@nformer

Barry Williamson

Dalian
chronicles

ello once again from China.

It was very hard for me to get on
that plane after a wonderful Christmas
vacation in Vancouver.

Arriving in Beijing it was cold and
snow was on the ground. The next day I
went shopping and bought yet another
new jacket. It was snowing all day and I
wondered if my flight to Dalian would
be affected by the weather. Because of
the snow I decided to try a new
adventure, the Beijing subway. I was
surprised at how cheap it was — 60
cents. In 10 minutes I was at
Tianammen Square. It was very
impressive, especially in the snow. I
walked around and then back to the
hotel and off to the airport.

I arrived in Dalian on schedule and
was greeted by the usual horde of taxi
drivers wanting a fare. I bargained my
fare and was off home to Cai Fa Qu.

The weather was biting cold and windy
as we drove off.

A few miles down the road we
passed a taxi that had spun out of
control on the black ice and smashed
into a concrete wall. The car was badly
damaged. The driver, having gone
through the windshield, was leaning on
the car holding his bleeding head. The
two passengers I recognised from my
flight, a westerner and his Chinese
wife. My driver made a quick U-turn
back to the accident scene to help, I
thought. He stopped only in hopes of
picking up another fare. He grabbed the
two passengers and threw them into the
back seat with me. There was no
concern for the driver, who was left on
that lonely stretch of highway to fend
for himself.

Finally I was home and the first few
days it was hard to get in gear again.
The weather was bitterly cold. I have
not felt my ears tingle with near
frostbite since I was in Manitoba. No
matter how cold, the street vendors still
line the streets selling their wares. They
cover their fruit carts with heavy
blankets to prevent the oranges from
freezing. The faithful shoe repair people
still sit by the hour on the curbs with
their stools hoping someone will come
by to have a heel replaced or their shoes
shined. It is so cold no one dares to stop
long enough to oblige them.

Spring festival, as Chinese new year
is called here, is all that everyone talks
about now. Preparing for it is just like
our preparation for Christmas. Gifts
must be bought, decorations hung and
special foods prepared. I noticed that
everywhere they are selling bright red
ladies panties with gold lettering. As
well they are selling long woollen
knitted belts with Chinese characters on
them. I asked Douglas, my Chinese
tutor about this. He told me that this is
the year of the dragon. All women born

in the year of the dragon wear the red
underwear and tie the red belt around
their waist under their clothes. The
words in gold on the pants tell the evil
spirits to keep away.

The students get a month off from
classes and everyone in the country
gets at least a few days vacation. All of
our instructors are leaving for the
break, some to Southern China where
it is warm and others to Canada for a
visit home. I will be here all by myself
it seems. I am contemplating a boat
trip to Qingdao during the break for a
few days. It is a coastal city south of
here that has German colonial
influence and is famous for its
breweries.

Work has been very busy. We are
working with the State Bureau of
Education on a plan for English
training for Chinese teachers. If we
succeed in signing an agreement, it
could mean big business for our
College in China.

Friday was a great day with the
arrival of a state-of-the-art photocopy
machine. I am finally getting my own
computer on my desk and having all
three computers in the office
networked and attached to the printer.
My goal is to have a real Canadian-
style working office by the beginning
of term in March. If only I had a filing
cabinet, I would be happy. Filing
cabinets don’t exist in China. Papers
and documents are just piled on
shelves or in desk drawers. My
Chinese co-workers are constantly
annoyed at my insistence on
alphabetical filing of documents and
can’t understand why class lists must
be alphabetical by last name.

Bye for now,
Barry

@€ @= Capilano
@€e= College

Vol. XX1I No. 1
January 21/00