Dalian update: studying under the blanket

Today's scheduled afternoon class got cancelled, which everybody was happy about. Afternoon classes are a drag, mainly because you really need time to digest what you learnt in the morning. And to study more written characters of course. I have made quite some progress in the past two weeks reading and recognising basic terminology in characters. Writing them down is a different matter. To me personally this aspect of my Mandarin study is not of utmost importance, but our grammar teacher is merciless and gives us a dictation every day. She is an excellent and experienced teacher, though. I guess it is also the right approach. We have the option not to learn to write characters, as several students in other classes apparently have done. But I can see the advantages of it at this stage. Apart from the daily grammar class, we currently have a listening & comprehension and a speaking & pronounciation class. Both teachers of these are younger than me. The teacher of the speaking class is a born seductress, but more to the point she speaks very quickly and seemingly with a slight accent. That class requires focus!

I am writing all this covered by a thick blanket. The central heating system in Dalian only works half days anymore. Normally, the system would have been switched off all together on 15 March, but the persistent low temperatures have not warranted that kind of action so far. Usually the flat warms up again around this time in the evening.

A good hot cup of Segafredo coffee, a luxury item here, has helped us this afternoon. My flatmate Joel, a bit of a dreamer, spoiled his cup by adding three spoonfuls of salt instead of sugar...

Expats have told me that Dalian also seems to be subject to changing climatic conditions. The past three years have been significantly colder than the year-on-year averages suggest. In March the average temperature is supposed to be 11 degrees, but there has not been a single day this month on which the temperature showed a two-digit figure! In April it should be 20 degrees on average. I'm curious! In any case, China is currently suffering from weather extremes. The South West, mainly Yunnan province, is struggling with a shortage of drinking water due to a severe drought that has not brought any precipitation since months. On the contrary, the North West, e.g. Gansu province, has had to deal with massive snowfall this winter.

Speaking of expats, last Saturday night I attended the 2nd anniversary of the International Club Dalian (ICD) at the Havana Bar of the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Dalian. Great event with an international buffet and free drinks until a certain time at night. Two weeks ago I went to one of the ICD's so-called networking nights at a coffeeshop nearby and signed up as a member. It was indeed worth it, because it gave me a superb opportunity to get in touch with people from all over the world who are either working or studying in Dalian. Obviously, the expat community is not as large as in bigger Chinese cities such as Beijing or Shanghai, but still it's a cozy group and judging by Saturday's anniversary event very well-organised, too! Lucky I brought my ECB business cards, though, as they have adopted the Japanese system.. ;-)

I got to know a French engineering manager, working for Liebherr Machinery, who comes from Alsace in Eastern France. Turned out his home village is Merckxheim, en route to le Markstein on the Route des Cretes in the Vosges, my favourite cycling region! I still rode past that tiny village last September. On top of that, he is a cyclosportive rider himself and, as we talked, discovered we had both been in the same race in 2006: la Vosgienne in Thann, a bigger town in the Vosges mountain range! (this race is also on my calendar for this season, in fact). Sometimes the world is really small.

I also got to talk to a professional Chinese photographer (with assistance by Bera von Hagens (daughter of the Heidelberg professor who launched the famous "Koerperwelten" exhibitions a few years ago - the von Hagens have set up their Plastinations Co here in Dalian now). The guy is a member of a cycling club here in town, but a different one from the Bianchi group. He offered me a little job... as a model for a photoshoot :-)! According to him I have the perfect built for Chinese women... well, eh..if you say so... :-)