Everyday Life in China – wadventures

Track and Field Day

jasperjeepers — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 05:42:07 +0000

WAB Tiger Field, Beijing, China

Track and field day is an annual event in the elementary. Each class is part of a greater color team and they work together to earn points. It was an all day event and the girls loved the time to hang out with their friends and do some fun track and field events.

Being at WAB has provided our family with many new and amazing opportunities. Many schools have track and field days, that is not unique. But what we are absolutely loving about this experience is the chance to be more present in the girls’ school lives. Because we work at their school, we can take 15 min. out of our day to watch them compete, cheer them on, give them a quick high five and go back to work. It is an amazing opportunity that we do not take for granted!

Trail Race in the Mountains

jasperjeepers — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 08:48:10 +0000

Haidian District, Beijing, China

An important part of our life in the US was running races together. As we are creating our new life here in China, running is still part of that. We signed up to run a trail race with our friend Paul and other foreign runners we connected with on a group chat. It was our first trail race and our first race in China, so we had no idea what to expect. Turns out the ‘trail’ meant almost 2 miles climbing up a mountain! It was much more challenging that we thought, even more so for Matt and Paul who did 21K. But the whole experience was exciting, fun, interesting, and exhausting!

Before the race began, all racers warmed up together. This is what we love about living here in China!

Snow in Beijing

jasperjeepers — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 07:25:09 +0000

Capital Paradise, Shunyi, Beijing, China

Winter in Beijing is cold (not nearly as cold as Minnesota), but it does not usually snow. Beijing is close to a desert so it is very, very dry. It was weird for us to experience a cold winter devoid of snow and the girls really missed it. We were thrilled to wake up one morning to see snow on the ground. It didn’t last long but we enjoyed it while it was here.

Snow Hills in Chaoyang Park

Chaoyang Park is a huge park in Beijing with trails, an amusement park, a lake and lots more. For a few weekends in February, the park created a hill for sledding and tubing covered in man made snow. We spent a great Saturday afternoon enjoying some snow and sun with friends. *side note, we had NO idea why there was also camel rides among the snow activities!

X-Mas Elephants

Matt Wehner — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 00:10:42 +0000

Phuket, Thailand

Christmas Day 2018. After opening presents and the obligatory picture in front of a Christmas tree, we were ready for an adventure we have all been looking forward to for a long time. Our Christmas present to each other was an experience at the Green Elephant Sanctuary Park.

In this Elephant sanctuary we experienced elephants in the most natural way, in their natural environment where they are free and simply wonderful. Visitors can get in close contact with the impressive pachyderms by touching and feeding them. Thanks to the Green Elephant Sanctuary Park Phuket, abused elephants get a second chance at life – without chains and beatings. In this park, traumatised animals are not allowed to be ridden. We learned a lot about Thai Elephants and loved experiencing their daily life through feeding and bathing these magnificent animals.

This was unlike any Christmas holiday we have spent in the past. But the last 5 months have shown us that together, we can create new traditions.

X-Mas Eve in Phuket

Gina Wehner — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 22:01:08 +0000

Kamala Beach, Phuket, Thailand

Christmas Eve 2018 started with an early morning walk on the beach to watch the sunrise. Nola and Ivy wanted to search for shells on the beach and decided early morning would be the best time to find undisturbed shells. We were on the wrong side of the island to see the real sunrise, but we still enjoyed a quiet beach before all the swimmers came. The girls had fun playing in the sand and finding shells, but we needed a nap after the early morning!

Mexican food is a favorite for us, but we haven’t found a good restaurant yet in Beijing. Some locals recommended a Mexican restaurant with a view of the bay, so that is where we spent our Christmas Eve dinner. It also provided our first tuk tuk ride along the winding coast. The food and drinks were great and we loved watching the sunset over the bay, even with some clouds.

After we got back to our apartment, we played some card games and everyone enjoyed a pomegranate sparkling drink. We also got to see some amazing fireworks before Santa left some presents in the girls stockings!

