Sweet n Sour Snake Anyone?

Last week we received the following email invitation from the head of a local hospital.


Director XXXX would like invite you and your wife to have dinner ( the delicious sea food) tonight in friend way.
So, dress code for lady：following her heart, as beautiful as she can.


After spending a few minutes trying to decipher what they were saying (I'm assuming "in a friend way" meant "in a friendly way") we accepted. I know it’s a total cheap shot to make fun of their emails, considering I can’t even begin to write them a response in Chinese, but the dress code was priceless. So after following my heart, I selected a black frock and we headed to the restaurant. As is customary, we walked around the various tanks of seafood pointing to things we wanted to eat (or rather, things we were pretending we wanted to eat). At least half of the fish were floating dead at the top of the tanks, which is probably not a good sign. And then we reached the "piece de resistance": an iron cage containing several hissing snakes, next to a bucket of eels. If only I had learned the Mandarin phrase for "get me the heck outta here." Luckily, Harrison declined the snake appetizer for me (while sneakily taking a picture of the reptiles), since I ran to the opposite side of the restaurant feigning interest in the tank of shrimp.


Last night was our final dinner with SaiSai, her parents and Hong. We indulged in "the delicious sea food" passed around the lazy susan for (hopefully) the last time. Hong seemed obsessed with wanting to know if he would be able to download Chinese computer games when he gets to America without the FBI coming to arrest him. We told him we would look into the issue and get back to him.....What I really wanted to say was "it might be best to put down the Pokemon and make some friends."



Post dinner, we retired to a private room for a high-end tea tasting. I guess tea is to China as wine is to Americans. Except, of course, indulging in too much tea doesn't result in terrible dance moves and late night pizza runs. Yet another reason why there are no fat people over here. The different varietals can set you back some serious RMB and we were informed that their teapot was from the Ming Dynasty.......riiiight. It's funny how EVERYTHING over here somehow seems to be from the Ming or Ching Dynasties......Looking forward to heading to Shanghai tomorrow to attend the Duke vs. China National Team basketball game with Harrison's former employers.

Back to the Future

Hong Kong was definitely a highlight of our summer- the breathtaking views of the harbor, the restaurants and the shopping made for a wonderful weekend trip. Everything seemed so modern and hip! We were there from Thursday to Sunday and enjoyed every second. Our favorites included: taking the tram up to Victoria’s Peak and having cocktails overlooking the harbor, Italian restaurant 208, and British restaurant The Chinnery. It was definitely a “foodie’s” trip. We felt like we were back in the good ol’ USA- everyone spoke English. In fact, I think we saw more American and British bankers in Hong Kong than you would on the streets of New York.
We hit up a few of the local markets for some cheap goods and had a blast bargaining for our Chinese Halloween costumes. Harrison was intent on buying a laser pointer, which has now become the bane of my existence. In his free time, my husband/ 12 yr old roommate uses the pointer to zap unsuspecting Chinese citizens from our window. When they notice the light, he hides behind the curtains laughing. He also employs the device to point out different stocks or news stories on the TV screen. Lastly, he discovered that you can point it at the ceiling in circles creating a disco-tech effect. “It’s such a versatile device” he says. Lucky me!

Harrison gifted me with a spa treatment for our final evening which was very thoughtful! I chose the Chinese Meridian Massage, described as follows: Focus is on acupressure points and directional flow of the Qi in the body. Chinese meridian massage is more than a system of relaxation and tension release. The attention is on the subtle energy channels which influence the Qi in the organs.
Yes, I’ll admit, it sounded a little “crunchy”, but I figured, when in Rome…………

Harrison accompanied me to check-in for the appointment. As I was filling out the requisite forms, they casually mentioned: “You will have dark circular bruises covering your back for about a week due to the “cupping” technique we use. Will that be OK?”

Ummm, I was about to ask if it would be painful, but before I had chance, Harrison intervened and said that I should choose something else- perhaps he was afraid of the accusatory looks we would get walking down the street- his wife covered in bruises.

Sidenote: I actually was behind a woman this morning at Starbucks who had the tell-tale cupping bruises-they were extremely dark and painful looking- so glad I dodged that bullet!

Today officially marks the 1 WEEK COUNTDOWN til we board a flight to Newark and then Boston. Home SWEET home. We will spend the last 4 days in Shanghai. As my time in China winds down, I’ve become a bit nostalgic. We are so lucky to have gotten the chance to observe the everyday quirks of living in a foreign land. China is a mysterious place that we are only beginning to understand. What I cherish the most about our last 2 months is the abundance of time I got to spend with my best friend, Harrison. It was so wonderful to be able to share this whirlwind adventure together (all together now- awwwwww).

I’ve outlined some of my favorite and least favorite things about this summer below.

