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| 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........
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| 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!
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| 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
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
