Orientation Day

Every day my host family will drop me off at their daughter’s school, and I will walk a few more blocks to the schools where I will be working. Since I don’t know my way around the city yet, Lili asked me to meet her at the guard station of the first school this morning so that she could show me where to go.  I had met some of the guards yesterday, and I assumed that she had told them I would be returning. So, I walked right in and smiled and said hello and stood off in a corner to stay out of the way.  There were different guards on duty this morning.  They were silent for a moment and then started asking me questions.  I couldn’t explain why I was there, and they all laughed.  One guard ran into the school building and found an English teacher to interpret.  His name was Bill, and he was friendly and patient.  He called Lili for me to confirm that I was in the right place and explained to the guards why I was there.  They all laughed again, and this time I could too. 

Shenyang is a huge, busy place.  The streets are crowded with cars and busses, people pushing carts, bicycles, and pedestrians.  Traffic seems to flow smoothly, but quickly, and everyone, whether on a vehicle or not, is out in the street at the same time.  Lili grabbed me by the arm several times to pull me out of the way of a passing car.  It seems that pedestrians yield to vehicles, not the other way around as it is in Atlanta.  I tried to pay attention to land marks to remember my way back.  Tomorrow I will have to walk all by myself.

Last night I had wonderful dinner.  Vicky invited her friend Celine to have dinner with us at a Korean-style restaurant.  We ordered lamb, pork, beef, mushrooms, and lots of vegetables and barbequed them right at our table.  Celine is also an English-speaker, and it was nice to have someone else to talk to.  We had such a good conversation that we decided to go out for coffee afterwards. The coffee shop wasn’t at all like Starbuck’s or Caribu Coffee.  It was a spacious, glittery, elegant place with a huge staircase, a grand piano, and VIP rooms.  Cappuccino never tasted so glamorous!