The Last Blog

We've been back in the US for one month. I've decided it's now time to end my blog about our China adventure. We have settled (mostly) into our old house. And life goes on....

Because I was reluctant to go to China, and I came out of it with a much better understanding of the world and myself, I now encourage anyone to take a similar opportunity.

When you open yourself up to new experiences, you can't always anticipate what you will learn. In China, the things that I did and the people that I met changed me. It is an experience that I will never regret or forget.

If you want more information about living in China, you can contact me at 88debi88@gmail.com.

Debi v. Aliens

Imagine your family is lifted out of your home by friendly aliens, you happily live in the alien's kingdom for 2 years, then suddenly you are dropped back into your old home. Life has continued on in your neighborhood while you were gone. The houses in your neighborhood still hold mostly the same people. Children have been born and others have grown, some have grown so much they have left home. Pets have died and new pets have arrived. Jobs have changed. Houses have changed colors. The trees have grown. People drive the same cars. People seem to be very similar to who they were when you left them.

The problem? Spending two years with the aliens has changed you. Living in their kingdom has exposed you to a different way of life. Their culture was so much different than yours that you realize that you don't really like some parts of your old life. The aliens helped you define your personal and family values, so now YOU ARE DIFFERENT. You are different, but dropped back into your same old world. How do you renegotiate your life to reflect your new values when life around you is the same as when you left? How do you retain the new values when the culture you are surrounded with doesn't value the same things?

Do you send messages to the aliens asking to come back? Do you cry? Do you try to forget the lessons the aliens taught you? Do you search your old world for others who have been touched by the aliens?

Do you hope that some day, with some work, your alien values and your old world will merge together and live peacefully? I do.
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We're Back!

We are back in the US, settled into our hotel and making all the plans and purchases necessary to move back into our old house. We should be moving in on July 7.

I am enjoying the food here, but still miss China. It should be an interesting few months ahead.
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Leaving China, Part 8

We are no longer leaving China.

We are already gone.

Our feet last touched the ground in China about 3.5 hours ago. We are now waiting in the Seoul airport for our connecting flight to San Francisco.

For me, it was a hard last goodbye. Goodbye to the house. Goodbye to the neighborhood. Goodbye to the hills. Goodbye to the beach. Goodbye to my friends.

Goodbye to China. I never thought I'd love you, but I do!
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Leaving China, Part 7

It is 12:44pm on our Tuesday and the packers are 75% done with packing our household items that will go in a sea shipment to Portland. There are 4 men and a supervisor working hard. I didn't think we had very much stuff - but I was wrong. One of the things I dread about moving back into our old house is getting all of our other stuff out of storage. Really, if we could live for 2 years with what we have here, do we really need all the other stuff that we left in storage in Portland? Of course, we'll need our furniture, but I'm hoping we can do a purge of other stuff BEFORE it makes it into the house.

Tomorrow they will come with a 20 foot container on a truck and load the boxes into the container. The container will go by ship to Portland and they say it will arrive in 6 weeks. That will be a happy day.

We fly out of Dalian on June 24 and arrive about 24 hours later in Beaverton. Our house is rented until July 1, so we will stay in a hotel nearby until July 8. Between July 1 and 7, there will be a rush of painting, new flooring and delivery of stuff!

Three more days until the final goodbyes to China!

Leaving China, Part 6

The last torture! I had my last therapeutic massage with Mr. Torture. I am happy to say that my shoulder is back to about 98% of normal!

When I first went to him, it all seemed so different. The waiting area in the same room as the treatment tables. The noises from outside - cars honking, people yelling, dogs barking. The run-down look of his office.

But now it seems so normal, so relaxing and so comforting. Funny how time and familiarity changes your perspective.

This last session, I was the only one there. The lights were out with just natural light coming through the windows. The windows were open with a soft breeze blowing in and the sounds of the city provided a nice backdrop.

I've seen him 1-2 times a week for the last year. I'm happy that I know enough Chinese that I could say goodbye and thank him for saving me from having surgery!


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Leaving China, Part 5

Things I Will Miss:

Green Tea Doublemint Gum:
 

Jasmine Tea:
 

My Laundry Room:
 

My Light Switches:
 


Squat Toilets:
 

The View from My Office:
 

Running on the Beach Boardwalk:
 

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Leaving China, Part 4

We had dinner with our driver, Liu, and his family to mark the end of our time in China. We invited them to our house for a traditional American Italian meal - spaghetti, chicken, bread, veggies and ranch dip. We all ate with chopsticks and everyone ate at least a little bit!

