January, 2009

In my previous blog I mentioned that I would perform practical yet humiliating tasks in Chinese in order to my pass my knowledge onto beijingkids readers. Without realising quite what I was getting myself into, I decided to book myself a haircut (yu ding yi ge jian fa de shi jian 预订一个 剪发的时间) with a Chinese hairdresser and place my language to the ultimate first test.

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With Barack Obama officially sworn in as the forty-fourth president of the United States, it’s time to recognize another first: a multigenerational family in the White House. First Granny Marian Robinson has taken up residence with the Obamas to do what she’s done for years -- help take care of Sasha and Malia.

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It’s been a hellish week at work with meetings, meetings, stress and more stress – not to mention a sinus infection that I can’t shake. All this melted away, however, when my baby produced what every new parent pines for: her first words. “Baba.” (“爸爸”)

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Cecily Huang first introduced the Chinese custom of “zhua zhou” (抓周) in the December 2007 issue of the magazine. The practice, which dates back to the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-280), is an “ancient method of predicting an infant’s future career” and involves having your child pick from a selection of items representing different professions (i.e. a sword for a military career, or a brush to foretell tenure at some prestigious Ivy League school). 

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I have lived in Beijing for almost two years and my Chinese is, well, terrible.
 
My partner is Chinese-born, Australian raised, and though his reading and writing are pretty poor (sorry honey), his speaking is damn good. I’m constantly being told “But your partner is Chinese, that must help.” No it does not, and if people say that to me one more time I will scream. For sheer ease and efficiency, he performs most of the language intensive chores such as banking and anything over the phone, leaving me and my poor Chinese to struggle limply behind him.
 
 

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A young couple recently made the news when the police prevented them from eloping. Mika and Anna-Lena had decided, amidst New Year's celebrations, to fly to Africa “where it is warm” for a spontaneous wedding. The two packed all the holiday essentials and made their way to Hanover train station in Germany to wait for the airport express. Anna-Lena asked her older sister to accompany them in the role of official witness, displaying a certain amount of rationality behind the decision.

But the sweethearts’ plans were foiled when they aroused the suspicion of a security guard. Who wouldn't be suspicious upon seeing three unaccompanied kids waiting for a train?

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Fido can live forever, it turns out, if you’re able to fork over a six-figure sum. Well, sort of. Scientists at a biotech company in California have successfully cloned five dogs for their owners, most of whom paid between $130,000 and $170,000. While the puppies don’t look or behave exactly the same as their predecessors, who would complain about the opportunity to spend another blissful decade or two with the genetic twin of a beloved pet?

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The International Herald Tribune has an interesting article about the phenomenon of Chinese parents’ efforts to send their kids to Ivy League schools – an aspiration that’s so widespread, it’s spawned an entire genre of books the subject.
 

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Both CNN andthe China Daily have reported a 19 year-old woman has died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Beijing this past Monday. She had been ill since December 24th. According to The Ministry of Health, there have been no further outbreaks and no one else has been infected with the virus.

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I came across an article in The Australian that made my heart turn into flowery, romantic mush. It was about first loves reuniting after years and lives apart. Whether it was 20, 40 or even 60 years since they’d last seen each other, the couples all spoke about how lucky they were to have a second chance at first love.

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I recently returned from a six-week sojourn in the States, where I was caring for my ailing mother. This time was the longest I’ve ever spent apart from my young family.
 
Stateside was, as you can imagine, gloomy. Aside from a few long weeks spent in the hospital, my time there was overshadowed by news of the recession. I found my main solace in talking with my wife via cheap trans-Pacific phone cards and Skype video. Being able to call home at just about any time was a real boon, though I still missed my family.
 

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A recent survey conducted by charity organization YouGov found sex to be Britons’ most popular free past time. In this time of economic doom and gloom, sex ranked above window shopping and gossiping as the best way to while away the penniless hours. Without sounding smug, I think I could’ve told you that and saved the researchers the trouble of interviewing 2,000 Brits.
 
Not only is sex good for your wallet, it’s apparently good for your health too. The general rule is that sex gives your heart a good work out, but an article in Forbes online had a biological shopping list of benefits. Sex is good for everything from keeping colds at bay to reducing depression and improving your sense of smell.
 

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