I do not know how it is possible that so much time has passed since my last post.  And I am now a year older.  I am finding that I really like living in Beijing which is a huge surprise.  We had a great trip to Cambodia with the exception of traveling between Phnom Penn and the beach area.  That was completely scary.  It was a two lane road, but passing in very dangerous situations was status quo.  Fortunately we had a very good driver.  We liked him so much that we had him come back and get us for the return trip.  I tried to 
 see if we could fly instead, but that was not an option.  The resort was beautiful and we were able to just relax, eat, drink, read and relax.  We all needed to be lazy but I was sad in the end that we did not go to Siem Reap to see Ankar Wat.  However, a good reason to return to Cambodia some day.  (I also hear the shopping is much better in Siem Reap!  I did not buy a thing on the whole trip...).  

Sokha Beach Resort - 

 We did see interesting sights in Cambodia - Bird's of Paradise were popular.  And the pig truck below was a bit sad on one hand.

We came home, got back to work and then Bill was off to Maylasia for a week of IB training.  I used that time for operation deck!  SInce we moved in I have been anxious to get to work on our deck.  I seem great potential for an oasis of sorts and many fun times - mostly involving friends and alcohol.  Here is the transformation:  

Finally happy!

February 10, 2013 -

This was all done in flowers and was the
 welcome sign to the Temple Fair

CHINESE NEW YEAR! (CNY)

Happy Year of the Snake - It is your year Corey James Martin! 

I really was not at all prepared for CNY! When the fire works started at midnight I was completely startled. We started out on Saturday, Feb. 10, by going to a real Temple Fair. I can only describe it as a mix between a traveling carnival and a boardwalk experience!  Picture Wildwood, NJ with all Chinese food and traditional items for sale complete with a huge temple and park!  There were so many people, so much food and anything you can imagine for sale (except for wine!)  The food was probably the most overwhelming part.  There was everything from soup to nuts!  Literally - I tried what looked like a "doughboy" (fried dough with sugar).  It was OK, but did not live up to my boardwalk days level!  Most of the men were dressed in Chinese traditional clothes.  I loved the dragon pot in this picture.  

Note the dragon hissing......

Stall after stall of different foods lined the pathways.  It was pretty amazing.  I had a ton of homework to do before we left for Cambodia so unfortunately we did not stay long at the Temple Fair.  

The traditional food for CNY is dumplings.  We were invited to a beautiful dinner preceded by making our own dumplings.  I missed the dumpling making part, but Bill went and enjoyed it.  I joined in time to eat!  The older women at the dinner made the best dumplings.  Since I did not participate I really can not comment on the preparations except to say I could pick out the dumplings made by westerners!

We were incredibly luck to be invited to join this dinner. On the way home, every street corner had people burning ghost money.  Do you remember me telling about that at the Autumn Festival time?  It is when you burn money for your ancestors that have died so that they can use the money in their after life.  The fire works are all private and all over the city!  Really - it is indescribable.  Hours and hours of explosions.  The dogs were not happy!  Finally, around 2:00 a.m. there was a bit of quiet - enough so that you could sleep........We were up early the next morning to leave for our first holiday in Asia.  Next post - Cambodia!  Happy New Year to everyone - love you all - 

Andi

February 6, 2013

The Stage for the Temple Fair

BEIJING BLUE!

The skies cleared, everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief (literally), and then the snow started falling!  Sometimes you just can't win but I will actually take the snow I intensely dislike over the smog.  This past week we had our Temple Fair at BCIS.  Temple Fairs originally were held in the temples.  They were a time to celebrate the new year and to appreciate the Chinese culture.  There are games, lots of food, entertainment, shopping (that might be more modern) and they are very crowded.  I found the crafts incredible.  The snake below is actually candy that a man blew like glass.  It was something I had never seen before.  Each of the shapes was beautiful!  They also made candy lollipops that were quite intricate.  It was amazing how they made them so quickly and they were so beautiful.  Being the Year of the Snake, there were quite a few snakes grazing the gym!  

Candy Snake with other animals in the
background.

My favorite entertainment was the drummers and the dragons.  You might remember precision Chinese drumming from the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.  There were four beautiful women preforming the symbolic drumming.  It was something to see.  It was almost erotic in its beauty.  Anyway - during the drumming the big dragons that you probably associate with Chinese New Year were circulating through the crowd.  They were also beautiful and gave you goose bumps moving to the beat of the drums.

The whole atmosphere was exciting and charged with children and puppets and face painting etc. I hope to go to a real traditional Temple Fair but not sure I can fit it in this year.  Might have to wait for the year of the Horse!  We will be gone most of the week during Chinese New Year.  One of the traditional foods is a specific dumpling which we are going to learn to make on Friday night.  I am a bit excited - I will have to take pictures.  

The other highlight last week was an invitation to the Irish Embassy.  I was beyond excited, but, in the end it was a bit of a let down..... The invitation was beautiful. The event was much more Chinese than I had expected.  Two of our students were preforming. They are ranked internationally for Irish dancing and will be competing in the World Championships in Boston in March. I am pretty sure that is why we were invited.  The Irish Ball is on March 16th and I am looking forward to that although it is formal and do you think I brought anything black tie to Beijing?  Then again - that just means I need to buy something! The reception was held in the Ambassador's residence which is beautiful and we met several people which was nice.  

Here is a picture of our two students.  Next post will be Chinese New Year!  Miss you all and please keep in touch.  CNY is on Saturday and then off to Cambodia on Sunday.

Andi

February 1, 2013

Darth Andi

Pollution continues to be the big story here in Beijing.  Today the counts were back over 500 for the fourth time in the last month.  It is really gross when it is this high.  As soon as you walk outside, you can smell and taste the "smoke".  I finally bought the ugly mask you see in the picture.  It allows me to run when there is smog.  The hard part is that I get scared when it is hard to breath through the filters.  I get winded more quickly because it is harder to breathe.  

