Back home!

Well folks, we made it. We survived the biggest adventure summer we could have imagined. WE escaped from Sanya 1 day early, looking over our shoulder the whole way. Oscar's foot is healed, we are home in California under a blue sky without pollution and eating boneless chicken breasts and tollhouse cookies. Hong Kong was chaos - people literally everywhere, so crowded! The pollution was awful and Oscar and Lisa were coughing nonstop with asthma. We all 4 had to share 1 bed, and Mike and Lisa finished reports on Taiwan and Vietnam (with help from Megan at Niko in the US). In Hong Kong we met up with Lisa's friend Larry from Viant as well as one of the Niko contractors.

And we never had to deal with Bryce again.

Jet lag is brutal, we are forever changed. What a learning experience all around! It was great fun, a total adventure. A bonding experience. We are blissfully exhausted. And yes, we would do it all again!! Thanks for reading our blog! Signing off now: the Hansons. 

The Never Ending Adventure

We were scheduled to leave Sanya 8/28, but then Oscar broke his foot on 8/25 and we had a whole new level of adventure to contend with. There were two Chinese hospitals, no translators, one hospital had great CT and xray machines but no facilities to care for children, the other hospital was something like a prison but slapped a make-shift cast on his leg. A very long day, quite an ordeal. We decided that we needed to get him seen by a real doctor in Hong Kong so we moved up our departure until Aug 27th.

That meant packing up the whole family on Aug 26th, giving away all of the possessions we had purchased in Sanya to our babysitter, an unbelievably grateful person who was in shock at all the "nice" things (plastic mug for our toothbrushes, etc) we were giving her for free. She brought her whole family over to move all the stuff out into a waiting taxi and they were overjoyed, as were we to get rid of it all. I did get weepy parting with the mattress cushion though... Just kidding.

We also were happy to get out of there early because we learned that Bryce was "coming back to Sanya" to check us out of our apartment at 10am on Saturday the 28th, and that was just one bit of drama none of us needed at all. We never saw him again in Sanya after he bailed on Haley and their wedding way back at the end of July. Guess he stayed in Shanghai that whole time. Bye Bryce. Oh and for those who care about the soap opera, Haley did officially break up with him after hearing what he had to say in Shanghai and at least we know she made the right decision.

We got to Hong Kong and got Oscar to the right doctor (pediatric orthopedic surgeon named Dr. Chang), who cut off his make-shift cast that was on too tightly and changed his treatment to a simple elasticized stocking and use of best judgment. The Sanya docs said Oscar had to stay off it for 4 weeks.

He already is walking on it here, after a week of refusing to. All will be well.

Two days to go. Hong Kong has been so-so because we've been toiling away at some market research reports due tomorrow and because of his foot. We've seen the key sites though and will attempt to visit Ocean Park tomorrow for a grand finale. 

Another Tropical Storm!

We thought that one typhoon was enough, but of course on the last day of mom and Chuck's super fun 10-day trip to China with us we had another big storm.

This one was a tropical storm and not quite a typhoon, but it was pretty exciting anyway. Luckily we were at the Ritz Carlton in Yalong Bay near Sanya so it didn't matter much what the weather was doing outside and we didn't suffer any power outage. The worst part was that we didn't get to swim all the time, but we swam plenty anyway. They did close the beach for a long while due to huge surf - a triple break in fact. The storm passed just in time for mom and Chuck to make their flight on time to Shanghai where they catch another one home to SFO.

We've had a few weeks of fun with Annie and Sophie here, then off to Beijing, then over to Shanghai, then back here with mom and Chuck, then to Yalong Bay - and now that all of that is behind us we are in a bit of shock realizing that we have only 4 nights left in Sanya followed by 5 in Hong Kong and then our 98 days of Chinese summer will be finished!

