Jessica Pan
In Sickness and in Health
Straight talk from a family doctor
It’s not always easy adjusting to a life in a new country, and parents are right to have many questions when it comes to health and living in a new place. This month, American Marie Shieh, a family doctor at Beijing United Family Hospital and the BJU Shunyi Clinic, answers beijingkids readers’ questions about staying healthy in Beijing.
beijingkids: How will the air affect children? Especially children under 2 years of age?
Dr. Shieh: There was a study on kids aged 5 to 18 in the United States. They tested children who grew up in Los Angeles, a polluted area, against kids who grew up in cleaner air. The results showed that the children in Los Angeles had a slightly lower lung function, but that doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean they can’t run or do sports any better or worse than other kids. As for living here for a long time, we’re not sure how that translates for children. We don’t have any research on that yet.
Crossing Borders
Josiah Mast makes history come alive
After tiring of the verticality of life in his native Colorado, Josiah Mast came to Beijing last year for the experience of teaching at International Academy of Beijing. He sat down with tbjkids to talk about the challenges of teaching history and culture in China, what he misses most about home, and how his students are often the ones teaching him.
What brought you to Beijing?
I just love traveling and being in different places. The idea of teaching somewhere else is a big deal to me. I was teaching for two years part-time back in the U.S., but I had been to China a few times prior on short visits. I really enjoyed China, so I applied for this job, and I’ve been here about nine months.
I Want to Be a Pilot
China Southern’s James Wu Lives the High Life
James Wu knew he wanted to be a pilot from a young age, and now, at 29, he is the youngest captain at China Southern Airlines. Born in Kaifeng, China, and trained in Perth, Australia, James has flown to over ten countries in the past eight years. Between flights, James took time to sit down with Grade 1 students at Western Academy of Beijing to answer questions about life in the sky.
Odin Loehr, 7, USA
How many years have you worked on the airlines?
Up to now, I’ve been a civil aviation pilot for eight years. If you include my training in Perth, Australia, that’s 12 years now.
Baby Origami
Hand-free ways to carry your baby
Babywearing, or the act of using a long swath of fabric to secure a baby to a caretaker’s body, has roots in dozens of countries and every continent. This ultra-convenient mode of baby transportation has seemingly endless benefits: the elevated position of the baby provides him or her a better place to observe and engage with the world, babies who are attached to adults cry 46 percent less, and the person-to-person contact promotes overall well-being. So put away the stroller and roam with your baby, arms swinging freely!
Asian Mei Tai This square fabric has four straps that tie around the body so the child rests in the front or back. In southwest China, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, mei tais are worn with either a double or single strap. The mei tai originates from China, where women used them to carry their children while they worked in the fields.
The Inuit Amauti
In the subpolar regions of the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, Alaska and Eastern Siberia, Inuit women wear a parka called an amauti to carry babies and toddlers. The amauti is a coat with a pouch on the back where the baby can rest against the mother’s back. The large hood can keep both mother and child warm in chilly environments.
Rhythm Stick
Name: Jon Campbell
Age: 32
Nationality: Canadian
Instrument: Drums
Genre: Rock/Blues
How old were you when you started playing drums?
I started drumming at 13, much to my parents’ dismay. This was after almost five years of piano and six months of guitar. I started playing hand drums a few years ago.
What’s the hardest part about playing drums?
Transport is the number one problem. Transport and noise are two things that make it difficult for many urban dwellers to take up the drums. Technically speaking, the hardest part is getting your four limbs to do four different things simultaneously, like patting your head and rubbing your stomach.
What do you love most about drums?
I think that more than any other instrument, it’s the one thing that people react to most deeply and immediately. Rhythm is ingrained deep in our bones, and drums bring that out – whether you’re playing or listening to them.
Beating to a Different Drum
Broadening young minds through music
Jenny Xiao left Changchun, Jilin province, in 2002, looking to stir up some change in her life. Inspired by her parents to pursue a teaching career, she eventually found a way to combine her love of music and education: by teaching music to 18-month-old to 3-year-old children at Eton International School. In between periodic interruptions by students requesting hugs, Jenny took time to tell tbjkids about the thrill of her fast-paced Beijing life, why she loves Montessori, and the advantages of teaching the school’s youngest children.
The Dangers of Downloading
What comes easy isn’t always right
These days, it’s hard to find someone who still listens to music on a CD or record; most people have some sort of electronic device they use to play MP3s. But where is all this digital music coming from? And how is it impacting the music industry? tbjkids sat down with four Year 10 students from Dulwich College Beijing to discuss the pros and cons of the digital music age.
Pia Holdsworth is a 14-year-old from England and listens to all kinds of music (except hard rock!) on her iPod.
English/Scottish Will Mitchell is 15 years old and likes listening to jazz while studying.
Darren Tang from Singapore is 14 years old and uses his Nokia phone to listen to pop and punk.
German Katharina Müstermann is 15 years old and likes to play Rihanna and Pink on her mobile phone.
Moving to the Kindermusik
A boogie down for the barely walking
At first glance into Beijing’s Kindermusik program, you can’t be sure if you’ve wandered into a children’s band, a dance class, or a small miracle – 11 babies, and not one of them crying.
Practiced in over 66 countries, the Kindermusik program is aimed at children ages 7 and younger and combines music and movement to help develop a variety of skills: singing, rhyming, object identification, sound imitation, listening and coordination. The Beijing program was started in September 2006 by Canadian Sarah Peel Li, a licensed Kindermusik educator. “We never make up what we’re doing,” she says. “There is always a real reason behind what we are doing in each class.”
Words of Art
Grasping the essence of Chinese calligraphy
In the epic Zhang Yimou movie Hero, the great warrior Broken Sword proclaims that his swordsmanship is rooted in calligraphy. He practices writing in the sand to enhance the penetrating power of his strokes.
Calligraphy is said to reveal the identity and feelings of the writer – each individual has a particular choice of style and medium, way of handling the brush and distinctive handwriting. In the past, the Chinese used calligraphy to evaluate a person and their talents; good calligraphy in examinations could place a person in a favorable government position. “When you write, you express your feelings through the brush,” says native Beijinger Paul Wang. “It reflects people’s characteristics and different things in their consciousness.”
Wang has been a practitioner of the art since childhood after his parents enrolled him in a calligraphy and painting school, and now he teaches calligraphy at the Chinese Cultural Club. “I kept on practicing, and I came to love it; it’s part of my life,” he says. “Chinese calligraphy is a direct window to understanding Chinese culture and relaxation.” Wang’s class focuses on the meaning and evolution of specific characters, the history of significant calligraphy periods and Chinese traditional culture. During each of his eight lessons, he teaches a different style of script, allowing students to create individual calligraphy work.
