One thing that’s nice about having twins here is no one pays much attention to the foreigner anymore. Everywhere we go it takes people all of two seconds to say “twins!” and go on about how cute they are. I think I’ve only once heard a comment about the fact they were with a foreign woman, when someone commented as I was passing with one in my arms “the foreigner has a Chinese child”. I’m not sure whether they thought I had adopted, was the nanny or was actually the mother. One old lady in our compound thought I was the granny. We debated dyeing my hair – the Chinese absolutely cannot stand having white hair and you even see men picking it out of their wife or mother’s hair. It surprises me in a culture that is supposed to value the old so much.

All the comments and attention Ethan and Isaac get do get old though. Generally, I just ignore them unless someone addresses me directly, which is only about half the time, most people assuming I don’t understand Chinese. People always try to talk to them and we have to explain that they don’t speak Chinese yet. Jack is getting better about speaking Chinese to them and I really hope they will pick some up and at the very least Jack will keep it up when we get back home. They are getting a bit less shy, though of course the other kids can’t understand when they do try to talk to them, such as a 2-year-old that’s always around the compound with her grandma who takes care of her 24/7. They used to get really scared when she tried to play with them, would cry and cling to me. Once they spent more time around her, they would want her to go with them or want to go to her house and one day when they really wanted a sucker (the daily ritual that Ethan begs for), they tried to get her one too, but her grandma refused, said she doesn’t eat candy. Still, the language of play pervades. They had a great time with a 5 ½ year-old on the train a couple days ago (see below). They annoyed him to no end, but he seemed to enjoy it. His mother was nice too, and bought them all some popcorn (“American taste” it said, which apparently means strawberry flavored). They live in Xian towards the west and were trying to get away from the aftershocks of the earthquake for a while and had come to see her sister in Beijing. Apparently well-to-do too, and she had another 15-year-old back home. Not sure how they got to have two, I’m guessing her husband must be something in government.

One thing people do comment about the boys is how skinny they are. Apparently it’s better for kids to be chubby while grown girls will starve themselves. Jack always worries about this and they are actually starting to get better at eating more interesting things. For veg, we have to rely on raw celery and carrots and steamed broccoli, but at least that’s something. They love any kind of meat, even spicy and Ethan even downed a couple pieces of soy-saucey-doused potato today. They even eat some dumplings and especially do well with the baozi we eat for breakfast (similar to dumplings).

We have gone on holiday (or “to play”, as the Chinese say) to the Beidaihe seaside, a couple hours from Beijing by fast train. It’s the resort of government workers, active and retired, including the pres and premier. It’s also where we spent a sort of “honeymoon” five years ago, with all the other foreign “experts”. This time, we came to escape the horrible Beijing dust storms. Some days you can’t even see and everything is just covered and it’s hard to breathe. We hope it is settling down by now though. But the beach is very nice. Despite getting on the train being a nightmare – being pushed and shoved everywhere, and rude people cutting right in with no concern about the boys. I had to keep a tight grip on them at all times, which Jack lugged everything around. The train was full too, so the boys had to sit with us, but fortunately it was a short trip and they still enjoyed their first real train ride. On the way to the station, Isaac kept telling me “train happy”. I asked him if going on the train made him happy, and he said “no, train happy”. He also used the label “happy” to refer to the “big kid” they were playing with on the train. Now he says mostly “happy birthday” and can almost sing the song too. Good thing their birthday really is coming.

Jack had booked a hotel with an agent, who actually turned out to be a decent guy. Picked us up at the train station, along with another couple staying at a different hotel. What shocked me was he picked up Isaac to carry him across the street and Isaac didn’t protest in the slightest, and whenever he took their hands they also didn’t object. The first hotel wasn’t great. It was kind of smelly, dirty and uncomfortable and they didn’t have much by way of customer service. So we upgraded to a better one. The same agent picked us up where we were playing on the beach, took us to look at the other hotel, then took us back to finish packing and check out of the other one and then back to book into the new one. It is considerably nicer. It is bigger, cleaner and with full size windows overlooking the sea. The only downside is, it is on the second floor also overlooking the locals’ favorite pee spot. Entertaining, except when we are eating lunch by the window.

The boys love the beach, even if it is a bit dirty and covered in seaweed. They have no problem with that. They pick up shells and rocks and throw them in the water, wade in a bit, get scared and run out. Isaac today was running up a rock incline from the water and jumping in the sand, apparently having learned something from the sports competition we went to. Ethan just wanted to climb the big rocks. I spend most of my time here terrified. The dangers just seem to be so much more. They are at an age where they understand danger, which often makes me let my guard up, but not consistently and there’s just too much potential for harm if I get distracted even for a second. Just after we arrived here at the seaside, Isaac tripped on the rock sidewalk and skinned his knee, then Ethan fell against a pole sticking up out of a concrete block, which would have been okay if it didn’t have a rusty nail sticking out. It scratched his underarm slightly, apparently through his clothes, so I just put ointment on it and it is healing fine. Ethan actually gets lucky most of the time. He tripped on stairs a couple times today but managed to catch himself in a good position to avoid injury.

