Xin nian kuai le

Happy New Year! What Else?

Quiz Night at Franks

For a bit of excitement and entertainment you can get a team together a go to Quiz Night at Franks…if you can handle the smoke. Yikes! There sure is a lot of that. Beanstalk usually has a team thanks mostly to Ryan. I’ve gone 3 times. I’m trying to get Bill and a couple of his pals from the Embassy to come and be a team with Dave and me. The questions are usually too much on the macho side and heavily favor members of the Commonwealth…but then most of the participants are male and for all I know, most of them come from some Commonwealth country. I’m starting to get the hang of it though. After the quiz round there is a Picture Round. Ordinarily I’m not good at picture round, but last week was an exception. The pictures were of 10 famous works of art and you had to name the artist. Piece of cake…we won hands down. Anyone need a gym bag?
City Weekend says:
Frank's classic quiz night, led by Ray K and Graham continues. Attracting a more mature crowd than some of the other quiz nights in town, you'll need to put on your thinking caps if your team is to take home one of the several great prizes.

Tian Kai Temple

Christmas

The $10 Christmas tree we bought at WalMart, that is Wal er ma, with the 10 kwai lights that broke because (1) they were cheap; and (2) the outlets in the apartment are poorly made and wouldn't accept the plug without destroying it. I solved that one by using a power strip made for China, and bought a new set of lights. Note the Swedish straw ornaments from Ikea.

One day about a month ago Beanstalk started to prepare for Christmas. Since we are an international school I was only mildly surprised to see Christmas decorations going up everywhere…even tinsel garland wrapped around all the stair railings--how’d they expect those to last until vacation? But for the most part they did. We had a huge light covered tree in the main entry with lots of fake presents under it. Actually, it felt pretty good, a reminder of home. BUT…I wasn’t prepared to see the entire city turn into Christmas town…or at least the parts I could see…remember Beijing is bigger than Belgium. Everywhere I went, there was Santa Claus, Rudulph, Jingle Bells, songs, lights, decorations, even trees to be bought. Cheap ones at Walmart (we bought one there for $10 and lights for $1.50 at Nik’s market) or expensive environment friendly potted ones out at Bill’s in ShunYi. Down at Lady Street the Christmas was doing a brisk business. I had bought Swedish straw ornaments at Ikea in September so didn’t buy anything there.
Anyway, I’d gradually become accustomed to Beijing’s embrace of Christmas by the time Dave arrive and the celebration was just about at its heigh; the sight was pretty amazing to a newcomer. In this avowedly Communist country, all this Christmas seemed incongruous…even downright illegal…or what was up there? It turns out that it’s OK to embrace all the external trappings of Christmas…and I think the Chinese love an excuse to celebrate anything…but it’s not alright to talk about Jesus. At least that’s what we’ve heard. So, our building, has a huge decorated Christmas tree, and foreigners like Dave and I each received lovely Christmas cards from Brilliant Management (the name of the company that owns the complex…think it refers to light not intelligence), and every so often my cell phone rings and there is a message, “Merry Christmas” from someone I don’t know but assume it’s a contact I’ve made since last August.

Lanny and Bruce came one day, so Dave and Bruce got to meet. We had good old American hamburger which Bruce seemed to think were pretty good. I don’t know what it is about the Chinese idea of a hamburger, but they just aren’t as good as what I make at home. After we ate, we went to Walmart in Wangjing and bought our tree. We also bought a set of ping pong paddles and some balls because Dave had also noticed that there is a ping pong table outside the apartment and people play there all the time. I figure we’ll get around to playing someday soon too. So far we’ve been too busy…or it has been too cold…or too windy…but one of these days. That is one thing I have noticed…when it is windy, it is really windy. Last Sunday we had plans to go with Jenny and Summer, my 2 library assistants to Pan Jia Juan, the “dirt market”…or very famous flea/antique market. We were going on a Sunday because that’s supposed to be the most interesting day. BUT, Sunday morning blew in like a fierce gale which continued all day. Plans were put on hold. When it blows like that, it’s almost impossible to make progress when you walk.

Friday the 19th was the last day of school before vacation. We were finished at noon. Everyone received a gift of 2 bottles of fine Australian wine from the administration. I had planned a Christmas party for those who weren’t flying out that day. The Christmas tree was up and the lights were lit. The menu was Swedish meatballs with gravy, the authentic kind (with real cream and nutmeg), mashed potatoes (that was a challenge with no masher) corn, lingonberries, and cheesecake (with either cherry of fresh raspberry topping) all served smorgasbord style…how else? Ten of us squeezed into this little space, including a 4 month old and a 3 year old. It was warm, cozy, and festive, and I felt very lucky and blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful and interesting people. There is no doubt in my mind that the best addition to the party was Dave.

