Chinese Lessons

I think I have said that Renata and Luca get Chinese every other day in school and they are flying along both with speaking and recognizing characters. Victor and I are developing some street Chinese. We are at that point, now five months into this journey, where we drag the kids along to help us out. Luca helped us order space heaters for the apartment-- warranty, functions, etc-- he was all over it. Last week I dragged Renata to the seamstress in Old Shekou to help me order a table cloth and cloth napkins. Measurements, fabric, price-- we did it. Love the result.

So, about two weeks ago, I was at a Christmas fair and bought a book from a lady. Later, the book lady saw me talking to a student and his dad and interrupted and said, "Do you teach? Do you teach English?" Well, yes, as a matter a fact I do-- it turns out to be my one marketable skill. So she asked me to tutor her 8 year old son in English. I looked at her signs which read "Linda Lee's interactive Chinese" and said, "Well, do you teach Chinese?" She runs the school here in Shekou. You know by my previous posts, that the Chinese are all about bartering-- we struck a deal-- I will tutor her son, Andrew in English reading and writing for a hour a week and she will send a Chinese tutor to our house for an hour a week in return. Perfect.

Vic and I had our first lesson yesterday at Linda Lee's Interactive Chinese School. We had a lovely tutor named Cherry. But, Linda Lee, the big Chinese kahona, bursts into our lesson and asks if I will also tutor her 11 year old daughter in English. She is kind of pushy.... You know, I say, Victor is also a teacher and he taught 5th and 6th grade. You know where this is going-- we have worked out a good trade for all of us. Vic and I tutor her two kids in English individually from 9-10 am on Saturdays and in return we receive an equal amount of Chinese lessons. We are excited, but have watched innumerable colleagues start Chinese lessons and eventually drop out because of scheduling and life conflicts. I'll let you know. Zai jian, for now!!

Christmas music at SIS

Beautiful, festive holiday concert last night. The kind of psychotic version of "Bells" song and of course a little "Jingle Bells". That is Renata with the red scarf.
One of the snacks during intermission were peanut butter blossom cookies-- you know the ones with the hershey kiss melted into the middle. And I was suddenly seriously missing my mom. Hands down, hers are the best. Sometimes she makes them with miniature peanut butter cups in the middle. I really can't get enough...
Definitely missing home this Christmas--family, the cold, the dark, snow, pine trees, English language songs, people being more cheerful. Luckily for us, the Corrieas are coming to be with us at Christmas. We are anxiously waiting for their arrival, their wonderful company, and news from home.

O Christmas Tree

Top Ten New things we did this week

It is no surprise that one of our biggest motivations for coming to live in a new country was to try something new. So here goes for the week of November 30-December 4, 2010.

10. Left Luca's camera in a squat toilet in Louho, Shenzhen. Not actually in, but I'm not going back for it.
9. Bought a new camera for Luca in Old Shekou-- Samsung, in honor of the nice Korean dad that I have in my class who works there.
8. Drove an electric bike
7. Watched Luca play the trombone-- what cheeks.
6. Iced Renata's ankle sprained in PE-- lots of pretty colors. She loves the attention...
5. Made donuts in honor of the first night of Hannukah.
4. Celebrated Hannukah with people from Israel; pretty cool.
3. Went to dinner at a restaurant and saw a complete carcass of a beheaded dog in the window as we approached.
2. Went to a different new restaurant on a different street.
1. Celebrated birthdays for three kids, each from Japan, Korea and China. Learned the song in three languages, well heard it in three languages...

Renata's Birthday

We spent Renata's birthday in Guangzhou at the middle school touch-rugby tournament. Luca played with the boys and Renata played with the girls team. Both had a ball (pardon the pun). What a great day! It was a bit tiring however! Guangzhou is about two hours away by bus so we had an early morning departure from Shenzhen to arrive at the tournament on time. We are all rugby fans now!!

