Fondling in Thailand

In Bangkok over Chinese New Year, we stayed at the Sukhothai Hotel, where Anne and I started our honeymoon in 2002.  Returning to your honeymoon destination is, at best, like trying to reheat a soufflé.  Returning with your children is like trying to reheat a soufflé in an oven without a flame.   

One breakfast, the girls sat on a Thai silk covered bench and Anne told them, “Clean your hands before fondling the upholstery.” That line sums up our stage of parenting.  We are beyond saying, “Don’t fondle the upholstery” since saying “Don’t” is a waste of letters on five and a half year olds.  We are at least trying to do the right thing by recommending clean hands fondling, which will serve them well throughout their lives.

Ollie and Zoe enjoyed visiting the temples, cruising then sleeping on long-tail boats down the Chao Praya River, zipping around town in Tuk-tuks and being the loudest twosome in the pool.  Apologies to the poolside honeymooners and adults trying to read and sleep.  No use telling the girls to be quiet.  Instead, I had them work on swimming underwater.

I enjoyed answering Ollie and Zoe’s questions as we toured the Grand Palace, sat together in the golden hall of the Emerald Buddha and watched the girls and Anne drop coins in the 108 alms bowls running along the back of the reclining Buddha at Wat Pho. 

Anne and I did manage to enjoy couple of quiet cocktails together the last night of our stay at the hotel’s outdoor bar.  Ollie and Zoe were asleep on the deep, white cushions after a day of sightseeing and swimming.  As we talked, I was reminded how wonderful Anne is. Even though the soufflé did not have a chance to reheat, those romantic ingredients are still there.  And, yes, we did clean the girls’ hands with the lemongrass-scented hand towels before they curled up and fondled the upholstery.

"D" is for Disaster, DangDang and a few other Choice Words

One thing I love about living in China is it is never dull.

Today, started with a shocking China tweet about DangDang's CEO f-bombing, more like f-carpet bombing, Morgan Stanley via his personal Sina Weibo account.  Weibo is China's version of Twitter and DangDang is a younger, smaller version of Amazon.

DangDang co-founder and CEO Li Guoqing was very unhappy with way Morgan Stanley priced his company's recent NYSE IPO.  This past weekend he had to let all that anger out.  Most executives would do it in private, but Mr. Li let more the more than 400 million internet users in China know exactly how he felt about Morgan Stanley.  His rant spread like wildfire, was translated into English and picked up by media across the world.  Good summaries of the meltdown on TechRice and the Wall Street Journal's China Realtime Report.  (Note - plenty of adult words in these summaries.)

By noon today, everyone in my office was talking about Mr. Li's posts and his choice of words.  His outburst was not the worst one they had seen in the past few years, but it may be the biggest flamer on Weibo to date.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Mr. Li.  In the US, he'd be fired before the end of the week, but in China it's unclear what will happen to him.

Like I said, it is never "D" dull in China.

Visit to the Linden Centre

Linden Centre at night

To start 2011, we spent five nights at the Linden Centre just north of Dali in Yunnan Province. The blue skies and much warmer temperatures were a nice break from the Siberian winds that punish Beijing from November until May.

Zoe and Ollie in horse cart

The Linden Centre is the brilliant concept of an American couple that found and renovated a mansion in the tiny village of Xizhou.  Brian and Jeanee are wonderful hosts, making you feel like you are guests in their home rather than guests at a hotel.  Guests chat between tables during meals, kids pile into the movie room after dinner, and parents are always within earshot from the well-stocked library and the Wi-Fi enabled bar that separates the mansion’s two courtyards.  The verandah at sunset is absolutely peaceful.

Zoe, Craig and Ollie on Cangshan Mountain 

Highlights for the girls included watching cormorant fishing on Erhai Lake, taking a gondola up to Cangshan Mountain and going for a short hike, and driving the horse cart that carried us around Xizhou village and to visit temples every afternoon. 

We had heard about the Linden Centre for several years, and it was everything we expected it to be. 

2010 In Review

Ollie and Zoe continued their full-day, bilingual kindergarten program at the Montessori School of Beijing, and are happy as the older girls in class. Helping the three and four year-olds builds their confidence and places them at the center of gang of one-meter tall girls with straight bangs on the playground. 

Confidence leads to constant question, such as, “Where did I come from?” and lots and lots of “Whys?”. Baking, piano and swimming lessons keep them busy during the week. Coloring, riding their scooters and dreaming about becoming princesses consume the remaining hours of their days.

For Chinese New Year, we went for a beach holiday in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Our week in the sun consisted of swimming, eating and sleeping -- that was it. A wonderful, peaceful holiday.