Beijing to Shanghai

From Beijing we went to Shanghai where we rendezvoused with Mom and Chuck who flew in from California to spend 10 days or so with us in China. They treated us to a stay at the Westin Bund Center and Annie and her family were with us there too. We had fancy dinners out, did lots of shopping, Lisa and Mike conducted several meetings for Niko business, did lots of work, and had fun. We even got 2 nights out at a bar thanks to Mom and Chuck generously babysitting the kids for 2 hours 2 nights while we were there. We saw our friend Eddy Meng and generally had a great time.

Beijing

We went to Beijing with Annie and Sophie and Annie's husband Eric joined us. The Hansons stayed with Billy Bishop and his family at their great penthouse in downtown Beijing. We went to the Great Wall, and Mike also saw the Forbidden City. Oscar got sick, probably heat stroke, so Beijing was not so very exciting for us.

What the heck is it?

Cast your vote in the poll!

Di er ci xiaotou!

For the 2nd time Mike has been involved with a thief, but this time the thief was stealing from me!! He and I were walking on the street looking for a toilet parts store, as you do when you live in a place like this and your toilet breaks, and I had my backpack on. I felt a little tug and spun around and there was a thief (xiaotou in Chinese)! I yelled HEY! And screamed at Mike: he touched my backpack! And then Mike turned to him and started pointing and yelling XIAOTOU! Are you a thief, huh? Are you a thief? What did you take? And then he chased the thief across the busy street and the thief got all freaked and started sprinting!! The thief's sidekick stayed by me, and I suspected they were together but wasn't sure. Then later we saw them together and Mike got even more mad thinking that he had left me with the sidekick while he chased the other guy. It was safe by then though. Wow!

I really don't think we need ANY MORE drama this summer!!! But the good news is they didn't steal anything. That part is a relief.

Our Life as a Chinese Soap Opera

Yep, its true. Our life in China is officially soap opera caliber. We've asked for a partial refund for Beach Chinese, for starters, for the month of August. This is because the owner basically fled to Shanghai and left us wondering what is going on, and while he claims he is coming back, we are not satisfied enough to wait around to figure it out. We have learned a lot of Mandarin so by that as the only measure of success, we have been successful here. For more details, such as the owner also bailing on his fiancee 3 days before their wedding and then she flew up to find him in another city etc, you'll have to wait for the made-for-TV movie.

Meanwhile the teachers are willing to work directly with us and directly with the kids if we want to. But we have visitors now and more travel planned to Beijing and Shanghai and Hong Kong, and my parents are coming over for 10 days or so of fun, so really it is all working out just fine. If it were not for the ridiculously large Niko Partners work load this summer, due in fact to it's own work oriented soap opera, we might actually be having a lot of fun! Right now it is fun, work, figuring out a new schedule and new plan for meals, and planning for our travel.

I might also have a mild case of post traumatic stress disorder from all of the soap opera stuff and from the typhoon, but it probably is just a little stress. Nothing that a bottle of CALIFORNIA wine couldn't solve, but alas the Great Wall Red that tastes like Sudafed really didn't do the trick ;-).

Still, we have no regrets for doing this summer adventure! As I type this, Oscar is marching around talking in Chinese as he plays airport and airplane, so really, I think this is a very cool experience for all. 

Chengdu Culture Shock

I had culture shock in Shanghai and I noticed instantly when reuniting with Mike and the kids in Chengdu (they flew there with teacher Carrie from Sanya and I flew there from Shanghai) that Mike had culture shock in Chengdu for the same reasons. It is hard to adjust to a modern city after being in a tier 3 city like Sanya, and Chengdu is only tier 2 not even a tier 1 city (Shanghai and Beijing).

Nevertheless, we had a fun time in Chengdu and stayed at a beautiful hotel, the Intercontinental, and hired a car and driver all day for our stay, our teacher Carrie was with us so translation was easy, and the weather was perfect. We went to the Chengdu Panda Breeding Center and saw lots of pandas in their habitats (transportation inside the vast park was sorely missed), saw very old beautiful temples, ate delicious Sichuan food (the spicy food), and I even had a business meeting at Ubisoft's Chengdu studio. Here are all the photos. I was previously unaware of the red panda, that looked more like a big raccoon to me than a typical panda. The kids now have panda fever and everything is about pandas.

