Living in China, the Second Year

Lately, I've decided that what I like best about living in China is discovering new things. I'm now in the phase where I know how to find all the normal stuff I need, so I have more time and energy to discover and enjoy new things. I tend to shy away from the touristy stuff, but enjoy the learning about things that are a part of Chinese life.

What Have I Discovered Lately?


1) There is an endless supply of red shoes to buy. My new "Nike" sneakers.





2) Good bread is vital. We have been devouring bread from our new favorite bakery, Euro-Bake. And last Sunday we drove into Dalian to make our own pizza at the bakery. YUM YUM YUM!











Our driver, Liu, is not only a great driver, but a great resource for discovering new things! So even though he knows only a little English and I know only a little Chinese, he is a great teacher. Some things that he's helped me discover...


3) That sweet potatoes cooked in big baking kettles on the street taste way better than sweetened ones at Thanksgiving. Moist, sweet, hot, delicious. Just break them open and eat them plain. And, even purple sweet potatoes are good. Did you know there were purple sweet potatoes? I didn't.





4) Listening to Chinese pop music is fun, even if you don't know the words. Liu and I spend a lot of hours in the car together. Sometimes we listen to his music, sometimes we listen to mine. Luckily, we have similar taste in music, only his is in Chinese, and mine is in English. It turns out that one of my favorite Chinese CDs is a very famous Chinese singer - Jacky Cheung (Zhang Xue You). One time I was wondering why I couldn't remember the words to the song I was humming in my head, then I realized it's because it was Chinese and I don't know the words! Here is a video of one of my favorite songs (song starts at 2:30).





5) There's a really good "fast food" here that's a fried egg wrapped in a thick tortilla. Kind of like a Chinese breakfast burrito.

I've been considering doing a China "home-stay"....finding a way to spend a day with a Chinese family to see more about how their life is the same and different than ours. I have 7 months to figure out how...
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Dolphins!

The kids and I spent the day at Ocean World in downtown Dalian yesterday (think SeaWorld, China-style). It was a perfect fall day, not too hot or humid and the park wasn't very crowded. We were very impressed by the shows and the aquarium. It was a fun, fun day!


This would never be allowed in the US! (a 4 year old from the audience being towed by a dolphin)



Dolphin show.



For only $4.50, you can meet the dolphins!



And kiss them! (Well, they kiss you...)




And feed the sea lions!
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Safety (?) in China

After being used to the very regulated worker safety in the US, sometimes seeing the risks the workers take here is a little bit shocking.

Driving with his feet so he can smoke.

 

Walking the wall, about 2 stories up. He did this all day!

 

Only the guys in blue are tied on - more than 2 floors up.

 

Tied on...but only by a clothesline tied to a small pipe.
 

Happy 13th

Kiana's 13th birthday started with her in stitches and ended in flames....

The morning of her birthday started great, with a friend bringing over a present first thing in the morning. At noon, during a neighborhood gathering on the community patio, she cut her leg on a sharp metal box. Luckily the medical clinic is right next to the patio and 30 minutes and 3 stitches later she was home resting on the couch. (Her leg is healing nicely).

Later that day, she did manage to get up and help make her planned "smiley" birthday cake with fondant icing. It was a huge success for our first fondant cake!

Her birthday celebration ended a week later, with a bonfire at the beach with her classmates. We roasted marshmallows "this is China"-style. . . we used mini-marshmallows because we couldn't find big ones and we roasted them on chopsticks because we couldn't find wire hangers or skewers.

This will definitely be a 13th birthday to remember!!

Double click on the album to view the pictures.

Kiana - 13

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Visiting Portland

During the long flight back from Portland to Dalian, I had a lot of time to think about our time in Portland. Although we've been back to the US twice since moving to China, this was the first time in a year that we've been back in Portland.

The first thing that struck me was how beautiful Portland is. I remember the first time I went to Oregon during my senior year of high school. We took a very long bus ride from Ukiah (California) to Ashland for the Shakespeare festival. I can still remember driving along a river lined with beautiful cedars and thinking that maybe I'd want to live in a Oregon someday. Then, when I first came to Oregon to visit Mike, we went hiking in Forest Park, walked around downtown and I fell in love with it. There are so many trees and the sky is so blue. When the kids and I were driving around a few weeks ago in Portland, I said "there are so many trees" and Kiana said "and they have branches!" And, as it always has to me, Portland just feels like home.

