End Of Part One

After nearly two years here in Dalian, I’ve decided to move on. I’ve told the school that I will leave and more than likely won’t be back. I’ve asked them to book a flight home for me for next week.

So, I’ve a week left in Dalian. It’s a bit of a shock to the system. I’ve sort of become settled here. I’ve had a nice time here in Dalian, experienced and learned a lot of things and had the chance to travel to a lot of cool places. 3 years ago, I probably could not have imagined that it would be possible for me to speak Chinese, but now I can communicate pretty comfortably on normal stuff using Chinese! I remember a guy in college saying his brother-in-law could speak Mandarin. I was in awe of him. Actually, it takes more effort than studying French or German, but it is doable. Chinese is actually a simple language with loose grammar and words are sometimes built up using simple building blocks (e.g. yesterday I learned that "dinosaur" in Chinese is literally "scary dragon"! If you know those 2 building-block words, it's simple to remember). However, the writing system, pronunciation and intonation do get in the way and make things more difficult.

I digress.

The plan of action is to head home for a few weeks and then head to Korea (South, not North!) for maybe a month – to earn some cash. Can earn really good money there teaching English in summer camps – maybe 2000 Euro in 4 weeks.

The next step is to hopefully come back to China and go to Chengdu, Sichuan province. Why? A few reasons: the first being I want a change of scenery. I have been living in north China for 2 years. The south is a bit different. The south has more life, especially in the evening time. Dalian in the winter can be like a ghost town sometimes. People stay inside cos it’s too cold outside. Last January, I was sitting outside at 10pm drinking a beer and eating BBQ in south China while the people up north were all in bed! Chengdu has a tea culture, with lots of tea houses and also coffee shops and bars. I’ve also heard that Chengdu has a relaxed lifestyle and I know that Sichuan people have a good sense of humour. I like all those things.

So, I plan to spend some time there learning Chinese and working part-time. We’ll see how it works out, but a change is always good.

I’ll miss you Dalian – with your sea, clean streets, good quality air, non-stifling weather and chatty taxi drivers!