Top Secret Security Clearance - GRANTED

Phew!

That's all we've got.

The 20 Year Plan

Just for fun, Dave and I laid out a skeleton outline for our family over 20 years in the foreign service. Based on a few simple assumptions, here are some of our more interesting findings:

We would move to our 3rd post in 2015. With Lilly entering 5th grade, Sophia entering 3rd grade, Jake entering Kindergarten and Mei Mei starting preschool, this will be the first time I have some time to myself. This is the first post where I could conceivably have a job.

We would begin our 4th post in 2018. With Lilly entering 8th grade, bidding on this post will be a serious decision. If we want to see our children all stay stable through high school, this will be the time to leave the foreign service. If we want to ensure that each child has their junior and senior year in the same high school, this will be the time to lay out a very serious 10 year plan.

We would begin our 8th post in 2029. This would be the first post where Dave and I would arrive with no children in tow, as Mei Mei will begin her freshman year in college this year. At this point, Mei Mei and Jake could have lived in 10 different countries. Having blown her first 5 years in only 2 countries, Lilly would only have 7 flags under her belt, and Sophia 8. Dave would be a member of the Senior Foreign Service by this time, and eligible for some pretty amazing career choices.

Chinese New Year: A Primer

The official holiday has now finished, so I’m posting this primer a bit late. But as our family chose to stay in China for Chinese New Year, I figured you ought to benefit from our newly gained knowledge. I quizzed Wendy on her family’s Spring Festival traditions – for the Chinese do not call it Chinese New Year. And our family is celebrating as well, although not in any of Wendy’s more traditional ways.

The Spring Festival celebrates the beginning of the lunar year, which began one week ago. The Spring Festival compares to America’s traditions of both Christmas and New Year’s Eve, rolled into one grand weekend. People spend time with their families – even in a country so full of migrants, and people. Train travel on the days leading up to the holiday is intense, with tickets selling out within hours of going on sale. Many of these tickets will be standing room only, for trips easily lasting 30 hours. This mass movement of people through China is said to be the largest annual migration of people worldwide.

Each person in China made every effort to be at their family home by Friday evening. So, the office was empty for Dave on Friday. The bus was quick for Wendy on Friday. Wendy did not travel for the holiday, because her husband’s family lives in Shanghai. Although she was clearly nostalgic for her family as she told of her traditions, she was also assured that a wife spends this holiday with her husband’s family. I am beginning to learn how few choices Wendy really has.

Friday night is an evening of feasting with family. As we walked the street on Friday, we could feel a charge in the air not unlike on Christmas Eve. People completed their last bits of shopping, waited with large bags for taxis and busses, loaded up on fruit and nuts and stood in line at the ATM. The atmosphere was calmer than usual, and much more congenial. And people sold fireworks everywhere. At the fruit stand, on the corner, at the bakery, at the quick shop. People sold fireworks everywhere. And although we began to hear fireworks as early at 8:00pm on Friday night, they would not begin in earnest until Saturday night – essentially New Year’s Eve.

Saturday was the true holiday, comparable to Christmas. This is another feast day, and the streets of Shanghai were eerily quiet. Most shops stood closed – with the exception of fruit stands, with lovely baskets of bright and exotic fruits displayed prominently. And fireworks – still plenty of fireworks for sale.

Wendy explained that on this day – essentially New Year’s Eve – families would follow a few key traditions.

Hong bao: these are red envelopes used for gifting money. Around the holiday, employers often give their employees a hong bao. On New Year’s Eve, adults will fill this with money and give them to children. Grandparents and aunts and uncles give them to their nieces and nephews – Wendy said it would be silly to give one to your own child. They’ll receive so many already! If the neighbor children knock on the door, they will receive cookies or candies.

Red Paper: People decorate their homes with red paper marked with their wishes for the year. Red paper on the front door will say fu (good luck) or gong xi fai cai (earn a lot of money). Red paper on livestock or barn doors will wish for a growing herd, and red paper on trees will wish for their long life. Red paper in the kitchen will wish for no fires, and red paper on the car will wish for no accidents in the coming year.

Cleaning: In this way, the first days of the New Year are much like the Jewish Sabbath. The family will not work on these days, allowing all of their household to rest and enjoy the holiday. No one will wash, because the water should rest. No one will use a knife or scissors, because those tools should rest as well. The observance of this holiday clearly has roots as a winter festival in an agrarian community. Many people in the countryside have no heat. So, to keep dishes and prepared food for a few days is not an issue. Likewise, not showering or washing clothes. Preparing the house and the body as clean for the New Year may be the larger piece.