Christmas Eve day Bill picked us up and took us to River Garden, so we left our little apartment in “China Town” to spend a couple nights at “The Castle”. That’s what I affectionately call Bill and Jeanny’s place since my entire apartment would fit in their living room with room to spare. I like it out at ShunYi. It’s on the edge of the country…at least for now…but they are rapidly being surrounded by malls, and new apartments, and big hotels, the new exhibition center is only 2 blocks away, and the airport is practically within view. It is a huge ex-pat community. The homey shopping center is called Pinnacle, but just around the bend is the new multi-story shopping mall, EuroPlaza. Pretty soon it won’t be the same place at all. ISB is out there too (The International School of Beijing) and WAB is not far away (The Western Academy of Beijing). All in all, it’s a good place to be.

We attended a Christmas Eve party at the home of Bill’s colleague, Rosemary Gallant and her husband, Jonathan. We enjoyed the assortment of guests at the party, which included the Gallant’s two charming daughters, a Catholic priest who Rosemary had known when they were in Taipei, some friends from the embassy who had recently arrived in Beijing, and a couple who are New York Times reporters assigned to Beijing since January and still trying to learn the language, plus their 3 children, the oldest “home” from Stanford. All interesting. But for me, a Norwegian girl from North Dakota, it is worth noting that Jon’s mother is a cousin to Myron Floren. Some of you reading this will now say, “REALLY? WOW!” But, most will probably say, “Who’s that?” So, for that group…Myron Floren was Lawrence Welk’s accordionist which he played forever on the TV show and later he toured the country and ended up at Host Fest in Minot every year. Some of you know that our Grandpa Art’s first cousin, Jules Herman, was Lawrence Welk’s first trumpet player, and his wife, Lois Best, was the first Champagne Lady. http://www.tpt.org/lostcity/ballrooms.html. With this in mind, you might catch on that some of us thought it interesting that Jon was related to Myron Floren. Jon’s mother also Norwegian and comes from Madison, the self-proclaimed “Most Norwegian Town” in Minnesota. We weren’t surprised anyway when Jon brought out his accordion and played a few Christmas tunes.

Mutianyu Again

Delicate Blown Glass Flowers
The air was cold and crisp and the sky was a brilliant blue when Bill called to ask we wanted to go out to the Mutianyu with him, the mountainas, Great Wall Mutianyu, the School House and teahouse, where we had been twice before with him, last year. Of course we did. We were very grateful. Could Janice and Sophia come too? Yes, but they were at the market and would have to hurry to get back in time. I really like Mutianyu, for the same reason Bill does, I imagine. There is really good western food at the restaurant and the good noodles at the teahouse, and really interesting architectural work and restoration being done there, plus opportunities and possibilities for someone with some money…not me. But the immediate interest is the Schoolhouse which features the glass blowing studio where the beautiful glass is made. See: http://www.theschoolhouseatmutianyu.com/. There is also an art initiative and classrooms, so I imagine art classes as well. This is where we first saw the singing bowls…which are amazing. If you strike the rim of a bowl with a padded rod, in a fashion similar to the way you’d strike a tuning fork, and continue to run the rod around the rim of the bowl, the sound becomes progressively louder and louder until finally you must stop because it is too loud to endure. I had never seen or anything like it before. Last year we enjoyed the donkey in the moat; this year we were even more excited by thesight of a camel going by as we got out of the car. Mutianyu was an official Olympics tourist site. Here it isdecorated for Christmas. We drank hot cocoa in the café and decorated placemates with Craypas.

Sophia Kim and Janice Aulicino

Janice, Sophi, and Dave and Singing Bowls

Glass Blowing Artist gives demonstrations

Above: Examples of Beautiful Glass for sale

Ladies Street

We have had numerous opportunities to participate in and celebrate Christmas in traditional back home ways, all of which have kept us very busy and helped us feel connected, starting with the annual Christmas Bazaar at River Garden, where Bill lives. It could have been anywhere at home, just a bit more exotic and upscale. Lots of Chinese vendors as well. I bought a necklace and earrings for myself, having neglected to bring much of that sort of thing with me. I also bought some little mince pies from a couple girls scout; they turned out to be delicious. Wouldn’t mind getting more of them. The following weekend, Patty and Jane, and Dave and I went to the Rotary Club Bazaar at the Beijing Hilton, just a stone’s through from the new US Embassy. There we met lots of Minnesotans, many from ISB (International School of Beijing) who were either selling things or singing Christmas music or just shopping. Among them was Joan Lueth who is from the Bemidji area and teaches art at ISB. She has published 3 photo books, which she sell, 2 feature Beijing and one features Rodeo belt buckles. I bought one of those for Roger.
As you might expect, many of the vendors at the Rotary Bazaar were engaged in philanthropic work. For example, we bought cards from an organization that helps migrant workers and their families. We also bought UNICEF cards. We met a woman who works with developmentally delayed kids who get very little public schooling. I bought a necklace made by them. We also met the wife and daughters of the UN ambassador to China who devotes all of her time to working with the Shangri La organization. I don’t know enough about that but need to learn. The most significant thing we did there was buy a large watercolor painting from an artist by the name of Song. The subject of the painting is 8 cormorants perched on a little fishing boat down in the Quinlin area. Mr. Song said the birds are happy because they have done a good day’s work and are now full of fish. The colors and the subject matter of the painting will bring peace and happiness into our home. We bought the picture because we both really liked it…maybe that’s it.