Things I Will Miss About China:
1) Weekend travel: so many exotic and memorable sites close by
2) Daily maid service
3) Nightly turndown service
4) Daily breakfast buffet
5) Cab rides that never exceed $2
6) Dumplings and noodles
7) Being the only blonde on the block
8) Saisai and her family

Things I Will NOT Miss:
1) MSG
2) Having only 2 TV channels in English (CNN International and BBC)
3) Squatty Potty
4) Exotic sea urchins for dinner
5) Only having 2 friends (besides Harrison): Chris- Manager of Club Intercontinental and Chloe- waitress at Club Intercontinental
6) Smog/ Constant Haze
7) Saying “wo bu dong” (I don’t understand) to everyone that tries to talk to me in Mandarin
8) Loud belching/spitting in public

Hmmmm, unfortunately the majority of the positives involved living in a hotel…….

We Survived Typhoon Muifa (or at least I hope we do)

I am writing you in the midst of my first ever typhoon which is aimed to make landfall directly in Qingdao sometime Monday. Scientifically speaking, a typhoon is the same thing as a hurricane (the storm is just labeled differently according to which ocean it originates in). Apparently the local government evacuated thousands of people- we must’ve missed this memo due to the fact that the local news is in Chinese- so here’s hoping the sandbags that line the marina below our hotel are sufficient…………

In preparation for the storm I headed to the grocery store for some supplies. As I scoured the aisles looking for a little slice of home, I came upon something that brought a smile to my face: The Great American Food Festival. I’m not sure it was fair to label it a “food festival” per se, but it was a stationary display that contained something Harrison and I had dreamed about since we arrived: Pace Picante Salsa and tortilla chips. I was so excited to show Harrison the spoils of my shopping trip that I almost forgot to pay. I spent the walk home trying to think of creative ways to display the jar of goodness in our hotel room to surprise him. Instead, I simply held it above my head like a trophy when he entered

He accurately commented: “I haven’t seen you this excited since I proposed.” Hmmm…..In my defense, he was equally stoked and accompanied me back to the store to see what other goodies were up for grabs- we nabbed some Oreos and Pringles, which made quite the set up for our rockin “Typhoon Fiesta”. We even decided to invite all of our friends over to celebrate the storm…..Oh wait….we don’t have any friends. Guess that means more salsa for us!
Harrison and I pushed back our trip to Hong Kong for next weekend due to an onslaught of business meetings at the hospital and the weather. Instead, we had a Stay-cation in Qingdao this weekend.

I was pleased to learn (albeit not until that very evening) that it was Chinese Valentine’s Day on Saturday. My Valentine treated me to American fare at our favorite local haunt, The Diner (where we have eaten both lunch and dinner for the past 3 days). Nothing says romance like Chinese cheeseburgers and fries. We even got a free dessert to celebrate the holiday we had no idea existed.

On Sunday we headed to an English-speaking Christian worship service taking place at our hotel. We were welcomed by a group of about 40 (mostly American) people. After hearing recent stories on CNN about the Chinese government using harsh intimidation tactics to prevent locals from attending churches, we weren’t sure what to expect. In fact, when the Frists’ were in Shanghai for Christmas last year, they were forced to show their passports to gain entry. Sure enough, the following warning sign was displayed at the beginning of the service. Overall, it was a wonderful service (free from any government interruptions) and yet another reminder of how lucky we are to worship freely back in the US. God bless you all and we will be sure to keep you updated on the storm!

Who ya gonna call.......Ghostbusters

Some of you might be imagining me frolicking along the sandy beaches of Qingdao working on my tan all summer....... but you would be wrong. Despite the fortunate fact that we live in a coastal city in China with panoramic views of the harbor from our hotel room, we have yet to go for a swim, or even touch the sand. And here's why.......Qingdao has been besieged by a thick green slime.




However, this hasn't stopped the Chinese tourists from hitting the waves. Perhaps they know something we don't about the health benefits of algae.........Hope everyone is taking advantage of the last few weeks of summer stateside. If you are enjoying the crystal blue waters of a beach somewhere, it goes without saying that I am GREEN with envy.

Peking Duck, Duck........Goose

This weekend we ventured to the Red State capital to brush up on our Chinese dynasty history. After hearing negative things about Beijing in general (pollution, traffic, etc), we viewed the trip more as an obligatory thing to check off our China list. Boy were we pleasantly surprised though!
Saisai is living in Beijing for summer and greeted us at the airport with her driver- which she graciously loaned us for the duration of the weekend. For our first meal, she whisked us off to a restaurant called “Da Dong” for a taste of the famous Peking duck. It was a trendy establishment where you have to reserve “the duck” in advance and it’s ceremoniously carved tableside. We unfortunately forgot to tell her that we had also reserved “the duck” for dinner that night as well…..so we decided to loosen our belts and dig in to the ten course lunch. When in Rome……

SaiSai is taking a GRE class in the afternoons and evenings, so she set us up with a tour guide for the weekend- a pint-sized ball of energy named Vivian. Her English teacher gave her the American name, Vivian, because she had trouble in class pronouncing the letter “V” and he thought she needed to overcome the obstacle. Well, that turned out to be a cruel joke because she has yet to master the “V” and now calls herself Rivian. But what she lacked in English skills she made up for in enthusiasm and love of country.

