Today I was driving home along the 4th Ring Road, which was backed up because of a 2-taxi crash on the side road. As I approached the crash, I could see a smashed taxi up on a tow truck, and bunches of people standing around, staring. But it wasn't on my road, so why was traffic moving so slowly?
Up ahead was the problem - a guy in a black Mercedes, slowing to a crawl in the lane in front of me. Was he rubbernecking at the crash? No. Was he trying to pull off the highway? Because that's a common move: if you miss your exit, you stop and back up. But no, he wasn't trying to back up. He was just... talking on his cell phone. That's right, he was having a very important conversation, so he brought his Mercedes to a complete stop in the middle of the 4th Ring in order to focus on his conversation.
It took every ounce of self-control in my body to NOT scrape down the side of his shiny Mercedes as I squeezed by. Can anyone out there please explain the mindset that allows people do such selfish, boneheaded things? I've been here for over two years, and I still can't figure out why people think it's okay to drive this way. But they do, and they get away with it.
It's a mystery why there aren't any road rage shootings in Beijing...
Friday, November 20, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Learning Disabled in Beijing
I wrote this story about schooling options for LD kids in Beijing. Like it? Stumble it or digg it, please.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
POTUS in Beijing
I took all of the kids except Ainsley to the Embassy to meet President Obama today. I decided it would be best to leave Ainsley at home, because these events are usually crowded and crazy. Kids who wanted to be in the photo with the Prez had to be able to stand by themselves on the risers for almost 45 minutes. I was so proud of Kyra - she made it through. At one point, after the photo was finished and the President was chatting with the kids, Kyra went running up to him, but I didn't get a chance to take a photo before she was shooed back to the risers. My friend Jen was the official Embassy photographer; hopefully she got some better photos than these, but I'll attach them anyway just to prove we were there. I even got to shake his hand! Alas, no photo of that. You'll just have to trust me. If I get some better photos in the coming weeks (you listening, Jen?), I'll be sure to post them here.
In this blurry photo, Shay is near the top left, in the blue and white polo shirt. Kyra is at the bottom left, in the brown dress, two away from the President. You can't see Aidan, as the President was standing directly between me and Aidan at this point.
Everyone wave at Jen, the blonde lady taking pictures. Hi Jen! Just to her left, in the middle row, behind a girl in a red dress, is Aidan, in a brown polo shirt.
Kyra is the blurry brown dress on the bottom right. Shay's at the top right. Once again, Aidan has managed to escape the frame.
Here he is, the President of the United States, and I didn't even have to use the zoom lense. But aren't you appalled at what a bad photographer I am? Seriously, I had a chance to snap some great shots, but no...
And here's my husband, hard at work, just a few feet away from the Prez. But since he was armed and working, he wasn't allowed to go all goofy and try to shake the guy's hand. So, no photo op for me. No matter - by now it's apparent I would have blown it anyway.
In this blurry photo, Shay is near the top left, in the blue and white polo shirt. Kyra is at the bottom left, in the brown dress, two away from the President. You can't see Aidan, as the President was standing directly between me and Aidan at this point.
Everyone wave at Jen, the blonde lady taking pictures. Hi Jen! Just to her left, in the middle row, behind a girl in a red dress, is Aidan, in a brown polo shirt.
Kyra is the blurry brown dress on the bottom right. Shay's at the top right. Once again, Aidan has managed to escape the frame.
Here he is, the President of the United States, and I didn't even have to use the zoom lense. But aren't you appalled at what a bad photographer I am? Seriously, I had a chance to snap some great shots, but no...
And here's my husband, hard at work, just a few feet away from the Prez. But since he was armed and working, he wasn't allowed to go all goofy and try to shake the guy's hand. So, no photo op for me. No matter - by now it's apparent I would have blown it anyway.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Girl Genius
Little Ainsley turned one-and-a-half last week, a milestone that has thus far gone unmentioned in this blog.
One-and-a-half is such a fun age: they're curious and excited and stubborn and oh-so-busy. Ainsley gives kisses now. She bites and hits too, but the kisses make up for all of that. When we turn on the music, she dances and spins in circles. She talks now - in Chinese and English. She says "bao" in Chinese when she wants to be picked up. But she says "cheese" in English when she's hungry. She's starting to string together words: "milk please," "my daddy" and "no mommy."
