Day One: One World, One Dream (Part One)

After spending most of the day traveling via bullet train to Tokyo, we flew into Terminal 3 of the Beijing Capital International Airport Wednesday night (Nov 26). Terminal 3 was constructed specifically for the Summer Olympic Games. It is the prettiest airport terminal I have ever seen. Being able to travel in Beijing the same year as the Olympics was intriguing. I also think we greatly benefited from all of the "improvements" and construction to prepare for the Olympics. Although we had heard many horror stories of the poor air conditions and the filth of the city, we didn't have any problems during our trip. It was also pretty neat to see all the posters, Olympic venues, and memorabilia.

Beijing is the capital of China, and has been since the 13th century. It is home to more than 15 million people. It is quite modern while remaining very traditional. As we toured different parts of the city, we would often marvel at the enormity of the city.

We checked into our room at the Capital Hotel Beijing where the rooms were 3 times the size of any Western Hotel we have stayed at in Tokyo. Our hotel was only a few short blocks away from Tiananmen Square so it made sense to begin our sight seeing there on Thursday (Nov 27).

Some very quick side notes: We went on this trip with our good friends (and neighbors) Steve and Shannon. They both made excellent traveling companions and we didn't even get sick of one another! (Well, at least I think so...you may have to ask them how sick they are of us!) It was also nice to always have a photographer for family photos! Also, our tour guide was 'Mark'. His Chinese name was much to complex for us lame westerners, so he goes by Mark. We all enjoyed his knowledge, humor, candor, and experience.

Strolling though Tiananmen Square was one of the many highlights of the trip. This is such a historic and iconic location in China. It is also said to be the largest public square in the world. Jacob was clearly a bit too sleepy to notice we were standing in front of the portrait of Chairman Mao at the Gate of Heavenly Peace. This square and the Forbidden City had the most obvious military presence.

Next was the Forbidden City. This site is enormous. The "city" was built for the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. There are dozens of temples and halls where the emperors would have overseen celebrations, rituals, sacrifices, and civil matters. This was the coldest day while we were in China and certainly the windiest. Although we were all bundled up, Jacob soon grew bored of all the walking and blustery winds.

I'll post Part Two ASAP.

Confucius Say: Forget the Turkey, Enjoy the Duck

Well, we have conquered Beijing. Jason, Jacob, and I opted to skip the turkey this year and spend our Thanksgiving holiday in Beijing, China. We went with a tour group sponsored by the Misawa Base and were joined by our pals Steve and Shannon, as well as several of our neighbors. Jason and I have never traveled with a "tour group" before, so we were a bit leery. But we had an amazing time, and we have more pictures than we know what to do with. I have decided the best way to share our pics and stories will be to write a post for every day we were in Beijing.

Before I begin, I need to brag for a moment. Jacob was, again, a terrific traveler. Our flight back into Tokyo at the end of this trip marked the 16th plane trip in his 16 months of life. He was as popular with the Chinese as he is with the Japanese. Everyone from our tour guide to random ladies in the street were drawn to him. Jacob is without a doubt, our little world traveler. Only once did he break down in inconsolable tears. Apparently he was not very excited about the 3 hour walking tour of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City on our first day. But the rest of the time he was an angel. One of Jason's nick-names for Jacob is "Little Man". Since our trip, I have been referring to Jacob as "Little China Man"

Stay tuned for more posts and pics of our Thanksgiving trip to Beijing.

May the Force Be With You

(Sorry about the delay in between posts.)

Halloween was an eventful week for all of us.

Wednesday (Oct 29) was the 35th Med Group's Halloween Day. All of the staff were encouraged to dress up during the day, and in the afternoon, the kids of the Med Group were invited to Trick-or-Treat around the hospital. First things first, Jason decided to dress up as a pregnant women. Yes! You read that correctly. He tried on several of my maternity tops but none of them "worked out" as he hoped. So he strategically placed one of Jacob's stuffed animals under his scrubs, borrowed a lady's wig, stuffed a bra, and went to work. He was quite the hit, as you could imagine. The OBGYN clinic had more foot traffic than usual because so many people stopped by to see Jason's costume. He even had to lead a "New OB" class that morning filled with 10 newly pregnant ladies. I'm sure they were happy to see their doctor has a sense of humor.