Our first stop was Tian’anmen Square (in the rain). On the way we decided to breach the controversial topic of the massacre in 1989. Rivian, who had clearly been sipping on the Communist kool-aid since birth, explained that the majority of Chinese students had no idea that anything controversial happened. When we pressed further, she explained that the “protestors were not smart” because they had been warned repeatedly to leave and refused to listen. I guess that’s one way of looking at it….errrrrr……

Chairman Mao’s portrait looks ominously over the Square and every light pole is flanked with no less than 15 security cameras in order to “keep the peace”. Rivian provided us with a good summary of the Ming and Ching dynasties as we wandered through the Forbidden City.

That night we serendipitously had the chance to dine and swap stories with our friends (Amanda and John) from DC who were in town for a business school trip. We enjoyed great food (more delicious duck) and convo!

We took off early Saturday morning for the main event- The Great Wall. There are several different sections of the wall to visit nearby Beijing, but we opted to drive a little further to a place called Mutianyu to avoid the crowds and take in a more dramatic, mountainous landscape. While it rained throughout the night, we were fortunate to have clear, sunny skies and a cool breeze for our visit. Our experience from start to finish far exceeded our expectations and is something we will always remember. Walking along the wall is no joke and definitely not for the faint of heart.

We elected to take an open air chair lift to reach the top of the mountain, despite Saisai’s warning about the questionable safety standards (perhaps that’s why we were the only people on the extremely steep lift without a guardrail). The views during the ride were breathtaking, even if we were scared about mechanical malfunctions. We hiked along the wall for about an hour without running into too many other people- a shocking experience for anywhere in China. All I can say is “Wow”! Mutianyu also offers the rare opportunity to take an individual toboggan ride down the mountain- also not so safe, but quite the thrill as we snaked down the track.

Next we hit up the Summer Palace that was entirely too crowded to be enjoyable. We took a Dragon Boat across the lake and then head back to our hotel for some much-needed American food. In the afternoon we hit up a few markets where Harrison proved to be the master bargainer. After I ruined his negotiation strategy twice by getting annoyed and throwing a couple of RMB at the salesgirl just so she would stop talking, we finally devised a plan where I waited around the corner while he worked his magic.

That night we dined at a posh American/ French style restaurant that overlooked The Forbidden City- which was beautiful to see lit up at night.

On our last day Harrison toured a few hospitals (with me in tow) to get a grasp on the private healthcare market and we had a traditional Cantonese dim sum breakfast with Saisai and her uncle- Chairman of one of China’s successful State Owned Enterprises. We were sad to leave such a great town with fabulous restaurants, shopping and history – hopefully we will get a chance to return again someday.

Heavenly Hangzhou

This weekend we visited Hangzhou, China for a bit of traditional Chinese culture and architecture. Hangzhou is pronounced "hong-jo", which is further evidence of why I decided to ditch learning Mandarin. All the guidebooks lauded Hangzhou as “heaven on earth” and it did not disappoint.

Our hotel was located right on the famous West Lake, so we kicked off the weekend with an early morning boat ride to get our bearings. An old, toothless Chinese manned the helm of a rowboat and steered us around for a few hours. We felt really bad for the dude since the weather was absurdly hot, but he wore a constant smile throughout the ride. That’s when we realized he was laughing all the way to the bank- making a killing off of the stupid Americans who didn’t know enough Chinese to bargain prices. Good for him….nice to see capitalism at work in the Communist country. The ride was really peaceful with lots of beautiful pagodas and bridges built into the lush setting. We were lucky to visit during Lotus Blossom season, which was lovely, but the ideal time to go is in the Fall or Spring because the stifling summer heat and humidity made any midday activities impossible.

That night we caught a performance of a Chinese folktale choreographed by the guy who did the Opening Ceremony for the Beijing Olympics. It was kinda like Cirque de Solei meets Miss Saigon- very neat special effects. We had no idea what was going on because they were singing in Chinese, but it was more fun to make up our own storyline.

The next morning Harrison was intent on renting bikes and following a rather grueling bike route through the countryside that one of our guidebooks described- the famous Chinese green tea called Dragon Well is grown in the nearby fields. Our concierge strongly recommended against doing it, claiming that the hills were much too steep and it would be “cruel to make the wife participate”. Well, that just made Harrison even more resolute. I was excited about the prospect of some exercise, which has been fairly nonexistent since we got to China. However, I was really worried about the safety aspect, especially since helmets were not an option. I mean, the driving here is atrocious. There are normal looking lanes and stoplights, but apparently they serve no functional purpose. Being a pedestrian or a biker like playing Russian Roulette. The simple act of crossing the street becomes a survival of the fittest routine. When we walk around Qingdao, Harrison usually takes my hand, looks for an opening, and then yells “sprint”. This doesn’t make for the most romantic strolls. I can’t be certain, but it’s like they view pedestrians as bowling pins- I swear they speed up when they see my speck of blonde hair enter the intersection. Nonetheless, the guidebook made the bike ride sound challenging, but with scenic views that were well worth the effort. We decided to go.

