Our First Day in Dalian
"Today we ate sea urchin!"
Mary's Presentation
An hour before Mary's
presentation we were picked up at the hotel. (More on the hotel at another
time.) We drove around the north campus and then the south campus which
was essentially across the street. We are continually impressed with the
first year students' ten days of orientation (army training). Although
the laundry made a mark also. Some dorm rooms have as many as eight students.
As expected Mary did an excellent
presentation to about 80-100 students. While most of the 
students
were glued to her every word some probably found it exhausting to listen
and translate for one and a half hours. This was a group of students who
didn't require a translator. Very few questions were asked but they took
all the literature and some had questions about advanced degrees in America.
They are always impressed that students in America could choose their
classes, and we were equalling impressed with the fact that we could not
enter a building if we were not a student studying in that building.
Off to lunch,
followed
by an offer of an hour rest in the hotel. That is the first midday rest
that we have had the entire trip. At 2:00 we headed to the largest town
square in Asia adjacent to a massive convention complex where the 2007
Summer Davos meetings were being held with 1700 top executives from around
the world. We hear that Bill Gates is here. The square is large, beautiful,
full of sculptures and light, and was build on an area that ten years
ago was a landfill. Architecture reflected the early influence of Russia
and the controlling influence of Korea and Japan. Construction is everywhere
and while it is very modern and very rich, there remains a contrast with
some of the locals.
From the largest town square
in Asia we headed along the coast. The scenery was similar to that of
the Oregon coast with the exception of large mirrors on the hairpin corners.
The park along the road was lined with large sculptures of sea life and
at one point the road resembled Lambardi Street in San Francisco. The
beach was manmade and covering with large pebbles and no soft sand. Additional
sculptures kept showing up as we continued to drive. Then there was our
second hour break of the trip from five to six when we were met by our
guide's parents and ushered off to an elaborate restaurant and experience.
What a day.
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