Would you like cupping? Okay...

Andrew and I went out for dinner in downtown Dalian Friday evening. After dinner he suggested that we go for a massage. For me, it was very strange to think of getting a massage at 9:00 p.m., but thought what the heck, the place was right down the street from the restaurant and massages are inexpensive here. Andrew and I were in the same room and at the end of the massage Andrew was asked if he'd like cupping. He said "okay." The masseuse then asked if I'd like cupping. I said "okay." We're not sure why we both said okay. I guess we were just feeling adventurous. Thankfully Andrew went first. Basically, they put a lit torch and placed the lit torch in a small fishbowl and adhered the fishbowl/cup to Andrew's back. Instantly the skin within the cup turned bright redish purple. I quickly decided that it wasn't going to be such a good idea for me; besides realizing I didn't know what the benefit of cupping was (later I discovered that although the Chinese think cupping can cure many things, there isn't any scientific proof that it has any benefit), I was going to be in a wedding wearing a strapless dress in two weeks and clearly cupping leaves bruises. The masseuse adhered 21 cups on his back. After Andrew convinced me it didn't hurt, I found the sight of him laying there with 21 cups and large bruises forming very funny. The masseuse also found it very funny. He was pointing and laughing at him. I wonder if he was laughing because they found a westerner to actually do cupping. 

The cups adhered to his back.

Removing the cups.

The result.

 Lesson learned, if someone asks if you want cupping, the answer should always be no, thank you.

A Day in the Life of a Stay-at-Home Fiancé in Dalian

The most challenging aspect of moving to China for me has been transitioning from a full-time career focused person to a stay at home fiancé. Honestly, I don't exactly know how to be a stay at home anything; I've always been employed since before I was 15 years-old. After moving here and realized I wouldn't find a position in my career field, I found I'm not the only person in this predicament. I've already met a great group of friends who have about as much time on their hands as I do. We have extended lunches and coffee hours and just hangout and chat. As an example, we had an exceptional extended lunch this week hosted by my friend Leon of leg of goat curry. It was intended to be leg of lamb, a common piece of meat in Ireland, but instead of lamb we got goat. Our Chinese friend who acquired the leg of goat said Chinese consider a sheep and goat to be the same so that's how we ended up with the leg of goat. I find leg of goat a bit chewy, but the curry was delicious.

In addition to just hanging out with friends, several organizations sponsor activities for ex-pats with time on their hands. I play mahjong Monday and Thursday morning. Mahjong is a Chinese game very common amongst Chinese. It typically involves gambling for the Chinese, even though gambling is illegal in China. It is similar to the card game rummy, but is played with tiles. Tuesday is coffee hour at Starbucks. This week I also started Chinese painting lessons, which are held Wednesday mornings. Being an "artist" is a bit of a stretch for me, so I was a bit intimidated when I saw the painting I was going to recreate. Surprisingly the painting isn't horrible. There are also sponsored monthly lady luncheons and cooking demonstrations. I have only substitute taught 3 1/2 days, but plan on doing some more when I return in January. I also plan on volunteering at an orphanage. I haven't volunteered yet because there was a scabies breakout. Scabies I learned is similar to lice, but the bugs barrow under your skin. I also find I spend more time acuqiring things. For example, there is no one stop shopping like you'd find at Super Target in the U.S.A., if you want meat you need to go to the butcher, vegetables, to the vegetable market, finger nail polish remover to a store that sells cosmetics, spaghetti sauce the import store, athletic apparel a special sports store, etc. Finally, I try to fill my days with daily workouts and enjoy having time to read.

Mahjong game

1st Chinese painting

Although I would prefer to work, specifically in my field of HR, and don't think this will be a permanent gig as a state-at-home fiancé, I'm appreciative of the opportunity for the "time off" and the slower pace of life.

