Beijingers For Obama

With Beijing being 13 hours ahead of US East Coast time we have to constantly do mental math calculations in order to follow any important events back home. On 9PM Tuesday night I arranged to meet someone who works for Democrats abroad so I could get an Obama T-shirt, buttons, and stickers for a big election gathering on Wednesday night. Since we are 13 hours ahead, the voting was just getting started in New York by the time I got home at 10PM. I tried to stay up to follow the news but decided I would get some sleep and check things out in the morning. When I awoke there was still little news from the Internet since polling stations were still open for another couple hours.

A large number of our school's staff had election trackers up on their computer screens throughout Wednesday morning as more and more states became bathed in blue. Before noon, it became obvious that Obama was going to be victorious and a general feeling of giddiness filled the halls. Students spontaneously shouted "Obama" as they walked the halls and teachers smiled and shook hands. I felt a great sense of relief to know that for the first time in my adult life there will be a president in office that makes me feel hopeful that our country can be changed for the better. Among the adults in our school there were very few supporters of McCain, and no supporters of Palin. Leading up to the election the non-Americans seemed perpetually perplexed at how so much of the USA could reject the hopeful message of Obama. When looking at opinions from around the world there was virtually no support for McCain. Stories of Palin's ignorance and ineptness became lunch room conversation for several weeks. Looking at the end result, almost half of the USA voted for McCain/Palin. From my international perspective, this seems incomprehensible. Why did they vote for them? Was it guns, gays, abortion? Was it racism, bigotry, or ignorance that prevented them from voting for the candidate with more melanin than them? Was it absolute loyalty to the party that has completely sold its soul to the religious right? What has happened to the Republican Party? How did the party of Lincoln turn into what it has become today?

On Wednesday night more than 50 people gathered at my friend's house to celebrate the end of this election and an Obama victory. At one point CNN played a portion of Obama's victory speech and the room went very quiet wanting to hear his words of hope. I think Obama appeals to many people because of his confidence, hopeful message, and realistic outlook that it will take hard work. His supporters are under no illusions that he will somehow magically fix the myriad of problems that now exist in our country. Many Americans are ready to roll up their sleeves and begin doing the hard work to repair what has been broken. To me, that is the true definition of a Patriot.

A Bar Mitzvah with Chinese Characteristics

Yesterday, Cara and I had the honor to attend the Bar Mitzvah of a former student of mine. It was a first for both of us and proved to be a wonderful occasion. We bagan the celebration in the morning with a religious service at a downtown hotel in Beijing. For the service women and men were divided and seperated by some planters in the middle of a modest sized room. The rabbi sang most of the prayers in Hebrew with a beautiful voice. For two hours Cara and I stood and sat trying to follow along with the readings with the help of a book in both English and Hebrew and some assistance from our more knowledgable neighbors. During the service, my former student read several passages from the Torah which is a very large scroll. He spoke of the story of Noah and the flood and followed a similar sing song reading as the rabbi. After the service, a lunch was hosted by the family. In addition to very nice food and drink there were several speaches from family members, the rabbi, and my former student. During the meal, the election in the States was the only topic of conversation. The man to my left has been working for the Democratic Party going door to door in rural Virginia to reach out to undecided voters. In the time since August he has sensed a change in attitudes about Obama and he felt strongly that Obama would surely win the election. At one point the rabbi joked about speaking on behalf of Obama, there were catcalls and clapping of agreement. If this small gethering is any indication, the Jewish community is solidly on the side of Obama. In fact, it seems the entire American faculty at our school are also Obama supporters. As an aside, we will be attending a post-election party at a friend's house on Wednesday, so win or lose we can make a toast, or drown our sorrows among friends.

When lunch was finished we went back home, about a 30 minute drive and played with Gabby for awhile. She stayed home with Chen Ayi (In China, the nannies, maids, etc. are called Ayi, it is a bit like Auntie) while were were away, and would be looked after by Chen when we went to our second part of the Bar Mitzvah celeberation, a dinner at a replica of a French Chateau! The hall for the initial reception was simply palatial. It was a three level rotunda with giant entryway stair, a gorgeous painted dome and giant crystal chandalier. The doors opened up to a large patio with gardens and fountains. A folk music group (two of the members are from Port Townsend, Washington) played traditional Jewish folk music which eventually turned into traditional Jewish dancing. Although I did not join in the dancing, I enjoyed watching the events unfold.

We were then lead to the dining hall which was huge and marble clad. We sat with several other teachers from our school and simply relaxed, drank wine (too much) and took in the cultural experience around us. The meal was entirely vegetarian with most items made to look like something else, but made of tofu. There were tofu meatballs, tofu sea cucumber, but also veggies in between courses. Overall the food was great. When we managed to get a ride back home at 10:30 the dancing and singing was still in full swing. I was very grateful we were able to join in this experience and felt honored to be included.

Halloween in Beijing

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There is quite a bit to do in Beijing for us Americans... The first set of pictures are of Gabby at a Halloween party at the local bilingiual pre-school. The second set was when we went trick-or-treating in one of the local compounds, Gahood. The last couple of pictures were of Gabby in her purple butterfly costume. As always, she had a ball...

