All quiet on the blogging front

For the last few weeks, things have been quiet on this blog. Well, I've been busy being on vacation in the Netherlands, catching up with family and friends, and getting over a tragic loss of the Dutch in the finals of the World Cup Soccer. For a while I was too depressed to write a note!

Lots of things have changed though. This week, Paul flew to China, and with his arrival there on July 21 (yesterday), we have now "officially" moved to China. Or at least as far as the World Bank is concerned. The boys and I will be joining Paul in China on August 5.

A snippet of today's conversation between Paul and Simon:

Simon: "Where are you, dad?"
Paul: "In China."
Simon: "Where in China?"
Paul: "In Beijing."
Simon: "But where in Beijing?"

You see, we are zooming in on an actual location. And today Paul signed the lease for our new home in Beijing. Please send your letters and gift packages with stroopwafels, pepernoten, hagelslag and drop to:

203, Beijing Riviera,
No. 1 Xiang Jiang Bei Road,
Chaoyang District,
Beijing, PR China
PC：100103

And if you have an extra moment, you might add:

中国北京市朝阳区香江北路1号香江别墅203
邮编：100103

so the mail delivery person can read it as well. Hhm, I really don't know if you need the Chinese characters for the mail; probably not, but I'll let you know. I'll keep a copy of it in my wallet though, so I can show the taxi driver where to go when I want to go home :-)

In eigen land (a blog post in Dutch)

Een van de leukste boeken die is ooit gelezen heb was "I am a stranger here myself", van Bill Bryson. Bill, een Amerikaan, kwam na 20 jaar in Groot-Brittanie gewoond te hebben weer terug in Amerika en schreef over zijn wederwaardigheden. Het boek komt er op neer dat als je denkt je eigen land te kennen, je nog wel eens voor verrassingen kan komen te staan.

Dit overkomt me eigenlijk deze week. Het is heerlijk weer in Nederland te zijn. Het is prachtig weer en de Nederlandse ploeg gaat gestaag vooruit op het WK voetbal. Maar ik zit nog steeds te haspelen met Euros -- die zijn ingevoerd nadat ik al uit Nederland vertrokken was--, vraag me af of een strippenkaart nog werkt en weet niet hoe "Rivella" smaakt (ook ingevoerd na mijn vertrek). Ik eet stapels boterhammen met kaas om maar een inhaalslag te maken, begrijp de Nederlandse verkeers situaties niet meer (zoveel borden en pijlen op de weg!), en vergeet weer eens in de supermarkt de groentes zelf te wegen (in Amerika worden die bij de kassa voor je gewogen). Ook de kleine porties verbazen me. Het is natuurlijk een cliche dat alles in Amerika "much bigger" is, maar echt, kunnen die glaasjes en kopjes niet een beetje groter?

Ook de speeltuinen zijn verrassend anders hier. Daar heb ik vroeger (na m'n tiende dan) natuurlijk nooit op gelet, maar een niet wetenschappelijke inspectie van speeltuinen suggereert dat speeltuinen in Nederland leuke dingen hebben als kabelbaantjes, familieschommels en draaimolens. Maar ook veel zand (leuk maar stoffig). Amerikaanse speeltuinen zoals ik ze ken draaien meer om een klimrek met glijbanen en hebben allemaal een prachtige kunststoffen ondergrond (zacht met vallen en lekker schoon). Ook lijken voetbal goaltjes hier wat algemener -- maar dat is wellicht niet zo verassend gezien het feit dat het Amerikaanse team inmiddels lekker vanuit huis de verrichtingen van het Nederlandse elftal kan volgen...

Recycling is ook anders hier. In Amerika -- in Washington in ieder geval -- gooi je het groenafval in het afval of spoel je het weg via de "garbage disposal" in de keuken. Blikjes, glas, plastic en papier gaan allemaal door elkaar de recycling bak in. In Nederland betrap ik me er dus steeds op dat ik weer groenafval weggooi of hopeloos rondloop met een verloren blikje dat ik weet niet waar naartoe moet. (En voor de geinteresseerde lezer: Amerika scheidt het afval niet omdat ze het efficienter vinden het gewoon later te sorteren aangezien mensen toch vaak het afval zelf niet helemaal goed scheiden). Het valt me trouwens wel op dat er minder afval ontstaat in een dagje huishouden in Nederland. Ik weet niet of dat is vanwege de kleinere porties of vanwege betere en slimmere verpakkingen. (Of vanwege het feit dat ik niet in m'n eigen huis leef en dus niet de hele tijd zelf de afvalbak leeg.)