Oh, and our flight home was delayed two hours, after my two prior flights were each delayed two hours, and I'm sick of Chinese air travel already. But the happy news is that Annie Fifer and her daughter Sophie have arrived in Sanya for a week and we are going to see them later today!!

Lisa's Shanghai Business Trip Adventure

So I reluctantly left Mike and the kids behind to go to Shanghai for 2 nights for the annual video game industry event called China Joy, something I've attended every year for 8 years. Usually it is action packed and crammed with meetings over 5 days, but this visit I spent only 2 days and went through major culture shock - what an advanced city compared with the tier 3 city where we've lived for more than 2 months!

Also, we have no printer in Sanya and I am a mess in my luddite self without a physical print out of my schedule and notes. Therefore I was totally disorganized. Then, my flight was 2 hours late so I missed my first 2 meetings entirely. And finally, I was invited to evening events and wound up staying up later than I was used to in Sanya. But, I closed new business for Niko (yay!), Mike and the kids were fine without me, and I survived the trip. Luckily that will be my only time away from the family this summer though. 

Other Adventures

Since the typhoon and Mike finding his ring, there has not been much excitement here and not much to report. I've been working hard on reports for Niko, the kids are having fun playing, we have done some fun activities in the day. The beach seems to be cleaned up and the workers here at Times Coast (our apartment complex) have really done a great job cleaning up the typhoon mess of the trees.

Monday we went to visit the Li & Miao village near Sanya, a tourist spot highlighting the culture of two minority ethnic groups indigenous to Hainan Island. The most interesting part is that the women used to be considered beautiful only if they tattooed their face and arms and legs, and the tattoos all have to reflect their small clans. These days the tradition does not exist, but the older women in the village were all tattooed. Not in a gross East LA way, but sort of more like the pattern on a SE Asian woven fabric. Of course I don't have photos of that to show you, but here are some of that day's adventure.

Oscar & Josie at the Li & Miao Village

A French student of Beach Chinese, named Brigitte at the village

Josie and a Chinese baby at the village, she is obsessed!

Making the noodles fresh in front of our eyes for our lunch

Acupuncture

So a little surfing, sleeping on the rock hard bed and who knows what else and the good old back decides to take a break. So we ask around and we find that a friend's mother went to this "doctor" at this "hospital" and the treatment for her back was so good she actually flew back (from California) to Sanya for a week just to get some treatment from this doctor.

As most of you know I have had two back surgeries already and a third really isn't a viable option. Regardless, I gave Western medicine a try (and some Eastern as well), so "Ru xiang sui su" or "when in Rome..."

I arrived at the hospital with my tutor to help translate. They reception desk asked for my name "Maike" and my age. I was then handed a slip of paper with a number on it and charged 9 RMB (about a buck fifty). We then proceeded upstairs to see the doc. We had an appointment and she was ready for us. She asked me what the problem was. I explained my back history, surgeries, and latest issues. She asked a few questions and then the tough question. With much back and forth and mime we determined that she wanted to know what was wrong with me - "why was I here?". Hmmm. I had just provided a very comprehensive 25 year history of my back issues, surgeries (with vertebrae numbers, dates and procedures),my latest MRI results and my current symptoms. I even volunteered my own neuro tests (walking on tippy toes, walking on heels) right there in front of her. How could she not know what was wrong with me at this point. I asked my translator "Okay, so what doesn't she understand?" he replied, "She wants to know why you are here?".

Hmmm. Okay. Time to get local I guess. "I am here because my back hurts", I say in my best Chinese. She replies in her best English "Where?". I point to the area and say "Zhe Li" (here). She says "okay, please lay down on the table". I comply and then my pants are going down and my shirt is going up and here come the needles.