The boys on the bike

So the boys finally got their motorbike and here it is. Notice the lack of helmets. Fortunately, it goes slow, but it goes. Now we fit right in:)

Luca's 12th Birthday

Luca turns 12 in China. He was skyped by his good friends Matt and Tom in the am and Robby, Tom's brother said, "Wait, you were born here in Maine. It is still November 12th over here, you are not really 12." Luca heard from his grandparents on both sides and his aunt. Pretty sweet. He is modeling his prized b-day gift, a red COKE shirt written in Mandarin. The cake, the first thing we have baked in our time here, tasted just like the boxed cakes back home.
Next weekend, he has asked his dad to take him and a friend to his favorite haunts in Hong Kong.

Rolling on the River

We took bamboo rafts down the Yi Long River. Victor and I rode together. A very slight man was our gondalier. At one point he grunted something in Chinese to the gondalier handling Luca and Maeve's raft. Vic leaned to me and said, "You know what he said? 'Why did I get the fat assed Americans? Why couldn't I get their skinny kids?'"
The photo to the left is our two families at a water break, Maeve in forefront. Last picture is Luc and Maeve kayaking.

Some scenes from rural China

Just a couple of shots from our various bike trips through Yangshou. It was rice harvest season while we were visiting. From left: Dragon Bridge, hundreds year old bridge over the Li River; Luca in the entrance of a still working Qing Dynasty village, soy bean leaves drying over a family's patio-- used for cooking, Luca and Vic biking past a harvested rice field.

Faces of Rural China

We visited a still working 500 year old Qing Dynasty village within Yangshou. This man made pipes out of fish bones and pumello skins. He was a good bargainer.


This fellow is clearing out new growth from his osthmanthus trees so that they will be successful next year. Osthmanthus is used for healing tea.


This little one, Pengpan, followed us on her grand dad's bicycle when we went out for a bike ride. When we stopped for a water break, she and her grandfather broke out tons of little Chinese ornaments for us to buy. Of course we did and I asked for a photo as a part of the deal.
I finally was able to get close enough to get a shot of the many grandparent-baby scenes. These folks are headed into their village. Many of the preschoolers yelled "Hello, Ni Hao" to us as we biked through their hamlets.

Halloween in China

So, yes, Virginia, there is Halloween in China.
Anyway, it turns out that Shekou International School does Halloween up kind of big here. And being on the Halloween committee, I wanted our grade 1 team to rock it. Our costumes made here in Old Shekou for about 2 cents are based on the classic poem, "Six Little Pumpkins". In the photo above are Lisa Hassell and Tami Ruebush, fellow grade 1 teachers and our ubercompetent and fantastic TAs, Heather Hou, Rita Long, and Cindy Zhang. Finally, that is me at the end. In the photo to the right is most of my class before our annual SIS Halloween assembly/parade. Delicious. James, the one costume holdout is hanging out between Ms. Cindy and me.
And finally to the direct right is Renata decked out as Tinkerbell. She bought most of the pieces in Hong Kong last weekend. Luca, not featured, was an Italian soccer player and Vic was part of the Scooby Doo team as Shaggy. The middle school and high school kids wore their costumes all day actually-- even into the dance. Renata, it turns out, slow danced with 3 boys. Personally, I am grateful for the big fairy skirt. Luca also attended, this his first dance ever. He was asked to dance, but turned the girl down. Serios breaking hearts all over China...
Tonight, Renata flies out to Guanxi for her 8th grade Week without Walls trip. But Luca will trick or treat with his friends here starting around 5:30. We know we won't get trick or treaters up here in this mostly Chinese apt complex and on the 4th floor, so V and I will probably go out to dinner.....

Our shipment sails in

So just a quick note about our shipment. All 13 boxes arrived. Everything works or is in good shape except for some mold-- I wonder where it all has been sitting for 3 and 1/2 months. Anyway, featured to the right is a star appropriately made in China which was given to us at our Nathan Clifford going away party. We promised that we would try to bring it to all the new places we go. It graces our entry way for the first time tonight. It does feel a good piece of Americana.