Ik zie dus al deze verschillen, maar het leuke van tien jaar buitenland is toch wel dat je wat gematigder wordt in "dit is goed" en "dit is niet goed" in een bepaald land. Ik vind het nu vooral interessant om te zien hoe landen eruit zien, hoe dingen werken en hoe dat samenhangt met de geschiedenis en cultuur. Landen -- net als personen -- maken gewoon verschillende beslissingen over hoe ze alles willen aanpakken, of het nou slim is of niet, daar is wel een reden voor.

In China is straks natuurlijk ook alles anders. Maar misschien helpt het omdat ik het daar verwacht?

In Nederland

I am in the Netherlands! The next phase of our step-by-step move to China. Paul is still in Washington till next week, working with the painters and other people to make our house ready for the future renters. (Oh, and also work...someone still has a job.) And I flew with the boys to Holland yesterday for some quality time with family AND of course being in Holland during the World Cup. Yeah! Thomas was walking through Beek & Donk (where my mom lives) today with his orange shirt on, and the boys got a real big blue Dutch KNVB (Dutch soccer association) soccer ball from grandma. Life is good.

I had hoped to have more time to download pictures, but in the chaos of moving we can't find the cable to download pictures off our camera. Sorry! I would have shown a picture of Simon and Thomas flying in business class. They both had shrimp, soup, chicken ("spicy chicken" Thomas said) for dinner. And after dinner Thomas put on a big act putting on the purple socks handed out by Austrian Airlines ("Soccer socks" Thomas insisted) and the purple mask for your eyes. Unfortunately the mask didn't actually put him to sleep, but encouraged him to goof around till he was about the last business class traveler to fall asleep. Simon, meanwhile, was across the aisle from me and had a more adventurous evening because he got sick from the heavy turbulance. In the end though, we all arrived in Vienna, safe but red-eyed. We spent some hours in the Vienna VIP lounge, eating snacks and playing computer games and Uno, till it was time to board our flight to Amsterdam. From there, it was just an easy (though not short) taxi ride to Beek & Donk, where we arrived just in time to see the Dutch soccer team beat Cameroon. Every house is colored orange or covered in flags here... and I have to say that after 10 years living abroad, this is a lovely sight :-) I never new I could be such a soccer fan or so patriotic!

Goodbye goodbye parties

The seemingly endless flow of goodbye parties is slowly coming to a halt. Yesterday evening was our own "We're not leaving (we are just in denial" Party, and today we got a special farewell at our Capitol Hill United Methodist Church. And after a trip to the swimming pool -- it is excellent summer weather here -- we had dinner at a friends' house for another round of memories and goodbyes.

It's weird. I am not really feeling that I am saying goodbye -- more like I am going on vacation-- though it is quite likely that I won't see my friends and their children for two or three years (if not more). When we're in China, we'll be traveling home to Holland, we also have family in Brasil, and we'll also want to travel in the region, which makes it hard to know when I would have time to come back to the US. Today I said goodbye to a couple children who have been among Thomas' and Simon's best friends for a long time. Simon has had one great friend since he was two months old. Her mom and I would hang out together, and as the babies started crawling they were playing together. I think I can stay in touch with my friends and bridge the gap till when we will live in the same place again, but their kids will be growing up without knowing much about us. I know this is simply what's life is all about: If you move around and see more of the world, it also means that you leave some special people and places behind. (After all, I've done this before when I left Holland). But during my last move there weren's so many kids involved, and I am finding that that makes it a bit different.

On a more positive note: Today at the Church, the congregation wished us well. And -- by their own admission -- embarrassed us by singing a song. You can sing along on the tune of "Leaving on a Jet Plane":


Orient Success

Their bags are packed
They're ready to go
The kids have got
their things in tow
Soon they're gonna walk right out that door.

But they'll have to wait until we sing
"Remember us when you're in Beijing"
Anna, Paul, we'll miss you to our core.

So write us and let us know
Where you live and where you go
When you can't unpack another box.

You're heaving every suitcase
To fill your oriental place
With books and bikes and blocks.

Simon's birth in 2003
Added much to the nursery
He and Thomas lived here all their days.

Now they'll learn a lot in a whole new land
The World Bank job is sure to expand
The boys' ability to be amazed.