In March, Craig started a consulting project with Burson-Marsteller, a global public relations, government relations and public affairs agency. In June, Craig converted to full-time with Burson-Marsteller, working with a wide range of technology companies.

In June, Craig took Ollie and Zoe to Mattoon to visit his parents and his sister’s family. It was a full dose of Americana with baseball games, corn, tomatoes and good conversations. 

In August, Craig and Anne went on a weeklong trip through Tibet, taking in the Yogurt Festival at the Drepung Monestary in Lhasa, the Horse Festival in Nagchu, and many days surrounded by towering mountains and warm-hearted Buddhists. 

In October, Craig’s parents visited Beijing. We went to Xian to see the Terracotta Warriors and eat Xian’s famous noodles. This was Craig’s parents first trip back to Beijing after visiting in May of 1989 during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations. They were stunned by the changes in the city. 

Anne’s work has been steady and rewarding, which we are all very thankful for. In the fall, she extended her contract for another two years, which sees us here until Dec 2012.

We will spend Christmas in Beijing. Ollie and Zoe are tuned in to the Christmas frequency and have asked for lots of princess clothing, jewelry and crowns from Santa Claus. Craig tried to sell the idea of a science kit or a skateboard, but was rebuffed. One must try.

We always enjoy hosting friends who visit Beijing. Please consider putting China on your travel plan for 2011.

And Then They Were Five and a Half

So, ok, it's been a while.  Just a bit under five months, but who's counting.

Actually, a lot of you are counting because you email or tell me, "Hey Craig, when are you going to update your blog."  Well, here's my answer - today.

Here's what's been going on:

• Girls started back to bilingual pre-school in August, and love it.  Singing, baking, crafts, letters and Chinese characters.
• My parent visited for two great weeks in October.  Great dinners and talks, a trip to Xian, and visits to the major and quite a few of the sites we love but ones not on the tourist maps.  Ollie and Zoe now call our spare bedroom Granny and Papa's room.
• We took a fun weekend roadtrip to Shanhaiguan where the Great Wall enters the ocean.  On the way back we had a picnic at the Eastern Qing Tombs.  Photos here.
• Chis Zender is in China now.  Anne and I both enjoy her company. 
• Anne's work is good and so is mine.  Too much work though, but these days too much is way better than not enough.
• Georgia turns 10 in a few days.  She sleeps in a sunny spot while we run all over Beijing and China for school, work, lessons and good food.  She's got the life.

I'm spending a lot more time on Twitter than I am on my blog.  140 characters is about all I have time for.  

Do get in touch if you are coming to Beijing.  Always good to see friends.  

Look for another update soon.  It feels nice to post again.

And then they were five

Ollie and Zoe turned five last week.  It capped of a month of parties, cakes and gifts.  On their birthday, we took them out for their favorite meal, Beijing Duck. 

We gave the girls pink Razor scooters and they can't ride them enough.  The day after her birthday Ollie faked a tummy ache so she could ride her scooter before breakfast. 

Zoe was pleased to receive princess clothing to add to her growing collection.  For Zoe this is great because she is a princess, and has decided she will be one when she grows up.  I have no doubt she will be.

They enjoy dancing and singing, in Chinese or English depending who is in their audience.  Anne and I play supporting roles in many of their performances.  The Sound of Music's "So Long, Farewell" is a favorite. 

The big difference I notice at five is their new scooters enable them to ride away from us.  For three years, they've been right beside us.  Its fascinating to watch them grow.  And, now we reach for six.

A Heaping Spoonful of Americana

Ollie, Zoe and I traveled to the US last week to stay with my sister and her family and to see my parents.  It was full-on family and full-on America - all of it great. 

My nephew's kid-pitch baseball team was in the playoffs so we spent three nights at the ballpark.  Ollie and Zoe had never seen a baseball game, but did get to run the electronic scoreboard.  "B" for ball and "S" for strike and the lights lit up on the outfield scoreboard.  Post-game ice cream cones at the original Burger King were a huge hit too. 

My niece is a year and a bit older than Ollie and Zoe, so they  giggled, squealed and chased each other every waking hour.  The used up so much energy by the end of the week they took a four hour nap lined up like pencils in king-sized bed. 

Dinner at the Firefly Grill & Restaurant in Effingham was delicious.  Always good to eat produce that is picked from an on-site garden. 

It was also great to spend time talking to my sister and parents and catching up with friends in Chicago the night before our flight home.

Corn and soybeans in the fields, the smell of cut grass, the 'tink' of a baseball off an aluminum bat,  jammed six to a booth at Burger King with ice cream cones, laughing, joking, and the familiar smiles and voices of family and friends have all come back with me to Beijing.  Wonderful.