Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Are You Curious?

Are you curious about the "squatty potty" (more formally known as a squat toilet)? These are the toilets most commonly found in China, although we do have "Western toilets" in our house and many stores will have squat or western options.

Here is what one looks like:



It has water, it flushes, it's almost like what we are used to in the US only it's just right on the ground, no raised portion and no seat....I just pretend that I'm hiking in the woods and going behind a tree (TMI?)... If they are clean (and most I've encountered have been), they aren't bad to use. I'm just glad super bell bottom pants aren't in style anymore! Maybe someday I'll get a picture of the squat port-a-potty that's down by the beach!

I'll give 20 of my prized chocolate chips to the first person who can identify where this toilet is!
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Sunday, July 26, 2009

They Moved the Pole

If you recall, this telephone pole was stranded in the middle when they put the new road in. There are no streetlights so I figured it wouldn't last long. At first I thought they intentionally moved it, but looking at the stump, I'm thinking something ugly happened. The stump is still there a week later. Maybe a few more trucks tires will flatten it.


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Friday, July 24, 2009

More Pictures of Dalian

We haven't had access to our blog for almost a week...That's probably a good thing, because it's been a hard week and I probably didn't have anything nice to say anyway!

Here are some pictures of what we see around Dalian. Most of these are from the main city of Dalian.

Click on the album to open it, then you can double-click on a picture to make it bigger or watch a slide show from the upper left.


Dalian City Pics

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Saturday, July 18, 2009

Missing Easy Eating

Well, I just finished torturing myself again....I made cookies....the end result - cookies - are good...but it is torture to not be able to eat the cookie dough. I guess I didn't think about how much I LOVE cookie dough, until I wasn't able to eat it....although, I should have guessed as there have been times that I have made cookies, but never baked them - only ate the dough!

That's one of the hard parts about living here, the uncertainty of the safety of food. For example, when we were at pizza, I really wanted to order their salad. But then I had to run through the pros and cons in my head (pros - haven't had salad in 4 weeks, I love salad, this is a clean restaurant, restaurant run by westerner; cons - don't know how well they washed the lettuce, don't know how they stored the dressing, don't like to throw up).

In the end, I skipped the salad. But we are faced with those decisions on a regular basis. Because I see how often foods are not refrigerated in China, and the lack of cleanliness that we are used to, it is hard for me to get past that and eat anyway. It's hard to know so much about food safety, maybe it would be easier if I weren't a nutritionist. There are many people here who just go for it, and eat it all. It'll be awhile before I'm that brave.

It's also hard because eating out (right now) means new menus and new foods, instead of old familiar dishes. So while going to a restaurant is fun, it is also a bit of work.

We all miss the simplicity of going through Taco Bell drive thru...
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Friday, July 17, 2009

How Much Do You Weigh Soaking Wet?

Well, now we know....Kiana and Kevin weigh 5 more pounds soaking wet than they weigh when they are dry! And how did we find that out???? A warm, torrential downpour!! Two inches of rain forecast for today, and some lightening and thunder too (and no I didn't let the kids go out in the lightening!)


Kevin is up to his knees in water in the sandbox:


We are watching them pump water out of the basement level of the townhouse across the street - glad we are on the 3rd floor!
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Kevin's New Favorite Pizza

We went to JinShiTan for pizza tonight with friends (remember, JinShiTan is Chinese for Golden Pebble Beach and is the closest town to our condo).

We had heard about "Susan's Pizza" from others, but we weren't quite sure where to find it. Luckily, JinShiTan is a pretty small town so it was easy to find. We had pizza and Mike had a sandwich with fries. The kids had milkshakes and Coke Floats. A nice place, good food and clean. And Kevin loved their pepperoni pizza!!! He says it's now his favorite (anywhere), Kiana still likes Pizza Schmizza the best. I have to admit, it was pretty good - they even had veggie pizza.

We talked to the owners. He used to teach at the Canadian school here, and is now retired and running the restaurant with his wife, who is Chinese. Here is a picture of the owners outside the place:


And here we are inside the restaurant with Geneal and her two daughters (her husband didn't come) and Damon (Yukiko and kids are touring China with family).
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Monday, July 13, 2009

Just News

Tonight the kids and I went for a walk around Campus Village in the rain...it reminded us of Portland!!! It's a nice warm rain, probably around 70' tonight.

Tomorrow we will go to what is affectionately known as the "stinky market." A multilevel market/shopping center that is popular with the locals. It is stinky because there is a section of raw meat and fish (I won't be going to that part). We will be shopping for fruits and veggies. I'll let you know how it goes.

On Sunday, we went to tour some sights in KaiFaQu (the nearby suburb - also known as the development zone). Here are some of our pictures:

The UFO - we will go back here later this month to go inside...it was closed for remodeling:


How do they mow this vertical grass? They don't...a whole bunch of ladies cut it by hand:


(Fake) dinosaur fossils on the rocks:


The beach in KaiFaQu, very crowded:

Shopping in downtown KaiFaQu on Sunday:
A typical bike rider around town:

We aren't able to access Facebook right now, so if you need to get ahold of us, use email.
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Saturday, July 11, 2009

A Recipe for Disaster

My driver and I came across this on a new back road we starting taking to work (less traffic and a wider road, so it must be safer, right?). I can only imagine the conversion between the road construction manager and the telephone company manager that ended with this solution. I figure I should take a picture soon, before it's too late. There are no street lights on this stretch - I'd hate to be driving down this stretch at night. - Mike



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Friday, July 10, 2009

Great "Wok" Lodge

If you're not from Oregon, you won't get the joke in the title...the Great Wolf Lodge recently opened in Washington...an indoor water park attached to the hotel. Well, yesterday we went to what I'll call the Great Wok Lodge (cuz I can't remember it's Chinese name!), an indoor water park inside a hotel.

