Between having 6 weeks off for the new year, a week off for the labor holiday, and ending the semester the same time as our American partner university does, I really only had 2 solid months living in Dalian. Here are my favorite moments:
The People
Wine + selfie stick = this.
And this.
Star Wars night at The Park, our favorite bar/club.
Picasso and Dali art exhibit.
Girls' nights at a French restaurant down the road owned by this French guy and his Chinese wife. French + Chinese = these two beautiful, dark-haired, blue-eyed, trilingual daughters.
{Nearly} daily workouts with these two goons.
Coffee shop afternoons with this beut.
Living with my fellow monkey.
Weekly market trips with this guy.
Language lessons with the best tutor.
Meeting Floria on the plane from Xi'An and her not only offering to give me a ride to my apartment from the airport, but inviting us to her home and making us hot pot.
Hosting a new friend/Couchsurfer.
A weekend visit from this weirdo.
This mini Schnauzer puppy with a mohawk named Luca. Yes, of course he's a people.
Meeting this new couple in Vietnam and discovering she lives in Dalian! And her being so sweet as to treat us to her fabulous cooking not once but twice.
Rants and sass and economics from this Irish coworker/friend.
The Food
The Sights
The View From Our Apartment
I may miss the mountain outside my bedroom window most.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love the Chinese word for 'goodbye'. Zaijian. Literally meaning "see again". So zaijian Dalian, till next time.