Kind words: Possibly in the same tradition as beginning the year with a clean house and a clean body, a person should begin the year with a kind tongue. No one speaks ill of anyone else on the first few days of the new year, and people are never to get angry. Between the money from their family, the candy from their neighbors, and the rule against anger, kids must love this holiday!

Fireworks: Wendy explained that people will set off fireworks on the first 4 days of the new year, and then again on the 15^th day. Each day, she said it is good luck for the family who blasts the first fireworks of the morning. On New Year’s Eve, beginning around midnight, the whole country went alight. Again on the 5^th day of the festival, the city explodes. At great expense to themselves, families purchase fireworks of all types. They purchase large boxes of noisemakers, to make the city sound like a warzone. They purchase bright light style fireworks – the type that only the fire department sets off in America.

The entire country has a 7 day holiday. This began on Saturday and will continue until Friday. Offices opened again on Saturday and Dave is at work today, making this a 7 day work week.

In the villages, the holiday will last longer than 7 days. Many people will travel home for 2 weeks or a month. The many migrant workers making America’s T-shirts, computers and fake Christmas trees have received the entire month away from the factory and this will be the only time they see their family all year. Traditionally, the holiday has been celebrated for 3 months. Again, I remember that China is traditionally an agrarian culture without heat in most homes. In the 1^st month, families celebrate Chinese New Year with their loved ones and their friends. This includes dressing up as lions, carrying children in dry boats, singing for hong bao or cigarettes, and building dragons and lanterns. On the 15^th day of the New Year the full moon will rise, and people will hang out their lanterns, dance their large dragons and set off more fireworks. They will eat sticky rice balls and wish that their families live full lives, much like the full moon.

In the 2^nd month, people play games and in the 3^rd month people make plays. I love this one – that each village will put together a stage production of some sort, inviting all of their neighboring villages to see the performance. What a lovely way to spend the winter months, when no work can be done in the fields. Rather than be cooped up at home, spend the months playing games and putting together plays with your community.

Our family celebrated in a much simpler and thoroughly modern way. We played games, ate good food, and enjoy each other’s company. We spent time outside, playing in the snow in Moganshan and walking the quiet streets of Shanghai. We hosted a small party. And then sent Dave back to work on Saturday. Uncle H-- keeps him mighty busy these days, and so we particularly appreciate the week off.

Horoscopes

The Chinese link horoscopes to the lunar year of a person's birth. Dave and I are both Snakes, and so we share a horoscope for this year, the Year of the Tiger. According to one magazine, here it is:

It's a disastrous year for love - an affair is in the cards. But don't start snooping around behind your partner's back, as that's a lose-lose situation. This year, it's all about "out with the old, in with the new." Never mind that your business will probably lose a lot of money (if not flat out go bankrupt), this is a chance to weed out the unhappy things in life and make some changes. Thinking about quitting your job? It's a good year for that.

Makes us both feel pretty good about the changes we have planned. And I'm not putting too much stock in the love affair bit - I'll chalk it up to Dave falling in love with the Foreign Service.

Crowds and Fireworks

It seems we entered the week of Chinese New Year with a few incorrect assumptions.


Assumption #1:
That the best place to watch the crazy New Year's Eve fireworks would be from a high-rise hotel in a tourist part of town.

WRONG

Our room on the 24th floor of the Hyatt on the Bund looked out over the river and onto the bright lights of Lujiazui. We had a lovely view of the Pearl Tower, but a horrible view of the fireworks. Although every single family seems to set off gigantic fireworks for the Spring Festival, everyone does this near their home. The city does not organize anything, and no one travels to the Pearl Tower to set anything off. Our view did not change all night, and we had to crane our necks to see the fireworks around the edges of the building.




Assumption #2:
The Shanghai South train station would be a zoo on Sunday. We would be stepping into the largest movement of people in the world, and may lose a child.

WRONG

Everyone in China wants to reach their home by New Year's Eve, for a big feast and loads of fireworks. The train stations were absurdly full on the last few days of the week. But on Sunday, the place was a ghost town. We had no trouble reaching our train, and we even had a spare seat next to ours for the girls to enjoy and wiggle all over.

On our return, the train and train station were busier. The train had sold Standing Room seats, and Dave stood up the entire ride while the girls shared his seat. The train station was busy, but no busier than on an average day. Train stations in China are busy places. And still no busier than Ikea on an average Saturday afternoon.

the train station during Chinese New Year

Ikea on any Saturday afternoon

Assumption #3:
Everything would be closed during the holiday, and we'd risk running out of money and food.

