The Diaries

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August 12, 2009

No Goodbye's

Posted by Kelly

In less than 48 hours I’ll be back in Iowa. Besides the struggle of packing 6 months worth of clothes, souvenirs, gifts, and hundreds of other things into my two suitcases, I don’t think it’s sunk in that I’m actually leaving this wonderful country.

Before I could leave this wonderful country I had to cross a few things off my “To Do” list. The first matter was roller skating. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I am uncoordinated. It’s a fact. It’s set in stone. It’s something I’ve struggled with a long time and will continue in the future. So, when my English student, Chen, wanted to go skating, I was a little hesitant. But I’m not one to turn down a challenge so I thought, “Why not?” The idea of trying to maneuver my luggage in the Chicago airport on crutches did cross my mind, but I remained optimistic!

5RMB or $0.74 is all it costs to strap two pairs of skates on your feet for hours of roller skating! Well, at least the price was right! When I got my American-sized skates (the Men’s sizing) they also handed me plastic bags to cover my feet. (I wondered if this sanitary measure was better or worse than the disinfectant spray.)
Away we went! We skated around the open square holding on to each other for dear life. After a good 20 minutes we were able to hold our own. There were a few scary moments when I almost biffed it, but I’m proud to stay I reminded vertical during the experience!
I was amazed at how skilled some of the skates were! They had a small circle area with smooth tile for the more “professional” skates. They whipped around that circle like it was a piece of cake! The girls and guys in that area made skating, especially at fast speeds, look effortless! I had to chuckle at how 1980’s the night felt; the skates, the guys without shirts, the loud techno music, etc. It was very eighties! Or maybe the roller skates are coming back into fashion! Roller bladders look out!

Another thing on my list was the Dalian International Beer Festival. Every year there’s a two week long event that involves good food, good music, performances, and of course beer! They have huge tents set up around Xinghai Square in the downtown area. Each tent represents a different beer company. I am taking a guess, but I think the NBA Chinese basketball star, Yao Ming, has his own beer! Or at least his picture is all over the advertisements for the beer!
The performances were great! There was a group of young girls and guys who did acrobats like you’ve never seen! Everything from a human jump rope to a girl being flipped like a ball by someone kicking her! I can’t even describe some of the movements! It was crazy!

Next on my list was climbing the Big Black Mountain located in the Dalian Development Zone (my area). For some reason this event got postponed in previous weeks and ended up taking place the morning after my adventure at the beer festival. I highly recommend that you not put these two activities back to back! 8am came too early on the hot morning I decided to climb the mountain! I was a little worried about the hike─out of the 10 people I asked to join me, only 1 person agreed. I usually got laughter when I asked about the mountain, and I quickly found out why! It was a very tough climb! I thought I was fairly fit before I started the hike and I quickly found out that I need to hit the gym more! And we took the easy route up! I could ring out my clothing after the hike; between the heat and sun I was sweating buckets! Despite the challenge, the views and sights were well worth every sore muscle! It breathtaking and picturesque! Even the forest we walked through was interesting and unique. There were so many cicadas that it was hard to keep a conversation! The noise was so loud it felt like I was at a rock concert!

So I was able to cross many things off my list!

Now it’s back to the reality that I’m leaving. Even though I sound like a broken record, I’ll say it again, I love China. It hurts to say goodbye to everyone and everything, but I know I’ll be back in near future! Like I told my friends, I won’t say goodbye, because I’ll be back soon enough!