Dalian update: 生日快乐!

Last Monday I had my second birthday in Dalian after 2008, when I was travelling through China's North East. According to the Chinese 33 is a good age because 3+3=6 and 6 is a lucky number. What has come to my mind mainly is the saying in sports that a man's peak years are between 28 and 32 ... But let's be optimistic: if Lance Armstrong can still be third in the Tour de France and Stefano Garzelli can win the mountain time trial on Plas de Corones at nearly 37 I have nothing to worry about for still some years to come. In fact, most people here could not believe I turned 33 and had estimated me about five years younger. They said I have aged well and my Korean classmate even mentioned I have a.... eh.... "beautiful hip" . Hum...

Last Sunday I attended a very enjoyable beaujolais wine brunch at the sky lounge of the Kempinski Hotel and organised by the Alliance Francaise. There was a selection of five wines, two reds, two whites and a sparkling rose. The AF chairman opened a champagne bottle en plus. Fellow university students Claire and Emma, looking for an internship in Dalian, also attended just like some familiar faces from the International Club Dalian. Karen resurfaced last week after over a month of silence and was keen on continuing our Dutch tutorials. She is a legal and accounting consultant at Dezan Shira and very enthusiastic to pick up Dutch as a third language after her mother tongue Mandarin and English. So that's what we did after the wine brunch.

On Monday Ma laoshi treated me to a real Sichuan hotpot lunch, after I had been complaining for weeks that the Dalian hotpots are not 'hot' - spicy - at all. Afterwards, I gathered the troops at the beachside Hopscotch bar. It was a pleasant night with some Tsingtao, Jack Daniels and a proper birthday cake that had been organised for me. For most of us it became 4 a.m. Four hours later in class it was just me and two of the Thai girls, who had left a bit earlier. The teacher, slightly upset, asked me to explain what I had done to the rest ;-)

There's no denying it was a rather tough day yesterday. In the evening I also had my first appointment with my new Chinese conversation partner. A 22-year-old and rather tall guy from Shenyang who's studying physics and who is a big Al Pacino and Bruce Lee fan. His English name is Dean and he approached me last week during the University Games. He told me I look just like Bill Clinton. Today I went to the shop and bought a new mirror.

Some pictures are now available on my Picasa page in the Dalian - Miscellaneous album. A first set of pictures of the University Games has also been uploaded.

Dalian - Miscellaneous