10-10-10

We could not have a blog about China and not have a post for today. I am sure this was not big news many other places, but today was considered a good luck day here. So much so, that government registries were kept open extra hours this week to accommodate all of the couples seeking to be wed this day.
On our way back from our hike this morning we witnessed a stream of cars driving past, all decked out with bows, streamers and hearts from a wedding that took place locally. We are so removed from the day to day lives of the people who are from here, it felt great to witness a big life/social event even though we had no connection to it. It felt so familiar, it took me back a bit. We have been so focused on what is different and unfamiliar most of the time, that it was great to witness something that was the exact same thing we would at home.
Shekou is pretty small, and like any place, we are starting to recognize people and they are starting to recognize us. I was in two shops today, and the proprietor remarked "You live here" as much a statement as a question. They see me walk or ride by each day on my way to work and pass by when we are out shopping.
I think this marked the beginning of a new stage in our living here. There is a strange kind of acceptance you feel when folks notice you like that. At first, we were noticed because we were western, and as such, an easy mark. Everyone had a deal for you or scam for you. Things are a bit different now.
When you shop in most stores here, you are generally expected to haggle for the price. The shopkeeper will have two starting points, one for Chinese, and one for weiguoren (foreigner literally "people outside"). You can guess which is higher. The negotiations are now starting much lower (but I am sure not as low as prices for Chinese) and so it is more difficult to decide where to stop. If you fire back a price that is too low, the game is off and there will be no discussion. It is almost like a trust thing, if the shopkeeper starts close to the real price, they are showing a sort of trust. If you go too low, you signal there is no trust and the bargaining is over or they won't come down on price very much. It seems to make things a bit more tricky.
Of course you still have to keep your eyes open...
I don't have a pic from today, but here is one of the Hong Kong skyline, taken from our hotel room last weekend.

Not too much, that's how I like it

So, this post is a little less travelogue and a little more introspection. Just a warning up front. We have had a five day vacation for the Chinese national holiday and ventured to Hong Kong (wonderful sites, hikes, western food and shopping), but Vic said as we rode our ferry back to our new home in Shekou, "I miss Chinese food." And the kids and I all agreed! What? No Ben and Jerry's here in Shekou or organic pesto pitas or good margaritas or.... So what gives?
And I just had that same feeling while I was hanging out our laundry on our back deck. We have a dryer, but the ayi never uses it and so I really haven't either. So here I am clipping up Renata's skirt and Luca's shirt and I realized how I have in our home in Maine outsourced and/or rushed through all of the little parts of a life. I have been living like I have a to-do list that is never done, so every morning has begun with a push toward the middle part of the never ending list. Each evening ends with me too exhausted to complete more things, so I veg out with a book or a movie or DVD to "escape". Escape what?my own life?? Of course, I have read a nauseating number of books and articles on getting energy back in my "busy, purposeful life". I even take a little pill every day for it. I am forever trying to figure out why I am so tired.
I just think that there is TOO much-- too much food, too many commitments, too many products, too many birthdays to get the perfect gift for. Where the hell am I rush to, really? How is that a purposeful life, if I just want to escape it? Of course I have considered that I am just a slacker and I can't keep up-- with the household chores, new courses for work, good, healthful cooking, the kids' events, our friends and family, Patch, managing money and investing wisely. I think I have wanted to play this life game for a while, but I have in the past 3-4 years realized that I can never feel like I have won. Or even that I am in the top tier of winning.
I like this slower, simpler life. It suits me.

For all the tea in China

Shangri- La, indeed. Just a couple shots from our lush eastern Shenzhen hotel. The tea is a big ball of dried flowers in water and it tasted like a big ball of wet flowers.
Otherwise very lush accommodations-- incensed infused jacuzzi, pure white bedding, and Luca is modeling above, nice big fluffy robe.

