And it's gone... just like that...

Facebook is not a needed thing in my life...

But it's a nice thing.

The thing about Facebook in China is that it's here and then suddenly it isn't. I can see my friends updates, pictures, and comments... and then suddenly I can't.

It's not that I can't have Facebook that bothers me, it's the random way the great firewall grants it one day, and denies it the next.

That blasted firewall is also denying me the ability to comment on my own blog.

My high school English teacher recently left a comment. My cyber pengyou Global Gal stopped by. Try as I might, I cannot add a comment to reply to them.

I attribute it to my free VPN (the name of which I will not name, because the last time my free VPN was named it was almost immediately rendered unavailable.) But of course a VPN (what I have dubbed my "Very Private Network" but is actually a virtual private network) is only necessary because of that firewall.

If you are one of my pals of facebook, know that I am not fickle FB friend. I just can't regularly get on. And so if I post a comment one day, on a picture, say, of your adorable child, but then go silent and fail to respond, know that it's the work of the Great Firewall of China.

If you stop by our blog for a look and comment, I thank you... but I can't reply. Just know that I appreciate your visit.

Because one day its here, and the next day it's gone... just like that!

Fen Johnsa

My wallet is exploding. Not because it is full of the "pink moneys." ** But because it is full of discount cards. I have one for all the grocery stores, one for the cash and carry (that one even has my picture on it.) I've got one for a nail place that I got nearly four years ago when I paid 100 USD for something like 17 pre-paid pedicures or 35 pre-paid manicures (I still have some left). I have one for the Korean bakery that just closed (but curiously was also good not only at the baker, but also at the Korean dry cleaner and the KTV - Korean Karoke Bar.)

My favorite discount card though, is for the German baker inside the Chinese grocery store.

I had applied for the card that gives you VIP status (ie. a modest discount on all goods baked by an authentic German baker.) I applied for the card, but it seemed like it was taking ages to get it! The girls in the bread shop where sympathetic to my cause, and awarded me VIP status, sans card (so that the Johnson's could feast on slightly discounted bretzels, kaisers, whole wheat bread, and long crunchy baguettes baked by a boy with a name like Gunther or Klaus). Finally, after weeks of this process, one of the girl's asked for my mobile phone number to search for my card.

She came back almost immediately with my card. She looked at me sheepishly, and I instantly knew why week after week no one could find a card printed with the name Jen Johnson. The card that matched my mobile number read: Fen Johnsa ... and it is my favorite of them all!

**The "pink moneys" are the pinkish-red bills with Mao's picture in the corner... 100 ren min bi --RMB means the people's money-- is worth about 15 bucks! and that's the biggest bill this cash society has!)

All I really need to know (about China) I learned in Kindergarten

Sometimes it doesn't matter how long we've been in China. There is so much to learn. I still feel very much like the huddled masses who arrived in NY @ the turn of last century must have felt, relying on my children to read simple store signs, or the notices which are randomly glued to the front door of our apartment home.

I feel even, a bit inadequate answering these simple questions from kindergartners in Kendall County, IL. I wish I had more my answers were more precise. I hope that these flimsy responses I offer here are adequate...

7. What is the weather like there? Do you have seasons like we do?

We live in a coastal city... along the Yellow Sea (which feeds into the Pacific Ocean). Our closeness to the water in many way effects the weather. We have lots of wind, and rather cold winters, but it rarely snows. (My girls are disappointed about that-- when we go home to IL for Christmas, they love to sled and build snowmen!) The summers here are very hot and humid, but it doesn't rain very much. We get lots and lots of fog in the late fall and late spring (as the temperatures begin to warm up!) We are always nervous if we have to fly, because often the fog delays flights, meaning we sometimes miss connecting flights in other cities!

Qingdao is also in the Northern hemisphere, so we have four seasons at roughly the same time you do. Our most favorite months here are May and October... those months offer the most beautiful days to go to the beach and search for special shells and tiny hermit crabs!

8. What kind of stores do they have?

In our city in China we have fancy shopping malls (think Prada, Gucci, and Tiffany), average mall stores with lots of Chinese brands but some other names we recognize too (Nike, Northface, and Calvin Klein), and then lots and lots of markets (open air markets and covered markets) that sell everything you can think of! In China, many times the stores that sell the same kinds of things are grouped together... so that all the places that sell curtains are on the same block (we call it curtain street!) and all the vendors who sell flowers sell in the same area....

9. Are there mountains there? Volcanoes? Do you have big cities?

Yes. No. Yes.