Lately all conversations seem to revolve around the smog.  "what mask do you use?", "what is the air quality today?", "has the air quality changed?", "are you letting your child go to school?", "did you make Reilly wear a mask?", "should we close the school when the pollution index is over 500?", "is the airport closed"  on and on........ 

Really pretty chairs

Chinese New Year (CNY) is a major event.  I just learned yesterday that our Ayi (the woman who cleans, irons, etc...) is leaving for a month.  And this is apparently considered "normal".  I am busy trying to hire a temporary Ayi and at the same time I figured I should look for someone who can cook a few times a week.  Fortunately, I found a woman to cook who will start the week after CNY.  This ought to be really interesting....Reilly and I tend to order western food several times a week.  I believe it is really important to learn more about the local cuisine and try more Chinese food.  Chinese food is very very different by region.  I find at the moment that I a partial to Cantonese food from the south.  Certain areas are really spicy, other areas use heavy sauces, etc.  My favorite things tend to be dumplings, entrees involving chicken and noodle type dishes.  There are so many types of dumplings but so far I have not met one of those I didn't like.  My other favorite are "meat buns" for lack of a better term.  It is a sweet dough thing that is filled with meat.  Just like in the US, all my favorite dishes seem to involve carbs!  

table with the chairs

 We finally went furniture shopping.  It is almost safe to come visit!  By early March we should have the living room and dining room and maybe even the outside patio put together.  I bought these very cool white marble elephants.  I can not lift them so when they arrive they will have to be placed where they will live.  We went to this very cool furniture store in probably the strangest place I have been, but the man has beautiful asian furniture.  Of course, instead of buying furniture that will stay in the apartment when we come home, I keep finding beautiful pieces that I want to bring back to the US.

I did not photograph the two large pieces or my elephants, but something to look forward to!

I also could not help taking the picture below.  I ask you, should a porsche be barbie pink?  Shouldn't there be some kind of a rule against that?  Eric and Erik - this is for you!  Reilly thinks it is a great color.  No comment.

Everything else is moving right along and very busy. We leave for five days of R and R in Cambodia on February 10.  But in the mean time, heart felt love to all of you.  MJ and Seth, I keep you in my prayers and I know everyone joins me in sending love your way.

Keep in touch - 

Andi

First Bog - January 18, 2013

I thought I would try a blog instead of the newsletters - I have no idea how to do this so please be patient!  Things in Beijing are all centered around the Chinese New Year.  It is the Year of the Snake - and since I absolutely hate snakes, the celebration is producing nightmares.  

Were you born in the year of the snake?  Here are the years:

Fire Snake:  1977
Water Snake:1953, 2013
Metal Snake:  1941, 2001
Earth Snake:1989
Wood Snake: 1965

The snake follows the dragon which in my opinion is hard as the dragon is so lucky!  I was born in the year of the Earth Boar.  Here is the description....it explains a lot!

Laid back and reliable, Earth Pigs are at their happiest at home with their families. They are organized and pragmatic, preparing a strategy for every project they take on. They are fruitful at work and are content being one of the employees. Even so, Earth Pigs may compensate for this by asking for more money at review time. These Pigs love a good time and so may overindulge at times. Pigs love to spend money. They have an eye for name brands rather than generics so they generally spend a lot of it. Pigs have a knack for being able to find a diamond in the rough. Although they can sometimes be thrifty with money, most of the time it is the reverse. Pigs should be careful; a rainy day may sneak up on them.


Believe it or not - people born in the year of the pig are considered to be very lucky!  Bill was born in the year of the wood horse.  I don't find the description to fit him.  He is suppose to be the best in the Zodiac at sticking to a schedule.  If you have worked with Bill you know that is not true!  Reilly was born in the year of the fire Ox - They are capable of being extremely objective, but these Oxen can display hot tempers, throw temper-tantrums or be unusually impulsive in their decision-making. I was a bit confused because I thought she was born in the year of the rabbit....but God knows that description fits!

Speaking of rabbits - God Damn Bunny (aka Toffee by Reilly, GDB by me) is being adopted this evening by a really nice couple with two children.  I really like the bunny but am so glad he is going!  

Many of you emailed after the NY Times wrote about the smog last weekend.  I have to say it was "scary bad".  You felt as if there was a big fire near by.  I just bought a good mask for running, but here is a picture in a N95 mask which is ugly but effective!  My new one is black and a bit more stylish.  I was the only one who would wear a mask so now you know which of us is worried about safety and who is worried about appearance!  The highest reading was 755, but I did not see that myself.  At about 8:00 pm Saturday night it was 714.



People were pretty freaked out here.  Apparently since the beginning of tracking, 755 was the highest ever recorded.  It is so weird.  At noon today there were blue skies, and now, at 6:02 it is up to 415 and steady rising.  Last time I checked at 5:00 it was 226.  We have air-filters at the apartment in each bedroom and the living room.  It seems to really help.  

As many of you know, it was announced this week that Bill has accepted the position of Head of School and Superintendent of Yu Chung Education (the overarching group above the school).  He officially starts August 1, but has already started working with YCE.  He is very excited and I honestly believe he is the best person for this job.  It will be really difficult.  YCE holds half of my contract - and is the group responsible for training CHinese national teachers, doing educational research, and opening our other schools - the first of which will open in August 2013.  We broke ground for the Early Childhood Center in December.  It will be about a half mile from BCIS and will be the first Gold Leed Certified school in all of China.  

We are looking forward to going to Cambodia for Chinese New Year - but more of that later.  Love you all and please keep in touch.  Let me know what you think of the new format.  I am not sure how to invite you, but I will try!  Love - Andi