Not Really a Buddhist Monastery

So we have this guidebook to sites in Shenzhen and if you haven't gleaned from the rest of the posts that we have created, there really is not much culturah in Shenzhen. The city is only 30 years old and if anything did exist before 1979, it has been "paved and" someone "put up a parking lot". For real. For folks who know me, you know that I have had an interest in Buddhism for a long time. So you can imagine my delight to read that there was a Buddhist temple on the eastern side of the city. So we took a cab from our lush hotel and ventured to our first Buddhist temple. As we approached the entrance to Fairy Lake, I wondered aloud-- and to Vic's delight-- if there would be only vegetarian fare and if we needed to cover our heads in honor of the great Buddha. Just inside the entrance to the park is a large tour bus. We are beseeched to come aboard, but I have a higher calling, of course, and I decide we will walk to the Great Buddha of Shenzhen. Our first idea that maybe this wasn't a temple was the first pagoda we reached housed various botanical flowers. Nice, but not Buddha. By now there is sniggering from V. and complaining about the walk from R and L. Now, annoyed and determined, I press on to the next spot of Fairy Park, a giant beautiful building -- featured in the photo. When we climb the 108 steps to the top of this pagoda, we are able to view the expanse of Fairy Park. Let's see, there are paddle boats, a golf course, greenery in the shape of China, ice cream shops, more meaningless, but pretty pagodas. And a big fake Buddha.
All right, all right, I say to my laughing family, let's walk out of this park. On the way out, we happen upon stone sculptures of the Chinese zodiac. That is Vic in front of his zodiac symbol, appropriately the Goat.
Maybe there will be a Buddha in Hong Kong...

Our first visit to Hong Kong

We were told that if you wanted a respite from Shenzhen that Hong Kong was the place to go. I honestly thought that, "How much different can it be than Shenzhen? We are only 45 minutes apart by ferry and it is China..." So, I was wrong. Hong Kong, if you haven't been, is this awesome mix of Europe and Asia, old and new, English and Mandarin, green spaces and dense urban areas. A cheap and easy ferry ride from Shekou, where we live, but seems like a different continent. Folks are very diverse-- not just Asian and the food is reflected in that. We went to a great English pub for pitas and chicken and chips and the waiter understood us. We went to an English bookstore. $7 for a People magazine was a bit steep, but I bought it anyway:) Because the area in which HK was developed is mountainous, the shops and streets are built going up. We learned that the longest outdoor escalator is here in Hong Kong. A very cool peak tram carries you up to the Victorian Garden, the region that original British colonists inhabited. Chinese natives were not allowed as far up the mountain, except for the servants who had to travel 3rd class. Same old, same old story of colonization. At the top of the mountain are various trails, Victorian architecture, and the ever present Starbucks. Both pictures featured here are taken from the peak. We walked down on this long green path-- outstanding really for such an urban environment. Streets have British names like Wellington, Queen's Road, Shelley Road. Traffic passes on the right, not left. You should consider coming....

Transportation in southern China

So here are just a few of the ways that folks get around town here in Shekou. To the left is a the mobile flower guy that I have a little softness for. He sits on the stoop in front of our apt most days next to his bike of trees and plants. He speaks no English and I speak no Mandarin, but he and I have made an agreement of sorts that come Christmas, he will supply our first "living tree". He rattles on about the great qualities of various plants and I nod appreciatively. When I ask, "Dou shou xian?" or "How much?", he pulls out his calculator and looks at my freckles and gives me the Western increase. I shake my head and I type in half the price and he laughs. So far no tree, but we are getting there. I like his perserverance and product quality. He likes my interested face, I think... To the right is one of the infamous red taxis. Infamous only to our family because we usually get in one with a driver who wants to kill us and can't read my Mandarin signs. Fortunately, Vic has perfected the words for right and left-- yo and suo -- in the right tone. With strong gestures, we usually get to our destination.

Beneath and left is a shot that Luca took from his school bus. We never knew that anything can be carried on a bike. We are trying to discretely capture a family of 4. This fella in the photo is a recycler. Recycling is done somewhat haphazardly, but with determination, here in China. Read: folks can make a living off recycling paper, metal and plastic, but they have to peddle their service around town. Fortunately, Chinese have mastered the whole work ethic here. No slackers around...