I think we all had a good time, in spite of the fact that they don't speak very much English and we don't speak very much Chinese!

Here is a picture of all of us. Liu's wife, Liu, me, Mike, Liu's dad, Liu's mom, Kiana, Liu's daughter and Kevin.

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Jacky Cheung

Wow! Last night I went to the Jacky Cheung concert (or Zhang Xue You as he's know here), a famous Chinese pop singer. What an awesome concert. Three hours of such a beautiful voice, great dancing and quite a show (on the scale of major concerts in the US). His singing ranges from rock to jazz to love songs and he was backed by a live orchestra. Wow!

Just a sample if you are interested:


The concert was at a huge outdoor soccer stadium. Huge! I was only one of the few foreigners there. I took my driver to the concert with me as a thank you for introducing me to Zhang Xue You and because I knew he would guide me through.

All of the people are sitting to the left of this picture. The other part of the stadium is full.


For the most part, it was like a concert in the US, with a few exceptions.

First, you buy seat cushions outside the stadium. People are selling handmade cushions for a few cents each. There are two reasons for this. One is that the seats are hard so it makes it a little bit softer. The other is that the seats are dirty, so it keeps you clean.

Second, there are very few concessions sold inside the stadium. I can't help but think of the Portland Rose Garden, where buying $10 nachos seems to help the stadium revenue as much as the actual event. I'm sure with their entrepreneurial spirit (like the seat cushions) China will catch on to this eventually.

Third, the bathrooms. We think the queue in the US is bad at major events. It is nothing like here, and for a bathroom that smells from 20 meters away. Anticipating this, I used the forced pre-dehydration method to avoid having to void.

Fourth, no lighters or cell phones held up in respect, but lots of adults with glowing, flashing light sabers and light-up hair bows.

And finally some differences that I felt. When Zhang Xue You came out on stage, I was momentarily surprised that he was singing in Chinese. All of my past cultural experiences have been in the US and in English, so even though I was in a stadium filled with Chinese people, and I knew he was a Chinese singer, somewhere in my brain I was still thinking it would be in English. Weird.

And one moment that reflects the end of my time in China. I am quite familiar with Jacky Cheung's songs. I've been listening to them frequently for the past year. But, I don't know the words as they are all in Chinese. I could sing something that sounds like the words, but it would be way off. Toward the end of the concert, as he was singing my favorite and his most loved songs, the entire stadium is singing along. Except me. I had an overwhelming feeling of not belonging. Which made me think....as much as I love China and wish I could stay longer, if I stayed, I still would never really belong. Never.

What an amazing experience at the end of my amazing experience. 11 more days to go.
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"China Normal" at School

Yesterday, Kiana came home and described a "China Normal" moment at school. In other words, a normal moment at school in China, that would never have happened in the US in the same way.

The 12 students in Language Arts were sitting on couches watching a movie.
The DVD (purchased at a local store) said "Property of ... do not copy."
The movie was PG-13, watched without parental permission slips required.
The 4 kids on Kiana's couch were from 3 different countries.
There were fireworks going off outside and no one appeared to notice.

This is China.
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Shanghai Weekend

Maglev high-speed train from the airport to downtown.
 

The China Pavilion at World Expo. People waited up to 9 hours to see this pavilion during Expo. Expo is now closed, but the China Pavilion was open until June 1. It was beautiful and we are very happy we made it to Shanghai to see it!
 

The lines we didn't have to wait in!
 

A long video scroll inside the pavilion which depicts a famous Chinese painting.
 

The Bund at riverside at night. Many beautiful old buildings.
 

Pudong at night. Twenty years ago it was farmland.
 

A major pedestrian shopping street.
 

The Shanghai science museum. We like to visit science museums in the new cities we visit.
 

Kevin in the science museum.
 

Kiana in the science museum.
 

The view from our hotel. A small older neighborhood down below and a park in the distance. And, just out of range, the Apple Store and Gap.
 

Me in the Yu Yuan Garden.
 

Kiana in the Yu Yuan Garden.
 

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Shanghai Reflections

Almost 15 years ago, we moved into our home in a new housing development in Beaverton and met our new neighbors. They were a family - the parents (born and raised in China who came to the US for graduate school and would soon work at the same company as Mike) and their two young children. We became friends over the course of the 10 years that they lived next to us. I like to think that having a 4 foot instead of a 6 foot fence helped our friendship (a "good neighbor-style" fence we built together).