Holiday Happenings in Beijing

Gina Wehner — Sat, 15 Dec 2018 01:49:12 +0000

Various Districts, Beijing, China

When we began this adventure in China, a big worry in the back of my mind was homesickness. I was nervous about our first holidays away from grandparents, uncles, cousins, and loved ones. I was worried the girls would be sad and miss the traditions we have started as a family. There was a bit of homesickness and missing old traditions, but I am constantly amazed at the resilience of our daughters and I love watching them grow and adapt through all of the experiences we are having together. Instead of focusing on what we were missing in Minnesota, we embraced the new traditions we create for our family.

In the beginning of the year, Ivy joined an elementary after school choir. She has enjoyed the choir and was excited about a concert in early December. The Holiday Performance was at East Beijing Hotel with gingerbread cookie decorating and refreshments. They did a great job singing and both girls enjoyed the gingerbread decorating.

We have had a very busy last few weeks and sometimes our life in Beijing has felt like a whirlwind. Afternoons like this give us time to pause and realize how lucky we are to be at WAB and the amazing opportunities our girls are getting.

We have NEVER had a real Christmas tree, it’s always been a fake one in our house. But we do not have the storage for an artificial tree and we have an amazing nursery right outside our gate so we took the plunge and bought a real Christmas tree for the first time. The girls picked this cute potted tree as our centerpiece for the holidays. Nola really enjoyed decorating it with lights and ornaments and I was so happy she got into the spirit, even without snow!

Pinnacle Plaza is about 1/2 mile from our compound and a great place for groceries, restaurants, and other shopping. The girls were not sure if we would see decorations or lights around Christmastime in Beijing. They were very excited when they started to see trees and decorations and lights around this area. It was beautiful at night! One of the things that has eased our transition into Beijing and China has been the ex-pat community we have found in the Shunyi District. The small things provide the biggest comfort to us during this first year.

One of our annual Christmas traditions started by my parents is gingerbread house decorating with Nola and Ivy and their cousins Calden and Gracyn. My mom is very creative and she was already thinking of ways to continue some traditions in very unconventional ways and she had a plan for the gingerbread houses.

We received a package in the beginning of December with everything needed for gingerbread houses. Then we arranged the time and did a video call over WeChat with Grandma Kathy, Grandpa Tony, Calden, Gracyn and my brother Matt. It was fun to watch the 4 cousins chat with each other and decorate their houses just like every other year. Only difference was that it was morning for us and evening for them! We finished the chat with the girls opening presents from grandma and grandpa. That night we had some fun making sugar cookies with some friends in the compound and decorating even more.

Afternoon Bike/Run

Gina Wehner — Sun, 25 Nov 2018 12:47:53 +0000

Shunyi District, Beijing, China

This is our running/biking/walking path! It is close to our compound and a river and absolutely beautiful in the fall. We were worried about the air quality moving to Beijing and if we could find open spaces in a city with a population of 22 million people. But we found that space and ability to connect with nature a bit outside the city in the Shunyi District. Our compound, aptly named Capital Paradise, is across from this great path that we use all the time. On this particular day in late November, I ran with Nola biking next to me while Matt and Ivy biked at a different pace. I absolutely LOVE these two picture of my girls and the way Matt was able to capture their pure joy.

Happy Birthday Nola!

Gina Wehner — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 08:31:32 +0000

We celebrated Nola’s 10th birthday with a great birthday party with all her friends at a climbing club. And we had a special order geode cake delivered on her actual birthday. It is hard to believe sometimes that she is already 10 years old. We could not be prouder of this strong, vibrant, curious, and kind young lady. Happy Birthday Nola Jaymes!

Changing Seasons

jasperjeepers — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 12:34:50 +0000

Shunyi District, Beijing, China

Coming to Beijing, we did not know what to expect for weather and seasons. The fall far exceeded our expectations with temperature and beauty. We were surrounded by beautiful colors of the leaves changing and some unexpectedly large leaves at the WAB campus.

BUGS!

Matt Wehner — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 11:45:43 +0000

Various Districts, Beijing, China

I haven’t seen a whole lot of wildlife since arriving in Beijing a few months ago. I’ve seen some birds, but really have not been able to get a good photo of them. It really is odd being in a land with no squirrels! Neighbors say hedgehogs live in the bushes in our compound, but I haven’t seen one yet. Still, we all have seen some pretty extraordinary bugs: spiders as a big as a maple leafs and oddly charismatic praying mantises. Click any photo for a larger view.

Photo Archive