29 August 2010: Shopping in Shenyang, The Alps by Train

29 Aug 2010 China Update

Greetings all from Shenyang,

It's another wet weekend here in Shenyang, but so far, it's just rains...no additional flooding.   The big events of this week were kind of non-events!  The clothes dryer had been broken and that got repaired...not sure how many Chinese people it took to fix it, but it got fixed (not exactly perfect, but close enough!) for 250 yuan (about $35) and delivery and setup, we were happy!  Now we can take away the "Chinese dryer" (Better known to us country girls as an indoor clothes line)!  

I've already mentioned that it's raining a lot here, so it shouldn't surprise you to see the rainy photos below!  We went to a market today (inside) and on our way there, I snapped a few typical sights we see here in town.  I'm convinced the 3 wheeled trike is the Chinese equivalent of a local delivery truck.  We've seen these things loaded down with everything and...business still goes on, rain or not... Shoes anyone?

This is the same spot in the road, just a normal guy going from point A to point B...We see a lot of umbrellas here...mostly for the rain, but also to shade from sun.  One lady told me she is allergic to the sun and if she gets in it for more than 5 minutes she itches.

Once we got to the market, it must have been a slow day...even the shop keepers were playing some sort of game!  It looked pretty intense, so Rod asked if we could take a picture...I guess they said yes, because no one tried to confiscate the camera when we took the picture!  I'm not sure what the object of the game is...but each player picks up a block from the center pile, then either plays that block immediately, or plays one from his pile.  We saw many different games going on all through out the market, so it must be a pretty popular pastime.  Notice the Budda in the background...everyone I've ever seen here is "happy"..I don't think I've ever seen a sad one...they must be on to something here!

In this market, we think it's a wholesale market for other markets...don't ask me how Rod finds these places!!  This market had all kinds of things...carved and polished stones and pottery stuff on the 1st floor, then papers (stamps, old money etc) on on the 2nd floor...after that I was in overload, so we left. Winter is long here, so we'll probably be going back!   As we were leaving, on the 1st floor, we saw what has to be the worlds largest Chinese cabbage carved out of stone.  The Cabbage must be a symbol for something (I think it's long life, but not sure!) because we've seen several of them...but none this big!  Obviously we didn't buy it...not sure we would want to see the freight charges to bring that one home!

Stone carved Chinese Cabbages...pick your size and price!!

In the last update I mentioned on our vacation that the next part of our trip took us on the Bernina Express...here are a couple of pictures of some of the most beautiful parts of Switzerland...we took the train from Chur, Switzerland to Tirano, Italy, spent the night, then came back the same way.  It was spectacular both ways.  I highly recommend this train trip.  You must have reservations on the Rhaetian Railway Bernina Express, but it's totally worth it!  The railway itself was put on the UNESCO world heritage site back a few years ago, mainly because of the engineering that went into putting this railway across the Alps and how beautifully the bridges, viaducts and overpasses blend into the surroundings.  There is one place in the trip where the train actually loops back under itself (the one bridge photo I took while on the train) See some photos below...I really had to limit myself here on the photos...I just couldn't stop taking them on the trip and I get mesmerized each time I look at them again!

That's about it for now...

Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers!!  The adventure continues!

Sarah & Rod

22 August 2010: Rod's grocery shopping finds and Venice, Italy!

21 August 2010

Greeting all from wet & rain-soaked China,

I spoke last week about the landslide and flooding here in China and as you may have seen in the news it has continued.  God bless these families.  To my surprise today, watching CNN, I heard the Liaoning Province (like a state in the US) mentioned showing pictures of flooding over by the North Korean border.  I can assure you that while it's rained a lot here today in Shenyang, there are no mountains in view from which mud can slide...and even though we drove through some backed up water today going to the grocery, I don't think there is any risk of us washing away!  I do admit though that it is getting closer to home when you see your Province's name on CNN!  

This week has been relatively quiet!  Rod has started Chinese lessons, and I'm continuing them.  I've gotten kind of excited about starting to learn the characters.  The stories behind some of them is fascinating.  Some have evolved from the ancient scripts and graphics  like the one I try to show below for early morning.  Others have their meanings in myth and legends, others are strictly for pronunciation.  There is an order and direction in which to draw the lines (typical top to bottom from left to right).  I don't know many characters yet, but I now believe that they are possible to learn (which of course is the 1st step!)

OK, I'm really in the basic level..not even kindergarden, but it's a start! (And I did this from memory..not looking at my notes or anything!)

