Chengdu Can Do

Andrew and I traveled to Chengdu, a city of 10 million in southern China, last week. Intel has a site there and Andrew had a week of meetings and I, having plenty of time on my hands, joined him for half of the week and the weekend. 


The area's top two tourist attractions are the world's largest Buddha and a panda park (pandas being the favorite animal of the Chinese). Although for us, it had much more to offer... legit Mexican food @ Peter's Tex-Mex. For us, that was definitely the highlight of the trip. It also has a larger array of Western restaurants including a chic place owned by an American couple called the Lazy Pug, where we enjoyed a delicious pulled pork and buffalo chicken sandwich. It was a fun trip.

Sewing 101

My dear friend Di is a master of everything crafty; knitting, sewing, crocheting, card making, quilting, cross stitch. You name it she can do it and do it well. This winter she's taught me how to knit, and a scarf and hat later I'm a knitter (maybe not a great knitter, but a knitter nonetheless.) Since I've learned how to crochet and knit I was thinking it may be neat to also learn how to sew. Then, when I was last in Minnesota, my sister had my mom's old sewing machine out on the dinning room table and was sewing my nieces skirts to wear for Christmas. It reminded me of how each winter my Grandma sewed all of her granddaughters a dress to wear for Christmas and how much we loved those dresses made especially for us from Grandma. I was inspired. I was inspired for the sentimental reasons and probably because I'm thrifty (why pay $10 to hem a pair of pants when I can do it myself for free) and, I'm continuously looking for things to do to occupy my time and challenge me while in China being a stay-at-home wife.


Since my time in Minnesota, I've spent some quality time reading online sewing blogs and I've become more inspired. There are some very talented sewers who thankfully blog about it. As a result, I've decided sewing is a life skill I'd like to learn and thanks to the magnificent Di it's a skill I can learn while I'm in China and have a lot of time on my hands.  


So this past week we visited Er Qi, which is an enormous sewing warehouse. Mostly consisting of stalls and stalls of material and tailors which can make anything from curtains to winter jackets. This is where I found a small stall to purchase a sewing machine and material to make my first projects. 

Me & the Chinese man who sold me my first sewing machine.

Hopefully more photos to come with my finished sewing projects...

Company Holiday Party... Sort Of

In China, it is expected that employers will have an annual party around Chinese New Year. I was thinking the annual party was similar to an American holiday party, which it is, but I found out that there are several major differences:

• Spouses aren't usually invited to annual parties
• Extravagance is key in planning an annual party, i.e. lights, music, an MC and involved
• A sort of non-competitive talent show/performance where employees display their artistic talents, dancing or singing, is part of the event
• Management is expected to participate in the talent show
• Some of the outfits worn by participants may be deemed inappropriate for a strip club company event by our modest American standards

As an Intel manager, Andrew was strongly encouraged to participate in a performance. Needless to say, he was less than elated. Many of you may know Andrew isn't much of a dancer. Usually if I see him dancing, it's a sign that he's had too much to drink. But, he's a trooper and he put a smile on his face and participated. After the event he was told by a number of co-workers that he was given the title of the worst dancer. I don't think that's possible... 

Because I'm Married

Andrew wore this on the way to and the way home from the Philippines:

When I questioned this suspect fashion decision he said "I'm married. I can wear whatever I want." So I guess the honeymoon stage is over.

CNY in the Philippines

Andrew and I decided some months ago that we'd like to take a vacation/ our "official" honeymoon over Chinese New Year. First, and most importantly, Intel gives three days holiday to their employees for Chinese New Year, so Andrew wouldn't have to take as much time off of work to see another beautiful Asia destination. Secondly, we've discovered that it isn't very fun for westerns to be in China over Chinese New Year. Think of Christmas for most westerners, except with lots and lots of fireworks and a continuous 15 day celebration versus 2 or 3. Translation, it isn't easy to sleep because fireworks are going off all hours of the night and you can't shop or go out to dinner because everything is closed for two weeks, plus the busy Chinese streets are even busier. 

Based on our friends' recommendations we decided to go to the Philippines. We decided on a five day eco-friendly tour where we'd be island hoping, camping and on a boat with 7 strangers for five days, www.taophilippines.com, and a five day stay at a lovely resort located on a secluded island where there are a maximum of 16 guests at any given time, www.mangenguey.com. Needless to say we had a fabulous time and hope to return at some point in our future, maybe our 20th wedding anniversary...

Paradise

The boat

Caught from the sea and on the plate in 15 minutes. The best tuna sashimi we've ever had & probably ever will.
A highlight of the trip for both of us.

Beautiful Philipina we met in a very small fishing village.

Andrew the fish

Beautiful sunset

Accommodations

A trip to the tropics wouldn't be complete without Andrew climbing a coconut tree

Five days hanging out on a secluded beach isn't bad...

Our suite in the "big house" on the secluded island

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.