WRONG

We were in no danger of starving this week, as most restaurants and grocery stores carried their normal hours. Everything closed on Saturday, except the exceptionally tasty buffet at the Hyatt, but food was readily accessible the rest of the week. However, it is not entirely wrong. The streets have been empty of cars and most shops have remained shuttered all week. This is certainly not a consumer holiday. We've enjoyed wide sidewalks and empty streets on many pleasant walks this week, especially as we've had a taste of spring weather.

Fireworks

St. Louis knows itself some fireworks.

We lived in St. Louis for 6 years before moving to China, and we never left town for Independence Day. The fireworks over the Mississippi River, watched from underneath the Arch - that was quite a show.

But after the show our neighbors put on this evening, I realize.

Americans don't know fireworks.

China knows itself some fireworks.

We watched these from our home, and my photos don't do the show justice. Any direction we looked, we could see a show to rival St. Louis. The noise was so intense that Dave didn't realize I was yelling his name, 3 feet away from him. The smoke was thick, which explains the distortion on the photos. And the fireworks came from everywhere - our next door neighbors, high rise balconies, courtyards between two apartment buildings.

you can see the streak of the next firework as it leaves
the ground below, as well as its sister above.
these left from our lane, just 200m from our front door.

these fireworks are peeking out from between
two highrise apartment complexes.
they must have been set off in the small courtyard.

I'll share a primer on Chinese New Year in a later post, as its getting pretty late tonight. But I just had to share the show that we experienced off of our rooftop balcony, beginning around 11:50pm and only just now tapering off, 30 minutes later.

And still the rumblings continue, just not quite as close or as bright. They may well run until daybreak. Impressively, our girls slept through the entire show. We now have confirmed that we could live in a war zone, and at least our children would be well rested.

Adam's Epilogue

My brother just left on Monday, after 3 weeks in China, over which he traveled alone, walked a lot of Shanghai, and spent a lot of time being an amazing uncle. His email upon arriving back home simplified the differences between China and America, Shanghai and Kansas City very nicely.

The streets seem a lot emptier and the food not as good, but everything smells much cleaner, the sky is bluer, and the water is drinkable so its not too shabby either.

Anticipation turns to Anxiety

When Dave passed his orals and was offered conditional employment with the U.S. Foreign Service, we anticipated that his Security Clearance would take 6-9 months. That gets us to right now - 6 months later. We are now in the Any Day Now window, and easily foresee ourselves staying here for the next 3 months.

Should he receive Security Clearance sometime in the next 3 months (remember that Jake is due in mid-May), he would be invited to one of the summer classes and we would move to DC around June.

We like this idea. The girls can finish up their school year here, and begin a new one in Washington. We can blow through our 6 weeks worth of diapers and formula, and then leave the country rather than relying on substandard quality or expensive imports. Family can meet Jake while she's still tiny.

But I wonder if God is trying to lower my expectations.

We've been seeing posts lately from people who have been awaiting Security Clearance for around 1 year. And I am reminded of the conversation Dave had with his interviewer. The interviewer said something to the effect of... Whoa, you've got an awfully long list of Foreign Contacts. And you are a consultant? Who speaks to a long list of companies and seminars on a weekly basis? Wow - this will take a long time.

He may have been right.

But don't get excited, Shanghai friends. Dave's contract with Uncle H-- runs out this year, and they have no plans of renewing. We will be leaving Shanghai this summer, either way. Talk in the office at this point is that they would appreciate his skills in Hong Kong - and with the same boss over both Shanghai and Hong Kong, this would be a simple move to make happen.

Hong Kong is alright with me - no language issues, good doctors and access to high quality baby items, and I'm already connected to people there.

But stickiness ensues when we realize that sometime during that Hong Kong year, Dave will probably receive security clearance and have us shipped off to DC mid-school year. And then shipped off from DC to post, also mid-school year. That'd get poor Lilly to attending 4 different schools before she hits 1st grade at our first post. It would continue Sophia's practice of never living in a home for 12 months until she reaches her 6th birthday.

And to make things even more interesting, expedited adoptions have definitely begun again. It seems that families currently in China are picking up their child 24 months after being registered with the Chinese government. We registered in April 2009.

That pulls our number in the middle of next year - what could be shaping up to be a very interesting year.

Also, please note. As this post is pure speculation, you will understand why the posts have been sparse lately. With no news on the baby front, the adoption front, the Foreign Service front or any other major drama, I simply haven't much to say. Please excuse the long breaks... and pray for some news soon!