Otherwise, as you have seen in some of the other updates, shopping for food is always an adventure.  Rod does all of the shopping here, so he typically gets to see all the "weird stuff", (live turtles, fried duck carcasses, fried duck bills,  fish getting whacked in front of your eyes in the seafood section of your friendly grocer etc)  unless of course he waits to go on the weekend!  This week, he saw some interesting food in "your frozen food section" which is relatively tame by Chinese "weird" standards...he said he was afraid they wouldn't have it when he went back and he didn't have a camera, so he bought some.  I'll let you read the "fine food" label yourself..interesting they put the contents in English too!  Now who out there is secretly importing this stuff?  He did assure me that we weren't having any of this...he'll "regift" to one of our Chinese friends!

Rod's interesting find in the local grocery store frozen food section!

The other event that happened this week was Chinese Valentines day called "Qi Xi" which means  Double Seventh because it occurs on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month.  There's a legend about two lovers being separated and who could only meet each other on this day.  There's evidence that this special day has been around since  the Han Dynasty (206BC - AD220)...now that's a long time to keep track of a legend!  Rod and I didn't observe it...mainly because we didn't know about it until it was over...that's one for me to remember next year!

That's about all for China...now, back to vacation and Venice!  

I took a bazillion photos in Venice...but I've limited myself to just 3 to not do the "travel log" too much!  One of the obligatory things to do in Venice is to take a Gondola ride...and we did it early evening so that it wouldn't be so blazing hot!  

The Goldola drivers in Venice have to take a test and get a license to drive around Venice, and of course if they want to earn a tip, they have to be a good photographer!

The architecture in Venice is quite amazing...of course when you have water at your foundation and buildings that have been around for ages, and a city on water is a main tourist draw,  the Architectural Review board for any changes is quite powerful..consequently, it's beautifully preserved.    It is a very romantic place, but be warned...there is almost no place to sit down...unless you want to eat or drink...and the restaurants know all you really want to do is sit down...so they really hike the prices for everything in the big tourists areas...we saw an 8.00 euro Coke on the menu at St Marco's square...so we kept walking instead of sitting!

A view from one of the many pedestrian bridges in Venice, Italy...definitely NOT a handicapped accessible town!

 Of course, no spot is complete without a stop to the gift shops!

Well, that's about it for us.  Hope all is well with you all and thanks again for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!  The adventure continues...next time, the Swiss Alps and the Bernina Express train across the Alps  For those of you who mentioned that your images of the Alps was more like the movie "Heidi"...you'll be right at home in the next update!

Sarah & Rodney

15 August 2010: Michelin construction site at the beginning, European vacation excerpts

15 August 2010

Greeting all,

I hope this note finds you all well.  Today here in China, it is a national day of mourning for the landslide victims in Zhouqu.  The flags are flying at 1/2 mast and many ceremonies around the country.  On the national TV stations, they have been showing many poignant pictures of the area with over 1200 people confirmed dead and another 500+ still missing.  Please keep these people in your prayers. I have thanked God all day that we were not personally affected, but my heart has been heavy none-the-less.

It's tough to be light-hearted after typing something like that, but I'm going to try.

This past week has been very nice at work...most of the people who keep my e-mail box full at work are still on vacation...so I've actually had some time to try to catch up, moving into a new office and try to get settled back in after being gone for so long.  I also took the opportunity to go to the site where our new factory will be.  There is nothing there yet except a banner announcing that Michelin will build here.  See below are some photos:

Banner announcing Michelin's arrival in a new industrial park in Shenyang, China

Sarah Miller and Jonathan Huang standing in front of the site.

Otherwise, to continue a few snipits from our European vacation...in my last note, I stopped in Theirs, France.  We left from there and took the train to Zurich, Switzerland (via Lyon, France and Bern, Switzerland).  We ended up our Vacation in Zurich, so the goal in going there at the beginning was to dump luggage!  I had all of my "work clothes" and didn't want to lug them around, so we re-packed and left all the work clothes behind and then went to Innsbruck, Austria (home of one of the Winter Olympics in the 70s").  

We went up into the Alps there (read, we took a train...no we didn't do any climbing!) and, it was stunning..

Austrian Alps

One of the other things we did was to visit a Bell foundry, we just happened upon this place while riding on one of the city busses.  This foundry has been continuously operating since 1599 in the same family!  It was interesting to visit the museum beside the plant, learn about the different methods of tuning the bells, who their customers are today (mostly carillons in churches or large city parks) and see them work to "move 'em out".  The part of the museum outside the plant had a lot of old bells from "days gone by" (I figured probably some scrap bells!) was also an interesting place to see some of the past come to life.

The Bell Foundry in Innsbruck, Austria

After Austria, we went to Venice, Italy...now that deserves enough room to show some beautiful pics...ah...Venice!

Take care to all, and thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers!