And today? Today she peed on the potty! She's been all excited about the potty this past week, and has been having a great time sitting on it. Now, naked potty sitting isn't the best activity from my perspective, because a naked baby never actually pees in the potty. There's a lot to clean up before you see any tangible rewards. For example, there was that pair of my high heels that she was wearing when she had to pee last week. Not good.
But today, she sat down and produced! Girl genius, I tell you. We did the traditional potty dance, and then I gave her a chocolate chip. Her eyes widened with astonishment when she ate it, and she spent the next 15 minutes in the kitchen, pointing at the cabinet and screeching "more! more!"
Now, I know enough not to get my hopes up too high. After all, Aidan did the same thing at 18 months. He mastered the potty quickly, and then reverted back to diapers, where he happily remained until he turned 3. But I do think it would be just lovely if we could move beyond the diaper stage for the first time in 10 years.
And with that, I must go get ready for tomorrow. I'm starting back up at the Embassy, though I'm not quite sure what I'll be working on yet. I picked a bad day to start - I'm pretty sure everyone will be crazybusy dealing with the upcoming Presidential visit. I'm an Obama widow right now - haven't seen my husband in forever. And when I do see him, he has a phone glued to his ear. Still, it's kind of exciting. I'm an Obama fan, and I'm hoping I'll get to see him. I'll keep you posted on that front. For now, I'm off in search of some decent work clothes.
One-and-a-half is such a fun age: they're curious and excited and stubborn and oh-so-busy. Ainsley gives kisses now. She bites and hits too, but the kisses make up for all of that. When we turn on the music, she dances and spins in circles. She talks now - in Chinese and English. She says "bao" in Chinese when she wants to be picked up. But she says "cheese" in English when she's hungry. She's starting to string together words: "milk please," "my daddy" and "no mommy."
And today? Today she peed on the potty! She's been all excited about the potty this past week, and has been having a great time sitting on it. Now, naked potty sitting isn't the best activity from my perspective, because a naked baby never actually pees in the potty. There's a lot to clean up before you see any tangible rewards. For example, there was that pair of my high heels that she was wearing when she had to pee last week. Not good.
But today, she sat down and produced! Girl genius, I tell you. We did the traditional potty dance, and then I gave her a chocolate chip. Her eyes widened with astonishment when she ate it, and she spent the next 15 minutes in the kitchen, pointing at the cabinet and screeching "more! more!"
Now, I know enough not to get my hopes up too high. After all, Aidan did the same thing at 18 months. He mastered the potty quickly, and then reverted back to diapers, where he happily remained until he turned 3. But I do think it would be just lovely if we could move beyond the diaper stage for the first time in 10 years.
And with that, I must go get ready for tomorrow. I'm starting back up at the Embassy, though I'm not quite sure what I'll be working on yet. I picked a bad day to start - I'm pretty sure everyone will be crazybusy dealing with the upcoming Presidential visit. I'm an Obama widow right now - haven't seen my husband in forever. And when I do see him, he has a phone glued to his ear. Still, it's kind of exciting. I'm an Obama fan, and I'm hoping I'll get to see him. I'll keep you posted on that front. For now, I'm off in search of some decent work clothes.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Windfall
Oink. I’m going on day 9 of being sick, and it’s starting to get old. But I am slowly crawling out from under whatever it is: the swine flu? The bird flu? The regular old ordinary flu? Who knows? I decided not to take myself to the doctor. I owe them enough money already.
And speaking of money…
I was sitting at my desk this week, trying to type, and surrounded on all sides by needy children. Shay wanted a pen, so he yanked the desk drawer open. He tugged a little too hard, though, and the whole drawer flew out of the desk, dumping its contents on the floor. We both bent down to pick up the drawer, and that’s when we saw it.
Money. The space behind the drawer was stuffed full of it. We kept pulling out shiny pink 100 kuai notes, one after another. $400 worth.
Now, it’s likely this money was not originally mine, as I don’t tend to store my cash in that drawer. But there’s no way to know who put the money there. This desk belongs to the Embassy, and it has probably lived in countless houses before ours. Who knows which family – or families – stored money in this drawer?