And of course, visiting Portland was a bountiful array of food food food. While downtown in Pioneer Courthouse Square last weekend, I couldn't help but notice that there was more good food available at food carts in the one block area than there is available in Dalian! (At least to our palates).

The hardest part was feeling like I was cramming a year's worth of outings, shopping and visits with family and friends into 3 weeks. I ended every visit and phone call with family and friends feeling very happy - feeling like I was confirming that my relationships in Portland are fulfilling and fun. However, after every visit, I wanted more, more, more! There were many people I spoke to only briefly on the phone that I wanted to have longer in-person conversations with. And the in-person conversations that I did have were way too short. At the end, it felt like I just got a nibble when a wanted a full meal. Like I could only sample one chocolate chip out of a brand new bag. I was having so much fun I wanted to spend more time with each person, but the reality was that I just didn't have the time. So thank you to everyone for giving me just a nugget of your time while I was in Portland. And sorry it was only a nugget! And for those of you I missed altogether, I'm doubly sorry!

Although we aren't quite settled in yet, it does feel good to be back in China. It looks familiar. It feels familiar. It smells familiar. Our stuff is here. It's home.
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Stick Trees II

Stick trees do grow!!

Ones that were planted this year (big sticks with puffy leaves on top in the median).


Ones that were planted last year (these look like real trees now).


And stick trees are easy to carry!


Off to America for a few weeks...
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To Learn or Not To Learn

When I found out we were moving to China, I was interested in learning Chinese because I wanted to be able to talk to people here and learn more about them and their lives. What I learned is that learning Chinese is really hard, and I'm not very good at it.

Even though I'm usually an optimist, I'm also a realist. So, last month I quit taking Chinese lessons. I know enough Chinese to make it through day to day life. And I couldn't see that my Chinese would improve enough over the next year to really have a meaningful conversation with someone.

Just to give you a sense of how much Chinese I know,
here are some of the things I can say.
-correct (my favorite word)
-yes
-no
-I/you/she/he/it/mine/yours
-like, look, come, go, want
-numbers (but slowly)
-the time
-the days of the week
-How much?
-beer
-water
-school
-pain
-this
-there
-left/right
-hello/goodbye/thank you
-son/daughter
-friend
-teacher

So this means that I can make some very basic sentences. "We go America" "I like this" "Two water." I sound like a baby!

After I quit taking lessons, I started thinking about how many people I interact with during the week who don't speak English. This means essentially we do our business with little spoken communication. The weird part is that now this is not only easy, but normal.

Driving: Liu speaks a little English, but mostly one word or phrase at a time. He has an electronic translator and so do I, so a lot of our conversations are really just saying one word at a time or showing each other words! It works! (And, no, he doesn't use the translator while he's driving...)

Painting Class: Since September, I've been taking a class in Chinese painting. The teacher teaches us for 2 hours by showing us what to do and speaking only Chinese. So here is the conversation I had with her today (I'm trying to tell her I won't be back in class until August).
- I mime a little book (I know she carries a little calendar).
- She takes out her calendar.
- I point to the next 2 months and say bu bu bu (no) then I point to August 16 and say yes.
- She mimes an airplane and says mei guo (America)?
- I say dui (correct)
- I mime talking on the telephone and point to her and then the calendar for August 16.
- She says ok.

Yoga: Again, a teacher who doesn't speak English. She says things but I have no idea what they are! I just follow along and enjoy the relaxing music.

Shopping: When the checkout clerk asks me a question that I don't understand, I either show my membership card or show that I brought my own bags. If I need help finding something, I bring a picture or show the Chinese character on my translator. I did manage to order a custom made sweater with a lady who didn't speak English. It came out just like I wanted it :)

Ayi: When she comes (once a week), we say ni hao (hello) and if I need her to do something different, I just point.

Mr. Torture: He taught me the Chinese word for pain. I've been bringing my friend to translate :)

I really enjoyed getting to know more about my old driver's life (he spoke English), so I'm sure at some point I'll regret that I didn't try harder to learn Chinese. For now I'm taking the summer off and I'll consider it again in the fall.

Zai jian!
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