Once again, another trip into the great unknown. Driving with my driver who assures me that he knows where he's going even though he's never been there...taking me to a part of Dalian I've never been to before....taking me farther away from my safe haven of home....it takes about 40 minutes to drive there (feel the fear and do it anyway - every time we get in the car it's crazy driving, but that's a whole 'nother story).

I keep saying that it is easy to do things in China even if you don't speak Chinese, and yesterday was a good example. We go up to the desk (the sign does say "Cashier" in English). I point to me, Kiana and Kevin. She says a number, I give her the money. She hands me 3 keys and points to a door. We try to go in, but then she points to the keys and says something in Chinese and gestures to Kevin....hmmmm....I already know he can't go in the women's locker room, so what's she trying to tell me....hmmmm....one key is blue and the others are red. She's pointing to the blue key and Kevin....got it! He gets the blue one for the boys locker room.

There is a dad there (we were with a group of people and there are 2 stay at home dads in our group), so he can take Kevin in the locker room. Thank goodness!

We walk in the locker room, they point to our shoes and some funky flip flops on the shelf. Gotta change into their funky flip flops.

They kindly escort us to our locker and show us how to use the lock. This service is great! Still, no English, but we're doing fine.

Then we follow the others out the back door to the pool.

Great pool - lots of water slides, lots of fun! We want to rent a raft. The nice girl at the counter manages to let me know (with gestures) that I don't need money, she just needs my locker number - I assume they'll charge me on the way out (yes, that was right).

We spend 4 fun hours there...a few bits of culture shock...people smoking indoors (ugh!), using a squat toilet barefoot (that's why they had funky flip flops outside the door - duh!), and the sleeping lifeguard.

Here are some pics, we plan to go back soon.

Swim caps are required in China (but smoking and spitting are allowed...)




On one of the big slides




In the pool with new friends



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Wednesday, July 8, 2009

From Sheltered to Lord of the Flies

The small bit of culture shock that I'm experiencing is how differently kids play when they are in large groups and unsupervised. It reminds me of books I've read about the 50s. Kids get together in the park or spare lot, pick up games are created, kids disagree, kids fight, kids continue to play, the groups of kids playing changes as the day goes on, and everyone goes home by dark. That's kind of what it's like here at Campus Village.

Today my kids were running with a pack of about 8 kids. All over the neighborhood. Mixed ages (4-12), boys and girls. Making up games, playing old ones like "Simon Says" and having a great time. I love that our kids are free to roam and play without worry here!

But it is not without some worry of my own. I just had to close my windows because a group of other kids have been playing what they call the "fighting game" out on the playground. They are all there willingly, but it is pretty rough and tumble. If you stumbled onto it, you would think that they are really fighting. It pushes me to the edge of what I'm comfortable with...

So I take a little bit of bad with the good....and I'm thankful that my kids can run on the blacktop and have some fun!
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Monday, July 6, 2009

A Recipe for Fun

By Chef Kiana:

In the past couple of weeks, we haven't had toys (because our shipment hasn't arrived) so we've been creative.

Here are some of our recipes for fun.

Beach Ball Shower Volleyball


1 clothesline
1 beach ball
2 towels

Extend the clothesline. Hang the two towels on the clothesline. This is your net. Now play volleyball with the beach ball over the net. This works great in the hotel bathroom.


Pong Ping

2 paddles
1 ball
1 coffee table

Place the coffee table in the middle of the room, dividing the room in two. The server attempts the to hit the ball off the table, then off the floor; then the opponent hits it back, but not bouncing on the table; then the rally continues. If you hit the table or the wall behind you or hit it without it bouncing in front of your first, that is a point for your opponent. This works great in our living room and is very fun!




The Chopstick Game

2 pairs of chopsticks
1 ping pong ball
2 small bowls (or shoes)
2 blankets

First roll the blankets up and put the parallel about 3 feet apart. The two players sit at the ends of the blankets, with chopsticks in hand. The ball is positioned in the middle of the "court." "GO!" The object of the game is to pick up the ping pong ball with your chopsticks and place it in your bowl or shoe which is set out of bounds. The first one with 5 points wins.


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Saturday, July 4, 2009

4th of July




Were you worried that we might miss the 4th of July celebrations?? We told the kids we would ("They don't celebrate 4th of July in China, it's a US holiday..."). Boy, were we wrong. We were just at the biggest 4th of July celebration we've ever been to!

Campus Village had a BBQ on the patio - 4 grills going - lots of people and lots of fun. And then, a HUGE fireworks show! About 15 minutes long, and big, aerial fireworks, like you'd see at Disneyland! But close, just across the road from us. We watched from our balcony facing the school.

Here are some pictures:

Sparklers:



On the balcony:



Setting up in the field - each of those boxes contains many aerial fireworks.



The aftermath of thousands of firecrackers:



We hope you all enjoy your 4th of July as much as we did....the fireworks have finally ended so we are going to bed now!
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