Growing up with a little of both and the lessons learned along the way
From the monthly archives:
One of the dads on our trip to China brought along a GoPro and took a ton of video while we were there. He then put it all together and edited it down to a great 4 minute clip that really captures a lot of our adventures:
(BTW – I definitely had gadget envy of the GoPro – hmm…)
(Click here for the video.)
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Admire the grit, need to work on the execution…
(Click here for the video.)
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A snapshot of a typical dinner with my girls. Dancing Lauren. Questions from Maile. Mommy somehow dancing, singing and answering Maile’s questions.
(Click here for the video.)
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Lauren’s dexterity is really improving – doesn’t mean she always hits her mouth, but she’s getting closer and closer…
(Click here for the video.)
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On our final day in China, we fittingly, went to visit the Great Wall of China. Or the Great Wall of Liberty as Maile called it. (Which is pretty funny when you think of it.) It was a spectacular way to end the trip!
Maile Girl posing with her new fan on the walk up to the Wall...
... pausing to smell the flowers 🙂
After walking a bit to the base of the Wall we took a cable car ride to the top (Maile was a little excited) …
The kids at the base of the Wall (after we took the cable car up to the entry point)
Maile getting her first taste of the wall - these holes (used to pour hot oil on the enemies) were just the right height!
Maile and Daddy get another perspective...
Maile and Mommy and a good view of how the Wall snakes along the hillside...
Family shot on top of the Wall
I couldn't resist.
Daddy set a bad example, so Maile followed...
Striking a pose!
The Wall is incredible - 5,000 miles! - that's from Boston to SF and back to Chicago!
10 years ago Christine and I took our first trip to China and took a similar picture at the top of the Great Wall. It was incredible coming back, this time with Maile. I can't imagine a better person to share these adventures with and look forward to our next!
(Click here for the video.)
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On Thursday, we packed up our bags and got on the bus for a long ride to the Great Wall. The ride was a few hours, but we broke it up with a few stops along the way to see the Badaling Wild Animal Park and Ming Tombs.
The Badaling Wild Animal Park should probably be called the “sort of wild, but not really” animal park. Like most zoos outside of the US that I’ve been to, the conditions aren’t fantastic. The local tourists throw all types of food at the animals (especially the monkeys). With that said, it wasn’t horrible and the kids did enjoy seeing the animals and you do get pretty close – when you drive through on the tour bus, the lions and tigers are walking around right outside.
The kids at the main gate of the Badaling Wild Animal Park
Lions right outside our bus...
... hold me Maile, I'm scared!
Maile walking a little piglet
Despite the lions, tigers, bears, monkeys, etc. – by far the most popular attraction at the Badaling Wild Animal Park were … the two white American kids that spoke Chinese.
After the Badaling park, we drove a bit more and stopped at the Ming Tombs. The tombs are a collection of imperial mausoleums built by the Chinese Ming dynasty emperors. There are a bunch of them and you can actually spend a good amount of time hiking around them and even going in a few. With the kids, we kept it simple and walked a bit down the Sacred Way which leads up to the Tombs and is lined on either side by huge stone statues (many of animals).
Family shot with one of the stone elephants lining the Sacred Way at the Ming Tombs
Goofing around on the stone animal statues...
We learned that the red cards in the background are wishes that people brought to the Tombs...
Skipping down the (not) yellow brick road...
Maile and Her Amazing Family!
After running around the Tombs a bit, we finished our journey and arrived at the Schoolhouse at Mutianyu, right near the Great Wall where we would spend our final two days in China. The Schoolhouse is an incredible “eco-retreat” at the base of the Great Wall. It was founded by two ex-pats. The houses we stayed in were amazing – beautiful and large – kind of had a Tahoe house-type feel to them. The complex also has a restaurant and a glass making shop – all staffed by local villagers. Michelle Obama and her daughters recently visited and had lunch there. It was really a great spot – highly recommended if you find yourself traveling to Beijing and want an incredible experience at the Great Wall!
The chalkboard at the Schoolhouse at Mutianyu that tells a bit of the story of the founding...