This is the school bus in front of our apt complex that brings R and L to school every day at 7:30. Kind of fancy actually.

Hiking in Shekou

So I think I have said there are two hiking paths very close to our apartment. The one featured in the photos here is directly behind our apt. The second, not featured in this photos, is a 10 minute bike ride . Both, honestly, kick my ass.

You know how on the Appalachian trail, there is a trodden path and little marks on the trees? With these two paths, each step is a granite step -- some hard working Chinese person carried each one on his back and placed it down -- just, as it turns out, to shame my sorry self into better shape.

So the hike is really a series of steps that lead to various beautiful pagodas until the great, sweaty pagodas on the top. Ooh, the calves.

But even more humbling than the challenge of the vertical climb are the various folks who regularly pass me on the way up. I am not making this up. Today, a baby girl in little pink sandals and a baby bottle of water daintily stepped by my heaving frame. She was trying to catch up with her dad. Then a group of college students, yakking and laughing, whipped by me. Grandmas in little straw hats flew by me with children and grandchildren in tow. One actually refused my "Bing Sway?" offer when I extended my water bottle. And finally, small women in heels -- easily 2 inch heels-- climbed past me to the summit. One was thankfully complaining about her feet at the top pagoda. The only other person who was even wearing exercise clothes was an Australian woman who was also defeated by Nanshan Mtn. She said the heat was bothering her. What 92 with 95% humidity is hard on you, too??

So that has been my hiking experience in Shekou thusfar. Tomorrow, we are dragging up the kids:)

A typical weekday for a Serio in Shekou

We begin by setting the alarm for 5:00 to go for a hike, run, walk, but often snooze until 6:00 and radically shorten the exercise. In the early am, tons of people are out exercising-- very small ladies doing tai chi in the park, women and men hiking, people hitting their muscles (ala a pedicure at Magic Nails), poeple walking their dogs in the gardens in our complex.

6:30 We rouse R and L and we all eat a quick breakfast. Vic and I give the kids 50 RMB or so (about 4$) for lunch and have the "Do you know where the house keys, cell phone are? Did you put your homework in your bag? Do you have swimming for PE or soccer after school" conversations. Vic and I leave around 7:00, go down the elevator 5 floors to the basement to unlock our bikes and pedal off to work. Kids board the bus at 7:30 and head to school later.

I pass through our gate, greet the guards with an obligatory, "Ni Hao" and I am off. On my 5 minute bike ride, I try to pass as many small Chinese men also on bikes carrying massive loads of plants, water bottles, ice, metal, a whole family, co - workers as I can. Whatever internal whining I am doing about going to work quickly turns to shame as I ride by folks already at work, hauling rocks, building skyscrapers, working in garment factories,.. In my 3 weeks here, I have an profound respect for the work ethic here; it puts Americans to shame, really. I also pass busses, Mercedes, taxis, walkers, rickshaws, piles of rubbish, little babies in strollers; a true feast for the senses.

I arrive at the school ( have to be there by 7:30), pass the guards at the gate. They all wear palm tree printed white shirts and khaki slacks; all men also. I pedal pass the topiaries that look like dinosaurs, and the bamboo decorations, avoid the massive figs having fallen from the trees before, lock up my bag and walk into my 2nd floor classroom.

First things first-- turn on the AC, great my full time TA named Heather Hou, check in about clerical stuff that she does for me ( I know, really??), do last minute prep and kids enter around 7:50. Picture 14 of the cutest, smartest, funniest Asian kids you know, now make them 6 and that is pretty much my class. I do have 10 countries represented in my class including Conglese-Italian, Australian-Korean, Chinese-Canadian, German, and Israeli. They read in the reading corner and then meet me at circle around 8:05. Then from 8:00-11:45, it is academic time-- reading, writing, and math. There is an obligatory snack recess from 9:45-10:15 which Ms. Hou brings the kids to. The kids get to choose lunch rooms-- Gecko Grille or the Whale Garden and then they have a second recess; Mrs. Hou brings them to this as well. THEN, the afternoon from 12;40-3:00, Mrs. Hou guides the kids between Chinese class, PE, Music, Technology, Library, Guidance, Art. Most of the specials are offered 2-3X in a 6 day schedule. So, I know all of you teachers are thinking 3 hours of prep? You have got to be kidding... Honestly, SIS requires MANY meetings so the afternoons are usually meetings so the planning happens after dismissal.

