Christmasing in China

Christmas is the new, hot thing right now in China.  Its presence, however, is really only felt in the centers of commerce.  Local malls and stores invite their customers to enjoy a shiny, plastic Christmas in their homes, but we don't see much evidence from the street that this is happening--or at least happening in the way that we are used to.  Twinkle lights are scarce, and the festive twinkles in eyes, and springs in steps, and "Merry Christmas!"-ing that we're used to enjoying from passers-by is non-existent (or is that really just the manic panic of getting everything done before the big day?  "MerRY ChRIStMaS!" [twitch]).   Malls here have invested in lovely holiday displays, and each time we go to our local Carrefour, our visit is accompanied by "Jingle Bells" played on a continuous loop ("Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleeee...").  Ah, Christmas in China.  It's all packages, boxes, and bags, no dahoo dores. There is no antecedent, so the holiday hangs prettily in its plastic casing...meaningless.  It's like when Americans try to celebrate Chinese New Year.  So we're looking forward to some pretty serious festivizing come February.

BUT we had a great Christmas day!  There was a wild, mad dash to the tree and a flurry of wrapping paper.  When it settled, James let the boys open a few presents.  We gorged on pancakes with strawberries (in season here somehow), played with new toys, took naps, then got cleaned up for a little get-together with new friends.  It was a perfect day.

Jing'an Temple Shanghai

2012 re-cap

2012 saw a lot of dramatic change for the family:

James flew to DC and passed the Oral Assessment for the State Department in January--not a dental exam, but a rigorous battery of tests to see if he has nerves of steel, Jedi mind  control, and laser vision.  (He does.)  He signed a "worldwide availability" form 11 different times promising that we'll go wherever the US government sends us, no matter how it smells there.

We got medical tests, shots, and otherwise thoroughly examined for service throughout the spring.

At the end of June, we left our lovely home in Provo, and began driving across the US.  We spent time with family in Colorado, made our way down to Oklahoma, visited Graceland in Tennessee, spent some time on the beach with family in South Carolina, and finally unpacked our suitcases in Falls Church, Virginia, just in time for James to start his job in the middle of July.

At the end of "A-100" (James' orientation to the foreign service), we attended his "flag day" (we use quotations a lot in the Foreign Service).  We waited breathlessly as assignments were read off ranging from Abu Dhabi to Vientiane, were disappointed when Rome went to someone else, and then were thrilled when James was handed a Chinese flag for our first assignment to Shanghai.

With the assignment now firmly in our back pocket, we spent a few months in additional training, then finally flew to Shanghai in November.  A 14 hour flight with 3 kids and the resulting jet-lag notwithstanding, we all survived, and are loving our life here in China.

2011 Re-Cap

We had a baby!  

Well, I'm getting ahead of myself, because that didn't happen until the end of the year. It was, however, the most significant event for our family.  

SETTING:  January found us in Provo and James in the final semester of his MBA program at BYU. 

* James traveled to India for Cisco with others from his program.

* James graduated as a Master from BYU (and has been making us address him as such ever since).

* We went to St. George to celebrate graduation and hike amidst the beautiful red rocks of Southern Utah.

Petrified Dunes, Snow Canyon, St. George

Simon, Snow Canyon--The desert was in bloom!

Jonah, Snow Canyon

* We found out we would be having a baby in December.

Baby Boy Core

* James took the Foreign Service Exam (only prepared 10 days--and passed).  This necessitated a trip to Southern Utah once again.

* The Core Family (Rodney Dale--i.e., Grandpa) had a reunion in Colorado.   There was sun, surf, jump-rope, cousin slumber parties, and festive explosions.  Everything a family reunion should have. 

Core cousins at Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

* Mejkin and the boys spent the summer at Seven Peaks

* Mejkin got progressively greater with child.

* James started a few companies and continued to surmount each hurdle of the Foreign Service application process.

* Thanksgiving was delicious, and then we had our baby.  Seth Lucas Core was born at 12:30am on Black Friday.  Our little doorbuster was 2 weeks early.  

* Christmas was blessed with friends and family and generous souls.  

Cincinnati Wrap-up 2010

(Pay no attention to the date of this post... Okay, fine, so it's been two and a half years since we've updated [!].  One child and two moves later, we're thinking we need to get back on the grid.  The next few posts will fill in the gaping holes of the last few years, and then we'll continue with current updates for family, friends, and cyberlurkers.)


So Cincinnati was great for the remainder of our time there:

Grandparents visited:

We slurped up quickly-melting, irresistible Graeters ice cream:

We played at home:

We played with friends (at the zoo!)

We traveled:

And we enjoyed the local flavors of the neighborhood:

We loved living in the Gaslight District of Clifton.  It was a happening place, to be sure.

Our last evening in Cincinnati, we went to see the Shepard Fairey exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Center in downtown Cincinnati.  Loved it.  We had seen his installations around town in the months prior (pictures pending), and were finally able to make it in to the indoor event before we left.

We loved the artistic spread of Cincinnati.  It seemed that artists were encouraged, yea even invited, to put their mark on the city in beautiful ways.  When I get my big computer with all of our photos, I'll track some examples down.  For now, this wraps up our Cincinnati experience.  It was lovely while it lasted.