Dalian

Our school is called Maple Leaf International School, and they have several schools in various cities in China. Our friend Kristine is teaching in a school in Dalian, so in our first long weekend, (we had September 15 off for Mid-Autumn festival), we went to visit.

Dalian is a relatively new city that has developed around tourism. There are many beaches and resorts, and many Chinese and Koreans travel there to enjoy those beaches. It is in the north of China, quite close to Korea. It used to be a Russian city, and there are still evidences of Russian influence. There are also many Russian tourists walking around the city.

Anyways, it was a short plane ride for us, about an hour. When we arrived, Kristine met us and took us back to her apartment. Her apartment is right in the city, which is a bit novel for us. You see, where we live, is way out in the suburbs of Tianjin, almost verging on rural. Being right in the city was quite different. There was lots of action, shopping, people, things like this.

We went and toured the downtown area the first day. It was fun and bustling, just like a city should be. We visited a book store and an electronics store. Some of you may know that China is well known for its illegal DVDs. We went to an illegal DVD seller who was hidden well away. To get to her "store" we had to go to the top floor of the electronics mall, into a service corridor, into a little anteroom, and then we had to knock on the door. The DVD lady had a closed circuit video camera that she checked before letting anyone in. Allison bought a few DVDs.

That evening, we went to a party where we met all of the other teachers at Kristine's school. They were a fun bunch.

The next day we visited Kristine's school. She is a pre-school teacher, and her school is different from ours in that it is a foreign nationals school. To get into her school you must have a foreign passport. So the result is that her school is much more diverse in terms of background than ours. Many Koreans, some Europeans, some Chinese, etc. It is very much a western school. Our school in Tianjin is much more of a Chinese school that happens to be doing a western program. Our kids are almost exclusively Chinese. Anyways, she had to take a bit of time to prepare for her class the next day, so we goofed around in her classroom.

Our original plan was to visit some beaches or parks, but Allison wasn't feeling well, so we cancelled that and just sat and chatted at Kristine's apartment. Her apartment is quite cute, there is a living room area at the bottom, then stairs going up to a mini-loft where her bedroom is. Very compact.

We ventured out again at night to find food and explore new markets. And the next day we were back in Tianjin. We had a great trip - more relaxing than anything else, which we really needed. We hope to return and explore more of the beaches another time.





A mall that we visited. Very many people.











The electronics mall. Five floors of wall to wall little electronics shops.













Kristine outside her school.






























The furniture was very small.















Allison was practicing to be a fruit seller.















Another market we visited. This one was selling fish.










Some street food. I bought some deep fried squid. It was very cheap, but not as delicious as I was hoping for.












Kristine's apartment. I was taking this picture from the loft area.














The three of us relaxing in the apartment. It was a very good trip. Handy to have good friends nearby when you are far from home!