While I was gone...

Dear friends and readers,
I have to admit of a great guilt towards you. I had promised I would write. And then I left you in the dark, busy with teachings and other projects. And even when the semester was over, I still did not come back towards you. You have certainly felt abandoned, with reasons... And despite good times, holidays, travels and other memorable moments since my last post, I did not write. Despite the guilt. Or maybe because of it.
A blog feels sometimes as easy to maintain as a potted flower. Just a bit of attention, a bit of water, and it will grow. But once you stop feeding the flower, it dries up and looses its petals, and then even if the plant is still alive, it takes time to burgeon again....
In other words, I guess I have been suffering from some writer's block.
While feeling blocked in front of the page means no single word written, it does not mean no thoughts... While I was "away", I collected ideas, pictures and words, and I will try my best now to catch up with you and share them...

I am still around, just busy

Family, Friends, Readers from all over...


I am still around and I have not forgotten you. But I am currently lecturing at the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture （北京建筑工程学院）and all my free time is now devoted to preparing my weekly conferences. I will be back online shortly, the semester will be over sometime in June.  I will be back soon...

Kids Love

With their "one kid only" allowance, the Chinese can't help longing for more and more "baby time". They completely go gaga for kids, specially the 外国的 "wayguo" ones, the forginer kids.  Their features, complexion, hair and eyes colors mesmerizing them, when it is not their "tricks". 

Since we are here, I have witness first hand how much they love kids. Of course, it has certainly something due to the one child policy.  But I think it goes beyond that. In general, Asia is a culture fascinated with kids stuff, and China is no different on the matter.

Since our arrival in Beijing, Noam was picked up countless amount of times by pure strangers. He was even extricated of his high chair in a restaurant, without any attempt to check if OK with the parents (us). In numerous places we have seen him being entertained by a group of staff, everyone leaving their tasks to play with him, to free our hands while we eat, for exemple. Strangers would follow us to take his picture, or ask us to pose with him. Other would give him candies, cookies or balloons. People would turn around and comment on him, on his hair or his smile. And they still do today. Here is a shot taken in Chengdu, where Noam is definitely the center of attention!

But the arrival of Emmanuel has shifted the center of attention away from Noam. It even shocked me when we just returned from Washington after the birth. "Hey, Ho! Look at the big kid too, you can see his big blue eyes too! He still needs your attention!"
If I stay standing still in a public place for a few minutes, with Emmanuel in my arms, it is a matter of a couple minutes for someone to approach us. Then, there is this very gentle clapping of the hands done while smiling and cooing at him, followed by a soft opening of the hands, palms open towards the sky. These hands are saying: "Come in my arms, baby!" Everyone does it, everyone loves doing it! Waiters at restaurants, clerks in stores, grandmas around the parks, young men in computer stores, even grumpy taxi drivers. It is funny. And Emmanuel enjoys jumping in new arms, he smiles and grins happily. I guess his enthusiasm might eventually wear off, as Noam's did, after countless strangers saying exactly the same things, touching and grabbing endlessly.
Indeed, Noam now is not only not interested, he hides behind my legs when strangers comes too close, and he resist most conversations people would want to start with him, mostly by doing some kind of high pitch squeal. I also have been over time dealing with it differently. At first, I was extremely reluctant to let Noam being picked up by a stranger. Dirty hands? Maybe. But not only. Certainly the frustration at times that I was not addressed by the stranger, or that my child was taken out of my sight (maybe not far but still)... At others, maybe the sense that we have just become a live walking show or zoo animals... Then one day I gave a yoga class to a couple of Beijing moms. One came with her mother, and each with her child. I gave my lessons, and midway, one child cried a bit and grandma picked him up. A few minutes later the other one started fussing and not his mom, but the other one bend down to take care of him. This little baby exchange enlightened me a bit on how flexible and sincere their care and love of the children are. (Of course we are not talking here about issues related to sex selection for their unique child...)  Since my arrival in Beijing, I have learned to relax and encourage Noam's interaction with the crowd. And with time, I came to appreciate the help and the good intentions, and even the attention (unless in Chinese tourists hangout).

