Monday, January 26th

Today I was picked up by Zhang and his daughter at my apartment for an outing with his family. First I went to his home to meet more family.

The single lane road to Zhang's home. The road was designed for foot and 2 wheel traffic. As people have started to drive more cars it's become a bit crowded.Relaxing outside where the sun was shining and people talking. Of course I couldn't understand much. I realized later they were planning an outing for me and 8 members of the family! Wow, such an honor to be included.Jerry and his wife. Jerry works for Disney in Shanghai and is fluent in English. Made it much easier for me. Thanks Jerry!Zhang's daughter an wifeZhang Yue loves sweets! Not a chocolate fan though.

And new a few American activities that I brought with me from the apartment.

So I showed them how to sit down and it was much easier! Oh my, Andrew's ripstick, that was nearly impossible and I couldn't show them because I can't do it either. My Chinese friends get an A for effort and teamwork! A couple of games of Uno. We brought the cards from the US and on our trip to Huangshan we taught Zhang how to play. He and I taught the rest of the family how to play today. It was definately a hit. The Chinese love playing cards.

Then on to dinner at a local restaurant! Zhang's father and mother.15 people went to dinner, what a great time. They introduced me to a Chinese wine called HuangJio. It's not too bad.

We ended the night at Jerry's apartment playing Wii. The girls are boxing and we laughed so hard. It was also Jerry's wife's birthday so we had cake and sang happy birthday in Chinese and English.

Chun Jie! 春节

Happy Chinese New Year and fireworks everywhere! In Chinese tradition, fireworks are supposed to ward off evil spirits. Honestly, unless you’ve been here during Chinese New Year you can’t imagine what it’s like. Unfortunately it’s really hard to take good photos of fireworks so instead here’s a video from the apartment window with a 180 degree pan. Unless you want to hear about the weather, ignore the sound, apparently I was talking to Odis and I’d had a few drinks ;-)

This photo is one of many aftermaths of a set of fireworks right outside my apartment. This box is about 2’ x 2’ and the aerial show lasted about 10 minutes. You can buy these on any street corner. Also, people let fireworks off anywhere, including their balconies in horizontal fashion. My neighbor below me seemed to enjoy horizontal fireworks. There were notices posted in the lobby of my building with photos of firework damage and how a person is breaking the rules if they light fireworks off in the building.

Fireworks have been going on all week, pretty much 24 hours a day, and for some reason, 7:00am also seems to be an important time. I’m not sure why, but I don’t need an alarm clock right now.

Living in the midst of tradition I became really curious about the 15 day holiday and did some research on the internet. My favorite part is about the superstitions, if the US was 5000 years old, we would also have this many oddities. (We chase a rabbit and a fat man in a red suit!) For instance, wearing red will scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. On day 2 be extra kind to dogs and feed them well. Zhang’s parents received a dog as a gift from a relative for the new year.

This is the Year of the Ox and Zhang was born in 1973. I think my guys in Idaho would agree this fits him to a tee! Especially with our family….
“The Ox is thought to be the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. The Ox is a power sign, like the Rat, Snake, Dragon, Tiger, and Monkey. They're quite dependable and possess an innate ability to achieve great things. As one might guess, such people are dependable, calm, and modest. Like their animal namesake, the Ox is unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint.”

If you’re interested in learning more, here’s a pretty good link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year

Gōngxi fācái
Congratulations and be prosperous!

A Visit

My family left for home exactly a week ago, the day before Chinese New Year. Since that time, I’ve seen what I hope to be the true life of a Chinese family. After the 3 boys disappeared into the abyss of the Pudong Shanghai airport Zhang and I left the airport. I don’t know why I even bothered to put makeup on that day since it quickly came off from the tears. It took us a little while to find the van because he had forgotten where he parked it. I too could tell that it was because he will miss the kids and Darrell. And even though he didn’t say anything, he knew how sad I was to be without my family. I had plans on going to work for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but I wasn’t feeling up to it. As we were driving he slowed the van down at a junction and asked me if I wanted to see his home and meet his family. I said sure, not knowing quite what to expect, but also knowing that this would be a great opportunity to see a traditional Chinese family.