3:00 Kids walk home, meet their mom or ayi ( Chinglish for maid) or take a bus home.
3:00-5:30 Planning and prep. L and R board a bus from their school to mine -- unless they have sports-- and R does her homework in my room while L looks for a cadre of kids to play soccer with on the beautiful fields or he swims in the pool on my campus. Then R and I pick up L and we all walk home. Vic usually calls by then and is also on his way home, triumphant that he again did not get hit by either a car or bus on his way home. (""Way to go, Dad" Luca exclaims)

We get to the apartment and our own ayi , Guo Li Mai, has prepared a symmetrically presented Chinese meal for us, as well as washed our floors, dusted, changed the beds, and does tons of laundry (Ancient Chinese secret, right? remember that one???)She hangs our laundry on our deck on a cool movable contraption. When it dries, she always puts it in the wrong drawers. She folds my unmentionables in little squares. Never have my bras had it so good. We rarely see her, so as Vic says, it is like having a secret elf in our home. She speaks less English than I do Chinese-- so none --and we draw horrendous characters of what we want her to buy on her shopping days. We try to tell her that our water bubbler is empty via photos and Chinese characters. Every day is a crap shoot with the ayi thing. But our house is clean and the food is delicious.

After dinner, L and I often go for a swim in our complex's pool. V, R, L and I all do homework and watch either Discovery Channel or Star TV-- a mix of American TV re-runs. Again, it's a crap shoot, but sometimes it's great. We get CNN also, but no one, but V, wants to watch that.

Then, exhausted, we fall down on our hard Chinese mattresses, adjust the AC, lock up the doors, turn out the lights, gaze at the city lights and sleep.

China by the Numbers

35 - number of kids in the entire 8th grade
20 - minute walk to my school and also Vic's walk to school; kids take a bus to school
16 - number of buildings in our complex; Shenzhen is high rise haven
12 - the number of students in my grade 1 class who showed up (16 on the roster)
11 - squat toilets visited so far; they are in so many restaurants
10 - # of cultures represented in my classroom of 16
9 - number of times swimming in our apt pool; so luxurious, clean
8- lucky number in China
7- pounds lost so far, :)-- sweating, lack of sugar, and massive amounts of walking...
6-number of silk stitches Renata received on Tuesday after cutting her finger with our new Ikea knife. Made Renata a bit of a celebrity
5 - in US$, price of a good Cbinese meal for one
4- the floor of our apartment
3 - the amount of 40 gallon bottles of drinkable water you receive each week. Really hard to communicate; completely reliant on nice Chinese people we know
2- the number of phones and bikes we are buying today
1 - number of harrowing taxi cab rides taken so far. Like a fair ride, scary and fast...

That's it for now.

school

school started yesterday!:):(

Open House

We just completed our first open house. Its funny, even 12,000 miles from Maine school feels like school. There were all the old familiar emotions from both myself, the families, and the students themselves. The excitement, anxiety, ambivalence and more was all right there. Those new to the school fell into both camps, some excited to be there and some still missing their old school. What was really striking was that all of these familiar emotions transcended nationalities. Korean students, Indian, Kiwis it did not matter.
I was surprised when some students felt their summer was "long enough" and stated that they were ready to come back. That is not something I have heard often.
I spent the last few days focusing on what I have not done, what I did not know, and how generally unprepared I felt. Now that I have met the students, I realize I can do this.
Renata and Luca are ready to start the year. They came home after really energized for tomorrow. After coming all this way, I suppose we are ready for what comes next...

