October, 2008
Articles from prior issues of beijingkids can be found by checking out the archive links below for the month and year you are interested in.
Let's Get Cookin'
Young Cooks Fire Up the Woks
Want to whet your children’s appetite? Are your young ones budding chefs? Do you want to be off kitchen duty for good? Let young cooks touch, feel, smell and discover more about the food they’re eating at the kids’ cooking classes at The Hutong, located in Jiudaowan Zhongxiang hutong near Beixinqiao subway stop.
Hocus Pocus
Easy steps to creepy costumes
Chicken
There’s nothing wrong with being a little, er, chicken, during Halloween. Smaller kids will love dressing up as this adorable clucker.
How to do it: Cut a red glove about an inch from the fingers, stuff it with tissues and stitch it to the crown of an oversized hooded top. Stuff the hood with a cushion and tack-stitch yellow feather boas all over the top (stitches can later be removed). You’ll need about five boas for a costume that will fit a 5-year-old. Put on a pair of tights and then carefully slip on the top, stuffing it with cushions or towels to fatten it up. Stuff the ends of a pair of yellow gloves with tissues and then slip the gloves onto your feet. Cluck!
Strange New Land
We were in unfamiliar territory, and yet we were home. When I was a child, my family moved to the US from Taiwan; we arrived with suitcases and a few phone numbers, and settled down as best as we could. We moved from the East to the West, but I bet new expats in Beijing won’t have much trouble identifying with our experience.
The move was a planned one, so we had expected certain things to be quite different. Like the language. For months before the move, my parents, sister, brother and I had attended classes as a family, shouting out sentences in unison, trying to master the melodic tones of this foreign tongue. As for food, my parents were positive that what passed for cuisine in this new place couldn’t possibly match the tastes of home. Fruits and vegetables wouldn’t be as fresh; fish and meat would come in unrecognizable packages.
But so much else was also different, and the list of changes we never anticipated ballooned.
Young Nomads
Expat kids and the school of hard knocks
They speak three languages, have jam-packed passports, and have studied among students from all over the world. These are “third-culture kids”; they don’t belong fully to China or to their home country – their identities come from their experiences of living abroad long-term. When parents have jobs that require relocating to a new country, their young globetrotters face a slew of adjustments unique to their transition overseas.
The good news, according to psychologists at international schools in Beijing, is that adolescents don’t necessarily have more emotional problems even though they’re adjusting to the transition of a move to school in a new country.
“They’re expats, but I don’t think the issues are really any different for these kids,” says American Steven Sutherford, a psychologist at the International School of Beijing (ISB). “They still have the same issues of growing up – they are at the age where they begin to push away and deal with the challenges of making friends and being a student.”
Trick or Treat...and Trust
Learning to let go
He was a puppy in Russia and a bird in Armenia, back when he was too young to choose his own costume. He was Bob the Builder in Kazakhstan, and he refused to take the costume off for a full week after Halloween. Back home again in America, he discovered superheroes and Star Wars, so he struggled with the choices before finally settling on Batman.
We’ve celebrated Halloween all across the globe, but nowhere is the holiday quite as popular as right here in Shunyi. Last year, on our first Chinese Halloween, we ran out of candy within an hour. Witches, skeletons and other frightening creatures overran our neighborhood, proffering goody bags in tiny hands as they darted from house to house.
History Comes Full Circle
Daniel and his great-grandfather
Even before I got engaged to my now wife Su, I had heard horrible things about how much Chinese families “welcome” laowai interlopers to steal their daughters. Luckily, in my case, I found this to not to be true. Not only that, but I also soon discovered that there was actually a cosmopolitan streak in her family: my wife Su’s granddad (Laoye) came from a cosmopolitan upbringing in pre-war Shanghai. Moreover, back in the days when ganbei was about the only word of Chinese I knew, it was an unlooked-for blessing to find that I could even communicate with him directly – after a fashion, at least. Laoye spoke French, a language I used to mangle at school.
Top Ten Things to Do in October
1. beijingkids Little Pirate Hunt
Avast, me mateys! beijingkids is calling all little pirates and treasure seekers on Saturday, Oct 25 from 11.30am to 2.30pm for lunch and a hunt for precious booty at Ritan Park. If it’s a swashbuckling pirate’s life for you, then come eat, swig some kid-friendly grog, enjoy the sunshine (before winter sets in!), and play games to win gifts and other exciting prizes. Forgot your eye patch or pet parrot? Don’t worry, me hearties, we’ll paint you up like Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean – but we won’t make you walk the plank! For families with kids ages 3 to 10. Space is limited to the first 100 pirates that sign up by Oct 22; RMB 80 per person. For more information, contact Serena Li at 5820 7700 ext. 853 or email marketing@beijing-kids.com .
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.
Autumn Pickings
Catch the best of Xiangshan’s multi-hued beauty
photos by Jeff Warrington
When was the last time you picnicked in an emperor’s country estate? Seven hundred years ago, Jin dynasty emperors looking for a rustic getaway from Beijing settled on Fragrant Mountain, or Xiangshan, located in the northwest suburban areas of the city. They built imperial palaces and temples on the mountain, which for the next several centuries became an exclusive resort for royal families during summer and autumn.
It wasn’t until 1956 that regular Beijingers could also visit Fragrant Mountain, a spot that the Chinese rank alongside other local treasures such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Besides more than 180 acres of rolling hills, characterized by an array of centuries-old pine trees and maple trees, and a peak that soars half a kilometer into the sky, Xiangshan also provides hiking paths and numerous temples, pavilions and pagodas that will appeal to families looking for a day trip.
The Expat Gap
Sometimes, it all seems too foreign. But with a little effort, you can bridge the gap
After months, perhaps years, of planning, you made it to China at last. Now what? This place, with its tangle of roads and signs in Chinese, can seem so intimidating that you’d be forgiven if you’re tempted to stay indoors and watch your new ayi mop the floor. Or maybe you’ll be so relieved to learn one of your neighbors is from your home country that you’ll break down in tears when she invites you over for coffee.
It isn’t always easy for expats to break through the cultural and linguistic barriers that prevent them from fully experiencing China. Some people give up entirely, settling into a routine that includes playdates and entertainment just like what they had back home. But, with a little bit of effort, you’ll find it possible to escape your expat circles and learn to maneuver outside of your comfort zone. Heck, you might even make a Chinese friend or two. So let’s get started.
