beijingkids Magazine - Latest articles
Beijing Mamas at Solana
Cecil Song
Where are you from?
South Korea
How long have you lived here?
One year.
Do you have kids?
I have a 1-year-old boy.
What do you do in Beijing?
I don’t work here. I used to be a fashion designer in South Korea.
Where do you like to shop?
In Solana, Pacific Century Place and shopping malls in Wangjing.
Where is your husband from?
He’s Chinese. We met in France. I don’t speak Chinese; we speak French to each other.
Why were you in France?
Learning French and studying fashion at Esmod.
In the Mind's Eye
Young painters explore at 3i Art Center
Michelangelo, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso all displayed a passion and talent for art before the age of 10 – a testament to how important the formative years are for young artists. “It’s so important for kids to have a good foundation in art and imagination – it will help them their entire life,” says Ivy Yang, founder of 3i Art Center.
The art center, which has branches in Chaoyang and Haidian, offers classes designed to foster inspiration, innovation and imagination – the three i’s behind the name – in young kids, and lessons often appeal to kids’ love of unusual, fun materials.
The Art of Mothering
Muralist Jiang Zhuqing on creating art and family
On a recent Tuesday, painter Jiang Zhuqing had yet to put the finishing touches on work that would soon be on public display. As part of Common Ground, a digital art festival that takes place at the Huan Tie Art Museum from November 9 to 19, Jiang plans to show an abstract creation that use cassette tape ribbon and black hair clips to embroider a human shape.
Titled Li Yue (礼 乐), or “Etiquette, Music,” these works are part of a series Jiang calls Tian Ren He Yi (天人合一), or “The Combining of Humans and Nature.” She says she hopes to make people think about the important relationship between human beings and the world.
In a few weeks time, more than 40 artists from around the world will present works on the theme of the environment. Jiang, an associate professor at Tsinghua University’s Academy of Art and Design, decided to take part in Common Ground after she saw how innovative the other artists’ works were.
Money Talks
Spendthrift or cheapskate?
Whether you have an addiction for designer headbands like Gossip Girl queen bee Blair Waldorf or you save your pennies for rainy days (or mutual funds), what you do with your money says a lot about you. Do teenagers save? What are they buying? And does nationality influence how you spend your cash? Grade 10 and 11 students from the Beijing World Youth Academy sat down with beijingkids to discuss that little thing called money.
What do you spend money on?
Laura: I spend money on lunch, clothes and drinks.
Frank: My parents give me a set amount of money per semester, and I don’t usually save it. Eventually all the money goes to taxi cabs when I go to the CD Center, Wangfujing, places around Wangjing, or for playing football.
Ernest: I don’t get an allowance, but if I have a reason, my parents will give me money. If there’s more left, I usually save it for taxis or buying food.
YeiYoung: I get 100 kuai per month from my parents. About 40 percent of it I give to church, and the rest goes to clothes.
Not A Native Speaker
Am I Malaysian enough?
Kepada pelawat-pelawat, kami ucapkan selamat datang ke Malaysia. Kepada warga Negara Malaysia, kami ucapkan selamat pulang,” chirped the overhead speakers of the airplane upon landing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“Visitors, welcome to Malaysia. Malaysians, welcome home,” translated the English announcer. Ironically, I, a Malaysian, could not understand the message welcoming me in my own “native” language.
I was on my yearly holiday in my own country. Owing to my father’s work, my family moved to China when I was 3, and since then we’ve taken a two-week-long holiday in Malaysia every year. For my whole life, I have been attending international schools: an American school in Qingdao, a Canadian school in Dalian and finally a British school in Beijing. Therefore, English can be considered my first language. Being ethnic Chinese and living in China, I can also speak Chinese fluently. But what is the point of being bilingual when I can’t speak my native language, Malay?
The Xu’s
Originally from Shanghai, Bing Xu, Lisa Li and kids Vivian (10) and Matthew (9) returned to China in 2005 after ten years in Detroit, Michigan. Bing works for Chrysler and Lisa is a relocation consultant for Pricoa. This Chaoyang-based family loves Beijing’s rich culture and blend of the traditional with the ultra modern.
Would you like to share your Beijing Favorites? E-mail editor@beijing-kids.com.
Beijing Snack Food
We really like jiaozi, jianbing and lüdagun, a red bean sauce rolled up in sticky rice dough. It’s cold and sweet.
Place for Weekend Fun
The kids love Chaoyang Park because it has everything they want – outdoor and indoor play, swimming in summer, ice skating in winter and great restaurants nearby for lunch. The park also holds international festivals that are great fun.
For Better & For Worse
Your dishes may break in a move. Here’s how to ensure your marriage doesn’t.
Jennifer* had just moved to a new city where she knew no one when her husband of four years sprung the news: He was leaving on a three-month assignment to another country. Furious, this Beijing resident and mother of two did the only logical thing she could think of: she locked her husband out of the bedroom.
The couple worked through their problems and stayed together – they’re even expecting their third child early next year. But, recalls Jennifer, it wasn’t easy weathering that three-month separation with neither family nor friends nearby.
Going Local
Is total immersion in Chinese schools right for your kid?
When Mareno Rathell came to Beijing from the US in 2005, he had big hopes for his kids’ education. He enrolled his youngest son, 9-year-old Zevi, into a local Chinese school in Haidian district, where Zevi was one of the few foreign students. It seemed like an ideal situation – his children had a chance to learn about Chinese culture and develop fluent Mandarin skills, while benefiting from the strong training in subjects such as math and science that Chinese schools are known for.
“I believe that Chinese kids receive an excellent grade and middle school education,” says Rathell, “and my kid could only benefit from studying with them.”
But the reality was far from ideal. In a completely unfamiliar cultural environment, Zevi encountered far greater difficulties than Rathell had expected.
Mum's Identity Crisis
Elsa goes to kindergarten
One of my earliest childhood memories is of my mother carting me around to various playschools in the neighbourhood, trying to find one I’d stay at without bawling. So it was disconcerting to find myself introducing Elsa to her local kindergarten last week. My daughter is now doing things I can recall experiencing myself. So if she’s taken on my old role, I must be … the mum.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that I’d have noticed this earlier. Childbirth is not exactly something you forget. But until my faded memories collided with Elsa’s current reality, I had somehow remained in denial. Mothers are responsible. They know how to fix things. They are old. I’m definitely having a delayed identity crisis.
Are We There Yet, Dad?
How expat life made our kids great travelers
My kids trudged through the passport control line sleepily but without whining or stumbling, and I realized I was giving myself way too much credit.
I sat in the dark room, rubbed my eyes and tried to psyche myself up for the monumental task in front of me. It was 12.30 at night and I was in New Dehli, propped up in the guest bed of dear friends who had recently relocated from Beijing.
My kids were sleeping all around me but in 15 minutes I would be rousing them and carrying them to a waiting car to drive to the airport and board a plane with the ridiculous departure time of 3.15am. And I would be doing it on my own, as my wife was staying in India for a few more days.