The constant terror combined with them being fussy a lot of the time and demanding to be carried does make me pretty exhausted. I’m trying to be stricter about not carrying them unless they really need it and make them go to Jack as much as possible, but sometimes they will only be carried and only by mama, and throw the biggest tantrums right in the middle of shopping center, crowded street, zoo, you name it.

Speaking of zoo, we finally made it back there after Isaac’s initial accident (“zoo ouch all gone” he told us). Very disappointing, to the boys because they expected a roller coaster and train like the Indy zoo and to us because you can’t see much without paying extra at each place, which we just on principle weren’t willing to do, especially seeing the poor conditions of some of the animals. Some visitors though were much more upset because they paid a lot for a see-everything ticket and were still told they had to pay more to see everything.

Speaking of exhausted, time to sign off for this long-winded one. Will get as many pics as possible in here soon.

May 22 (One month before the big 3!)

The boys amaze me with their resilience. No matter the long plane ride, jet lag, house moving, they make the best of it. If only we could say the same for ourselves! Because China amazes me less than it used to. Perhaps it’s because the difficulties one encounters here are no longer new enough to be amusing, or perhaps it’s also because we have become a bit to accustomed to our American way of life. Certainly having children makes a big difference. There are new dangers and fears and the exhaustion from walking everywhere with two fussy kids adds up. Still, I was not surprised yet still disappointed when the apartment we chose turned out to be less than ideal. The promised cleaning was a simple mopping, the many assurances that we would only pay the Internet fee and not installation turned out to be false and so on. Personally I don’t mind that much though Jack keeps berating himself for not doing a better job. I do too a bit in the sense of I could have negotiated more myself and been more patient.

However, it’s only 6 weeks and considering the difficulty in getting a short term contract, it’s not bad. There is the “rollercoaster wee wee” (teeter totter) just outside and best of all, our old apartment complex nearby where there is probably one of the only playgrounds in the city. Somehow I never appreciated it when we lived there sans kids! The boys are sometimes impossible with their whining and especially wanting to be carried, patient as I try to be with all the changes in their life, but most of the time they are really good. I went by myself with both of them to Carrefour today, which on a Thursday morning is still as busy as a Wal-Mart in peak hours. They did very well, alternately sitting in the cart and pushing it and walking once we found hot chocolate and popcorn for them to carry and look forward to when we got home.

We were at the local supermarket the other day when Isaac demonstrated his burgeoning negotiating skills. They found a box of robots they of course were desperate to buy. I mainly was trying to ignore them, but Isaac kept jumping up and down and grabbing me and finally came up with “Mama, Isaac poo poo! Isaac poo poo!” Either trying to say he would go poo poo on the potty if I bought the robots or perhaps reminding me that he had indeed done that very thing that morning. He really surprised me then, just took off his diaper, said “poo poo”, got on the potty and did it. Still, we have got them plenty of toys and decided to hold off on that one! He did try something similar again today, when we were leaving the apartment compound and he wanted to be carried. He said “Mama, up! Che che ouch,” pointing to the busy street, meaning I should carry him so the cars didn’t hit him – a danger that doesn’t worry him most of the time!

We have been more or less offline since we moved, so who knows when this will actually be posted. It takes these people some time to come. We found some wireless connections in our building and Jack spent much of yesterday knocking on doors and trying things. One lady we thought was the stronger connection was really nice and let us copy down the number from her modem. Still, it turned out she was the wrong connection, but we can still use hers outside her house or outside the building. Then Jack was working outside and just asking everyone who went in if they were “Laurie Wang”, the name of the connection, unless finally a surprised woman said she was. She gave her connection number but apparently it wasn’t the right one, so we will try again. But hopefully our own will be working tomorrow! Jack has work to do and I need to make sure things are okay with family, tenants, paying bills, etc…At least it makes us appreciative!

In stitches

Less than two days in China, and already we found ourselves at the hospital. Trying to find things to do in a not so kid-friendly city has been a challenge. So we’ve been getting on buses to more familiar locales. We decided to stop at the zoo yesterday, which we’d never had much interest in visiting prior to kids. They have all the animals in glassed cages, though apparently conditions have actually improved in recent years. Not that we saw the much, because Daddy decided it was okay to encourage the boys to walk on some uneven cement blocks and then jump off the last one over some dirt to the pavement. Well, after a few minutes of this, Isaac lost his balance while landing and hit his head on the corner of one of the blocks. We thought initially it was a small cut and were just going to wash and bandage it, but the zoo staff encouraged us to go to the hospital and good we did, since after cleaning it up we could see it was bigger than we thought. The doctor seemed a bit nervous and unpracticed at stitches, but he was good and careful and Isaac barely cried and the wound is healing nicely. Of course he is using it as another badge of honor, or more like excuse to be fussy. We’re not sure how it’s always Isaac who always gets injured (that makes 3 head scars), but we’re grateful he also always gets away with minor ones. And still, he likes doctors. Last night he was laying in bed talking about "doctor help big ouch".