So for Chinese New Year, Paul's office gathered all the staff, spouses and children. And within ten minutes, my hands were freed from Emmanuel, as he was carried away by a bunch of Paul's giggling and ecstatic co-workers. At some point I attempted to recuperate him before his nap, to feed him, unsuccessfully. He was a star, and as the perfect little baby, only smiled and cooed. 

A Quick Smile

Those Pretty Mountains - Part Two : Yangshuo

January 1st, to start the year, we left Guilin by car to Yangshuo, a little locality upstream of the Li. It is set in a little piece of flat land nested between numerous karst peaks. This image found on Wikipedia really shows it best how Yangshuo is  physical setting.

So far Yanshuo is probably the smallest locality I have been since in China - only 300,000 inhabitants! It is mainly a backpacker town, with tourists coming to bike, hike or climb the karsts, or to drift on the small bamboo rafts.
Of course going in the middle of the winter is not the best. The temperature, even if about 15 degrees warmer than Beijing, remains cold and the humidity (and lack of heating in most buildings) makes it a bit uncomfortable. And the rain is intermittent, not preventing us from going around, but certainly a deterrent to any kind of physical activity, specially with the kids.
We checked in our little inn, basic comfort but cool. After discovered the Wii in the lounge, we headed down on the river for a little ride on a bamboo raft.
Despite the cold and the drizzling rain, there was something very peaceful about riding on the water, with the scenery changing fluidly between small peaks, as they appeared out of the mist in front of us, reflected in the moving waters.

An inspired 20 Yuan note...
We landed on the city dock, and started the exploration of Yangshuo.


an old man and his cormoran trained for fishing















In the evening, we went to see a show called "Impression on Sanjie Liu". It is an huge event taking place near Yangshuo, in natural stage with the river as stage and several peeks as backdrop. Directed by Zhang Yimou (who did Hero, Raise the red lantern, Olympics 2008), about 600 actors play on and along the Li river. Despite the rain and the cold, the show really was magic, the beautiful music, dresses and lightshow gave us the feeling of being in the middle of a fairytale.

Those Pretty Mountains - Part One : Guilin

Since we talked about moving in Beijing, there has been a place in China that I really wanted to see.  It is one of those places that are part of this unconscious vague image of China: a few steep but small mountains, with their tops obstructed by the clouds, their still image reflecting in the water of a calm river, cut by the passage of a old man fishing on a bamboo raft.

Guangxi-Guilin-Yanshou

And so for Christmas Paul offered me a trip to go see these places.  What a wonderful wonderful surprise!

So family-style we pack everyone and went onto our plane (Without the diaper bag, forgotten at home. But I am digressing, this is a totally different story).

Here is a glance at my first sight of the Guangxi region, from the plane:

First destination: 桂林 Guilin.

Known for its scenery, the city is sparkled by these steep rock formation, the karst peaks. These little pointy mountains are covering the whole region. In fact its landscape is so special that the city was used as a setting for decor of the planet Kashyyk in Star Wars Episode III.  Here is the view from our hotel room:

The next day, we took the morning to find the zoo, and say hi to the pandas. As usual, their sight that makes Noam quite happy. But with their stained yellowed fur, I really can't help finding the poor guys a bit dirty. And lazy, as they eat bamboo shoots and scratch themselves snail-paced. The little red pandas look much more playful, like furry little bears with long tails.

The Li River serpentine through the city. Its scenery is also found on the back of the 20 Yuan bills. Its  urban shores have been landscaped in a lovely way. At night boats take passengers around the city for a lovely tour, leaving from Fir Lake. It was a real surprise for me to see such beautiful manmade scenery in  an urban setting. Too many times, the Chinese way landscaping and decorating verges on the kitsch. But there, with the meandering of the river, the pretty white bridges, the carved pagodas, with the karst mountains as a background,

Back to the hotel, once the boys in bed, we celebrated the beginning of the new year with the soft sound of the champagne bubbles for only popping noises, since fireworks here are kept for the "real" new year in a couple months.

Welcome 2010!

Happy New Year!