Super Steve's Visit

Andrew and I were fortunate to have our first visitor last weekend. Andrew's good friend Steve from Arizona, who currently resides in South Korea, visited. Andrew had to work all day Friday. This was the first time I met Steve so we bonded by having having a western food for lunch followed by a tour of Five Color City. On Friday night Andrew and Steve had the pleasure of trying baizhou, a Chinese alcohol, for the first time. We had a fun filled Saturday night celebrating our friend James's birthday in downtown Dalian, there was food, drinks and dancing. Andrew was even shaking his booty on the dance floor for a minute. We hope Steve makes it back to China for another visit. We also hope to visit him in South Korea in July.  Here are a few photos from the weekend:

Steve in front of a large snail house in Five Color City.

The birthday boy James, and his wife Susy.

This is what Andrew thought of baizhou. 

Steve, Andrew and I

A special treat at the hot pot restaurant, duck blood.
Something I never thought I'd eat.

Silly boys

The dance floor at the club.
I'm sure this is exactly what Mao wanted.

Fun times

Super fun times

An update from Andrew

Hi... Figured it was time I wrote on here for once and put an end to the Tanya posting monopoly. Things have been quite busy, and I can say that as much as I liked my old job, I am very ready to be done with it and be back to only working one job. Overall the new gig is going really well and the people I work with are good at what they do. It is a very young site overall, instead of everyone in the room having 8-10yrs experience as was the case in Arizona, it is common for everyone to have 8-10months. It kind of makes me feel old at times (I am not old so shut it) seeing all the technicians running around who are 19-20yrs old. 

Here is one of my new business cards, English on one side, Chinese on the other. 

Anyway enough about work for now, or at least not directly about work... 

Here is the sunset out my window at work

I blew up the people and their cart so you could see it better

Another shot I took out my window at work is this one above. In the background is the wall of our brand new $2,500,000,000.00 factory. In the foreground 2 people drag a cart which seems to be made out of old car parts and full of bags of trash from lunch. In a lot of ways it really sums up China to me... brand new buildings with the highest technology, but still supported by massive manual labor. We had to move a tree out front of the building and replant it, and instead of one of those tree moving trucks like you would send in the US, the supplier sent 15 guys with shovels. 


On my way to work the other day I tried to count the number of cranes I could see on the  ride (you have time to do this kind of thing from the back seat). I got up to 27, but I am not sure as one of the buildings complexes looked like it had 6, but then as I moved past it looked like it could have been 8 or 9... so I just kind of called it 27 and quit counting, either way it was a lot. That also sums up a lot about this place, someone is always building something, some times you have to wonder what they are building it for, but I guess with millions of people moving in from the country every year, you have to do something to house them. These are some of the simpler observations I have had, but they are only the tip of what I am figuring out about the country and a very fascinating socio-political and economic period of change. I can already tell we are going to learn a lot from our time here. 


Now some more fun stuff... 

Here is some fruit on a stick from a cart... you can buy any kind of food you can think of on a stick from a cart here

Here is a picture I took today out my office window at 1pm during a huge storm that rolled in pouring rain and dust from the Gobi desert on the mainland. It was actually darker than it looks in this picture.  

Well that is about it for now. 

A Public Education

Monday was my first day teaching English in the Dalian public school system. As of now, I am substitute teacher with a company that places foreign teachers in the Dalian public school system. How frequently I'll be substitute teaching is yet to be determined. These are some of my observations after my first one day:

• Kids will be kids, regardless if they live in China, Australia, Russia, or the U.S.A. I taught 6 sections of 5th graders and 1 section of 3rd graders. The 5th graders were rowdy. The 3rd graders were cute and quiet and happy you were there. The kids love PE and there is a class clown in each class.
• Chinese students get very excited to have a foreign teacher. I got many stares and smiles when I walked into the classroom.
• Class sizes are much larger in the Dalian public school system than they are in Spring Valley, MN. There were 50-60 students in each section I taught. Another foreign English teacher said that he has classes with 70 students. It makes teaching a bit difficult.
• Chinese teachers have creative ways to get students to be quiet. In all the classes, if the teacher does a special clap, all the students are suppose to respond mimicking the clap, be quiet, and sit up straight with their arms crossed on their desk.
• Students greet teachers in the hallway by raising their hand and saying "hello teacher." You say hi to about 10 students from one classroom to the next.
• Chinese students have a massage break mid-morning where they give themselves a head, shoulder and neck massage. 
• Students have a 90 minute lunch/recess time. They can either eat the hot lunch or the lunch their parent drops off for them at lunch time. Students eat at their desks. For recess, the teacher decides the students' recess activities. Some teacher allow their kids to go outside, others let them nap, others have study time or English tutoring time. 
• Teachers, including foreign English teachers, get free lunch. I had Chinese cafeteria lunch yesterday. Chicken necks any one?

I enjoyed my first day in the Dalian public school system, although I don't know how effective I was in actually teaching the students English. I am very thankful a bilingual Chinese teacher accompanies me to each class.

China Health Check

Andrew is currently a holder of a Chinese work visa and me, a multiple entry tourist visa. As part of the China via process, once Andrew and I arrived in China we both needed to apply for a Chinese resident permit. A requirement to apply for the Chinese resident permit is to complete a China health check. These are some of the questions/words that are asked on the health check form:

• Development
• Nourishment
• Neck
• Colour sense
• Abdomen

Individuals initially applying for a work visa, such as Andrew, are fortunate to complete the health in the U.S.A. Dependents, such as myself, do not have this opportunity. Today I went for my China health check. I heard horror stories and was warned by other Intel wives that it wasn't a pleasant experience. Per their advice, I wore yoga pants and brought these items only:

I met my assigned translator in the lobby of a hotel and took the elevator to the 8th floor. The "clinic" was very sterile, but looked clean. It was also cold since the government controls the heat in China and it will not be turned on until November 5. It was about 55 degrees inside. After checking in, providing my passport and having my photo taken by a digital camera, we paid for the health check and then I went to a room for an EKG. The EKG consisted of me laying on a cold metal table. I was asked to raise my shirt and bra. The technician/doctor then placed clamps on my wrists, ankles and chest. I looked like I was hooked up to jumper cables. She then checked my blood pressure. We were then off to another room where I had a chest x-ray taken. Off to another room for an ultrasound. I was again asked to lay on a cold silver table and raise my shirt. We then went upstairs to have my blood drawn. I sat on a stool and stuck my arm under a glass pane window. Thankfully it appeared the latex gloves the technician were wearing were new. Well, I assume they are new because they didn't have anyone else's blood on them, which I was told was normal. Finally, I had to provide a urine sample. I was provided a tiny plastic cup. The toilet provided was a squat toilet, which essentially is a hole in the ground, thankfully I brought my tissue, but there wasn't any provided. After providing the sample, I was told to pour the sample into a test tube. The area provided was two buckets where the cups and excess urine are dumped, not only my excess urine and cup, but everyone else's. Thankfully I had the tissues, hand sanitizer and wet wipes. Overall fairly painless and not nearly as horrific as what I imagined. The standards are a bit different, but than again we're not in Kansas anymore...

Dalian Landscape & Gaelic Football

I thought I'd share a few photos of our city. Our address is Dalian Development Area, DDA, Dalian, China. DDA is a suburb of Dalian and after a little exploration we found a few tourist attractions including:

A UFO

A Chinese bell tower

A child riding a flying bull

Random, very random.


A couple of friends invited me to play on the Gaelic football team. I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't even know what Gaelic football was, but I knew the team recently won the Gaelic football championship because we cheers to them the past weekend in Five Color City. I went to my first practice last week and was encouraged to play in a game last Saturday after one practice. Being new to the area I didn't want to pass up an opportunity to get out and meet some people so I went. Thankfully there isn't a Dalian inter-mural team, but rather a group of Chinese and English teachers, Intel ex-pats, and Intel ex-pat wives playing a scrimmage. Andrew decided not to partake in the running, stair climbing and game, but rather take photos. I'm still not sure how to play Gaelic football, but I'm told I'll learn more if I come to more practices.

