Dalian Golden Luck Hotel

... wallet".

Upon arriving in Dalian I have noticed the lack of good chocolate, but have discovered an amazing Doughnut cart in the food court of the New Mart Shopping Mall. And the cutest girl ever works there- Shes so small and cuddly and always smiling. So upon my like 10th time there, I was browsing the doughnuts and this girl was rattling off in Chinese, which I ignored as I cant understand her, and then she goes "Where are you from?" "You speak ...

... mushroom. OR, shave off one side of your hair, and have a long emo fringe that covers your face. (These styles were very popular at the hairdresser I went to (where no one spoke English) so as you can imagine, I was very nervous. But coming out looking like I just come from a preppy private school in the English Countryside is better. Phew way to dodge a bullet Peter J.)

Ok, I did it, I ate some western food. I still haven't eaten at McDonalds or KFC yet. KFC is everywhere. I wonder if they were the first American chain to come to China. McDonalds are prolific as well. No, my roommate and his friends wanted to go out for a western meal and we headed down to a place called "The Real Eddies" Not sure of the story behind the name. But here goes - Eddie was trained as a cook/chef in the ...

... the airport bus, helped me buy the ticket, and told the driver where to drop me off. The driver was extremely nice, carried my pack into the hotel for me and made sure I was checked in before heading home. The hotel staff were nice and the hotel was right next to a tonne of Korean restaurants. For this reason, despite a completely ****** traveling day and a telephone argument with hotel staff, my first impression of Dalian was positive. Nice people (except for one) and ...

I gave in to two vices today... melted cheese and a massage.

Kirsty organized for us to go to this little place in Jinshitan for a message, and I was really excited. For Y80, we would get pampered for nearly an hour—one of the strongest motivations to moving to China.

We walked there after school, and I wasn't totally sure what to expect. The lady led us to this backroom that was decorated... I am trying ...

... after meeting, and not really accomplishing much. The faculty member assigned to ‘supervise’ was nearly useless, and completely unhelpful other than hosting the meetings in her classroom.

We finally got to the point that they wanted T-shirts for all the English Ambassadors, banners that fell from the building, and the song "We will Rock you" playing, as it was already chosen by the larger group as the anthem.

OK, now we are getting ...

... br>Before we arrived in China, the one thing we were told was that it was really hard to get the students actively involved in the class—that they remained stoic, sombre, and serious. That was NOT our experience. With very little prompting, students were up, out of their seats and rapidly trading, wheeling and dealing.

One student I watched kept making deals right before whatever stock he sold went up by hundreds of dollars, groaning at his misfortune ...

... my legs (I think because of the freckles, who knows what they're thinking, probably bad stuff), and my feet (I'm guessing the painted toe nails). People just take pictures of us too like they are papparazzi. Not a day has gone by I haven't thought about being white- I guess this is how it is for all minorities. Well that's all I feel like writing for now. Chris and I leave here tomorrow night so we will be back to work on Tuesday morning (ugh). Peace! -Ashley

... are as clean as any American city and much more so than say New York or Chicago, cities of comparable size. In addition to the public sweepers, it looks like the larger businesses also have their own private sweepers with unique uniforms, but usually the same brooms and baskets. China has a great advantage for people service businesses like restaurants and hotels. Dalian has 5 five star hotels, and probably 20 four star hotels. The workforce ...

Spartan Blues Looking back at the school I have left behind, Sierramont Middle School, I am quite saddened to realize that I will not be returning for what I know would have been another fruitful year filled with laughter and learning. The relationships and connections I made there were enriching, unforgettable, and very much a part of who I am today. The student body, with its rich diversity of children from across the globe, is ...