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Hello to all family and friends around the world. In the ever shrinking world there are more and more ways to keep in touch. We hope that this blog will become a space where we can share our lives with you. Stay tuned for stories, pictures and video from the Far East.

May 2008 Gabby Update

One word this month- PERSONALITY. Gabby is 11 months old now and is definitely becoming her own little person. She’ll discover new noises that she can make with her tongue or mouth and then she’ll start laughing hysterically. Of course, this makes us laugh and reinforces the behavior. I think she’s getting a kick out of being a little comedian. She’s starting to understand Chinese, especially when we say “Zijian” (goodbye) because then she’ll start waving bye-bye. Although pointing at things seems to be the preferred way of communicating, she does the sign for “more and “cheese” now. Another thing she’s been doing… She’ll point at something, like an ant on the ground, and go “Ooooh,” which cracks me up. Of course we think she’s perfect in every way, but I still think we have our work cut out for us as parents. Travis and I have seen a bit of a temper in our little girl. She actually stamped her feet when we wouldn’t let her play with something she wasn’t supposed to. I have no idea where she learned that. Is that an innate thing in toddlers? So far redirecting her works well, but I know the day will come when she says, “no!” Gabby continues to grow and amaze us… She loves to climb on everything and has long arms that grab things off of the kitchen counter, so we’re constantly on the lookout for safety hazards. Our ayi always says that Gabby is very busy, which is so true. She’s that kid that runs around and tries to get into everything and explore. As most babies are, she’s curious. She also went to her first concert, called “Rynostock,” where all the local Beijing bands get to play. She had a good time bouncing up and down and we had a blast with her too. Our ayi also says that, “everybody likes Gabby,” in our compound- which makes me feel good. It’s nice to know people like your kid. All in all, May has been a busy month with lots of play dates and things going on. Now that the weather is nicer, we’ve been going outside a lot. We have a fountain and an area with fish in our compound. She LOVES watching the fountain and gets so excited when we walk up to it. She also likes to stare at the fish and point at them, so walks now have been more and more fun as she is so interested in the world around her. Oh! And one last thing… she squeezes you back when she gives a hug.

April 2008 Gabby Update

Gabriella is 10 months old and things are going smoothly. April was a big month for us in the Tebo household- walking, running, climbing (really fast up the stairs!), more dancing, giving high fives, pointing at everything and saying “dada,” and being little miss curious. She loves opening up drawers and cupboards and getting into stuff. I know this is nothing new for a baby her age, but it’s nice to know she’s hitting all the milestones… Her attention is a little better and she can sit still longer. She can actually sit in your lap and let you read to her without getting too antsy or without trying to tear-up the whole book. Travis reads her “Click-Clack Moo” which is her favorite book at the moment. Oh yes- that book and “Bard’s Rhyme Time” because it’s a flap-book and she enjoys opening and closing the flaps. Right now, she enjoys playing with her toy cars and Buzzy Bee (which is a New Zealand toy that a Kiwi buddy got us). This month we went to Tianjin to a Hyatt Regency Resort and spent two nights there. We got a coupon for two free nights because Travis teaches the General Manager’s daughter. It sounds really great, but nothing was open yet, such as a swimming pool or workout facility, which was disappointing so we drove into to Tianjin. We went to Food Street and ate some dumplings and then culture street to check out the shops. Gabby enjoyed all the attention and was flashing her smile every chance she got. It wasn’t a super-exciting trip but we had fun as a family and it was good to get out of Beijing.

March 2008 Gabby Update

Gabby is 9 months old now and changing everyday (Duh. She’s a baby, I know)… She’s still not officially walking but has taken five steps. She continues to cruise and is even trying to climb things. AAH! She’s showing more affection now and even initiates kisses (which hurt because she wants to bite my lip) but they’re sweet and sloppy and oh so awesome. She’ll also come up to one of us and cuddle, which just makes me melt every time. She loves being tickled under her arm, holding hands, and she loves Earth’s Best brand of prunes and oatmeal. Thank goodness she’s learned to like bananas because they’re so easy to eat and good for you. Now we’re on to finger foods which is going okay, although I still need to coax her to stick the food in her mouth, but we’re getting there. Go figure. She’ll stick everything else in her mouth. Her new thing now is dancing. It totally cracks me up! She gets a big grin on her face and moves up and down. She also plays peek-a-boo with us. She’ll pull a blanket, bib, or anything else over her face and pull it down really fast to reveal a delighted grin and a little squeal. Love it! Vocalizing is becoming better and better too. Whenever she says “nay, nay, nay” that’s bad. I’m not sure of she’s trying to say no or what, but it does mean she’s ticked off about something. In addition to being a busy month, my mother and father came for a visit which was great and I know she loved the extra attention and cuddles. We did some touring and took Gabby to the Temple of Heaven where she got her first experience with being mobbed by Asian people wanting to take a picture of the Western baby. She did good, but looked a little confused. We also saw the very first major league baseball game ever played in China (Padres vs. L.A. Dodgers), which was also Gabby’s first one. We had fun, although it was a bit too windy and there were no proper toilets. Just imagine port-o-lets Chinese style where you have to squat. Not very convenient for changing a diaper but we survived.