D - Odds and Ends

The post rate on our blog has slowed a bit, as I'm sure regular readers have noticed. I haven't been feeling that well this week and there's been less to report. Nonetheless, there are a few odds and ends to report.

-Last Saturday we went out with a bunch of people to an Indian Restaurant in the Zhongshan Hotel on Jiefang Lu. The Hindu holiday of Diwali (I think it's their New Year) was Saturday and the one Indian foreign teacher suggested an outing. He is here for 3 months as part of an exchange program between his university, Kennesaw State College (Atlanta, GA area) and DMU. He's teaching management courses. Apparently DMU and KS have been doing this for a number of years. It sounds like a neat program and 3 months is long enough to get your feet wet without going mad. The food at the restaurant was decent. For 70 RMB each, we had access to an all-you-can-eat Indian buffet. It was pretty standard Indian fare featuring various curries, plenty of naan, and strangely - french fries. I was disappointed there was no Chicken Tikka Masala but you take what you can get in China!

-My primary lesson for my classes this week was to teach them English words for discussing music. The principal focus of the class was explaining musical genres - such as rock, country, punk, ska, r&b, hip-hop/rap, folk, electronica, etc. The routine was for me to play 3 songs from a particular genre. For example, to illustrate HipHop/Rap I played some Black Eyed Peas, Dr. Dre, and Eminem. Then I would call on a student after each song ask them to say if they liked it or not and to compare it to their liking for other musical genres. Needless to say they were thrilled to get away from my standard English classes. I think only 1 or 2 students were sleeping! Interestingly, a lot of them liked country. But by far their biggest interest is in the mainstream Pop. They love the Backstreet Boys of all people. I tried to explain that Americans would laugh at 21 year Chinese men who love the Backstreet Boys, but I felt guilty making them feel bad. It's like telling your 5 year old that you're not actually the smartest person in the world.

-I've been feeling a strong desire to check out the international church here in Dalian. Chinese people of course can't openly attend services, but the PRC doesn't mind if the foreigners do their Jesus thing. We are told by a Canadian couple that there are house churches. 500 people will meet in tiny sweltering churches for 3 hours on Sundays. Ironically the international church is shepherded by a Korean pastor. Those who know us well are aware that our last church in New Jersey was predominantly Korean. The problem is that the church is a long way out in downtown from where we are. That shouldn't be an obstacle but when it involves riding a packed Chinese bus for 45 minutes it makes you hesitate. I think C and I are going to make the trip soon though. Maybe not this weekend though because I feel like I've been run over by a rickshaw.