The acupuncture I received in the US was great. It was performed by a DO who knew her stuff. But this lady and her needles - wow. I could not tell what she was doing as I could not see. My translator stayed and said she was just spinning the needles in her fingers. It felt like I was a puppet and she had strings to pull on my muscles. Her assistants then came in with the electricity and "moxibustion". For me, moxibustion is like a big piece of incense on a needle. Of course the needle gets hot, not hurting hot, but much more than warm. So after another 30 minutes the assistants remove the "moxibustion" and the doc is back with the needles. She is trying to get me to understand "needle" pain and "good" pain. I say I get it and learn to say Hao (good) when the needle lights up my nervous system throughout my back and leg. She is very happy with our progress in communication.

After two hours of hands on work, she has my back straight and relaxed with no pain. She tells me 'please exercise'. Hmmm. I reply, "exercise, like run around, stretch, jumping jacks?" I am looking for some clarification and I am sure I appear confused. She stares at me for a moment and then tells me to sit on a stool next to her desk. Bam. A needle right to the "third eye"

right in the middle of my forehead. I guess I looked unsettled and it was time to settle me down. The "third eye" needle placement can be used to relieve anxiety and stress. Anyway...after fifteen minutes I was ready to exercise.

I hopped, skipped and jumped around the room. Please note, the treatment room has 6 tables that look just like massage tables and have the hole in them for your face. There is the doctor's desk and that is about it. The windows are open and it is over 90 degrees in the room. The tables are about a foot apart. It is very clean and organized, if a bit crowded. She had five patients at the time. So I am in my 2' by 2' little area moving around like an overweight 75 year old following along to Richard Simmons. I am completely spaced out by the needle to my forehead (it makes me feel like a had a couple). I feel great. I look at her and smile. What else are my options? She smiles back and asks "better?". I say "dui". We both smile. She says come back in a few days as we should do ten treatments. "Okay" is my reply. I inquire about payment as the reception desk was not to excited about my Blue Cross card and the Travel Insurance company had never heard of Sanya. She says "cash is fine - 120 RMB please". So cabs to and from the hospital, entry fee and two hours of hands on treatment for $20. This is not my co-pay. This is all in.

I have been back for two more treatments and as we get acquainted the treatments get more focused and intense. After my third treatment I had to take about a three hour nap and could barely walk or talk afterward. Not because of pain, but because I felt so out of it and exhausted. So seven treatments to go and looking forward to more relief. Best news is the doctor is now also teaching me some Chinese during the treatments in return for me teaching her English. For me - amazing.

All smiles as I prepare for the needles

 Where there is smoke...

Needles with "moxibustion" - combo incense and heat for the needles

 Needles in my back with the moxibustion in full

More Storm Photos

The Ring and the Beach

Well I lost my wedding band last Saturday (July 10th), at the beach no less. Somewhere in the sand. By the time I realized it was missing I had played sand soccer, sand volleyball, dug for clams and played with the kids with the sand toys. An area about the size of a football field. We all looked for it, but I think we knew it was futile and gave up after a few minutes.

The Hunt Begins

There has got to be a metal detector in a city of over 500,000 right? Even if it is China. One of the expats says he saw a couple at a second hand store somewhere around 1st Market. Okay, let's go. We wonder the streets around 1st Market asking for a "machine that finds metal". We can't find the word for "metal detector". We go to the fishing store - no luck. We hit a dozen appliance stores - nope. We try the tool supply and repair store and try our Chinese translation to empty stares. Then we place a coin on the floor and mime the activity and throw in a "beep" every time the imaginary machine passes over the coin on the floor. All the sudden, recognition and they are miming and beeping the coin as well. Great! Actually not so great.

With absolute certainty they explain that Sanya is a small place and there are zero metal detectors in Sanya. We inquire for possibilities and hope. They promise there are zero metal detectors in Sanya. Eight hours of searching and now back to square one, as they say.