Chinese Eggs!

Here we are cooking the eggs.

Living in Shenzhen

We have been here now one week and there are a million things to talk about, but I think I should begin in the beginning, so here are some photos from our apartment and our first days here. Culture shock? Probably, but we are making do. Every day is full of little failures and little successes. Kind of like home but with a language barrier. Here are Luca rolling down the laundry on the deck, look from our bedroom, Renata's bedroom showcased by Luca, our shower in our bedroom. Looks pretty normal, right?

Keep posting notes to us. We want to know what you want to know!!

Arrival in Hong Kong

We have arrived safely in Hong Kong. The flight in was long but we flew over some pretty impressive scenery. We flew over the North Pole and yes, it is still covered with ice. The vastness of the artic even in summer is stunning. It is sad to think that it is changing so rapidly and could be ice free in the summer, within our lifetime. The coast of Kampchatka (spelling) was also beautiful.

Our first views of the South China coast surprised all of us. None of us expected the mountainous landscape. There is a surprising amount of green. As we flew over Hong Kong and Shenzhen, we were able to identify landmarks we saw on satellite views on Google Earth. The contrast between the high rises and the green mountainsides makes a stunning scene.

We are now waiting for the ferry that will take us to Shekou. It will be great to get a view of the area from the water.

Saying good bye and being left speechless

So, to be honest, we really wanted to slip out of Portland without fanfare. It seems ridiculous to pay our trip any attention or notice when so many more important things are happening in the world, both the great big world and our little world of Portland, Maine. We justified the event hosted by my sister, Julie, and best friend, Michele, by saying that it was important for others to be able to say good bye to us. I honestly believed this...
But then we arrived and saw my stepdad frying up clams and scallops for the Maine food table. We met and visited with seven of Vic's colleagues from the lab who came, met our families, and brought photos of his work with teachers. We saw his NY relatives who made an 8 hour car trip to surprise us. We saw friends and dear neighbors from all of the phases of Renata and Luca's lives. We heard my father in law give the perfect toast. We watched my sister run around like one of her hens to make sure that everyone had a cold drink and a familiar person to talk with. People gave us lovely personal and generous gifts and lovely personal advice on adjusting to our new life in China. Michele and Brian wrote and performed a song all about us, for real.
So what did I learn? This party was definitely for us. We are so humbled, again.

7 days and 13 boxes til we get to China

So here goes:
First, the shippers came and handily packed up 13 boxes of "essential items'. I challenge anyone to try to put 15 years of a family into 13 banana boxes. It is interesting what we selected. Luca really wanted the Switzerland poster and the fishing ornament for Christmas. Renata wanted to recreate her room in Shenzhen exactly, so she took photos, carefully removed posters and memorabilia and packed those. For me, even though the weather is HOT, really hot, I wanted my cozy turtlenecks (I am a Mainer, and this is essential wear for Mainers) and my beloved high heeled leather boots. I know, I know I probably won't be able to wear them, but I wanted to them. And the tree skirt that Julie gave us on our first Christmas. Vic wasn't sure if he should take all of his microbial and disease books to teach BIO; he definitely took the Darwin textbooks and novels. Photos of the kids and both of our families made the cut, for sure. So together with R's flute and hockey stick, Luca's hockey stick and kickball, we waved good bye to our 13 boxes of life. See you in September on the other side, boxes....

What I will miss in Portland

We are in this weird liminal period right now, neither here nor there and waiting with a mix of anxiety, excitement, exhaustion, and melancholy. Seems like a good time to post the top 10 things I will miss in Portland. (author's note-- I have excluded any people from this list-- too trite to include real humans)

10. Watching our one tree's leaves change
9. Walking Patch
8. Biking to church
7. the view of the night sky from our porch
6. Victorian Architecture
5. Movies at the Nic
4. the sound of the recycling truck on Monday mornings
3. Snow and lights at Christmas
2. Iced coffee and scones at Big Sky
1. The smell of the ocean at night

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