Duna-Kanyar Hotel Dalian

... jackets are IN too! Find the puffiest, brightest, shiniest jacket ever to be cool. But its even better if its bright purple! In Dalian, purple is the hottest color right now, your nothing without purple in your wardrobe!!

Fur! Fur is so hot right now. If your not wearing your puffy shinny jacket, your wearing the mangiest, ugliest colored fur you can find! Make sure ...

... that I would feel happier living on the coast. Even after I made the decision to stay working in Jinan, I figured I would go to Dalian for a weekend to relax at the beach at some stage. The weekend never came around, until arrived in Shenzhen. So, fleeing the humidity of the south, I packed my bags and headed for the airport, for a flight to Dalian.

Unfortunately, on the way to the bus stop, I decided my pack was much too heavy and lugging it around was ...

... come up with the most accurate adjectives... like a little kids room, meets misprinted fabrics, meets dim lighting and an attempt at cozy. We stepped in and I howled with laughter.

On the two little cots that were side by side, lay little cotton pjs, which we changed into and waited for our masseuse. When the gentlemen came in, they introduced themselves and started by placing warm pillows on our stomachs and ...

... a bank machine on our way... We have been having trouble getting cash at some machines, and since we are about to go shopping decide to try it out. All the girls have success, and then it is my turn. It doesn’t work at first, but eventually I get Y1000.

Russia Street is really intriguing, there is definitely a Russian influence throughout the town, but it is really the focal point here... Russia use to control Dalian, as it is the most northern ...

One thing I had to do in China was see a panda bear, so Alex and I went to the zoo almost solely for that reason. We walked inside and it seemed like the place wasn't very big. We started with the "Lions, Tigers, and Bears path", thinking that a panda BEAR would be there, but no luck. We did feed bears fruit, though, and they were standing up and almost begging us for food! It was pretty cute. I was amazed at how close all of the ...

Last week I attended a performance at the Dalian Peking Opera. It's all in Chinese, of course, but the language hardly matters. There are apparently 2 story lines - War and love. This performance had 2 war episodes and 1 about an unresolved domestic problem involving a father and daughter, I think, which qualified for the love story. The performances are outrageous. The sets are very simple. You can see in the photos ...

... really painting a nice picture of China, am I? I blame that on the hangover. In truth, Dalian is gorgeous. I can't wait to be able to post up pictures. There are monuments, squares, plazas, and buildings with incredibly unique modern architecture. Katie and all of her friends (especially Philip, Julia, Derek, Craig, et. al) are warm, welcoming, and invaluable in functioning here. They've been helping us learn some Mandarin phrases which we've been butchering up 'til now. It's very ...

For the first time ever, this year the ladies organized a little sumpin' sumpin' of their own! We also played our own little brand of hockey infront of the kids too. It was soooooooo fun! We all pumped it up to our kids and the teachers were all gung-ho too. People said that there around 300 people watching! It was thrilling! Anyways, I sure surprised a lot of people! People came up to me and ...

... last year!, and even some gifts! The gifts were nice but one card in particular really made me feel good and think "Yes this is what it's all about!" Two girls wrote me a card that said they appreciated my love and "Happy Fridays". Gosh...what do you say to that?! Maybe this teaching "thing" is not so bad afterall...nothing is easy in life! Maybe I'm not so bad afterall..... In conclusion ...

... alot of people's minds! I really think we do...they just can't fathom a Chinese CANADIAN person. What? Why would you ever want to leave the motherland?! When I tell them I'm Canadian...you can just see the gears in their mind churning trying to figure it all out! Even when I explain it all to them about being first generation, my parents are from HK and understanding Cantonese (not Mandarin) blah blah blah ...