The Diaries

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April 12, 2009

Easter Weekend

Posted by Kelly

Thursday I had a busy day with preparing an action packed game of Business English jeopardy for my coworkers. It was a heated game, but Evian proved victorious. That night I didn’t make it to the gym. Instead I focused on creating my paper Easter Baskets for my colleagues. They took forever! You wouldn’t think that weaving paper would take as long as it does! A few paper cuts later, they were done and I felt that I had fulfilled me Easter duties. I passed the candy-filled baskets out at work. I tried explaining the idea of an Easter egg hunt and giving candy baskets, but I’m not sure if they totally understood the concept.

I usually start the weekend of on Friday night by attending an intense spinning class with the crazy biker guy. Sadly it was canceled and I had to use the treadmill instead.
On Saturday I had my usual English lessons with Chen. I love teaching Chen because I always learn something new from her about Chinese culture. Chen recounted her bad week for me. She mentioned that she was running a little late to school. When she got to class her teacher said she was one minute late, but Chen’s watch said she was on time. Her teacher got upset with Chen and made her stand out in the hall. Then her teacher was even more upset with Chen for not handing in her homework even though this was impossible for Chen do to since she was standing outside.

Chen explained that this type of attitude is very common among teachers in the schools. She said that they can be very rude and don’t like to be questioned about what they teach. Sadly, the teachers are allowed to use disciplinary measures such as verbal abuse and hitting. Kids aren’t even allowed to laugh during lunch or free time. Chen is not the type to exaggerate circumstances, so I have a feeling that what she said was the truth. I was shocked and explained that schools in the US are very, very different from China. It makes me appreciate the wonderful education system and dedicated teachers we have in the United States.

After our lesson I attempted to do more shopping. (Dalian is one of China’s premier shopping capitals and I had yet to find/buy anything fashionable!) All the stores were having a really great sale so I was hopeful! However, again, most things were too small and too short in the sleeves. I concluded that I’ll have to stick to buying short-sleeved items only and shoes in the men’s section.

Late Saturday night I decided that Sunday I would take the light rail downtown Dalian and go to Easter Sunday mass at the Catholic Church. There’s only one in Dalian and it is one of the older and historic buildings of the city (two birds with one stone!). Well, I couldn’t locate the church on the Chinese map so I attempted to write the Chinese name and address on paper so I could give it to the taxi driver. I know the basic system of writing Chinese characters, but all the rules went down the drain as I tried to copy what I found on the internet. I also learned how to say the name in Chinese, but I’m not sure if my pronunciation was correct. Needless to say, I was a little nervous about finding the church. When I got into town I was running a little late; the first taxi I spotted and showed my Chinese writing-attempt gave me a puzzling look and shook her head. I even tried pointing out the general location on my tourist map. Still no luck and after some brief exchange of Chinese phrases, I decided she probably wouldn’t be able to help me! I walked a few blocks and decided to try again on a main road. I showed a new taxi driver the paper with the address and mumbled the poorly-spoken Chinese phrase for “Catholic church”. I think he got what I was trying to say because he nodded and off we went! We drove to a part of the city that I was not familiar with so it was interesting to see. I did get a little nervous when he had to stop and ask another taxi driver for more directions. But he dropped me off at a building that resembled a church. It wasn’t exactly how I remembered from the pictures online, but close enough! So I thanked the driver and approached the church. At this point I was over 30 minutes late and I could tell that the small church was full. There were young girls at the doors in matching red and blue jogging suits handing out pamphlets. The showed me to a small stool in the middle of the foyer of the church amongst other attendees. This stool was fashioned together with some small wood pieces and weaved fabric. It was also the size of a chair my two year old niece would be too big for. So, it I was very hesitant to sit down on the mini-sized stool, but I mustered up some courage and plopped down. Surprisingly I did fit on the chair, well kind of. Through the heads of people I could tell that there was a play reenactment in session. It was all in Chinese, but I think it the actors and actresses were describing Jesus’ last days and the resurrection. It was after about 45 minutes that I cam to the conclusion that I think I was at a Protestant church. Regardless it was a unique experience! Afterwards I wanted to take some pictures of the church, but there was a crazy lady following me a little to close for comfort. When I hopped in the taxi, the driver drove down the block before I was able to tell him where I wanted to go. He made the gesture that the lady was crazy and I agreed and thanked him for getting me out of a pinch.

After the ceremony I wanted to find a block called Russian Street. It is known for it’s neat architecture and street vendors selling traditional Chinese and Russian gifts. I had an idea of the location so I took my time wandering around. I’m not sure if I ended up in the right location, but I found an International mall, many street vendors, and a nice scenic area. I ate lunch at an interesting Korean restaurant called Bobby Bob. Very tasty! I wasn’t actually sure what I ate, but it looked like the picture. I also found another entrance to an underground shopping area. This area was huge! The Mecca of great shopping! This was the Victory Square shopping I had read about! Last week I was a little disappointed with the shopping area I found, but my faith was restored when I found the 4 levels of every shopper’s dream! There was even an open area where young people were lining up with an array of instruments to perform with their bands. Maybe if they do well they get to make a record? It looked interesting, but I didn’t stay long to watch. I did find a few things to purchase and surprisingly all of them fit! I also spotted a store that sells “couples tee-shirts”. Matching with your significant other is pretty popular in China. Everything from shoes, tee-shirts, phone charms, hats, etc. Well, as they say, “When in Rome…” So, I found the cutest matching shirts! Each shirt is half a heart with Chinese characters so when you stand next to the other, the heart-halves line up to make a full heart! It’s really cute! Little does my boyfriend know what’s in store for him! He is planning to visit me in China sometime in the summer months, so we’ll get to match for a day! I’m not sure if he’ll go for the idea, but hopefully I can persuade!

After getting lost in the four floors of thousands of small stores I made my way back to Dalian’s Development Zone and relaxed with a (probably

The Diaries

« Tomb Sweeping | Main | April??? »

April 12, 2009

Easter Weekend

Posted by Kelly

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