A day in Dalian

Yesterday after Dave was finished school, we got a tour of Dalian Maple Leaf International School, then headed to Kai Fa Qu. We shopped, explored, and saw some of the more interesting parts of the city. We enjoyed dinner in a local restaurant and got to figure out the chopsticks. :) We got chopsticks on the plane, but I donated mine to a Chinese lady who had dropped hers on the floor and didn't quite know what to do with the fork. Chelsie fell asleep on the way home, and slept well until morning. Brian and I were both done at 9, but proud that we'd lasted that long :) But we woke up early, still getting used to the time change, and watched the sun come up. Dave taught from 7:30 until 8:30, then had a couple of hours to take Brian out for a quick jot around to see the area and point out birding spots. They were just returning when we headed out at 9:30. Brian headed off by himself and explored the area, even getting a life bird on Dave. Trichelle, Breyden, Chelsie and I enjoyed a day in Dalian. We hopped on the qing gua (chingway) to Dalian and quickly found seats as the train got fuller as we went towards the city. Think Jin Shitan as Rosedale, Kai Fa Qu (where we went yesterday) as Chilliwack, and Dalian as Vancouver. It was a cold, windy and sometimes wet day, the rain being unusual for the area, causing some problems with puddles and people not sure of how to operate. We went to several different places in Dalian, spending the entire day shopping in the markets, some inside and some out, although many outside booths were closed because of the cold and windy weather. Words can't really explain these places - they are floors on floors of the same thing...a whole floor of purses and luggage...a whole floor of clothes (some quite interesting styles)...a whole floor of knick knacky Chinese things - some interesting, some very tacky. This one picture of shoes was only in one direction...we were completely surrounded by these and this floor was actually underground, under the road!

The Chinese people obviously don't see many western faces, especially kids. They can't get enough of these kids - they are in their faces, saying 'hello', rattling off stuff in Chinese to them, and touching them. We saw people driving vehicles turn around to look at our two strollers with these 2 blonde, blue-eyed kids. Every salesperson in each of the entire markets had to comment, reach, touch, or try to say hi to our kids. This man was one of the first few...I wasn't really sick of it yet!When Chelsie was napping this afternoon, I covered the stroller up with my sweater and people actually tried to move it - rather annoying! I don't mind the talking, picture-taking and looking, but please don't TOUCH my sweet girl! Chelsie doesn't mind (yet), but Breyden pushes hands away and says 'no' quite emphatically. It's hard to teach him not to be rude when to him these people are rude. I'm learning how to be more rude - not standing 4" from the person in front of you will not be close enough in the line. If you wait to get on any train, you won't find a seat, or possibly get on. To get on a busy escalator, you have to push your way through. Traffic is a story in itself - people are not a priority. Cars go where they want when they want and you better be out of the way. Life and death situations :). Kind of fun at times though! The shopping was fun - cheap is an understatement, yet the quality of most things is pretty good. I'm quickly learning from Trichelle that most prices given are too high. Lunch at McD's was a highlight for the kids...it had a little playplace with a double slide - the perfect size for these two little ones to have a blast!

We enjoyed supper at the Marble Restuarant...many of you have heard about this place already - it's quite something to see for yourself. The first picture shows some people's dinners moments before cooking them...we enjoyed fresh shrimp, probably not-as-fresh beef, esparagus, clams, and watermelon with pineapple for dessert. Our room even had a bathroom and our waitress was great - she played with the kids without getting too into their faces. She even earned a hug from Chelsie!

Now we're back at the Beeke's, settling in for a bit of laundry, some packing for our trip to Beidaihe on Monday and the guys are looking at birding lists for our time there. Next week there may be less pictures showing up on here depending on internet connections, but we'll post some words anyways. Enjoy your weekend!