Putting our eggs in the English basket

I’ve not written in months because I’ve been in America struggling with the question of whether to return to China this summer or not.   Or rather, whether and for how long to return to China.  

In January, unbeknownst to anyone, I got us two frequent flyer tickets SFO-PEK for late July.  Two tickets.  One Way. 

The thing is, while LiLi’s San Francisco public Mandarin Immersion school has improved, in fact she’s not getting as much out of the Chinese half as she would in China.  The English half also improved, hugely.  I’ve been thinking that we should be putting our eggs in the English basket since, after all, she’ll be doing middle school and high school in America.  I know this is the struggle of many, many parents including many parents from our international bilingual school in China.  While I’m far from resolving the conflict, I’ve become clear about one thing:  LiLi’s education is the priority.  

The problem is that if I could choose, setting aside school, I would choose China.  It continues to call to me.  Nevermind that in America I live in an incredibly beautiful city, near amazing beaches, with decades’ old connections and deep friendships, in a coolly imperfect 113 year old house in which we’ve recently uncovered a trap door, and that we breathe 43/17 AQI  (now 170 in BJ which isn’t too bad, well, for BJ).  

I don’t mind hanging out with uncertainty but have been mystified as to why the Going was so clear and the Going Back is so not. 

Over the months of pondering I’ve simultaneously been searching for return tickets.  Last week some seats opened up for two days after school starts in August.  I got them despite their terrible routing (overnighting in Vancouver!) so we’d at least have the choice to come back to SF without having to pay summer fares.

I get to put all decision making on hold for a couple of weeks though because this weekend we’re off to Alaska to meet up with Grandma.  Maybe spending the summer solstice above the Arctic Circle will be illuminating.  

In the meantime, my soundtrack for uncertainty includes this tune from The Hereafter, Back Where I Was.

Heat Off

The government controlled residential heating is set to turn off on Saturday in Beijing City.  It's 2 degrees C now; 36 degrees F.  Brrrrrrr.  

Along the Things Change on a Dime lines

This fabulous blog was rec'd and I thought I'd share in case you've not stumbled across it yourselves.  I've found myself saying that in BJ, things change on a dime.  This seemed true professionally as well as personally, as plans--for big things, entire conferences involving many many individuals and logistics--- were made and unmade sometimes over the course of one working day.  And here, look:

The Asia Blog: What a Difference Two Years Makes (Away from China)

Schools in Beijing

In case you are looking for a school in BJ, this came across my screen and I am reposting with permission:

Sent: Mon, February 18, 2013 7:26:32 AM
Subject: Seeking a Beijing school for your child this fall? Come to the beijingkids School Choice Fair March 3!

 Are you cross-eyed from researching schools for the upcoming academic year? Trying to decide between local, international, boarding, public, private, experimental, full-day, half-day, and local with an international department?

Struggle no more! The hotly-anticipated 2013-2014 beijingkids School Choice Guide is out! And to help you make an even more informed choice, we’re hosting the 2013 Spring School Choice Fair at Kempinski Hotel Beijing Lufthansa Center's Jade Ballroom on Sunday, March 3 from 10am to 4pm.

The 2013-2014 beijingkids School Choice Guide features info on a whopping 62 local and international schools, as well features on bilingual options in Beijing, education systems, and expat families who have decided to send their kids to local Chinese schools.

To view it online or download a PDF, visit this link:
http://issuu.com/beijingkids/docs/2013.02_school_choice_guide

To request a printed copy (or to find a distribution spot near you), please email:
distribution@beijing-kids.com

Families who attend the Spring School Choice Fair will have a chance to mingle with representatives from both local and international schools, as well as hear free lectures on education in Beijing.

Among those schools already signed up to exhibit at this year's fair include:

* Yew Chung International School of Beijing
* The British School of Beijing
* Beijing City International School (BCIS)
* Harrow International School Beijing
* Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB)
* International Montessori School of Beijing (MSB)
* Keystone Academy
* Dulwich College Beijing
* House of Knowledge International Kindergarten (HoK)
* Beijing BISS International School (BISS)
* Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA)
* Beijing World Youth Academy
* Tsinghua International School
*  Ivy Group
* Muffy's Education
... and more to come!

Advanced signup is required for free entrance to the fair -- please visit www.beijing-kids.com/scf to sign up.

Hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Michael Wester & Toni Ma
Owners
Beijijngkids and Jing Kids magazines 

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Xin Nian Kuai Le 新年快乐

Happy New Year, Year of the Snake!

We celebrated CNY yesterday at a vaguely Chinese restaurant in the small American beach town where grandma is a snowbird and my sister & fam live full time when not traveling the globe.  It is quiet here this time of year and since there are very few Chinese people in this part of America, there is no Spring Festival.  Except for us.  We cleaned and showered the day before, refrained from knives on New Years Day, gave red envelopes, and did our best to notice and honor the new year.

We received many Chinese email greetings including the straightforward message above and many with variations on Year of the Snake wishes, so google translate was put to good use.  One message from the friends who moved to BJ last summer included a little video they shot from their 15th floor livingroom.  The fireworks were set off inside their compound and burst into light right at the same level as their flat.  Amazing.  And loud.

Fireworks aren't normally allowed inside the Fifth Ring Road but during the Spring Festival they're all over downtown.  News reported that owing to the horrible January air, shooting off fireworks was restricted but that wasn't apparent from my friends' report.

LiLi and I have been missing BJ and China especially after showing our slideshow from the year there, and treating Grandma to a video of Beijing Huan Ying Ni (Beijing Welcomes You) which was produced for the Olympic Games in 2008.  We played and sang that song over and over before we moved, but once we were there we never thought about it.  Oddly.  Now, returning to America, we find ourselves singing or humming it again.  And seeing it sure made grandma want to jump on a plane.  She's been to China a few times and lived in Hong Kong but not for many many years.  Still, you see that video and must understand that Beijing is the center of the universe.  Or I do.  Also, there are parts of it that still make me weep.   :  )

Lucky numbers

888

I'm in America attempting to get a temporary phone number for my unlocked Iphone 4S.  The whole reason my friend bought me this phone from the Apple Store was so I could use it in China and the US.  It's a big deal to have a phone that was never locked.  In China, I have a great China Unicom phone number that I had a say in choosing.  It has a bunch of lucky numbers.  But in America I'm limited to computer generated phone numbers.

Four is an unlucky number because the word four or Sì 四 sounds a lot like the word for dead or Sǐ  死.  Nobody wants a four!  Many of the buildings in China do not have a fourth floor, for example.  Many of the ex-pat buildings have no 4 and also no 13.  Also, no 14, etc.

Eight, on the other hand, is a lucky number.  Eight, or Bā 八, means prosperity.  So, we love our 8s.  Many airlines like the dreaded United have flights like its back and forth Beijing PEK to San Francisco SFO that are flight numbers 888 and 889.  In China, the little corner shack stores that sell SIM cards and top up your phone have little stacks of SIMs labeled, "NO 4s"  or just "8s."  You pay extra for 8s.

But here I am in America, unable to control the computer generated numbers and using the auto-phone-tree-change-your-number thing at Net10 over and over so many times that I locked my SIM and have to get a new one.  That's greed.  Greedy for 8s.

AQI Beyond Index

BJ AQI 805

In our year there we never experienced it that high, that we knew.  They say schools will not open on Monday.  Everyone is trying to stay indoors.   The air, alone, may be the reason we don't move back.  Because otherwise, the longing is with us.  The missing China.  But the air.