Chanuka + Christmas + China = Chanumas!

8th Night of Chanuka

We got Chanuka presents from Grandma and Grandpa (thank you!) The kids don’t like the pajamas because Akiva finds it difficult to take off when he has to pee and Kenaz does not like having his feet covered. But they like the toys and chocolate very much.

Sorry about not posting for a while. Lets recap some of the things and issues that have happened since the last post:

Kenaz and Akiva got a fever and then a whole body rash. Then got better. Then a few days later Kenaz got a fever again (103 degrees) that lasted 3 days. Now he is better.

The weather is around 50F. Some days a little warmer. We are planning to go to Thailand the first week of February to warm up a little when it gets really cold here in China. Its actually not that cold…the problem is that it is a wet-cold and buildings here lack good insulation.

We searched for a new apartment because our apartment has lead paint on the walls. We have not decided which apartment we are moving too yet but we have two choices. One is another apartment in our same complex. It gets a lot of light and has a really nice bathroom. But it is on the corner of a building and we are worried it will get too cold. The other is on the second floor of Dushi (Orchard) Apartments, which is a better managed complex. But that apartment gets much less light.

Christmas party

Yesterday we went to a Christmas party which was put on by Akiva’s school. Akiva was not into performing at first, but wanted to get on stage later after his class already finished. They had “musical chairs” game for the Dads. I did not get involved because I’m not into being the foreign clown anymore. Then they had Moms blind-fold dance competition. Haga said she would have liked to get in that to display her funky dance moves. As most people who know me know, I’m not that into Christmas. I don’t like Christmas music and I also really don’t like recorded Chinese children singing Christmas songs…to my ears it sounds like retarded elves who drank cough syrup then started singing “hab a merry kismas”. I don’t like the “dross-factor” of Christmas (even if consumption keeps our economy alive). I also feel that the message of Jesus of Nazareth and the message of Christianity are not the same. And the most aggravating thing of all is that everyone – Chinese and foreigners alike – all ask me what I am doing “for Christmas”. In spite of all the above complaints, I have to stop being the “ba-humbug” guy so that I don’t pass these feelings on to my children.

Today we went to another Christmas party at my boss’s house. Akiva got wild as usual. I think my co-workers must think we are lax parents.

What else is happening? I’m trying to figure out how to start some business on the side. I had an idea of selling over-priced lead-paint testing services…but not sure if the numbers make that work. And Haga has a job now (I’ll let her talk about that later).