Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mom's Day to the Many Sweet Moms I know... 

.... to those mothers who are my contemporaries and still experience crayon on the wall and discover forgotten sippy cups under the couch

... to those mothers who are my mentors and haven't forgotten the fingerprint days, but are now on to new challenges like parenting teenage daughters, researching colleges, and contemplating their daughters' boyfriends 

... to my grandmothers who managed parenting in a different age 

... to my aunties who have sometimes been like second moms

... to my mom-in-law who raised three boys

... and of course to my own sweet mom whom I hope to be like when I grow up!

A heartfelt Happy Mom's Day to each of you! I love you.

And thanks to my three sweet girlies who make me a mother, and for their sweet comments and cards on my special day in May! Thanks SWJ for a pancake breakfast and the bouquet of lillies that perfume our home.

Just one more...

After cropping out our girls, I e-mailed this photo to my editor with the subject line July/August combo issue cover. (It also will not make the cut!) Speedos are scary... that's all there is too it!

The Alfresco Nap

So... I was scrolling through some of our pictures from past summers in QD to find a great cover photo for our summer issue of the Qingdao Expat Magazine, and came across these pics from last summer that would seem so random from a Western perspective, yet so completely normal from a Chinese one. These were taken along the seaside walkway in the west end of QD last June. (They will not grace the cover of QEM!)

I was actually reminded of this outdoor napping phenomenon again when I left my morning Chinese lesson yesterday @ noon. Maggie Lao Shi (teacher) has a beautiful new office in one of two new, glass state-of-the-art twin towers that but up against one of the "in-town" mountains. (Don't get me started on the fact that there was probably plenty of jackhammers and dynamite involved in creating the footings, and that probably much of the base of the mountain was destroyed in the process.)

As I said, it was noon... typical siesta time for workers. So, as I exited the building from the rear, and walked down the driveway that leads from the underground car park, I passed at least three construction workers, laying on concrete, shoes & flimsy helmets off, basking in the glorious May sunshine. No cares about dirty toenails or sleeping in broad daylight in front of anyone who passed by. In a way its refreshing... when was the last time you saw someone take a nap on the sidewalk, or garden wall, or the craggy rocks @ the beach?

Modestly Pumped

I was excited to learn that our blog "The Johnsons in China" has been added to another list of noteworthy blogs. 

This time it was picked up by CN Reviews, who was wondering why more men than women tend to blog about their China experience (business, teaching and/or daily life.) 

So, they started to catalog women bloggers, who blog about Zhong Guo. You can find our family blog as part of that list. Look for Mrs. Johnson's "The Johnson's in China" (second from the bottom in the Personal Journal category.)

 http://cnreviews.com/people/bloggers/china-women-blogger-directory_20090504.html

TEN

Ten... as is our eldest offspring is 10... double digits... half-way to twenty. She is sophisticated, savvy, multi-lingual, stylish, smart, strong-willed, passionate and quirky. She is our first child. Our first daughter. Our first of so many things... in short our guinea pig (sorry Charlie, but we had to try the parenting gig out on someone first-- we're glad it was you!!)

Happy, Happy birthday, MGJ!

We love you!

Snapshots of Seoul

Seoul Searching...

Seoul is a funny word to type. Lots of vowels in a row, and not the way I think it should be... the e  always stumps me. I try to type Soul. Seoul plays up on this in fact, billing itself as Seoul... the Soul of Asia.

Whether or not is is the heart of the multi-faceted continent we call home is probably up for debate, but let me say this-- Seoul was a lovely surprise. SEoul (emphasis on the E... I'll learn to type this city's name soon!) is just a short 60 minute flight from QD (shorter even than it is to Beijing or Shanghai.) We stepped off the plane and were met by good smells, familiar brands, clean public spaces (and even-- or perhaps especially-- clean toilets.) The city was kid friendly, polite and head bobbing.

Korea has a delicate way of greeting people with a simple nod of the head, an abbreviated version of what was once, perhaps a bow. I used to tease our Korean neighbors that they were going to give their kids whip lash by bopping them on the back of the head every time they saw an adult they knew. I used to think it was cute, but now I realize its as much of their culture as eye contact and firm handshake are an integral part of ours. 

It wasn't long before I was bouncing my own head like a caricature bobble head doll. The girls greeted taxi drivers with a friendly An yung, and Millie threw in the extra phraseology she's acquired after three years of mainly Korean classmates at her international schools.

We'll post pics soon.