings, but really.... I am here to work!
Went out to see the building and the teacher housing. The construction is zooming along. I think that crews might be working 24/7 to get us into the buildings in just a few short weeks! Beautiful setting and just a short walk to the beach and an even shorter walk to a mountain to hike.
There are 5 teachers and the director here now. The picture is the crowd at the school building site. The picture includes (standing) David, the driver; Mr. Woo, the school sponsor;Curtis, middle school teacher; Brian, the director;Evan, ESL teacher; Mr. Philip, friend of Mr. Woo; Leslie , 4/5 teacher and down in front are Becky, 2/3 teacher and me. Later, we are going out to dinner with Mr. Woo and Mr. Philip. It will be a banquet to celebrate the latest arrivals. Think we do this everytime someone new arrives. Keep 'em comin'!!!!