So. With no way to restore the money to its rightful owners, it seems it belongs to us now. Shay believes that, since he was the one who found it – it would’ve been there forever if he hadn’t broken the drawer – he should get to keep it. I told him a 9-year-old has no need for $400 spending money. He countered with an offer to let me keep all of it – except what he needs to buy a Nano. I countered with, ummmm, not gonna happen.
It led to an interesting discussion about the value of money. I told Shay $400 was a lot of money. He reminded me of a time we’d read a story about a family of four living on $20,000 a year, and at the time, I’d said $20,000 was not a lot of money. How can it be, he wanted to know, that $400 is a lot, but $20,000 is not? So we spent some time talking about mortgages and phone bills and doctor bills versus Nanos and new cars and other fun stuff.
We talked about all the things a person could do with $400. We talked about saving it, giving it to someone needy, spending it on something fun, or even divvying it up and doing all of those things with it.
So I ask you, internet: what would you do?
And speaking of money…
I was sitting at my desk this week, trying to type, and surrounded on all sides by needy children. Shay wanted a pen, so he yanked the desk drawer open. He tugged a little too hard, though, and the whole drawer flew out of the desk, dumping its contents on the floor. We both bent down to pick up the drawer, and that’s when we saw it.
Money. The space behind the drawer was stuffed full of it. We kept pulling out shiny pink 100 kuai notes, one after another. $400 worth.
Now, it’s likely this money was not originally mine, as I don’t tend to store my cash in that drawer. But there’s no way to know who put the money there. This desk belongs to the Embassy, and it has probably lived in countless houses before ours. Who knows which family – or families – stored money in this drawer?
So. With no way to restore the money to its rightful owners, it seems it belongs to us now. Shay believes that, since he was the one who found it – it would’ve been there forever if he hadn’t broken the drawer – he should get to keep it. I told him a 9-year-old has no need for $400 spending money. He countered with an offer to let me keep all of it – except what he needs to buy a Nano. I countered with, ummmm, not gonna happen.
It led to an interesting discussion about the value of money. I told Shay $400 was a lot of money. He reminded me of a time we’d read a story about a family of four living on $20,000 a year, and at the time, I’d said $20,000 was not a lot of money. How can it be, he wanted to know, that $400 is a lot, but $20,000 is not? So we spent some time talking about mortgages and phone bills and doctor bills versus Nanos and new cars and other fun stuff.
We talked about all the things a person could do with $400. We talked about saving it, giving it to someone needy, spending it on something fun, or even divvying it up and doing all of those things with it.
So I ask you, internet: what would you do?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
49!
Yesterday morning it hailed and snowed and rained and thundered and the skies parted and it was all very Biblical. No locusts, but the mosquitoes are still out, so we'll count that as a plague. Yet I'm rejoicing, because the air quality index currently reads 49. We can officially stop holding our breath.
This morning we woke up to this view from the front door:
The schools are all closed - the first snow day since we've been here, I believe.
So I will spend the day shuttling kids in and out of the house, watching them ruin sock after sock and glove after glove, and trying like heck to avoid going out there myself. (I'm like a cat - not a fan of precipitation.)
I'm fully stocked up in the cocoa and rice krispie supply department, so we're good to go.
Poor Bart, though - he still had to go to work even though the shuttles aren't running. Last time I saw him, he was tramping around in the snow, in a suit and dress shoes, looking for a way in. Disaster! With the Prez on his way, no one can take a day off, snow day or no.
And with that, I'm off to entertain my kiddies. The girls both have hacking coughs and sore throats, like their mama. So it should be a fun day.
Deep breath...
This morning we woke up to this view from the front door:
The schools are all closed - the first snow day since we've been here, I believe.
So I will spend the day shuttling kids in and out of the house, watching them ruin sock after sock and glove after glove, and trying like heck to avoid going out there myself. (I'm like a cat - not a fan of precipitation.)
I'm fully stocked up in the cocoa and rice krispie supply department, so we're good to go.
Poor Bart, though - he still had to go to work even though the shuttles aren't running. Last time I saw him, he was tramping around in the snow, in a suit and dress shoes, looking for a way in. Disaster! With the Prez on his way, no one can take a day off, snow day or no.
And with that, I'm off to entertain my kiddies. The girls both have hacking coughs and sore throats, like their mama. So it should be a fun day.
Deep breath...
Monday, November 9, 2009
More on the Air Quality
Thanks, GlobalGal, for bringing this great article by James Fallows to my attention.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
