Josh and Tifani Sadek are originally from Lakeville, Minnesota, where they both attended high school and university. They are both teachers at International School of Beijing. Josh teaches middle school math and science, while Tifani teaches high school health and physical education. They have two daughters: Taylor (age 9) and Jasmine (age 7). The Sadeks have lived in La Paz, Bolivia and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and have called Beijing home for the past seven years.
Favorite Day Trips
Panjiayuan Market, early morning visits to the Temple of Heaven, or parts of the Great Wall
Favorite Family Restaurants
The Orchard, Grandma’s Kitchen, Mrs. Shanen’s, Element Fresh, and Sichuan Yaodianzi Restaurant at Wanke City Garden are all very family-friendly.
Favorite Places to Shop
Furniture shopping at Radiance, Tong Run Furniture, George’s Lamps, and Beijing’s various flower markets. The new Indigo Mall makes shopping for kids a lot easier – but everyone needs the occasional day of bartering at Yashow Market.
Weekend Activities
There is always something on at ISB; it’s our one stop for entertainment. We also make a day out of going to Megabox Cinema at Sanlitun Village. If you enjoy sports like us, there is usually a pick-up game or league to get involved in: pilates, yoga, touch rugby, Heyrobics – you can find it all in Beijing.
Family Rituals
Every Friday is pizza and movie night. We also head to Capital Community Church on Sundays.
Favorite Snacks
Ice cream from Baskin Robbins at Pinnacle Plaza, smoothies from Element Fresh, chai lattes at Blue Mango, and the sticky rice and red bean dessert at Yaodianzi.
Kids Beg Us to Go
Both girls love to swim; they’re with Aqua Warriors. The Grand Hyatt has a great indoor pool.
Date Night
Houhai is great; you never have to do or eat the same thing twice. Sanlitun Village is easy and has plenty of restaurants to choose from. We’ve also taken advantage of some of the natural hot springs near Shunyi, like Zhongjia Hot Spring.
photo by VivaXiao Photography Studio
This article originally appeared on p88 of the beijingkids June 2013 issue.
Check out the PDF version online at Issuu.com