The original plan was all three kids were going to sleep on this big couch bed - good plan in theory, but when game time arrived Maile wimped out 🙂
After a long day, we headed to bed to rest up for our final day in China and a hike along the Great Wall…
(Click here for the video.)
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We’ll return to the China adventures tomorrow – still a couple more days to cover – but wanted to check in with our little Lauren holding down the fort in SF with Grandma Gail and Papa Cal. We missed Lauren immensely, but the daily videos and pictures from Grandma and Papa helped. And while we are sure Lauren missed us too, it looks like she had a blast with Grandma and Papa!
(Thank you Grandma and Papa for watching our little girl!)
(Click here for the video.)
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On our last day in Beijing, we headed out to explore the hutongs, a very old residential section of Beijing that they have preserved.
All week we’ve seen huge pollen puffs floating through the air. The kids thought it was snow – it was that heavy at times. They loved playing with it – I watched in absolute horror, of course.
Mommy and Maile at the start of our Hutong tour - this was one of the wider sections...
We rode rickshaws through the hutongs - it was a really cool way to get around!
The kids outside the Bell Tower...
We had to climb ALL these stairs to get to the top - we counted - there were 70 of them.
At the top we watched a Taiko drumming demonstration
As part of the tour we visited with a couple families that actually live in the hutongs. The first family showed us their apartment and answered our questions – the kids even practiced their Chinese with the wife a bit. The husband was an artist and we bought one of his paintings – Maile picked it out. At the other stop, we ate a “home”-cooked meal. I put “home” in quotes as its obviously a tourist setup, but still has the feel of the hutong.
We ate lunch inside one of the hutongs where a family lives - it was pretty good!
This guy followed us around the hutongs for about a half hour - he started off asking 80 Yuan for his flutes, we finally bought them at 15.
And then Maile and her friends put on a show and took tips to make the money back (just kidding - no tips)
We told our guide that we wanted to get Maile a traditional Chinese outfit for Chinese New Year and other celebrations at PKS – so in the afternoon, he took us to a silk factory.
After the hutongs, we stopped at a silk factory on the way home and learned how silk worms make silk that gets turned into beautiful clothing...
This is the machine that extracts the fine silk threads from the cocoons.
And here is some of the silk that eventually becomes the stuffing for a blanket.
For our final evening in Beijing, we stayed up a bit late and headed to a Kung Fu Show. Even with some scary parts, Maile loved it and we made sure to take some pictures with the stars of the show afterwards.
Mommy and Maile outside the Kung Fu show - the building looked like it was on fire!
Maile with a couple of the stars of the show...
(Click here for the video.)
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On Tuesday, we headed over to the biggest tourist destinations on our itinerary – Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Our guide, Grant, had warned us that there would be A LOT of walking – and he was right, but he did a great job pacing things and I’m happy to report that Maile walked on her own two feet the whole way!
The kids had a lot of fun running around and exploring – it was like being inside a huge castle. And we took lots and lots of pictures. Oh, and Maile went flying too (see below).
The kids got things started off with this fun picture across the street from Tiananmen Square.
Maile has been using an iPod Touch throughout the trip to snap her own photos as well.
The kids are REALLY popular with the Chinese tourists. They love taking pictures with them, especially Maile and her friend Teo (the two whitest looking of the kids). The kids have been pretty good sports – we break it up if it gets too crazy, but generally speaking the kids like it and the tourists love it. When Maile and Teo then start speaking to them in Chinese … minds blown.
What? You haven't taken a picture yet with the famous Maile Girl? Get in line! 20 Yuan!
A rare Mommy and Daddy shot - yep, we're here too!
After roaming around Tiananmen Square for a bit and a well-timed bathroom break, we headed in to the Forbidden City…
Family shot at one of the gates in the Forbidden City
Maile Girl at the Forbidden City
Maile and Daddy taking it all in!
Mommy and Maile too!
Everybody was kung fu fighting...
The 'Step on a crack' game is pretty challenging here...
If you look close at this panorama, you can see Maile and Daddy on both sides - we had a lot of fun running back and forth creating this!
