Day Ten: Arrive in Dalian, and pretty much shop all day

So our train arrived in Dalian early Wednesday morning and we went straight to the school. Wang Yan has a really nice and new school there and we just planned on setting up camp there for a few days. There were some stow-away beds (two pieces of wood with a sheet stapled over it) that we laid out in one of the classrooms at night.
The school is right next door to this western restaurant. Unfortunately I never got a chance to try their "Lmpirted Tea".

We had two surprises shortly after getting there. One- Gordon's bag arrived. Everything in it that was the slightest bit breakable, broke, but with 5 and a half days left in the trip and after only 8 phone calls, and at it's third address delivery plan, it landed in Dalian! And Two- Akonga arrived. Akonga is this man who is from Congo, but had been living in another city in China for a couple of years teaching art while getting arrangements set to do his PhD in drawing somewhere in China. He knows 7 languages and is a champion boxer and I think Gordon should marry him. Anyway, while he waits for his schooling and visa stuff to go through he was hired by Wang Yan to teach at her school in Dalian. . . although that's still not a 100% sure thing because the local government is still not giving her the proper licenses for him- they don't want to because Akonga is black. Absolutely infuriating.
Anyway, we hung out with Akonga for a little bit

and then Wen Wen, Gordon and I pretty much just went shopping for the rest of the day.
Wen Wen and I bought matching shoes;
I didn't buy that cute coat because it was made from real rabbit fur :(
I tried to convince Gordon to buy this bra that doubled as gift wrap
Wen Wen tried out the sexy cowgirl look
and I found a life-size E.T. doll
Gordon and I actually went a little bit nuts buying things today. Dalian is a pretty fashionable city and I was in such a mood for bargaining. Here is Wen Wen holding the cumulative purchases from the day.

That night we met up with the other Wen Wen for dinner and met her boyfriend for the first time. This Wen Wen is Er Yi's daughter (Wang Yan's niece) and she was just about to graduate from high school when we left. She has since graduated from college and has a really great job.
We ate at this restaurant with really great hanging lights.