Andrew's Pretty Much Famous

This past winter Andrew was asked to be part of a Intel photo shoot showcasing Dalian Intel employees. He was told the photos would be used for promotional posters around the site. Early this spring he saw his face on a poster and a large banner in the site's lobby. Then he saw this photo in a Chinese newspaper, after Intel was chosen by a Chinese newspaper as the Employer of the Year:





This is the Chinese newspaper article:

No Cake, Noodles

I celebrated my birthday last week with friends at a Chinese restaurant for hot pot. About halfway through lunch all the waitstaff came to sing me happy birthday in Chinese and English and presented me not dessert, but longevity noodles because Chinese have the tradition of eating longevity noodles on their birthdays. It is believed that eating these noodles, which by tradition is one extremely long noodle, is auspicious as the long strand symbolizes a long life and if you eat the noodle without breaking with chopsticks or teeth, you will have good luck. Needles to say, I didn't get very far before breaking the noodle. 

2012 U.S. April Tour

I was fortunate to spend most of the month of April traveling around the U.S. visiting friends and family, I know I have a tough life. I traveled from China to Spring Valley, MN, to Hudson, WI, to Big Lake, MN, to Portland, OR, and then to Phoenix. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Andrew couldn't join me because he of course had to work. He did have some fun; however, while I was gone. He attended the Grand Prix with friends in Shanghai and traveled to Santa Clara, CA for a week for work. He also was able to join me in Phoenix for 48 hours before traveling back to China. 


The longer we're in Dalian, the more we appreciate the comforts of home and enjoy time with our friends and family when we are home.

I got to see Casey and meet her cute little man. He's a keeper.

Kellin is getting really big.

These girls LOVE their ice cream.

I met Romy for the first time. She's adorable. She has a great laugh.

Good times with good friends. A little wine culture in the Portland area and hiking.
Leon and Kevin seem to be settling in in Portland.

Another cute little boy and his beautiful mother I got to spend time with.

Crotchless Pants

In China, most toddlers wear crotchless pants so when the child has to go to the bathroom the child can literally squat on the sidewalk, in a market, subway station, etc. and go to the bathroom without the parent removing the child's pants. This is quite alarming to a Westerner when they first realize such a thing exists and millions of children wear such a thing in public everyday, including the middle of winter. Mind you the child will be bundled up, but will not only be wearing crotchless pants, but also crotchless cotton snow pants. The child has to be cold, right?


One of the most alarming sights pertaining to crotchless pants was when we were in the Shanghai subway. A parent was holding a toddler over a trash can and the child was going poo. Yes, that happened. About a minute later we saw a boy fall face forward on the dirty subway floor with no protection of his private parts. That has to hurt. 


In case you don't believe me...

Yes, that child is going to the bathroom.

Molotov Cocktail

1. Consider the number of smokers in China
2. Think about a Molotov cocktail
3. Think about this driver smoking while driving...

  

This genius decided to carry gasoline in two five gallon water cooler bottles in his open trunk… the choice to use the open trunk was probably due to the fact that he did not have lids for the bottles and fumes were coming out of the towels that he had shoved into the bottles as makeshift stoppers. 

It is not the best picture, but I was telling my driver to get away from the guy, not get me in closer for a better picture.

Hangzhou & Wuzhen

Andrew joined me in Hangzhou while I was there with my friend Ashley. While in Hangzhou we decided to visit Wuzhen, which according to our Lonely Planet guide was a worthwhile day trip from Hangzhou. Wuzhen is a restored and resurrected water town which has been around since the late Tang dynasty, which ended in 907. 


Feeling adventurous we dared the Chinese public transportation system. There were a few minutes where we weren't exactly sure where we would end up since our Chinese lessons aren't going as well as they should be, the signs are not in English at the bus station and no one seems to speak English. Andrew had a little more interesting ride than I since a screw or two was loose in his seat and he slid from right to left on the metal track it was attached to around every corner. These weren't five star buses, by any stretch of the imagination, but we arrived safe & sound.


After our day in Wuzhen we spent the rest of Sunday walking around West Lake, which is Hangzhou's main attraction and doing some shopping on silk street. The weather was beautiful. We had a great time in Hangzhou, it tops one of our favorite Chinese destinations.

Andrew eating a hot dog on a stick. I didn't try it, it smelt like plastic.

Wuzhen

Wuzhen still makes blue cloth as they did during the Tang dynasty by extracting indigo from pants.
Here the dyed cloth is drying.

They make their own rice wine a.k.a. baijiu.

This is what Andrew thought of the rice wine.

A pig's face for sale on the sidewalk.

The spicy fried tofu & the vendor we purchased it from.

Beautiful West Lake in Hangzhou

For some reason I was very popular in Hangzhou.
This is one of the Chinese girls who asked to take a photo with me.

Friends are the Best

My good friends Ashley and Jessica visited China last week. I was very much looking forward to showing them China, the place we call home. It was a whirlwind tour; Jessica was here for seven days and Ashley nine. They flew into Beijing, where we spent two days visiting Snack Street, (where they serve everything and anything you can think of on a stick), Forbidden City, Pearl Market and the Temple of Heaven. After Beijing we flew to Dalian, from Dalian we traveled to Dandong for the day to see the Great Wall. After two days in Dalian where we visited Er Qi to have tailor clothes, duvet and three duvet covers made, a trip to the orphanage where I volunteer, shopping and a trip to the naked spa, Jessica returned home and Ashley and I traveled to Hangzhou, which is a popular tourist destination among the Chinese, they call it heaven on Earth. 


Jessica and Ashley quickly noticed really how different China is to the U.S. (it really only takes a minute) and agreed that you can't explain it you just have to experience it. They said China doesn't top the list of their favorite places they've traveled, but that they are glad they had the experience. I guess a place where you quickly discuss what you like least versus what you like the most isn't the top of the list of "my favorite places." Not surprisingly, squatty potties, all the people hawking loogies, and the urine scent at the naked spa when we got body scrubs topped the list for them.

It was really great to have Ashley and Jessica here. Hopefully they'll visit us where ever we go next.

Famous Peking duck, it was delicious & plus it came with a post card

Bugs on a stick anyone?

Jessica & Ashley @ the Temple of Heaven.

Er Qi with Ms. Liu, the tailor

Us at the Great Wall. Behind us in North Korea.

Tea plantation

Sipping tea

Nice day for a stroll, us and about 1 million Chinese tourist.

Overlooking West Lake