A beautiful autumn day. This scene reminds me of SE Minnesota.

My sorry attempt at passing the ball.

This is the way it's suppose to look when you're playing Gaelic football.

Two on one, not fair; it's my first day.

We've Arrived

So we're a little late getting this blog up and running... We've been in China for three weeks now. As a result, I'll give a quick summary of our China adventure thus far:


The first weekend we were here we went for lunch on Saturday and got laughed at by everyone in the restaurant because we couldn't order (I don't blame them for laughing). Andrew's plan was to order by picture (good idea in theory); however, there weren't any pictures and we didn't have a plan B. I finally pointed at something other patrons were eating and that's what we got. The meal with two bottles of water was $1.60. I went back there a couple of days later since I thought the people may remember me and what I ordered. They remembered me, but not what I ordered. I showed them the photo from Sunday. While I was there, one of the patrons tried to strike up a conversation with me. I tried to explain in English that I don't speak Mandarin. This is the same patron who later spit on the restaurant floor. While I was eating I also heard someone in the kitchen cough and spit, very lovely. The standards are a bit different.

 A picture of our hotel, The Inn Fine.

 Our first Chinese meal & the restaurant where the "spitting" incident occurred.

Five Color City, a park and lots of bars.

We also quickly realized China's love for fireworks. They will light fireworks any time of the day for really any reason. For example, a grand opening of a new restaurant, a wedding celebration or for no reason at all, other than it's Friday night in Five Color City, right in the center of town. They don't seem too concerned with the potential hazardous of lighting fireworks in the city or smoking near them.

 A man "watching" the fireworks while smoking.

A nighttime display just because.

When we first arrived we were in a hotel for 10 days while we were looking for an apartment. We looked at 13 options with our representative from Santa Fe. Her name was Salome. Salome is engaged and after learning I was engaged she took me to a bridal store where she rented her wedding gown for her engagement pictures. The wedding gowns are similar to what you would find in the U.S., but I didn't find any that I completely loved. Feeling guilty for not trying any on, I picked two, next thing I knew I was standing in only my underwear in the shop with the relo agent and two store workers. Privacy it seems is defined a little differently here. 

We moved into our apartment, it is at a complex called Shama. It is a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment. We like it. There are definitely perks in living at Shama. They provide complimentary services, such as maid service six days a week, breakfast, espresso, coffee and tea 24 hours a day, and a gym. It is also very conveniently located to shopping, markets, and restaurants.

Exterior photo of our building.

Things are going well at Shama besides the ongoing fight with the wash/dryer. For some reason it likes to hold our clothes hostage. The first load we washed was washed three times because we couldn't get the door open. Finally this week I became so frustrated that I kicked (just lightly) and the door popped open. I think it realized who is boss.

Andrew went to get a haircut yesterday. He got a recommendation from a co-worker. I joined him after getting a manicure and pedicure (which is quite the deal here, only $16). When I walked in he had somewhat of a mohawk/fade style after a hour in her chair and he was asking for the hairdresser, 006, to take the clippers to his hair, which she was very reluctant to do. After the clippers he still has somewhat of a fade. Later we learned that he went to the correct place, but the wrong hairdresser. He should have gone to hairdresser 007.

We realized Halloween is a big deal among the ex-pats here. People begin planning their costumes a month in advance. Since getting things tailored made is relatively inexpensive, most people have their costumes made. Andrew came up with an idea to be contestants from Dancing with the Stars. (Although, I'm not exactly sure how he came up with that, since we don't watch the show and neither of us can dance.) Anyway... off to the tailor we went and thankfully he had a number of catalogs for us to choose. Our costumes turned out well. We had a great time last night at the Jayland Thriller Party. We're off to another Halloween party this evening. We're so fortunate to be able to wear these beautiful costumes twice.