We drove through a narrow alley and parked the van in a very small concrete slot next to vegetable crops. His family housing consists of four 2 story houses that were built in 1983. I would estimate that each house is approximately 1000 square feet with the kitchen, 1 bathroom, and a living/family room on the 1st level. Upstairs is two bedrooms and a bathroom. He, his wife and daughter live one house, his sister and her family in another, his parents in the 3rd, and an uncle in the fourth. They share a courtyard together for the kids to play, wash and hang laundry, do cleaning chores and relax together as a family. One thing I didn’t anticipate was the lack of heat in the houses and I now understand why I see the Chinese wearing so many layers of clothes, including the babies. I knew how much I take for granted, but I now realize how wonderful having heat in our homes really is. Imagine going camping in your home when it’s near freezing outside.

I was instantly greeted by the entire neighborhood, looking through windows and peeking around corners. Zhang told me many of the people in his village had only seen laowai (foreinger) on TV. It was a sunny day so everyone was outside enjoying the warmth. He introduced me to his mom, mom’s sister, wife, daughter and a cousin. Several of the family members weren’t home because they were working. I had heard that the Chinese love to have visitors and the expectation is that you will be “catered”. Well, this is true, they had me sit in a short little chair (short for me because I was at least a foot taller than most of them), and brought me a plate of fruit and a plate of various nuts and candies. His mom sat down next to me, asked me if I was cold (she did the same thing to Eric when he went to visit, except he was wearing shorts, that story is for a different time) and was just fascinated with my hair. She kept touching playing with it. We tried to have conversations which proved difficult but everything seemed quite peaceful. I certainly wasn’t nervous and his family seemed pretty relaxed too.

Me, Zhang Peijun, his wife Ming and daugter Zhang Yue. Notice the little chairs.

Zhang Yue and some of her friends.As the afternoon progressed on and the sun moved away from the courtyard it began to cool off. I’d had my share of fruit, snacks and tea and I was starting to get a little tired. He must have sensed this because he asked if I was ready to go. He drove me back to my apartment with quick stop at the local supermarket on the way to pick up a couple of things. My apartment was lonely with no noise from the kids or Odis, kind of an eerie feeling being alone and it takes some getting used to. Zhang asked what I was doing on Tuesday and if I’d be interested in spending the day with his family. The holiday week is slower since no one is in the office so I said yes.

Jintian Wo Jia Chu Aidahe! (Today, My Family Went To Idaho)

Today my family left Shanghai for our home in Idaho. On August 15, 2008 I remember it vividly, my family running to greet me at the airport in Shanghai, and now 162 days later they are returning home. I am really sad to see them go, but also at the sametime excited that they get to start another chapter in our lives. Looking back, our stay was fully of laughs, adventures, learnings, sadness, tears and fun. For those of you who don't know, my company changed business strategies and decided the R&D center I was managing didn't fit into the new plan. So.... we are all going home early.

Over the last couple of days, we've been spending time as a family watching movies, finishing packing their clothes (6 suitcases), eating at some of our favorite places, and saying goodbye to friends. The emotion was running high in our house.

On Thursday night Eric had 7 friends from school to our apartment or a LAN party. Three of the boys stayed the night and I don't think they got any sleep, but Friday was a party and movie day at work so lack of sleep was not a problem. Here's a photo with the boys lounging all over with their laptops...

Earlier in the week we went go cart racing. Remember, safety is not a consideration in China (although we do happen to be wearing helmets) so these cars went FAST! Andew and I are in the lead, Odis is last, and also laughing so hard his stomach hurt. You can even see the smile.

I know it's a little strange but in China, people often get their hairwashed. There must be 6 haircutting places on each city block. Here's a photo of Eric getting his hair cut. I'm just sure he'll be thrilled that I've posted this photo.

We spent some time at Century Park near our apartment. We had so much fun on bicycles that we rented for $5 an hour.

The kids even played frisbee with a street vendor selling meat kabobs! I really like the hat. The frisbee in China has been a great conversation and activity boost for meeting the locals. Initially they are so shy and afraid, then eventually we'll throw them the frisbee and pretty soon 100 people are watching.

And finally, our last photo together before the three of them got on the airplane to SFO and on to Boise. I'll be home March 6 weeks and 6 days after I close up shop in Shanghai.