So good luck and bon voyage
The Procees are living large
We accept it's hard for us to part.

But Anna, Paul and Simon
And Thomas - Keep on climbing!
We cheer your brand new start.

Mooh Mooh MOVING DAY!

Today was MOVING DAY. There is no other way to write this than with capital letters. The movers came around 10am this morning, and like a pack of blue ants they worked their way through the house, carefully wrapping and packing everything in their way.

We're not moving everything to Beijing. Some of it is going into storage, and some will still be sold or given away. It's so nice though, to "start over" and only ship the things you really want and need. (Or at least I hope that is what we shipped.)

The container -- a twenty-foot container-- was huge though. When it showed up on the back of a truck this morning Paul and I realized how much more we could have taken. So in the moment we decided to bring our bed and mattrass after all, as well as closet in the office, which I really like.

The day actually unfolded pretty uneventful. I got up early to finish cleaning off some muffin trays (oven trays for making muffins)and then continued folding the last bit of laundry that had to go, make breakfast for the boys, make lunch for Simon, and then take both to their respective schools. When the movers showed up, I finished a few final things that had to be sorted out, and took some pictures of the whole event. The only moment of stress then came of course when all of the sudden I couldn't find my camera anymore. I was so worried it had been shipped off! But luckiliy, I had put it in a super secure spot. I only had forgotten about it... (nice.)

By the way, with all this crazyness, I forgot to tell you we now have a new car. The two SAABs are gone (one was picked up today, the other we keep till we leave, but it is already sold). Last week, after much looking, we bought a Volvo CX70. We looked at Japanese cars for a long time -- thinking we could get the parts in China -- and then ended up with a Volvo. Oh well.

Around 3pm today -- with the movers still in the house -- I went to pick up Simon and then on to Thomas' party. He had an end-of-year party in his classroom, which was also a goodbye party for him and a few other frients leaving the school. When we came back around 6pm, the truck was still here! It was good though I thought for the boys to see their toys all gone and the guys putting all their things (with "Simon room" and "Thomas room" written on the boxes) into the truck. (And did I mention how huge that container was? Our stuff seemed to be floating).

Yawn... now I am actually falling asleep. I guess it was a pretty long day.

Next up: Goodbye party.

Prohibited items

The movers are coming tomorrow to pack up our things for China. (They will come back next week to pack up the things that go into storage.) We're shipping mostly clothes, toys, household goods, and small items of furniture. What we're not shipping? See below for a list of prohibited items for shipping to Beijing. Most items are not really a surprise of course, but do take a close look.

Prohibited items
With immediate effect, the following prohibited items are NOT ALLOWED at all in the sea or air shipment for Beijing:

• Arms, Weapons & Explosives
• Poisons or illegal drugs
• Wine / Alcohol
• All kinds of Food
• Printed/recorded material deemed detrimental to the political, economic, cultural, or moral atmosphere in China (including all pornographic materials)
• Overlarge office items, such as large photocopier machine, those are not considered for
a family use.
• Maps (where the Chinese border is not in accordance with Chinese law)
• All kinds of equipment/tool associated with gambling (such as poker cards, chips, etc)
• Endangered and rare animals and their products, such as ivory
• Counterfeit currencies
• Motorcycles
• Any other items that are determined by the Beijing Customs to be of non-personal or nonfamily usage.

You're Invited to a "We're not leaving! (We are just in denial)" party

It's time to say goodbye! Here is our party invite for this Saturday...

Hosts: Paul, Anna, Simon & Thomas
Location: Home on Nebraska
When: Saturday, June 19, 5:00PM

Friends,

Time goes fast when you are having fun. After a decade (!) in the U.S., the time has come to pack up. We're happy about our new adventure and adding a new vacation destination to your itinerary, but we're sad to not be able to see you (at least not in person, or not as much) in the years ahead. Anna, Simon and Thomas leave for Holland on Wednesday June 23, and Paul flies out on June 28. (We leave for Beijing from Holland later in the summer).

If you can, please stop by this Saturday June 19 anytime after 5pm, to say goodbye. You can help clean out the fridge and liquor cabinets, connect with friends you met at previous parties, or just continue the denial and have a good beer. Please bring a small dish or drinks to share - that would be a big help during our busy last few days. (If you can't come in the evening, let us know and maybe we can see you earlier that day).

See you on Saturday or "see" you online,
Paul, Anna, Simon & Thomas