It was honestly one of the neatest experience we have had in awhile (except for the 5 minute pause in the ride when I was convinced I had been bitten by a killer Chinese spider and needed to be taken to the hospital before the poison coursed through my veins- turned out to be a mere mosquito bite...oops) . Biking through the beautiful rolling hills of tea fields into sleepy little tea villages along streams was definitely the highlight of our trip. We highly recommend visiting Hangzhou if you find yourself in China.

Dumplings Doozie

I will readily admit that I’m no Martha Stewart, but I have definitely put more of an effort into cooking since marriage- I even enjoy it sometimes…… Eager to expand my recipe repertoire, I jumped at the chance to learn the art of dumplings from SaiSai’s parents- especially since Harrison has become quite fond of the savory nuggets. We were also interested to see where they lived, since we’ve only frequented the insides of restaurants and hotels since we arrived.
So last night we got a sneak peek into the everyday life if a Qingdao resident- scratch that- a sneak peek into the life of an extremely wealthy Qingdao resident. Due to the overcrowding issues in China, seeing actual houses is a rarity. Instead, most people like the Songs live in apartments. I was under the impression we were going to have a simple dumpling making lesson culminating with a taste test. However, we were in for a real surprise when a chef, who they lauded as being the top 5 star restaurant chef in the city, greeted us at their apartment. We jumped right into the lesson- in Chinese with SaiSai translating. They took us to the various dumpling assembly stations set up around the kitchen- first mixing the various meat and veggie fillers, then rolling the dough to make the dumpling shells, and finally forming them. We all got involved in the action with gusto. They said Harrison had a real gift for the process-while the chef slyly took all the dumplings I had made off to the side to re-do…..typical.

I got rather frustrated when the insides of my dumplings kept leaking out and secretly wanted to pelt the little balls against the wall and run to the nearest McDonalds screaming. After about 20 minutes of letting us make a mockery out of Chinese cuisine, they let the chef take over and we took our places at the table. I never really got to see how the dumplings were actually cooked- but we sure did get to taste….plate after plate after plate of all kinds of dumplings- pork, beef, veggie, sweet onion…. I thought I was going to explode, but that was just the beginning. Not accepting “I’m full” as an excuse, out came sweet and sour fish, shrimp, candied yams, carrots, bok choy, mushrooms. It was honestly the best meal I’ve had in a long time. Eating in China is like a marathon, not a sprint, and Harrison and I need to start learning how to pace ourselves before we come home looking like sumo wrestlers.
Overall it was a lovely evening. They sent me home with boxes of the local green tea (which is delicious) and I can’t wait to share it with you. SaiSai’s family has been incredibly welcoming and generous to us- opening our eyes to a whole other world outside our Intercontinental Hotel.

SEOUL Mates

Just back from a wonderful, last-minute trip to Seoul, South Korea. It’s located right across the ocean from Qingdao- a quick 50 minute flight. We dedicated quite a bit of time searching for a hotel with an outdoor swimming pool, which is a rarity in China, since getting sun/ darkening the skin is something that’s avoided like SARS. In fact, all of the high-end skin care lines contain “skin whitener” in their products- I am steering clear of such ointments, unsure what type of chemicals are used to accomplish the Michael Jackson look. However, I realized that my hotel pool search was in vain because we landed in the midst of a torrential downpour, only to learn that it was monsoon season. Perfect.

Antsy to get out and explore despite the weather, we hailed a cab and immediately started playing our favorite game- a version of “Where’s Waldo”- where we point out anyone that looks like they might speak English. The game was far too easy in South Korea- it was teeming with Ex Pats and some of the cab drivers even spoke English. We soon learned that there is a large US military presence here due to hostile relations with North Korea, so we hit the Korean War Museum to get a little history under our belts. After the museum (which we highly recommend visiting), we decided to get a little taste of the local flavor…….by venturing to the ritzy/ trendy part of Seoul for some Italian food. Yes, I know that we should be indulging in kimchi and Korean BBQ, but we eat a lot of Korean food in Qingdao due to the high Korean population and had no appetite for it.

Early the next morning we took off for a tour of the North Korean border and the DMZ (Demilitarization Zone), which is the main reason we decided to visit Seoul. It was about an hour drive from the hotel and well worth the trip. We saw the board room where all talks between North and South Korea are held- complete with a line drawn down the middle to separate the countries. This is the most militarized border in the world to date- with fairly recent instances of conflict. In fact, we were warned several times not to raise our hands or make any loud sounds or gestures to as to not cause any friction with the North Korean soldiers who were staring at us from across the 38th parallel…..hidden in the surrounding landscape….observing our every move. The atmosphere was very tense, to say the least.