Sometime in the middle of all this activity, we attended the River Garden Christmas party with Bill. It was an extravaganza to say the least, put on by the family that developed River Garden. Highlights included a huge selection of delicious foods served all night long with a variety of drinks for those who wanted them, a really good music group that sang good songs from the US, socializing with worthy folks, and best of all for me…a fun dough artist/sculptor in the children’s area who I sat and watched for quite a long time. He made anything the kids asked for but the most outstanding was the toucan with multi-colored feathered wings; it perched on its own ring that hung from a stick. Second to that was a little colt curled up in a resting position.

Our wedding anniversary was December 12th, Friday. It had been a long week and I was beat. One of the teachers was having a Christmas party that I wanted to attend, but it was also our wedding anniversary and Dave had only been here for 2 weeks. We decided to walk to the Holiday Inn and try out a Thai restaurant. But on our way to the Thai place we stopped to look at the menu at the Texas Grill and while we stood there we heard the very talented Cruz family singing some familiar romantic tunes. Romance on your wedding anniversary is a good thing we agreed, so we didn’t make it any further. It turns out that the Cruz family takes requests and likes to get people to come up and sing with them which is how we ended up singing Annie’s Song with them; also it was in their book. Since John wrote the song for Ann and we were all at Gustavus together when they were courting and we were just getting to know each other, we thought it a very appropriate song to sing. It certainly brought back a flood of memories from those days. They say if you can remember the 60’s you weren’t there, but I can guarantee that’s not completely true. We’ve been back to enjoy the Cruz’ singing a few times since then and haven’t been disappointed.

Dave's Arrival...Finally!

November 29, 2008

Dave arrived in Beijing around 9:30 Saturday night, November 29th. Today is December 29, 2008, and this is the first time I’ve written in my blog since then. WOW! I have had the best intentions and tried many times to get it done, but the best I could accomplish was picture-taking…they help me remember some of what we’ve been up to at least. Here is Dave coming out of immigration into the reception area at Beijing Capital Airport Terminal 2 where NWA is still located. He looks great after traveling for 24 hours, but I have to say, I was stunned by the short haircut, I called it a scalping, he received from one of the local Aitkin barbers. Never again, I vowed! After a month it still look short to me...even if he does refer to it as "clear".

We spent the first week in our little apartment learning how to maneuver around each other in the tight space. Dave learned the hard way, or I should say he continues to learn, where the hazards are. The worst one is the tempered-glass hood above the gas burners. At least I hope it's tempered. He has nicked his bald head on that many, many times. All in all though, we have adjusted well and the space seems to have expanded to fit us. We have added some touches, like pictures of Jesse and Celeste, a beautiful watercolor painting, and our favorite Linda Nelson Stocks Folkart Calendar, plus all the Christmas decorations, which go a long way to help make it seem like our home away from home. We have been buying the same calendar for nearly twenty years and were amazed to find it here at the huge bookstore/warehouse just outside of Beijing where I went one day to buy books for the school library. Dave and Celeste had already discussed how she would buy one back home but no need for that now.

It has been interesting for me to see our little corner of Beijing through Dave’s eyes. I really think he should either have his own blog or he should take a few turns here. Just this morning as we sat eating breakfast, which included the banana cake I made using Cathy's EasyBake oven (OK so it is a tiny convection oven she bought last month) he pointed to a fellow dragging a big load of something along behind him, and said to me, "I'm always reminded I'm in Chinas whenever I look out the window and and see someone moving a pulling or dragging a something down the street." We talked about some of the most memorable instances. For example, the man on a bicycle who was transporting a load of recyclables down the highway...the trailor box attached to his bike was the size of a large truck. We often see horses right here on our service road or the expressway, hauling heavy cement blocks on a platform, more than we would dare put in the back of our Jeep. The first week Dave was here we walked home from the grocery store along a back alleyway just as folks were coming home from work. It was already dark, and as we walked past a street vendor's stall, about 6' x 12', we noticed the owner had just finished closing the windows and was about to climb onto the 3-wheeled bicycle that supported the front and pedal away. Now that's really taking you work home with you.

Dave has spent most of his days in my apartment, so he has had time to observe the local scene during the day while I'm at work. The middle school below us, for example, where the kids have sports and other activities like the big parade formations I talked about in Septmenber. There’s no messing around once the teacher appears; everyone snaps into formation and attention. One morning he saw a student shooting free throws; when he finished, he jumped up in the air and pumped his fist like he had scored some sort of victory. The teacher got down and did a bunch of push-ups. Some things must be universal.

Then there are the morning instructions that workers at Kandu, our apartment complex receive from their supervisors, males and females in separate groups. Usually the supervisor reads from a piece of paper. Always the workers stand at attention on the mall, trying to ignore any distractions and probably pretending to listen. I often pass them on my way to school. One morning the girl who works our desk saw me and just about lost it. She waved, squeak a little “hi” and quickly caught herself, regaining her compose in time so as not to appear disrespectful to the boss. Last week Dave saw a male supervisor run over to one of the workers, grab him by the throat and give him a good whack. This was from 16 floors above, so Dave didn’t know if it was for real or not.

November 28