Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall

Our first full day in China we went to the Temple of Heaven, Tian'an Men Square, and the Forbidden City. To get to the Temple of Heaven, you walk through a huge park with literally tens of thousands of people who congregate there starting early in the morning. There are huge groups singing, playing hacky sack and a weird version of paddle ball, and doing several versions of Tai Chi.

The Temple of Heaven itself was quite cool and has something to do with the harvest. From there we went to Tian'an Men Square the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was very cool but they were doing a lot of construction for the Olympics, and Tian'an Men Square was gigantic. Apparently Chairman Mao is a big deal here. (I am trying to do the Mao face, but I don't think he wore sunglasses and a Cardinals baseball cap too often).

After the Forbidden City we did the coolest thing - we took a rickshaw tour through a Hutong. The Hutongs are a series of neighborhoods that are quite unique. There are a series of low-rise buildings around courtyards and each family shares a courtyard with four other families. The streets are very narrow and there are hundreds of people hanging out on the streets.

We got to go into a local family's home, and apparently a big thing to do here is raise grasshoppers for grasshopper (or cricket) fighting. I am a scaredy little frady cat when it comes to gross crawly bugs, so I wasn't thrilled with the direction of the conversation, but it was pretty fascinating. After he showed us his bugs I kept imagining things were crawling on my legs. I realized later that was just flashbacks from back when I was a hippy.
Here is a picture of us in the house with the local dude.

Yesterday we went to the Great Wall of China, which is, well, great. I don't have time to give you too much detail because we are off to Nanchang today. We pick up the twins tomorrow (Monday)!!!

Here is a short video of some people playing music near the Temple of Heaven:



More to follow later!

First Few Days in Beijing

We have been in Beijing for two days and are having a great time. Beijing is chaotic and crowded and quite fantastic. Our hotel is great and we have adjusted to the time change pretty well.

The first night we went out searching for dinner. We couldn't decide between the following:

Or this:

(if you can't see this very well, please click on the photo because it's very funny and my joke in the next paragraph won't make as much sense unless you can see the picture)

Or this:

I mean sure - who doesn't love deep-fried hump meat and duck intestines. And I came all the way to China to eat at the Sizzler. But of course, live scorpions on a stick are my favorite. I really couldn't make up my mind.

Eventually, we on settled on Peking Duck. This restaurant is the most famous in the world for Peking Duck and it was a very good meal. This is Kim with the dude that cuts up the duck carcass:
Yesterday we went to the Temple of Heaven, Tian'an Men Square, and the Forbidden City. Kim and I took a rickshaw tour of the Hutong area,where we sat in some dude's house and learned about Chinese cricket fighting. More details and photos to follow.

And we have decided on names but we aren't telling anyone until we post it here after we meet the TWINS!!

Please enjoy this photo of Kim.

I Hope

One of my favorite movies of all time is 'The Shawshank Redemption'. At the end of the movie, when Morgan Freeman's character is sitting on the Trailways Bus heading from Maine to Mexico, he says exactly what I am thinking right now: "I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still, or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at the start of a long journey who's conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope."

Click for Clip

I hope these little girls love me as much as I love them. I hope I am a good father. I hope they have happy lives. I hope.

(OK, that was a little window into my emotions. Don't get used to it. And don't try to hug me.)

Packing, Moving, Getting Ready to Go to China!!

We have spent the past week or so moving things around our apartment getting ready to move our bedroom to the loft area of our apartment and set up the crib in our old bedroom. As a skilled carpenter and handyman, I was able to single-handedly disassemble the bed, move it upstairs, and reassemble it. Kim doubted my ability to handle such a complex mechanical task, but she should not have doubted my amazing talents.

I also used my master craftsman skills to put the crib together, which involved some colorful language and some deft maneuvering. The crib, which was lovingly donated by our friends John and Madeline, is fantastic and nearly brand new. It made me think about when Ron and Deedrick and I were kids - we were all put in a crib that was brought over from Germany in the late 1800s.

This old crib, which apparently came from an old prison, had long, rusty bolts and exposed sharp metal on which we regularly cut our precious little baby skin. We had to go to the hospital about every two weeks to get stitches to close the festering wounds and shots to cure our repeated bouts of tetanus. Occasionally we would ask our beloved mother, "Judy", if we could have a crib that didn't slice our precious, soft little baby skin up all the time. She would just smile and reply "Make some spit and swallow it" Or maybe that was for something else.

By the way, our schedule is now finalized - here is the deal:

June 13th - Fly to Beijing
June 14th - 17th - Sightseeing in Beijing - Great Wall/Forbidden City
June 17th - Fly to Nanchang in the Province of Jiangxi
June 18th - Meet the TWINS on their birthday!!!!!!!
June 18th to June 22nd - In Nanchang
June 22nd - Fly to Guangzhou to get U.S. Consulate approval to bring the TWINS home
June 27th - Fly to Beijing and then back to New York!!! The TWINS come home (Woo Hoo!!!)

I will have my cell phone in China and will have access to email and the World Wide Internet. Please check daily for blog updates - I will have some short videos, photos, and my thoughts on what is going on. A word of warning - I will try not to type weepy, goofball stuff, but I can't guarantee anything.


Thank you for reading, and please enjoy the short video below of Kim packing:

New York Stacie Threw Kim a Shower!!

Stacie and her Mom surprised Kim with a shower at the King's Carriage House on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Stacie was very sneaky and told Kim that it would be a small lunch with her Mom and Aunt Pat.

Kim was very surprised and thrilled that so many people were able to make it, including her friend Kristin all the way from suburban Cincinnati. DeYan made the decorations, and Stacie had pink and plaid cupcakes for all.

As a thank you to Stacie, I decided to post the following video:

Kim's Youth Group Barbecue

SKATE, Kim's youth group from Rutgers Presbyterian Church, had a barbecue on June 1st. DeYan made a delicious cake that said "TWINS" on top. She also made a cake just for me and I ate the entire thing - it was a chocolate marble cake and it was fantastic (see right). DeYan, if you haven't noticed, is a future superstar chef.

Also, as a special gift to our girls, all of the kids decorated sippy cups with Chinese words and symbols. Below is a short video of the kids unveiling the cake. As Hyman Roth said, "I want you all to enjoy your cake -- so, enjoy!"