more from beijing

Every day that goes by brings more things to blog about; I could be filling this with new photos and stories and happenings on a daily basis but alas, there’s no time. Or, no time to do it all. I made a list a few days ago of things to blog about, and have since added several things SO… I’m going to get to those first six things here (I hope) and write about the rest the next time. On my list were:

1. Hendrik and Ellie Pics 
Jenny sent me these a while ago – she took them when we were in Vancouver visiting. Aren’t the two of them the cutest? I love them!

2. Split Pants 
Sigh… these things are for real! I posted a few pics on facebook the other day and received comments of all sorts, so here’s the story. (Well, actually, I don’t really know the story; this is my story of split pants.) These were used all across the board up until recently; now, many people – mostly city dwellers, apparently - are putting their toddlers in diapers, but many still employ the split pant as the prime potty training accoutrement, and we’ve seen the action first hand. Marg snapped this pic in Tiananmen Square, and moments later saw a mom holding her pooping two-year old over a garbage can.

Marg's pic on the right, mall group on the left

 I happened to see it first hand in one of Beijing’s many super fancy glitz-glitz shopping malls when, during a nice gathering of two-year olds (Hendrik plus three or four Chinese) one of them separated himself from the group, squatted and peed and then followed his mom out the doors with the other scattering parents. And the pee stayed there! In a puddle on the floor! And it may very well have been in front of the Diane von Furstenburg or Gucci shop… for real. That is the part that I find most shocking – that there was no effort to clean it up. And apparently the same thing goes for number twos; the kids are more often than not, not cleaned up after. Does the split pant speed up the potty training process? Probably. Is it more hygenic (for the child)? Probably. Is it cheaper? For sure. Is it more hygenic for everyone else? Definitely not.

3. Park Visit
My second park visit was exactly the opposite experience of my first park visit (remember? men lurking everywhere, tres smoky); Jingshan Park was beautiful! Bob and Marg and the kids and I bundled up on a windy day and hailed a cab from the hotel a few doors down, and enjoyed a Sunday morning walk outside. It was so lovely to see such a well-kept park, full of green spaces and gardens, and the views of the Forbidden City and the surrounding city blocks afforded by the hill-top pavillions were incredible. There were groups of people singing (complete with music, microphones, speakers, and mucho gusto - see video below, love it), groups of people dancing, and others gathered in rows of guitar or accordian players. Hendrik commanded quite a bit of attention, so when we passed by a group of men and women playing a sort of Chinese guitar (and he showed some interest), one lady offered him the pick and he saddled in to strum a few notes… it was the cutest! (As a side note (another one), the Chinese are very touchy with kids; they love to cuddle and grab and at times it’s a bit much (sometimes way too much), but other times, like this one, it is endearing. They love kids here!) Despite the wind (and low-ish temperature), it was fabulous – one of the best trips we’ve made so far!

with views of the massive Forbidden City

strumming! 

4. Advent Craft 
I was very briefly browsing through The Crafty Crow a few days ago and decided that it would be fun to make an advent calendar for Hendrik for his birthday… will I do it? Not sure. If there were a Michael’s down the street I might believe that I would and could and will, but I’m not sure that there are any crafty craft stores close to where we live (I’ll check the bookstore next door – and while I'm there browse the English section (complete with kids books, eek!)). Anyways, there are so many neat advent calendar ideas, so hopefully I can find time and supplies to commit to the project. Stay posted…

5. Crazy Shopping Malls! 
The shopping here is IN-SANE. If you told me that there is a city in the world that has more shopping malls than Beijing, I wouldn't believe you… there are malls everywhere! I need to find a stat on this, but there’s a mall attached to our building, a mall across the street, a mall one stop away on line one, and probably many many more in the close vicinity that I don’t know about I’m sure. We live at one end of one of Beijing’s main pedestrian shopping streets, Wangfujing, home to Zara, Forever 21, Nike, The Gap, C&A, Asia’s largest Apple store and more…. it’s cuh-razy! Crazy.

And that’s it, c’est tous. Steve has a big game tonight vs Shanghai, the league’s reigning champs. They won their first game (on Sunday) 3-1, so hopefully they can keep the wins rolling. I’ll stay home with the kiddies and watch the game on TV, but Bob and Marg and Shanti will head out just after dinner to catch it in person. Next up on my list of things to blog about are grocery stores, public transit, garbage and recycling and more…. hopefully I can get to it all soon – the list gets longer every day!