Carving Pumpkins

This evening after dinner we carved our pumpkins. Seth wanted a traditional jack-o'-lantern; Benjamin was going to make a run-of-the-mill face in his as well, but I talked him into doing a more complicated pattern. I think it turned out great, but you can judge for yourself!

Costume Party

Yesterday was our second annual children's Halloween party. We tried to get trick-or-treating organized the first couple of years we were in Beijing, but we never had much success, so for the last two years we have been hosting a party instead. I put a lot of work into yesterday's party (designing the invitation, crafts and games) and was very pleased with the results.

Mutianyu Great Wall

Last spring the school took us on an outing to the Jiankou segment of the Great Wall, but since it is one of the hardest Great Wall climbs, we didn't actually get to the wall. Seth was pretty disappointed and has been begging us to go back to the wall ever since. We have this week off for the Chinese National Holiday and Mid-Autumn Festival, so we decided to go to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. We invited our best friends, Peter and Jeni and their one-year-old daughter Mackenzie, but the more people whom we told about our plans, the more people who wanted to join us. I soon found myself planning a day trip for thirteen people! (It sounds like a lot of work, but all it really entailed was hiring a van and driver for the day.)

This morning when Seth woke up, I teased him a little:
Me: Are you ready to get ready for school?
Seth: [smiling] No, I not have school today.
Me: No? I think you do. It's Tuesday, isn't it? I think you definitely have school on Tuesdays.
Seth: But today we going to the Great Wall of China.
Me: The Great Wall of China?
Seth: [after rolling his eyes in exasperation] Silly Mommy! "Great" means "amazing", "wall" means "wall", and "of China" means "here." Got it?

Yes, Sweetie, I "got it." We were on the wall all of two minutes before Seth said he was ready to go home! But we had a really nice day and got some cute pictures besides, not to mention the bonus picture of a shoulder bag featuring President Obama dressed as a Chinese soldier. It was the first time I'd seen one of these, but apparently they are all over the place now. Not sure what the intended political statement is, or if there is anything intended by it at all (besides making money, of course).

Halloween 2011

Easter 2012

2011 Christmas Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings to you in this season of rejoicing! We are happy to share with you what has been going on in our lives over the past year.

Seth is now a curious and rambunctious little four-year-old boy who continues to delight us and our Chinese friends. His favorite word at the moment is "why?" He is in his second year of preschool at the kindergarten on campus. Transitioning back to school was difficult after a six-week vacation in the States this past summer, but he seems to be back into the swing of things now. He is making friends in his new class--he came home several weeks ago proudly announcing that he has a girlfriend--and continues to spend time with the children of our colleagues. He also loves playing video games and driving Mommy crazy.

Benjamin is still teaching at the International College at Beijing (ICB). In the spring he was awarded an outstanding teacher award for the 2010 to 2011 academic year. He spent the bonus money on a brand new laptop which so far seems to be holding up to Beijing’s incredibly dry and dusty climate. This past semester he has had an especially heavy workload due to a shortage of teachers.

Laurie is also still at her post at ICB. She teaches reading and writing to students preparing to take the IELTS exam. (The IELTS exam is an English language proficiency exam required of non-native speakers planning to study abroad; the American equivalent is the TOEFL.) She was also very recently hired to work for the British Council in Beijing, the organization that administers the IELTS exam, as a clerical marker.

We have had a busy holiday season this year. We hosted our (first annual?) Christmas Cookie Bake-off on December 18, when we turned out over 25 dozen cookies in one day! On Christmas Eve we had our second annual gathering at our home, which about 30 people attended. Today (Christmas Day) we had a nice time exchanging presents and chatting with family on Skype. On January 1 we will celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary, and shortly after that we will have four weeks of vacation before the spring semester begins. During this vacation we hope to celebrate the Chinese New Year in true Chinese fashion--fireworks and food--with some of our very good Chinese friends. Incidentally, Benjamin's birthday falls on the Chinese New Year this year, so he’ll be celebrating in style!

Wishing you all the best this holiday season and in 2012. If you are wondering where to spend your 2012 vacation, why not try Beijing? We'd be thrilled to have you!

Labor Day Excursion

Yup, you read the title of this post correctly. For the vast majority of the world, Labor Day takes place on May 1. We were lucky enough to have a three-day weekend this year--a true three-day weekend, not the Chinese version of it!*--and spent Monday at a nearby park with friends. "Park" in English and Chinese mean different things, though. In America, a park is a place with lots of green grass, picnic tables, playground equipment, a baseball diamond, and maybe a hiking trail or two. Parks in China are more like well-landscaped city squares. The grass is for looking at, not walking on, and much of the space is covered in concrete. Large groups of people gather there to sing patriotic songs, dance, or practise tai qi. This particular park was worth going a bit out of our way for, since it also had a decent sized pond, boat rides, carnival rides, and activities for kids. Thanks for inviting us, Rick and Julie!

*The Chinese version of a three-day weekend is to shift the five-day work week from Monday through Friday to Sunday through Thursday, thus allowing workers to have the following Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off work. It's obviously not a true vacation since you don't get any extra days off work, but the Chinese still get pretty excited about it. Most of us expats either roll our eyes at the sillyness of it all or develop a rather bitter attitude, depending upon the state of culture shock we are in when the three-day weekend falls.

Easter Egg Hunt