When the tour ended, we walked around the Itaewon area (the main military/ Ex Pat area) for a bit of window shopping…..and then the rain really set in. Desperate for some shelter we scanned the nearby restaurants on the maps and lo and behold- spotted a bar called Nashville! It was definitely a dive, but they had country music and beer so we settled in…… During the particularly long rainstorm we were hiding from, we met a rather strange mix of characters- a washed out Buddhist Zen Master from California, a young Korean student with a penchant for Jagermeister, a Mexican-American living in Seoul, a businessman from Boston who leads the golf ball division for Titlelist…..The conversation was colorful to say the least……..and I thought I was literally going to have to drag Harrison out of the place after a particularly heated debated between him and the Zen Master concerning the level of US’s aid to the North Koreans and a handful of other political issues. The happy-go-lucky Korean student smiled throughout the clash, barely understanding much, periodically announcing different movie stars that he thought we resembled. I was flattered when he said Cameron Diaz (even though the only trait we share is blonde hair), and when he got to Harrison he paused and then said “Home Alone 3.” I smiled and reminded him that the actor he was referring to was named Macaulay Culkin. The Korean shook his head and explained “No, no, no…..the dad!” I just about died- we included a picture for your reference. Now, what to do for dinner…….When my parents dropped me off at Vanderbilt for my freshmen year, my dad’s final words of wisdom have always stuck with me……poignant and true: “Never eat Mexican food above the Red River.” Well Pops, desperate times in Asia caused me to temporarily abandon my wits…..leading me to a little Seoul restaurant called Panchos. Needless to say, father knows best. But the stale chips and quesadillas were still preferable to yet another Chinese food meal.

The following day we hit some antique markets and tried our hand at bargaining- scoring a lovely pair of Korean vases. Overall, a successful trip! Bryan is back in town for meetings this week!

Tonight we have dinner at SaiSai’s house- complete with a dumpling-making lesson.

The Art of Being Cool

Last night we dined for the second time with Sai Sai’s parents (Sai Sai is out of town for work). They chose another fancy seafood restaurant, where the first floor resembled a fish market teeming with live creatures’ great and small, and everyone dines in private rooms with lazy susans. They brought along Lei- our 32 yr old “translator” friend- and a pregnant lady and her 14 yr old son, Hong. Hong has been studying English for a year and has just been accepted into a small high school in St. Louis. While he understood most of what we said throughout the evening, his accent is very thick, but impressive nonetheless. He leaves in 2 months and has only been to the states once, briefly- bless his heart. On top of that, he will be the only Chinese student in the entire school. I have no doubts about his high intellect and I completely admire his courage for heading over to the “Land of the Free” alone, yet I am completely terrified for him, knowing the way high school kids can be……

Hong had a list of questions for us- mostly involving food and facebook (which is strictly forbidden in China). He asked no less than 3 times if St. Louis had Chinese food restaurants-we reassured him that all cities in the US pretty much had Chinese restaurants (even though I personally wouldn’t set foot in about 90% of them). Instead, we tried to talk up the BBQ and fast food options. What Hong lacked in actual experience living in the states, he made up for by memorizing the entire Wikipedia page for St. Louis, which he repeatedly quoted throughout the evening. For instance, “Wikipedia says St. Louis has a very high crime rate.” Hmmm valid point. But that’s ok, because earlier in the evening he performed a Moi Thai (Chinese fighting) routine in the restaurant, where he almost decapitated poor Lei. I told him he’d be fine. Of course, my Second Amendment-loving Harrison was of the opinion that he should go ahead and get a gun license when he touched down in the states, which caused his mother to break out into a cold sweat.

Hong’s enthusiasm for journeying to the US (and the Mid West no less) was adorable. I vowed to Harrison that I would fly to St. Louis and personally injure any kid that’s mean to him. And that’s when I discovered my new calling for the summer- I will teach Hong American slang, essentially conducting a course on “The Art of Being Cool”. Now, you may think this is presumptuous, I mean, who am I to claim that I write the book on being cool……but I figure if I can just help him to loosen up a bit on the formality of his statements, he may have an easier time making friends. For instance, when we asked if he liked country music, he responded “Oh, yes. It is very nostalgic- there is sadness yet hopefulness at the same time”. His insightfulness blew me away! So smart! But if I could just get him to say instead: “Ya man, Toby Keith rocks”, I think high school would be a far friendlier place. I’m not suggesting that Hong isn’t already pretty fly, but adding a “What’s up?” and “Do you shoot hoops” every now and again couldn’t hurt his social life, only help. Along with a list of High School Vocab Terms, I also plan on sending him home with a “Required Listening List”- with the likes of Katy Perry and Jay Z. I think Starbucks or KFC would be the perfect meeting point- Americana at its finest.

Other gems of wisdom we learned from our young friend Hong- Chinese students learn algebra in elementary school, followed by calculus in middle school…Comments like this make me nervous for America’s future.

In other exciting news, Harrison and I decided to take a two week sailing course at the Olympic Sailing Center directly below our building. We were walking to dinner the other night and noticed a red-headed kid cleaning off the boats in the harbor and called him over, eager to have normal conversation without the use of exaggerated gestures and grunts. Long story short, we negotiated an awesome rate for 10 private lessons with the kid, a 15 yr old sailor extraordinaire named Oliver, who lives in Hong Kong and speaks both English and Chinese.

