day after thanksgiving

I ended up taking the day off. As it was still a day off in the US, but not in China, it was sort of the worst of both worlds: I couldn't really do anything different with Julie and Hannah still in work and school, but also didn't really go out for dinner, nor cook anything at home.

But time off is time off, and I used the time to catch up on sleep. Definitely feel better.

So weatherwise, its about a 1 mile day, and looks like it will be sunny. Cold, around 30 degrees or so.

Plans for the day: Chinese, running, get the H1N1 flu shot, and maybe some work. we'll see how it goes.

just checking in with the blog after a few months away........

Packing and Reflecting

By the way, special shout-outs to Morgan, Jack, Gina and poor Andrew, who patiently listened to my stories about China.

So i'm in Nashua to pack. I've lived in Nashua for a long time (almost 20 years), too long actually. I felt the need to move, and finally i'm doing so. Not sure what to do about the final days; Morgan suggested a mini celebration with me taking pictures of myself in the empty house. I do like the picture idea in that I remember what the house looked like when I first moved in (Ugly beige color outside, with no shutters, and paneling on the walls on the inside. Great if it's 1979 or 1982 or so). The guy I bought the house from updated the bathroom (kudos) including replacing the bathtub and vanity, but then buried the cast iron bathtub in the backyard to use as a planter. One of the pleasures that I had after the Camaro was stolen and I bought the Toyota 4x4 was digging up that bathtub (thanks Brad!!), putting it in the truck bed and taking it to the landfill.

I had help with improving the house and painting (Thanks Tarsha, Brad, Morgan, Mr. Jones, and the entire SPADOC program office), and had a few parties. The house went from being a single-dude house to the house with a family in it. We're selling it to a single guy to start the process again. Maybe i'll take a picture after all. Maybe even smoke a cigar to boot. Too bad I didn't buy those Cuban cigars for sale and the Beijing Holiday Inn Lido, this would be a good time to try a Cuban cigar.

Back in the US...

after one of the best flights ever from Beijing to Boston. This was going to be the first time that I went to the airport since we moved here. It wasn't that hard when I left back in 2006, but with the new terminal, I suspected that I would have to tell the taxi driver something different than "take me to the airport" as Beijing now has 3 major league terminals, and a taxi driver is sure to ask you which terminal you want, as one of them is on a completely different exit from the others. I spent about 5 minutes with Xiao Ma poring over the map of Beijing that Julie bought, and it looks like the gorgeous new terminal is where I want to go, and with her help, I learned how to ask for Terminal 3. Since it was around 1pm on a saturday in the middle of a major holiday (May 1), I end up getting to the new terminal in about 15 minutes door to door.

Terminal 3 is what you'd expect with a new Airport Terminal in the 21st century: a shopping mall with runways. There's plenty of shopping; duty free, restaurants, bookstores, clothing stores, and then there's this stereotypical chinese stuff. Figurines of the terracotta warriors, big and little. Silken fabrics, shirts, dresses. Ahus and pipas playing in the background. I spend most of my time looking at the airport itself, and comparing the number of 777s at the terminal to A300s or A330s. Boeing has a real winner with that airplane, there are about 9 777s at the terminal, and 1 A300.

I'm flying on United 850 from Beijing to Chicago. United was flying a 777 this time. Having flown this route a number of times, I was expecting to get to Chicago around 4pm, but the captain says the trusty flight computer is going to drop us off at O'hare around 1.5 hours early! And it turns out that the flight computer was correct, and our captain got us to O'hare so early that i was able to make the early flight to Boston. No weather delays for once.

Hannah's first full day of school...

was like a vacation for me! I now understand why parents put their kids into summer camp. Three weeks of me watching after Hannah, trying to keep her occupied with activities, taking her for walks, creating and forcing her into my "mini-school", letting her run around the apartment tearing things up, and doing all this for 8 hours a day is really draining. Rewarding in that you do spend quality time with your kid in those daily 8 hours, but still draining.

I had so much time, I almost didn't know what to do. I ended up delving a bit more into Chinese studies. I'm determined to make sure that I actually know some Chinese as a result of this stay in China.

The past weekend

This weekend was the first time that we had at least a little bit of time for all of us to spend together not looking for schools, ayis or apartments. and since it was a nice day, we went to Chaoyang Park on saturday.

Interesting place. struck me as at mix of central park with amusement rides as well. well laid out, and also has the Olympic Beach Volleyball venue still there.

we spent our time wandering around, letting hannah do her thing, and flying kits.

Afterward, we went to a xingjiang restaurant. It's interesting that in the US, there don't tend to be any Xingjiang restaurants at all there, so you know you're definitely in China when you eat at one. Xinjiang refers to the western Chinese province of Xinjiang. It is predominately a rural and muslim area.

Sunday, Julie's cold that had been brewing since her return from Suzhou for business flared up. She went to a local chinese doctor for medicine, and one of the many massage places for a massage. This left Hannah, Maiya and I with some time on our hands, which we spent at the 798 Art Zone. It turns out that this place is about a long city block north of our apartment, and has an interesting little history.

If I was made of money....

Beijing, with its 13 million or so people, is definitely an interesting city. I'm looking at it right now, and with the smog lifted, the city skyline shows clearly. At night, the view is of miles and miles of buildings, the halogen lights cast a slight golden sheen to everything, and plenty of flashing red, green, blue, and every other color. There aren't a lot of sirens here, or at least I tend not to hear them here on the 25th floor, but there is the usual honking of taxis and traffic, as the corner we live on is pretty busy. Because we like this area for its easy access to schools, stores and other necessities of big city life, Julie and I talked of buying an apartment here, as an investment as well as a home.

A quick search of The Beijinger website put the brakes on that. It wasn't that we were coming up against listings for villas in the $1 million plus range (the villas usually end up being in the deep Beijing suburbs, because that's where the land is), but more that even at the low end, small 2 bedroom/1 bathroom apartments in the nicer neighborhoods are running around $400,000. This would not be surprising for most big cities (and New Yorkers, San Franciscans and others are probably going "that's so cheap!"), but it's definitely more that what we wanted to pay.

So this has left us with renting. Just a quick update on the rental front: we've found an apartment we like, for a price we like. Conveniently, it's in the building next door, which is part of the same complex here. So moving expenses can be pretty low; just Julie, our Ayi (we call her Xiao Ma) and me hauling suitcases down one elevator, and up another to the new apartment. Unfortunately, this is all happening while i'm likely to be in the US wrapping up the sale of the house in NH, or attending a conference in Las Vegas. (It's worth mentioning that today, we all got our passports back from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.) So it looks like Julie and Xiao Ma will have to do the heavy lifting (literally and figuratively) for the move, which is expected to occur around early May.

Oh, and as a cute little aside, we were informed at the last minute that Hannah needed a health exam for entry into the preschool in which we are enrolling her. The school has a special form that they want completed by the doctor, and this exam includes a blood test. Of course, this exam has to be completed by next wednesday, when Hannah is expected to start full time. After cursing out the school, we by some alchemy end up getting an appointment with a Dr at the Beijing United Family clinic. This place is staffed by western doctors, and Chinese doctors with strong english skills, just what a english speaking dad needs to get his daughter examined, and blood drawn for the first time. So we ended up with the exam requirement just about completed, with only the completed form a necessity. The clinic says that they will call us when the form is ready, which is expected to be tomorrow, or monday at the latest.