Meanwhile, Ethan continues to demand to be held constantly, which irritates Jack when he refuses to let him carry him! He keeps complaining his knee hurts (the same where Isaac still insists on wearing a bandaid), when the rest of the time he has no problem. It occurred to me today part of the reason, beyond the jet lag, might just be fear of all these strange faces and places – the crowds and traffic can be overwhelming. Still, Ethan for a change is eating much better than Isaac. He loves the “rou si” (meat strips) and even fish, which they’ve never liked before. However, we haven’t found any vegetables they will eat, so we are dosing up on the vitamins! We have also spent too much money on toys already, since we don't have many. But now every time I tell them we can't get something, Ethan says (enunciating pretty clearly), "too much money".

We looked at our first apartment for renting today. Kind of a disaster. Twice as far as she said it would be, and while many improvements had been made, it was still pretty run down and small and not really worth what she was asking. There was a “wee wee” outside with exercise equipment that the boys consider a park, but the whole place was dusty and ugly. We are apparently looking at some equally-priced but nicer ones tomorrow.

One thing I miss is real playgrounds. Parks of some kind are everywhere but there are only these areas for exercise – a great idea but not for kids. We tried a paddle boat on the lake one day, but didn’t stay out long once we realized it wasn’t exactly safe. That didn’t stop another family with three young children and three adults from piling in though! I have generally found that though child safety is not a legal priority, people take great pains to protect them. Children always get the priority for seats on buses and we are always being told to be careful. When Jack put Isaac on a bus seat and went to pay, the lady sitting next to him was very concerned, making sure he held on the bar and casting worried glances his way.

Of course, the boys are also the talk of the town. Everyone, from Chinese to foreigner alike, ooh and ahh over them. Everywhere we go passersby point them out to each other and comment "Twins! How cute!" Some tourists even took a picture of them eating kebabs (see previous post).

I thought jet lag was bad when I was single and childless. With twin toddlers, it’s borderline horrific. Though they might say I’m the one torturing them. Constantly having to wake them up because the plane is landing or car is arriving or because you’re not supposed to nap 5 hours in the day and 4 at night. But at least they get cat naps throughout the day. Ethan is continuing the super fussiness he had before leaving, after his fever, and demands to be carried everywhere. In a way I prefer, though, since the crowds and constant barrage of bikes and cars can be terrifying.

Still, they continue to entertain and are more easily entertained than I would have hoped. Isaac got obsessed with a picture card of a jeep and insisted on “pay car”. He kept talking about it long after the traumatic event of losing said picture card. I asked him where we could pay for the car and he said “store”. I asked “which store?”. He thought about it, threw his arms out and said with a big smile, “big store!”. Ethan then decided to chime in and said “me too, big car”. I said, teasing, “noooo, not a big car!”. He thought, said “hmm, small car!” Thereafter every time Isaac said “big car”, Ethan said “small car”.

First impressions all over again

Waking up on my first morning in China after 3 years, things looked gray and murky. I thought it must cloudy – there were some sprinkles when we arrived the previous night after all. However, it occurred to me that more likely Beijing has not yet cured its pollution problem. And that’s not the only thing still ailing. Right out the window of our friend’s apartment are large hutongs branded “cai” – the mark of demolition - and already in some state of disrepair, but still a long way from being demolished and cleaned up. Still, this hasn’t stopped the lifelong residents from continuing to live in the rubble for as long as possible – so much for them being thrilled by offers of compensation and relocation. Though for many, that is a way of making a living. Our friend in a southern suberb recently had her home demolished and is living comfortably off the compensation. In fact, she had a new home built, ready to be torn down again later for more money.

Looking over several yards to the right of the deconstruction, new construction is going on, and also still a long way from completion. And yet, signs everywhere count down the less than 3 months to the major event of the century.

I fear also for those arriving for the Olympics. Planners had the foresight to build a new international terminal a 10 minute drive from the old one. Does this mean the old one is now defunct? Nope. We arrived at said old one looking everywhere for the friend we knew was meeting us. An hour and several confused phone calls later (wondering why we were both at Starbucks but couldn’t see each other), we discovered she was at the new one. I certainly hope those meeting the Olympic hopefuls and watchers know they’d better look carefully at the arrival terminal.

The taxis have all been cleaned up and increased in price from 1.6 to 2.0 yuan a kilometer. The improvements include white seat covers, but non-functional seat belts in the back. This makes life difficult when traveling with young children. For one thing, it’s hard to keep their feet off the covers so we are constantly facing the ire of cab drivers for sullying their covers, and for another thing, we can’t strap in. I swore if we couldn’t use car seats here, we’d at least better have seat belts. So much for that…

On the plus side, I saw the most shocking thing of my life – people forming a line to wait for the bus. The new and improved ticket-ladyless electric buses, stopping at the designated line and people getting off and on at the designated doors in an orderly manner - I couldn’t believe my eyes. People have also been much more civil and helpful than I recall – helping us get in a faster line at the airport, giving up seats on the bus for the kids… That’s a major improvement. Still, the one thing working well - buses - are probably the one thing that Olympic visitors won’t even have contact with.