The first part of lesson #1 involved learning how to rig and de-rig the boat- which I personally believe you need an engineering degree to accomplish. Hopefully it will become more ingrained over the course of the program. Today we learn what to do in the event that the sailboat capsizes……not really looking forward to jumping into foreign waters, especially if the creatures swimming below me look anything like what we ate for dinner last night…….

Three's Company

I think we can all agree that China isn’t exactly well-known for producing people with rhythm, and that stereotype was confirmed in full force on Saturday night.

After a delicious dinner of Korean BBQ (i.e. mounds of semi-suspicious-looking meat cooked, or semi-cooked, at your table) with Bryan we ventured back to the hotel for a night cap. That’s when the glow of a disco ball and a familiar Shakira song beckoned us into the Rumba bar. At first glance, I was alarmed by what appeared to be about 7 people suffering from similarly violent epileptic seizures on the dance floor- but I was reassured when the waitress welcomed us to Chinese Salsa Night- i.e. the most amazing form of entertainment a girl could ask for. We ordered a round of mojitos and chose a table near the dance floor for an unobstructed view of the main event/ train wreck. Their enthusiasm for dancing/ gyrating was a spectacle to behold and we were laughing through tears as a Chinese congo line snaked through the room. Needless to say, Harrison and I will definitely be back next week.




Since there was no room at the inn for little baby Bryan, we invited him to shack up at our place, “You, Me and Dupree” style. See attached photo. We all drifted off to sleep holding hands and talking about our day. Nope that part never happened.

The next morning was the Grand Opening for one of the hospitals in the region. We, along with about 15 other international guests, were welcomed by a military band of trumpets and a line of women dressed in traditional Chinese garb waving pom-poms. It all seemed very exciting and I was honored that the company let me attend with the boys -until I realized that listening to 2 hrs of speeches solely in Chinese by government officials was far from exciting. Luckily, Harrison let me in on a little secret that proved to be indispensible- if you lift both legs off the ground at the same time every 5 minutes or so it gives you a bug-eyed, yet wide awake look that will fool even the most intimidating-looking Commi official into thinking you're interested in what they are saying. Seriously, try it.

On a side note, the hospital was really neat to see- very cutting-edge facilities for this area. Harrison can speak more about the serious aspects of the event since I pretty much zoned out and ate some free wontons at the luncheon portion. On the way home we drove over the recently-constructed “longest bridge in the world” (26 miles)- so I can now check that off my bucket list……..You really appreciate the lengthiness of the bridge when forget to use the bathroom before boarding the bus.

Annnnddd for the event Harrison has been most looking forward to since we arrived- tonight is Burger Night at a local restaurant. No telling what the burgers are made out of, but it’s the best we can do here.

Zaijian.

Like White on Rice

Question: What do Santa Claus, Gwen Stefani, my dog Rufus, my grandmother and I all have in common????

The answer: We all have white hair.

After a harrowing 3 ½ hours in the hair salon in our hotel, I emerged looking like a young Bette Davis. Emerging with any hair on my head was a victory in my eyes. I was like science fair project for the hair stylists-and every worker in the salon wanted a piece of the action. You know it’s a bad sign when they check the color, yell something to the others, and make a mad dash into the back room for more supplies. At one point my scalp was burning and itching so intensely, I thought it might all fall out.

My only way to communicate with the stylists was through a nifty iphone application I downloaded that translates a few words at a time. Trying to make light of the situation, I typed into my phone. “Lovely weather in Qingdao. My scalp is on fire”. And then I handed them the phone with the resulting Chinese characters. That particular entry was met with a smile and nod and a tray of Qtips. (What?!) Note to self: Find a new, more accurate device or go back to using gestures- much more reliable. That’s when I texted Harrison requesting a glass of red wine and some moral support….My hero arrived just in time to witness the final unveiling.
While my Chinese language skills are not exactly advanced, I do know my colors very well, thanks to Rosetta Stone. And as they hovered over me in the shampoo bowl, a familiar word was repeated several times: “bei se”, which means “white”. Uhh ohhh. Always the supportive husband, H’s eyes widened and he said “That’s good babe- I’ve never seen that kind of color in hair before.”

I like to think that the Chinese are a few years ahead of us in many areas- taller skyscrapers, faster trains, and now perhaps- more cutting-edge hair styles. In fact, I am predicting right now that you will all be clamoring to the salon to get these coveted white locks in just a few short years……..In the meantime, I will be chilling in Qingdao- sticking out like a sore thumb even more than ever. No one ever said being a trendsetter was easy.

In other news, Bryan comes to town tonight for meetings! We are eagerly awaiting his arrival. We all head to a grand opening ceremony for a hospital tomorrow followed by a lunch…..more stories to come.