We leave in a beautiful part of China. Not only do we live near the sea, but we also live near some beautiful limestone mountains called Lao Shan (which means "Old Mountains"). The Chinese believe in the importance of Feng Shui (feng means wind, and shui means water). Our city is believed to have excellent feng shui because it is situated between the mountains and the sea. Because we have mountains, our city is much more hilly. As a result, fewer people ride bicycles in our city (because of all the extra work it would take to go up and down the hills!)

We don't have any volcanoes near where we live. I think the nearest volcanoes are in Japan.

Cities in China are very big! Our city has about 3 million people (which means it is the same size as Chicago), but we are considered just a tiny city. Big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and ChongQing have five and six times as many people as we do!

Do you know what it is like to go to the mall before Christmas... when the parking lots are full and people seem to be everywhere? That's what it is like to go to a public place in China on any given weekend!

10. Do you use boats there? Airplanes?

Yes. and Yes.

We travel by airplane a lot. We have a van, with a wonderful man who drives us around Qingdao. His name is Mr. Zhang (pronounced like Jang ... zh in Chinese is like J), but our girls call him shu shu (which means uncle.) If we travel outside of Qingdao we almost always fly.

My husband takes a high speed train (called a bullet train) to visit the factory where his company makes tractors. We also sometimes travel on a ferry if we visit another nearby city. Mr. Zhang drives our van right onto the ferry, and then we all get out and go to the top deck to watch for other boats and see the shipping port. They sell snacks on the ferry and even have a toilet!

Eliza on her bike outside the posh Hisense Shopping Plaza

The Bullet Train Mr. Johnson rides

The girlies on the Ferry to Huangdao

A lovely shot of the lovely Lao Shans (taken by MGJ on her field trip!)

More Questions from Kindergarten

2. Do people decorate for Christmas?

Not usually in their homes, but many businesses (restaurants, malls and hotels) will have Christmas trees and (cheap) decorations. Lots of Christmas decorations are made at factories in China, but those are usually for export... meaning they go to other countries like the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. The stuff made in China for use/purchase in China is typically cheaply made.

Most Chinese people don't understand the real meaning of Christmas.

3. What kind of toys do the kids have there?

Again, toys for the Chinese market are typically flimsy. We think its interesting that we've never seen an Asian looking baby doll in the toy selections in China. Our youngest daughter has an Asian Bitty Baby from American Girl, and our Chinese friends think that it was an interesting choice!

4. Do you go to school? What is school like?

Our daughters attend an International school, which is a school for children who are not Chinese, but live in China. They study a lot of the same things they would study if we lived in the United States, but they also study Chinese language every day, and have a special Chinese culture class twice a week.

Our girls school is based in Hong Kong, and follows a British curriculum. They wear uniforms, and ride a school bus.

Chinese kids go to Chinese schools. Public Chinese schools usually have very large classrooms (up to 50 students, even in lower grades.) Chinese students begin school when they turn six, but most are enrolled in an all-day "Kindergarten," when they turn three. Chinese schools are very strict, and because their language is not phonetic, they need to memorize thousands of pictographs or characters. Each of these characters are created in a special order. (You need to recognize about 3500 characters to read a Chinese newspaper!) There schools are often not heated, so children wear many layers of clothes to keep warm inside their schools.

5. What kind of clothes/shoes do you wear?

We mostly wear clothes and shoes we buy when we return to the United States for our home leave.

Chinese people's clothes are very Western (similar to what we wear in North America.) However, to purchase Western brands in China is very expensive because they have to be imported. So, a pair of running shoes you might be able to buy at Kohls for $30, would be more like $60 here.

6. What language do they speak there?

Mandarin Chinese is the official language in China. But in Chinese, the word for Chinese is pu tong hua (which means common language.) There are still many dialects and different ways of pronouncing words throughout China. But, in order to keep things organized, Mandarin is the official language. In Southern China, they often speak Cantonese (in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong.) Often Chinese people who live in the US now, speak Cantonese because their families originally lived in China's southern regions.

20 Questions

It's 13, actually. Thirteen queries from the Kindergarten class my friend's daughter is enrolled in. They want to know a little bit about life in China, and I thought I'd post some of their questions, along with our responses, geared for five and six-year-olds ...

1. What do people eat in China?

China is a really big country… just like the United States. People in different regions eat different things, and different parts of the country are famous for different dishes. (Just like Chicago is famous for its pizza and Chicago style hot dogs.)

