Thursday, September 16, 2010

Weeeeeerre Baaaack

21 bum numbing hours and we arrived back in Harbin. It was de ja vu. Arriving very late in the night, we were pleasantly surprised to find Janie and Justin waiting at the arrivals gate, their huge smiles beaming at us from the other side of the windows. What a wonderful start to China part 2. The next week saw us quickly get back into the swing of life in Harbin. But no return to China would be complete without a few twists. Upon arrival we were given the keys to our apartment. Trying to enter, we were greeted by a sleepy voice from inside wondering who we were. It seems that the apartment was still occupied by a summer teacher. Happily she was leaving and we moved in a few days later. Thanks to Romain and Zouyan, who sadly returned back to France this year but left us with everything we needed to set up the apartment and quickly make it our home again. Having been here and done that, we found that we were able to get things done a little speedier then our first time as we knew where to go and who to talk to. Talking still hasn't got any easier for us. but thanks to a 8 week Mandarin course in Vancouver it is a little easier. NOT!

In China, when family, friends and just but anyone else gets together, food plays an important part in the event. The success of the event is measured by the number of food dishes that have been served to your table. We expats have taken on that tradition with great gusto and it was no surprise that our first week back in Harbin ended with a dinner. Brian, branson, Janie, Justin, Chris, Arseni, Abbas and one new colleague Steve, affectionately known as "The Snipper", another American to add to our multi-cultural group.


Work began in week 2. Happily, we found ourselves teaching the grad students again. Seven classes each, Monday to Friday, and finished by noon each day. Hello, long lunches. Even better, we can use the same curriculum that we developed previously, providing us with even more leisure time that we had last time. Two more dinners were attended. The first hosted by the Foreign Affairs department for all Foreign Experts. The dinner was held at Porters. The restaurant tries to put a British spin on their menu and service. But old habits die hard and the dinner still takes on a very Chinesey flair. The dishes are served randomly and not quite in the order you would expect. Our second dinner of the week was hosted by the Foreign Languages department to celebrate Teachers Day". and was attended by all teachers. Not a national holiday in China just yet. Many teachers receive small gifts, flowers or fruit baskets from their students. I received on small gift from one of my male students. It was nicely wrapped with a pink ribbon and blue paper covered with phrases such as "Good Luck, "Just For You" and my favourite one, "To My Lover". Not sure what my student was after but I am sure he just wanted to butter me up. We were in and out of the restaurant in just over an hour, including speeches.

Because we were out of the dinner so early, Nonie and I relented and agreed to go to the soft opening of a new club located near the campus. They were hosting a trivia night. You are now reading the blog of the newly crowned Harbin Trivia Night champions. The host was an ex-pat Newfie and he peppered his questions with Canadian content, allowing Nonie and I to be of some help to the team. At least when the questions were of things that happened pre-1990s.

Thus ended our second week. Stay tuned. Not sure whats coming up but you can be sure that there will be parties, dinners and more twists.

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