Sunday, October 30, 2011

2011 U.S. Tour

Prior to our October 7 wedding, I was in the U.S. for five weeks. It was great to be back in the U.S. for a few weeks. I enjoyed the comforts of home, e.g. Chipotle, seeing good friends and family and was able to accomplish all the tasks for the wedding I couldn't complete in China. 


First stop was Denver, CO, where our good friends Adam and Chrissie became husband and wife. It was a beautiful wedding and I was fortunate to spend a few days with the beautiful bride before the big day.




From Denver, I few to Minnesota where I spent two weeks with my family. It was so great to be home. I forgot how beautiful Minnesota was. I was able to meet my new nephew for the first time. I may be bias, but I think I have the cutest neices & nephews. 



Hopefully they'll always like each other this much.



While in Minnesota, my sister and aunts threw two bridal showers and my bridesmaid Hannah hosted a bachelorette party.  Fun was had by all. I also was fortunate to spend a few days with Hannah and her two beautiful little girls. Hannah is a stay-at-home mom. I think it's the toughest job there is. I had a great time visiting her and her family. After Minnesota I was off to Arizona for the wedding.







What bridal shower wouldn't be complete with out zip lining in Viking color zubaz?



Bingyu Valley

You may be thinking that the Tanya & Andrew China Adventure blog ended, but you would be wrong. We're just slackers. However, in our defense, Andrew has been extremely busy at work and I was in the U.S. for six weeks to prepare for our October 7 nuptials. The good news is, we're now both back in China & I have some time to update the blog. Stay tuned...


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At the end of August I took a day trip to Bingyu Valley, which is about a two hour drive from Dalian with our good friends Leon & Kevin, their dog Jilly and Kevin's mom who was visiting from Scotland. Binguy Valley is a national park, complete with a roller coaster, zip line and shooting range (what national park isn't complete without these items?) We really enjoyed our trip to the unspoiled China countryside.









Flying saucer or flying bullets, either way.
No need to keep the firearms in a gun safe.
Maybe a look of fear on my face. The Chinese aren't known
for their  outstanding safety standards.

A little scary crossing this dam.
After crossing the shady dam, we had to hop a fence.
Food on a stick anyone?
No sure what they are cooking (above), but they have a number of
sauces and spices to make it better.





Saturday, August 27, 2011

T.I.C. "This is China"

There is really no way to convey how strange China can be at times... Coming from North America, there are so many things that are just done differently, or were lost in translation, or just plain mistakes. I try to take pictures of these things when I can. T.I.C. or This is China is what people say here when we find another westerner trying to understand what they are seeing and to make sense of it through a western lens, so it seemed like a good title.
Anyway here are a few of my favorites, there will be more to come I am sure.

If your car is going to explode, you cannot allow it to happen here... 

This sign says "caution extremely hot water" the spigots are ~2 feet off the ground and have no safety lock on them. Basically they were made to entice and scald children. 

Paunch of Pig anyone? (now with Egg)

1 box tissue... so that has always been what has been missing from the combo meal at the bar

That'll teach you to drive on the side walk. (The hole under this car goes down ~5 feet and that tire is basically in mid air)
These holes in teh side walk are everywhere, and often do not have covers or they have broken covers. You cannot "zone out" while running or walking or you will fall in a hole. 

This was taken from the car as we drove by... the sign is ~200 feet long and 50 feet tall, and of course misspelled. It says:
"Dalian Best City Biodiverse/Emerging/Sciience/Technology  

The mad driving the fork lift is on the phone and has just crashed into the shelf. The  other man is also on the phone and run under the ropes blocking the isle and was under the forklift when the driver hit the shelf. Neither person seemed to notice this event.  

They just leave the "caution wet floor" sign up next to the urinals now

This guy wanted to have his picture taken with me... who am I to say no. 

While guys in the back of trucks is nothing new to me... guys in the back of a box truck, sitting on chairs and waving at us was a little novel... 

We were in a club, an up scale dance club, the kind you would find in old town Scottsdale, at 2am, and I turned around and this guy was behind me making balloon animals...  

One of many "Do not pee on the floor" signs that are ignored everyday

This shirt looks like Hitler... so they added a little arrow that indicates that it is in fact Charlie Chaplin. I still don't get it. 

These guys were balancing on top of a scaffold, and every time the guy on top ripped out a roof tile he almost knocked the guy below off. I don't know what the guy in yellow was doing, he never seemed to do any work in the 5 min I watched him almost get hit with things.

DIY plumbing (yes, that is a flexible hose running from the urinal to the drain)

This picture was 5 feet wide and 4 feet tall, and can be yours for only 2,800

This woman was selling gloves stolen from Intel on the street... she was wearing them to show how good they are. 

This guy was the only one on this scaffold wearing a fall harness... but he had it wrapped around his neck.