Saying Goodbye

Living in a country that is very unlike your own, where you don't have any family or long time friends, and you don't speak the language, usually quickly facilitates a friendship with others who are living in a country unlike their own, where they don't have any family or long time friends, and don't speak the language. These new friends become your family, a sort of adopted China family. They are the people you call to go to the market because it seems easier to handle the chaos when your with someone else, you spend holidays together when your biological family is 1000 miles away, they are there when you are having a tough China day to grab a glass of wine and share a laugh, when you are missing home they remind you of home, and when you have nothing to do as a stay-at-home wife they are there to just hang out and enjoy a cup of coffee. 

Over the past six months we've had to say goodbye to a number of people who are part of our China family because like us, Dalian isn't a permanent destination. Most recently our good friends Leon & Kevin, along with their dog Jilly, left for Portland, OR. Leon has been a great friend to me over the past 15 months. She's always been willing to take a trip to the market and to grab a glass of wine when I've had a tough China day. Saying goodbye is tough. It's one of the things I like least about being an expat.

Best wishes Leon & Kevin. Hopefully our paths will cross again someday.

Modest Americans

Before leaving for Switzerland while researching where to go and what to do while we were there, I came across a post from an American who had commented about having a private bathroom which was a necessity for us "modest" Americans. When I read this comment I thought us Americans really weren't that modest and didn't think more of it until we decided to go to a sauna at an athletic center in Switzerland.


When we arrived at the athletic center we were told we needed to make a reservation. When we came back two hours later for our "appointment" we were given a key to the sauna and we proceeded to the communal locker room. The locker room had changing closets in the middle so you weren't necessarily getting naked with the opposite sex. We thought that wasn't typical and then we went to the sauna... 


The sauna area consisted of a 15x15 room with five lounge chairs, a shower and a small wet and dry sauna. When we walked in we were greeted by a naked twenty-something woman. I looked down at my swimsuit and then at Andrew in his swimsuit. We weren't exactly sure what to do or were to look. There were two older men and a woman with towels wrapped around them on the loungers. We then decided we should take a shower before going into the wet sauna. We took a cold shower as the naked twenty-something waited outside the shower. When we got into the tiny wet sauna this is basically what the conversation entailed:


Andrew: Did you see the naked woman?
Tanya: Yes, how could you miss her? I think we're suppose to be naked?
Andrew: Maybe, but when is it ever wrong to wear a swimsuit?
Tanya: I don't know. At the naked spa in DDA you can't wear suits, but then again it isn't coed.
Andrew: Europeans, they just don't give a shit to they?


After about 15 minutes in the hot sauna we got out, took a cold shower and went to get into the dry sauna. When I opened the door I saw the middle aged man sitting naked Indian style and the twenty-something woman who was now lounging said something to me in German, which of course I couldn't understand, but I took it as I shouldn't be going into the dry sauna just then, so Andrew and I  laid on the lounge chairs. More anxious now for breaking the sauna "rules," I commented that I think we should be naked. Andrew responded with "we're fine." After we sat down, the couple that was lounging next to us, got up and took a hose that was in the shower and sprayed down the wet sauna Andrew and I just left from. Andrew and I looked at each other, both thinking "they must think we're dirty." The couple then disrobed and their naked selves got into the hot sauna. Now I was beginning to feel even more awkward. After the man exited we went into the dry sauna. After trying to enjoy the sauna for about 10 minutes, an athletic center employee opened the dry sauna door and asked if we were suppose to be in here. We said that we had a key. He then informed us that we couldn't have our suits on in the sauna. When the employee was closing the door we could hear another sauna goer thank the employee, which made us think that we reported for daring to wear our suits into the saunas. So we exited the sauna embarrassed and became Swiss, i.e. naked at the sauna. When we returned to the dry sauna there were then two twenty-something women laying naked and the middle aged man sitting Indian style naked. Where to look? We didn't stay too long, it was just a bit much, all the coed nakedness. 


We later were informed that suits shouldn't be worn into the sauna for health reasons. I guess people are afraid suits will carry in germs? While I appreciate and admire many Europeans ability to feel comfortable with their bodies regardless of their shape (which if you think about it is probably better than many self-conscious Americans), I'm not sure if coed naked sauna are something I'll fully embrace. Lesson learned, Americans are modest. 

Christmas in Switzerland

Andrew's brother, Travis, is a PhD student studying and working at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland. For Christmas, we decided to meet in Geneva for a not so traditional Christmas instead of traveling to Arizona. We spent a week in and around Geneva, eating and drinking and even playing a little bit of mahjong. After a week with Travis and Andrew's mom, Deborah, Andrew and I spent a week exploring Switzerland. We spent three nights in the Swiss Alps, two nights in Lucern, and two nights in Appenzell in NE Switzerland. We had a great time drinking and eating our way around Switzerland. I would definitely recommend a trip to Switzerland, but remember your pocketbook, it's not an inexpensive place to travel.

Geneva

Some Science related CERN object

Andrew was very excited to sit on this large pipe

The family in Montreux

Raclette- melted raclette cheese served with a couple baby potatoes and pickle, my kind of dish

Travis & Andrew skiing in Les Contamines, France

Beautiful hike in Les Contamines

Tobogganing in the Swiss Alps

Swiss Alps

Lucern at night

Appenzell

Appenzell, beautiful countryside