So, as Jason is experiencing some of the joys of pregnancy at work, I had a very busy day. I have officially joined the club of mothers who run around like Crazy Ladies to prepare their child's Halloween costume. Jacob is not even old enough to eat the candy, let alone know what is going on, so why do I care? Well, I CARE! So I ran around like a Crazy Lady to get supplies to fix Jacob's costume. What I had bought didn't work (darn Velcro). So with 15 minutes to spare, I demanded my friend Shannon to help me on the spot. Not to mention, I made brownies for the OB/GYN Clinic and Labor/Delivery Staff and somehow managed to get to my Pilates class and have a few moments of peace. Whew!

Jacob made his Official Halloween debut promptly at 4PM at the Hospital with all the other children. Jacob was in heaven. He LOVED seeing all the other kids in costumes. Jacob also LOVED Jason's costume, and giggled when he saw his Daddy in a wig. To his credit, most of us laughed when we saw Jason in a wig. We brought Jacob's newly procured "push toy" and walked all around the hospital with the other children getting candy from all the different services. Jacob, who doesn't have quite enough teeth to eat the candy, quickly realized the fun in this Trick-or-Treat game. He walked up to the person handing out candy, smiled and waved until that person lowered the candy bowl, and finally took a few pieces of candy and put them in his push toy compartment. Everyone LOVED him! And, have I mentioned he was the most darling Yoda any of us have ever seen (Are Star Wars characters supposed to be called "Darling"). I was personally devastated when Jacob did not win the kids' costume contest (That darn Snow White got the best of us).

Thursday, Jason and I decided to let Jacob "help" carve a pumpkin. Who would have guessed what would happen that evening? Jacob was so excited as we brought the pumpkin inside and set up the carving area. After Jason opened the pumpkin, Jacob giggled as he squished his hands through the guts. And then......he vomited everywhere. Luckily he missed the pumpkin. We chalked it up to too much excitement right after dinner, went upstairs, cleaned him up and changed his clothes. All the while, Jacob was so excited to get downstairs and get back to that pumpkin! Once back to the scene, he climbed up to look inside the pumpkin, and yep....AGAIN, vomited. Poor thing! Needless to say, Jason stayed in the kitchen to carve the pumpkin alone, and Jacob and I went into the other room. Clearly our son does not like the smell of raw pumpkins. However, he LOVES pumpkin bread, so go figure. And the thing of it is, Jacob, even after getting sick twice, tried his hardest to get back into the kitchen and help carve that pumpkin! This pic was taken just before he got sick the first time.

Ok, so last but not least...the BIG NIGHT! HALLOWEEN! Several neighbors, Jason and I teamed together to host a "Haunted Patio!" The Watts were gracious enough to volunteer their front patio, and Jason, Chad, John, and Jaelyn put on quite a show. Misawa Base invites Japanese children and their families to dress up and Trick-or-Treat on base. And WOW, do they show up! I have never seen so many Trick-or-Treaters in my life! There were lines steady at homes for hours....or until the candy ran out. One of our neighbors bought 35 bags of candy, and it was all gone in less than 2 hours!! The Haunted Patio was a hit! Chad had to enact crowd control to only let 4-5 kids in at a time. We are proud to report WE had candy left over!!! Mostly due to the time it took to escort children through the spectacle, but also because some kids would run away after getting spooked and forget about grabbing some candy. This video has HORRIBLE lighting, but the audio of the Japanese kids getting spooked is priceless.

Jacob had fun reprising his role as Yoda. It was chilly, very crowded and the Japanese kids swarmed us to check out Jacob's light saber, so we didn't Trick-or-Treat too long. Overall though, Jacob's second Halloween (almost a week's worth) were a huge success!