Helin Holiday Hotel Anshan

This afternoon we took a train to Wafangdian. We went by taxi to the train station in Dalian, and joined the queue/fight for the ticket counter. Speaking of which, Chinese people don't know how to queue. Basically everyone thinks that they are a taxi driver, so has the automatic right to push their way to the front. Anyway tickets bought, we had time to grab some lunch - baozi at the bargain price of RMB 14 for the 2 of us.<br><br>Back to ...

Greetings from Wafangdian, where we are sat in an internet place....<br><br>On Wednesday monrning we came upto Guandian (about 30kms east of Wafangdian) to stay with Gwen's family. We got a lift from Dalian with Gwen's friend Lao Feng who was going to a wedding in a nearby town.<br><br>Spent Weds and Thursday just relaxing and eating! On Friday we went to ...

Today was our final day at the school; we drive to Shenyang tomorrow. In the morning, we visited he Haicheng Primary School. The children's orchestra sounded top notch! Students entertained us with dancing; a troupe of boys demonstrated acrobatic breakdancing and girls performed a traditional costumed Mongolian dance. We saw a class of students learning English using a fast-paced response method and an entertaining computer game projected on the screen. More classroom visits were ...

... sick about me like I'm her own kid, and I mean kid. She's one of those wonderful, kindhearted women who should have had about 12 kids, but because she lives in China could only have one, and because of the school system, she doesn't get to spend a lot of time with that one, because she's always at school. So having me around is like a new puppy, someone new to spoil and pamper! I'm not complaining its wonderful, but sometimes it gets to be a ...

... only door that lets me in and out of my place. There are actually two doors, a flimsy wooden one that could be torn to pieces with a strong kick, as its made of cheap wood. Then there is the big door. From what I can tell from walking up and down the stairs to my apartment, every unit gets the flimsy door and its up to the owner of the apartment to beef up security with their own extra door. Some are pretty wooden ones with lattice work, some are ...

... a language barrier....I will have to find fun games and songs for every lesson I think. There is no rule that says learning can't be fun....just as long as they are learning. It is difficult, especially because I had no training for this in any of my anthropology classes....the few lectures I gave in front of college classes are not the same, especially since the biggest hurdle is the language barrier. The students are all very sweet and in ...

... lag was crazy. Sunday i woke up with the whole day to myself....gulp, it was 530 in the morning. I decided to call home and when i heard my fathers voice on the other end of the line i lost it and started bawling, i just wanted to go home to my family, it was all so weird and strange, and smelly and scary, i was over it. I talked to my family for a while and cried and then decided it was time to clean, i scrubbed my bathroom and tiny kitchen area (i only have one sink ...

... volleyball team won the Liaoning province championship. Each evening on of the Chinese principals hosts the groups. Tonight we went to a restaurant that featured a lamb barbecued on a spit. Dishes of stomach, foot, and gizzards were served. Later the interpreter said it was a goat. Whatever it was, it was very tough. Toasts were poignant because it was our last dinner together. We begin the trip home tomorrow. We will stay in Shenyang one day and then fly from Beijing on Sunday.

So we spent New Years sleeping in Dandong! Yeah! We didn't even make it until midnight, it was very sad. I have I think one pic, because we were so depressing. Two things that are cool about Dandong though. 1. We had an octopus pizza that was delicious 2. You can see into North Korea from the edge of the river, and there is a bridge that used to cross but the U.S. bombed it when they found out China was aiding Korea in the War....very cool!!!! There ...

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 ...