5-7 August 2010: Rod's 4th of July in China and European Vacation excerpts

5 August, 2010

Greetings all,

Just a quick note to let you know we’ve arrived back home, safe and sound here in Shenyang, China.  As you may recall by the last update, Sarah was working in Clermont-Ferrand, France on passing an important milestone for her project since the 19th of June and Rod joined her there on the 11th of July.  On the 19th of July, we started a “train vacation” going through parts of France, Austria, Italy and Switzerland, flying out to China on the 3rd of August, arriving here in Shenyang on the 4th in the afternoon.

You've probably heard about the devastating flooding on the news.  From what we can tell, that's all in the South of China and nowhere near us.  Of course we're thankful for this, but we keep those families in our prayers.

I'll dose in some pic’s and stories from July in coming updates when I get them downloaded onto my computer, but for now, I just wanted to let you know we arrived!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers as we traveled, and continue in our adventures here!

Sarah & Rod

7 August 2010

Greetings all and Happy Saturday!

As I write this the sun is getting low in the afternoon sky here in Shenyang, and for most everyone on this list, the sun is just starting over the horizon in the morning!  

We're still not quite adjusted to the time change yet (after being up at 2:30am-4:30am and going back to bed, we slept until 10:00am...unheard of for us!), but we're slowly getting back into our little world here.

It's been since June that I actually wrote an update, so I'm going to go back in time to July 4th! For those of you on Facebook, you may recall that I was in France, worked as usual, but Rod was with me by the 14th of July and we had a nice day off together.  Here in Shenyang on the 4th of July, Rod was his American Patriot self and, true to form, he got out his tenor tuba and stood at attention outside the IC hotel and under the Chinese flag in the shadow of the biggest Mao statue in the world, played the US National Anthem perfectly to a small crowd of curious Chinese and some fellow Americans!  One of our American friends took his picture as I show below!  I was and still am very proud of him and grateful for his service to our country!

Rod Playing the Star Spangled Banner in Shenyang China on the 4th of July 2010  in front of our home, the Intercontinental Hotel, standing under the Chinese and US Flags

After Rod joined me in France, I had to work for a few more days in Clermont.  As many of you know, I work for Michelin, and Clermont-Ferrand, France is the world-wide headquarters for them.  While he was in Clermont, he did some exploring on his own and took a few pictures around town.  I go there quite often, so it's not noteworthy for me, but I have to admit, I was very pleased he took some pictures.  I don't think I've ever taken any and so I'm pleased to share them.

Center of town "Place de Jaude" in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Last year, Michelin created a very nice museum in Clermont.  They had always had a small one, but it was difficult to access.  Now, they have a 1st class place and for those of you on this list who will have the occasion to go to "Adventure Michelin", do it...it's well worth 2-3 hours to see the history and evolution of the company over the past 100+ years.  One of the highlights of the museum is the "Micheline, a train that rode on tires".  It was inspired by a rough train ride.  One of these trains still runs in Madagascar (almost reason enough for me to go there to see it...in addition to the interesting wildlife!)

Rod standing in front of a restored "Micheline" train in the Michelin museum in Clermont-Ferrand, France

For those of you who are interested in the history of Michelin, check out the following link:

http://www.aventure-michelin.com/

As of the 19th of July we were on vacation!  As I said in my last mail, we took a train tour through parts of Europe.  Several of you have said you'd like to hear the tales and see pictures of our vacation, so I'll include some in this and future updates.  

Our trip started when we went to Thiers, France on a mission (my mission, not necessarily Rod's!) to get some cutlery for our apartment in China.  Thiers is known for their knives and we went there several years ago when we lived in France. We didn't have a car, so we took the bus from Clermont (about 1 hour away) and shopped around the knife stores in search of a set that would go with a set I bought 13 years ago that was now of course, in storage! (I knew that would be an impossibility, but still held out hope!).  Found the pattern and they still made the knives, but not the forks and spoons...so we ended up buying a different set.  It was made there in Thiers and so I was happy.  Rod reminded me I could have bought 10 sets in China for the price of that one...but he had to admit the quality was not comparable either!   Thiers is a small town, and, like may French towns, it's built on a hill with the Church in the center. On of the things that is so beautiful about most any town in France is the flowers!  They have the beautiful hanging geraniums everywhere!

A typical building in Thiers, France on a Friday afternoon.  The window boxes with the flowers are just beautiful,and what a nice place to put a bench!

So, that's about it for this update...I went to work for a little while on Friday just to reacquaint myself !  I'll go back on Monday and I'll be in China for a little while now...at least until mid September!

Thanks for your prayers for safe travels...we really enjoyed our trip, but we're glad to be back home!

Sarah & Rod