In the Southern part of China there is a saying, “We eat anything with legs, except a table; and anything that flies except an airplane.” They even eat bugs and other interesting animals. One time when we were at a restaurant in Guangxi Zhaung Autonomous Region, a province in Southern China, near Vietnam, the chef brought out a live snake for some people to look at and decide if that was the snake they wanted to eat!

Fortunately for us, we don’t live in that part of China. The favorite dish in the North, especially in the winter, is jiao zi (dumplings). They are a little bit like ravioli -- a pasta pocket with meat and vegetables inside. There are many different kinds of jiao zi.

Also popular here in the winter is hot pot. At this kind of restaurant a big boiling pot is in the center of the table. It is divided in half. One side is seasoned mildly, and the other side is spicy (yum!) You order different meats, vegetables and tofu and noodles to boil in the pot. It’s a “do-it-yourself” meal.

In general, people in the South of China eat more rice (where rice is grown.) People in the North (where we live) eat more noodles, made from wheat flour. (Wheat is grown in the North.) People eat pork more than other meats (possibly because it is cheaper.) In our city, there is lots of fresh sea food, because we live right next to the ocean. At the grocery store you can buy live fish, crabs, and shell fish. It is very fresh!

However, there is lots of Western food in China too! McDonalds and KFC are also very popular here. We like that our city has Starbucks coffee shops!

Yi Li Ya de Sheng Ri (Eliza's Birthday)

Sean, Millie & Eliza 01.18.2002

Millie, Eliza & Beatrice 01.18.2010

Yesterday was Eliza's birthday. She's eight. We can't believe it.

"You don't look eight." Bea informed her on the way home from the bus stop after school. It's true, Eliza fits in well with her Asian classmates size-wise, but we gently explained that eight is an age, and there is not one general way an 8 year old should look.

Eight... eight years ago this sweet heart joined our family, and we're so glad she did!!

Yesterday It Was:


Breakfast in bed.

Early morning phone call from Mema in America.


Brownies @ school.

Friends dropping in with a birthday surprise.

Birthday Dinner... Eliza's sweet choice... Toast and Tea

Birthday Cake

Presents

And a retelling @ bedtime of the night she was born.

Happy Birthday, Eliza Hazel!! We love you!

The Spinach Standoff

I've never pushed to post a daily blog... far from it. But it seems of late once-a-week blogging has become my new phase. My life has not become less boring, but in fact, with the swirl of people and imagery around me, with the cacophony of China and... let face it... sometimes the din of daily life with kids, I'm finding it harder to distill out small snippets to share here.

Let me share, at least, about the Spinach Stand Off of last week...

The day I sought to try out the first of three new dishes (three delicious, savory dishes with simple, wholesome, can-get-it-in-Zhongguo* ingredients). *Zhongguo literally translates Middle Country or Kingdom, and is the Chinese word for China. The Chinese word for Chinese is pu tong hua, in case you were wondering!

In October Real Simple published an issue of with "A Month of Easy Dinners," on the cover, complete with specific shopping lists and precise direction. Last week we sampled Beef & Bok Choy Stir Fry, Spicy Orange Glazed Drumsticks with Green Beans (much to my surprise it was the green beans that caused quite a stir... "These are lovely, dear, how did you prepare them?" asked the adoring Mr. Johnson. "More beans please," came the chorus from the book ends whilst my doesn't-like-to-try-things-that-much middle child was content with two servings of the drumsticks... thank you very much.

So imagine my surprise when all three of our children, who usually are up to try a number of new things, snubbed their noses at the simplest staple of the garden... fresh spinach. It was Chicken with Spinach and Mushrooms night, and you'd have thought I asked them to eat nails. They were each given a small morsel they were required to consume. Oh, the tears, the agony, the drama over vitamin K and beta carotene rich spinach.

Later that night I asked our oldest to rifle through the 20 recommended recipes and select ones she thought sounded good.

She marked with a marking pen the following, reminding me that she's a pretty good sport to try things, afterall. As long as its not dark green, cooked and rhymes with Kucinich:

• Roasted Pork with Brussels Sprouts and Apricots
• Pork Chops with Garlicky Broccoli
• Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Onions
• Meatballs with Sauteed Chard (which mind you is practically spinach!)
• Seared Lamb Chops with Minted Spaghetti Squash
  and
• Quick Beef Tacos (of course)

I'll keep you posted on how those go for us!

Of course, people made our trip especially wonderful too!

Animals that made our trip especially fabulous for our girls...