Fast forward to today. Our old neighbor, who years ago became an American citizen, is now working in Shanghai. Today, he was kind enough to take us on a tour of expat life in Shanghai. We had lunch in Jinqiao, a planned neighborhood in the outskirts of Pudong that was specifically designed for expat families. Wide streets, bike lanes, sidewalks, trees, a Catholic Church and Christian Church, high-end medical facilities, a 50's style diner, New York style pizza, Mexican restaurant, play areas for kids, and bathrooms with soap, toilet paper AND paper towels. It looked like southern California. A "little America" inside of China.





We can't help but reflect on what expat life would be like there compared to Dalian. I like the experience we've had in Dalian better than what we might have had in Shanghai. In Dalian, we couldn't coast by living an American-like life within China. We've had to find out how to live in China. With limited restaurant choices, we've had to learn to eat local or make it ourselves. With limited food choices at the market, we've had to learn to adapt our diet to what's available. With limited recreation options, we've had to learn to be creative and have enjoyed the benefit of playing outdoors more. Without local vendors who speak English, we've had to learn Chinese (well, the kids had to learn it at school anyway!). I feel like we've really lived in China.

And because we've really lived in China, we appreciate what we will have when we go "home home" in 25 days. I hope that appreciation stays with us for a long time...
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Hey Lady - Beijing with the Girls

Walking through the Silk Market (which doesn't just sell silk, but a huge variety of counterfeit, black market or grey market items) what you hear constantly is "Lady, what bag you want" "Lady, what shoes you need" "Lady, polo shirts" "Lady" "Lady" "Lady." I could only last two hours, then I had enough. Some people have much more stamina than I do and stay all day!!

During the weekend with my girlfriends in Beijing, we also went to the Dirt Market, which doesn't sell dirt, but a variety of "antiques" and collectibles. This was much more fun. It is outdoors and the items are very interesting to look at. I liked the vendors there better too. They seemed more like personal shop owners instead of people hawking for business.







The best part of the trip was biking in Beijing. With my friends, Susanne and Yukiko, we biked for 4 hours through old hutong neighborhoods, parks and city streets. Double click on the album to see the pictures.

Biking in Beijing

And a close second best was the beautiful courtyard restaurant area where we had dinner (Mexican!!!!). And frozen yogurt for dessert - it doesn't get much better than that!



And a few final pictures of the local school outside our hotel window. I had a birds-eye view of their morning flag salute and exercises.








It was a great weekend!!
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Time Travel

Thursday, April 21, 1:00pm, Jinshitan, Dalian, China




Thursday, April 21, 4:00pm, Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA


Two beaches in one (long) day. I love the beach!!

Leaving China, Part 3

It's official. We are leaving China. On June 24.

Some of us are happy. Some of us are sad. Some of us are both.
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Beijing - Forbidden City

I am so thankful that the Chinese have preserved the Forbidden City. I've read some historical fiction that is set in the Forbidden City, and as we wandered through, I could take myself back to the time when the Emperors and their community lived within its walls.

Just a bit of history - the Forbidden City was built in the early 1400s to be the home to the Emperor of China and his people. Twenty-four emperors lived in the Forbidden City from the 1400s to the early 1900s. The walled area is huge - 178 acres (that's twice the size of the public area of Disneyland). There are 980 surviving buildings and 8707 surviving rooms. It is now a museum and it sits across from Tiananmen Square. Up to 7 million people visit it per year. (Thanks Wikipedia!)

I had read that there was a Starbucks inside (and I was appalled!). However, when we were in the middle of our day, and hungry, and out of food, we went in search of Starbucks. No deal, couldn't find it. Later I read that it closed in 2007 because it was too controversial. I agree. There are some places that Starbucks just doesn't need to be. We did just fine at the local snack shop instead!








We joked that this looked like early satellite TV:


The main gate entrance:


The portrait of Chairman Mao is huge:


A view of Tiananmen Square from atop the main gate:


In a park near the Forbidden City:

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Beijing - The Water Cube

Of course, we couldn't be content with just seeing the Water Cube from the outside. Once we found out that there was a world-class diving competition being held in the Water Cube, we knew we had to attend. So, instead of going to the Summer Palace as planned, we gave up ancient history for modern history and spent the day in the Cube. A day we will remember for a very long time!

Two beautiful buildings together:


The Water Cube seen from the Bird's Nest. That's a hotel in the background:


Up close and transparent:


At the diving competition:


We made it onto the big screen:


And, we spent hours at the newly built water park that is in part of the Water Cube:

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