Best weekend ever :)

Okay, I just had the most amazing weekend and it's not even half over yet! Yesterday, right after school, I packed up my bags and took the qing gui (aka skytrain) from Jinshitan to Dalian with Anita and Anjali. We went to an Indian restaurant on the fifth floor of the Zhongshan Hotel and met up with some other teachers from the Foreign Nationals School downtown. The food was amazing and we were entertained by Indian dancing and music throughout the night. The hotel had a glass elevator which took us up for an amazing view from the 38th floor, which was almost as fun as the hellevator ride at the amusement park last week. Then we wandered around the night markets and enjoyed the nightlife. Dalian is always thronging with people, no matter what time of day or night. We decided to indulge in one of our favourite luxuries here: the dry hair wash. We went into a random salon close to the teacher apartments and introduced the Foreign Nationals teachers to the joys of the hair wash. The guys in the salon pour shampoo on our heads and rub it in, using a spray bottle to get it all sudsy. The best part of it all is that they massage your head, back and arms while they do your hair. These guys were way stronger than the girls we usually go to in Manjitan, plus they were entertaining and kept teasing us. We went to bed so relaxed that night, and for only two bucks. We stayed in the apartments with the Foreign Nationals teachers. They are staying quite a distance away from their campus, in small one-room apartments. After seeing their places I feel so blessed to have so much space. They don't even have kitchens or stoves, so they eat out most of the time. I'll take my smelly bathroom anyday, if I can have a place to cook. Actually, I might move out of my place next weekend and start rooming with Anita. I can't wait to have a roomie again!
Anyways, today we woke up to the most beautiful day we've had so far in Dalian. And it was perfect, because we planned a hike for today. We picked up some coffee at McDonald's and some breakfast from some bustling street markets early in the morning before jumping on the qing gui to Kaifaqu. There we met up with some other teachers and took a bus out to DaHeiShi (literally big black mountain). The bus only costs 16 cents a ride and the light rail is just $1.33 (quite a steal compared to Vancouver). We hiked up to the top of the mountain past horses, yurts, and Buddist temples. The hike was absolutely amazing and by the time we reached the top, we could see for miles towards Dalian, Kaifaqu, and Jinshitan and out over the ocean. I can't wait to post pictures! We were also celebrities up at the top. All the Chinese hikers took out their cell phones and started snapping pictures of us. A bunch of girls wanted a picture with me. I'm getting accostomed to the stares I get as I walk down the street. Tomorrow we have a great day planned too: we'll be going to church, having lunch there, shopping for bikes (since we just got paid today, yay :) and celebrating the moon festival with a potluck and fireworks on the beach. So right now I'm hoping to get all my work for the week done so I can enjoy tomorrow and not panic on Sunday night as usual.