If you liked the first round of dress up, you’ll love this one. Not only did Maile and Mommy dress up, but I have in my possession a DVD of them flying over the Forbidden City that was made using blue screen. Let the cheese of that drip all over you.
Oh, you didn't think the dress up part would slip by Maile did you?
And this time Mommy and Maile dressed up AND went flying! Yes, we have a DVD of Maile and Mommy flying over the Forbidden City. Yes, it as cheesy as it sounds - and Maile loved it!
One more kung fu fighting shot before we go...
After a good workout roaming all over, we headed to a Mongolian Hot Pot restaurant for lunch.
Mommy enjoying some Mongolian Hot Pot...
After lunch, we headed back to the hotel for some swimming and then a 30 minute nap that somehow turned into one and a half hours (blame Daddy). We were groggy, but we headed out for some dinner. We went to Made in China – and it was the best meal we’ve had so far. The restaurant was really cool too – an open kitchen with glass dividers so Maile could watch everything being made.
Maile Girl checking out our dumplings being made at Made in China restaurant...
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On Monday, we decided to mix things up a bit. Instead of seeing the typical tourist sites we went to visit a school and then headed over to an area of town where ex-pats hang out.
One of the striking things about WAB was the art work they had hung up all over the buildings - these were done by 3rd or 4th graders and they were absolutely beautiful...
The school we visited was Western Academy of Beijing (WAB). My favorite teacher growing up was my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Hite. We actually kept in touch over the years (after I was in her class, she became quite close with my family). After teaching in Swampscott for a number of years she headed abroad and started working at international schools, including in Beijing. She’s not here in Beijing any longer, but when I was planning the trip I reached out to see if she could recommend a school for us to visit and she pointed us to WAB and introduced me to the Head of Early Childhood Education and the Elementary School.
WAB starts in pre-school and goes all the way through high school. The campus is pretty incredible – any type of facility you could want for a school, they had it. The students are mainly ex-pats – you need to have at least one parent with an international visa to be able to attend (Chinese government rules). This makes for a pretty international and interesting student population – also one that has a lot of turnover as typical ex-pat assignments are 2-4 years. In fact, while the school teaches Chinese, it is not immersion – the language pathways would be pretty difficult to manage with such a changing student population.
Like Presidio Knolls, the preschool is Reggio-inspired – in fact, our kids immediately felt right at home in the preschool classrooms and started engaging with the various projects the kids had made and with the teachers.
Maile Girl in her element at the arts and crafts table...
The PKS kids checking out the marble mazes made by the preschool WAB students...
One thing that was immediately clear while at the school was how much the smog and air quality was a part of every day life. Even the youngest kids knew the pollution levels. On the day we visited, the smog level was quite high (over 300 AQI). 300 is basically the worst, most hazardous level. On days like this, all outdoor activities at the school are cancelled. We sat in on a Kindergarten class and the pollution level was one of the things they covered in the morning meeting time.
Stretching out the legs on one of the many outdoor fields...
... that certainly weren't going to be getting much use that day due to the pollution.
Posing with Teddy Roosevelt statue with Michelle and Olivia
Even though one day in the pollution wasn’t the end of the world, we decided to adjust our plans for the rest of the day and do some indoor activities instead of hitting the park like we intended. Our host at WAB recommended an indoor playground called FunDazzle, so we decided to check that out. It was perfect for the kids – basically a huge indoor play structure with the biggest ball pit we’ve ever seen. The kids had a blast!
The FunDazzle indoor playground - yeah, this will do for an hour of wearing the kids out a bit!
Biggest. Ball Pit. Ever.
After running them ragged, we continued our ex-pat adventure, by heading over to a local italian restaurant (Annie’s) that lets the kids make their own mini pizzas. We had a nice lunch and then headed back to the hotel for our favorite afternoon activity – the pool!
Daddy and Maile after our afternoon swim - we LOVE swimming!
All in all, a fun day. The school was pretty incredible. I was definitely jealous of all the great space they had; but decidedly not jealous of the smog and what an impact it has on day-to-day life here.
(Click here for the video.)
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