From Rice to Riches

Ni hao! Today is the 1 week anniversary of me touching down in the Red State.  Only 7 more to go……. Luckily, things have vastly improved in the expanse of 7 days.  3 hotels and a few bottles of Tums later, we are really enjoying this city and are grateful for this experience of a lifetime (and some laughable situations to last us a lifetime).  The harbor that our new and extremely nice hotel sits above is beautiful and was modeled after Sydney’s Darling Harbor- they even have a smaller version of the Opera House (a little cheesy, but very neat nonetheless). It is speckled with lots of different restaurants and shops- all built for the Olympic Village in 2008. 

I had high hopes, before coming to China, that I would be a fluent speaker by the time I returned- but after our first week I am starting to realize that Chinese is virtually impossible. Although, my language skills have not greatly improved, Harrison and I have gotten great at pantomiming and we fully intend to challenge you all to a game of charades when we return. In addition to my Chinese skills falling by the wayside, so too has my English.  Harrison and I now communicate like cavemen- making strange grunting noises accompanied by exaggerated gestures.  At the restaurant last night, we say to the waiter (in a very loud and slow voice):  “Me hungry (H pats his belly and nods his head up and down).  “Me like rice”.  (I bring my hands to my mouth and make loud chomping sound). Ohhhh, if only you could be a fly on our wall……

So, after I wrote my last email, we were headed to Starbucks to meet up with the ExPat group. We threw on our Sunday’s best and eagerly headed towards the harbor with thoughts of new friends dancing in our heads…..We planned to arrive a fashionable 10 minutes late and then make our grand entrance.  To our great dismay, however, the constituents at this Starbucks looked like locals- I even offered up a few hellos to ppl at each table- only to be returned by a “ni hao”.  Blast…….We decided to set up shop there anyway, hoping to catch a few English speakers who were running late.  2 hours later we spotted a girl in line who looked like she may share my love for freedom fries and Western-styled bathroom facilities. While H and I strategized about what we should say to her, she must have slipped away into the mall. Shoot! I got on my horse and began running through the makeup counters, searching for the potential new bestie, to no avail.

 I did, however, come across a high end hair salon that appeared to carry some familiar products.  In dire need of some highlights, I entered and asked for an appointment. Hmmm, they didn’t understand me- go figure.  That’s when I started pointing at my roots and then at the rest of my hair, making gestures to indicate I needed some help.  No less than 4 hairdressers stood over me- picking through my hair and making strange grunting noises I couldn’t understand. (To get a visual image- think about the National Geographic channel where the mother gorillas pick thru the baby gorillas hair looking for bugs.)     One of the girls left the shop and returned a few minutes later with a friend who said to me “Hair too yellow- no work.”  Who knew a bottle of bleach was so hard to come by...So that was the end of that……However, I woke up today feeling a bit like a daredevil and I have a 3 pm appointment ....stay tuned for pictures of the results……

***On a side note, we were walking around the harbor last night post-dinner and came across another Starbucks- turns out we went to the wrong one for the Ex Pat meet up….rookie mistake.

Another Day, Another Dumpling

Ni Hao! I cant believe we’ve only been in Qingdao just 3 days- feels like a lifetime…..

We have continued on our culinary tour of Asia with our trusty translator friend, Lei. SaiSai’s parents loaned her and their driver to us until Friday, so we have been bee-boppin around town making the most of it.

She is very nice, but her English leaves a little to be desired (i.e. they must use the word "translator" loosely here). Therefore, most of our meals consist of a lot of smiling, nodding and questions about Chinese culture. For example, I asked Lei: “Do people in China do yoga?”. Lei’s response: “Yes, we have vanilla and blueberry.” Me to Lei: “Ohhh yogurt.” Me to Harrison: “Well that question was a strike out, next…...”

She took us to try Hot Pot for lunch. It was a lot of fun and seems like something that would be a big hit in US. We each got our own pot with a different broth, then ordered meats and veggies to cook in the pot, along with a large selection of dipping sauces. Very interactive and 6 hours later, Harrison understood where the name Hot Pot probably derives from- a lot of quality time with the toilet pot. Sorry to be vulgar, but I’m just telling it like it is……

After lunch we headed to Tsingdao brewery- where the most popular local Chinese beer is made….they also serve it in the US. It was a lot of fun and we got to sample the different varieties. H asked the tour guide who owns Tsingdao, to which she responded the government. Ohhh the joys of Communism.

It really is unbelievable how nobody in this town speaks English- even people who work at hotels. So basically, if we want to go somewhere, we goggle the address, then email it to ourselves, then show the driver the email with the Chinese characters in it. So much for spontaneity……

This town is freakishly clean and beautiful- you don’t see any trash or homeless people. The crime rates are also freakishly low, so I guess there are some positives to their government system. We think most of the people are scared of us- the large Americans. They don’t really make too much eye contact, except for the occasional school kid who shouts out “Hello” and then giggles and runs off.

We elected to have dinner on our own last night and managed to find a restaurant online called The Diner- it sounded promising and the decor was pretty cute, but the food was not exactly stellar. Luckily, all the menus have pictures on them, so we pointed to a pizza and spaghetti and it was fine.