Taobao and the TC-90

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=5295897395

So this site is a bit like Ebay. As you can see for under $100 USD delivered you can get a Chinese metal detector. Of course that doesn't mean it will actually work or that I can actually use the thing. So it gets ordered and shipped - to Haikou! That is another city a couple hundred miles away and a two day delay. It happens to be the two days that Typoon Conson arrives and moves every grain of sand on the beach.

We put the TC-90 together and open the manual to figure out the different knobs and dials. The manual, the gauges and the knobs are all in Chinese. Oh well, trial and error I guess. So we get one of Lisa's platinum rings and a few coins and put them on the floor. We get a nice audible beep as we pass the TC-90 over the metal items and we are all smiles. Of course then we put the TC-90 just over the floor with no coins or rings and we get a nice audible beep as well. Hmmm. Well the whole building is concrete so probably rebar all through the floor?

Dialing in the TC-90

So we head outside to a nice grassy area. We put the three coins and the ring on the ground, we move the dials, spin the knobs and again we get a great audible noise. Of course we are getting the noise wherever we put the detector. Hmmm. Then we realize there is an underground parking garage underneath us. More concrete and rebar! So we move to a more desolate spot and after a few minutes we have the dials and knobs figured out and now we are ready to hunt.

Beach Spectacle

Imagine walking on a crowded Chinese beach with a strange device and being followed by 20 inquisitive locals. Every time the device beeps they all pause and look at me to see my next move. I pull out my (well Oscar's actually) trusty plastic toy shovel (a cool sand scooper was not included) and I dig and scan and dig and scan. Ahhh, a nice rusty old key! The murmurs from the crowd are all around me. I wonder "are they amazed?" and then I realize, "they think you are a complete idiot". But I am an entertaining idiot it seems as the crowd continues to watch my every move. Another beep, this time the prized treasure - a rusty old nail/bolt/screw! The crowd murmurs again and I seem to lose a few of my loyal following. Alas, very quickly another beep and a 1 RMB coin! I am now on my way to riches and surely local fame. The murmurs grow as does my following. I know have a rusty old key and a 1 RMB coin. So about 15 cents into recovering back my $100 dollar investment. Only about another 679 coins to go. Soon another 1 RMB coin. So I have doubled my take in a very short time! Keep a positive attitude I say as I rationalize my efforts.

The Volleyball Court

The Vball court is the likely scene of the "mishap" we suppose. So as I wonder a bit aimlessly and play with the dials and find a few scraps of metal, Lisa finally says "why don't you head to the volleyball court?"

Seems like a good idea, kind of wondering why I didn't get there myself. Oh well. I now have the experience and confidence I need to tackle the court. I scan the court methodically like a seasoned hobbyist. Beep and enough metal in an empty pack of cigarettes. Crowd seems impressed by this feat and now thinks the machine can also detect paper. A few pictures are taken of me. I bask in the sunshine and newfound fame. Another beep - a nail, beep - bottle cap. No applause, but I sense the warmth and empathy of the crowd. I finally reach my last row and head to the last corner. Beep - I dig and...shiny metal. Not possible. I scoop it into the shovel and sure enough a silver colored ring. A Chinese man looks at me and says in perfect English "Thank you so much, you found my ring". Might have worked but it was, by a small miracle, my wedding band. I yelled and hollered and ran back to Lisa and the kids. There were high fives, hugs, kisses and more photos.

So the moral to my story - I suppose "stay positive, say your prayers and don't give up even when the murmurs are all around!"

Mike, the metal detector and the found wedding band.

Adorable Josie playing while Daddy went ring hunting.

Conson Photos

Entry sign to our complex, now direction giving will be even more difficult

Outdoor parking in a Typhoon not recommended!

Trees like this everywhere

This is a letter that blew off from the top of our building, about 20 in all gone

This tree hit the management office - guess it will get top priority

This used to promote one of the karaoke bars, maybe they were singing "singing on the rain"