Apparently there is a pretty active Ex Pat group here and there was a posting about a meet up at Starbucks this morning, so we are planning on venturing over there with a list of questions.

Bryan and some others come into town this weekend for meetings concerning the hospital, which H will attend.

Tonight Lei is taking us to a Korean food restaurant and then she reallllly wants us to do Karaoke with her…..problem is, she doesn’t listen to American music, which means my infamous rendition of Alanis Morisette will not be properly appreciated. I think we will pass on her offer…..

Tomorrow we move hotels to the Intercontinental, which is hopefully where we will remain for at least a few weeks- we are really ready to finally unpack and get settled. The new hotel will be really nice- it is on the harbor where the 2008 sailing Olympic events were held and its connected to the brand new mall I was telling you about earlier. It was built to be the Olympic village.

Send me email updates on your summers- I can’t believe Casey Anthony was not guilty! WOW.

Qingdao = QingWOW

Good morning- Ni hao!

While you are waking up on July 4th surrounded by patriotism, bbq, fireworks, I am sipping on green tea in a city of 8 million- where abt 5 ppl total speak broken Chinglish- staring across the table at my beloved wondering........what the heck are we in for this summer. Toto- we're not in Kansas/ Nantucket anymore........ 

However, I am not asking for a pity party- so far we have been livin large in this beautiful, resort town city- its very clean, there is a brand new galleria with shops like Zara, Hermes, LV, Ferragamo, etc etc and I found a starbucks.

Life is good- but our little adventure did not start out as swell. After a 5 hr delay due to major floods and storms, we touched down in Qingdao at 3 am.  Before getting in a cab, I went to use the restroom- only to realize that you had to stand over a hole to perform the deed.  Shocked, I decided that I would forego the call of nature and risk a major bladder infection before I was going to start urinating in any public holes- life is too short, right?

We get to the hotel where the room we're to spend the next 2 months is abt the size of my freshman dorm room and the sheets feel like sandpaper- only to realize the AC is broken. Lovely.  We sleep a few hrs and wake up with sore throats and colds. I told Harrison he should start taking bets on how long I would last in this country....

However, little did I know our luck was abt to change in the form a slight girl named SaiSai- aka Ashley's Asian Angel.  Sai Sai is a girl from Qingdao who is currently a junior at American University, but working in Beijing this summer- Harrison's aunt sponsored her to come to America for high school and college.  Since they are the only ppl we knew to email in this city, we set up a time to meet for lunch.  Sai Sai and her parents came to pick us up- the parents dont speak a word of English, so Sai Sai served as a translator.  The mom was rocking an adorable dress and some Chanel flats and SaiSai is adorable.  We headed off to a restarant where you walk around and point to different kinds of raw fish and meat- we had never seen the likes of any of these so we told them to choose for us. We then headed up to a private room with a big lazy susan and the food began to flow.  No less than 15 different dishes hit the table- we washed it down with the local Tsingdao beer.  There were multiple toasts by the parents- translated by sai sai- thanking us for sponsoring their daughter in America (we personally had nothing to do with any of the sponsorship, but we were happy to take credit in the form of dishes upon dishes on things I had never seen before- yummy nonethless).  I think we will be the only ppl who manage to gain weight in China- which is impressive bc I have yet to see an obese person so far.

Following lunch the toured us around the city- when we pulled up to the hotel after a long day of sightseeing- they told us to go get our bags bc they did not want us to stay in the hotel- the mom said it smelled funny and that the food would make us ill.  I had no problem following her instructions- they whisked us off to a beautiful new hotel where they get a discounted business rate-now, this place is LEGIT- kinda like a smaller scale Peninsula hotel overlooking the ocean.  Not too shabby. The family is in the real estate business- they own Chinese version of WalMart- so they are great ppl to know- this relationship is totally separate from the doctors and hospital H will be working at this summer.  We're not sure if we will be living in this place for the rest of the stay- H has to talk to his bosses- but we are enjoying the room courtesy of SaiSai's parents in the meantime.  

They noticed I had a cold, so they had a friend drop off some suspicious looking Chinese herbs- I mixed them with hot water- H refused to partake- but I guzzled it down- gagging a few times- and I think it helped a lot. After another huge dinner at a dumpling place- where they ordered every single item on the menu- we headed to our new hotel home, but not before they left us with a parting gift- new iPhones so we can call them if we ever need anything- so very generous. 

Today, they sent their driver and another young Asian girl who speaks English to show us around the town.  Although the some parts of the city look very Westernized- NO ONE here speaks any English so it makes doing anything very very difficult.  We havent seen any other Americans or Europeans so far, and we're not holding our breath. 

Harrison doesnt start work until Friday, so his boss told him to spend the week getting to know the city. Not really sure what the rest of the summer has in store- but I will be sure to keep you updated with extremely long emails. Pictures to come....

Miss you and Happy 4th!

Zaijian (goodbye).