September 3, 2008
Time Out for Some Political Commentary Reality
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August 31, 2008
A Contemporary Family Vacation: A Chinese Family Reunion
We belong to an interesting family. Our girls were both adopted from the Yangchun Social Welfare Institute in China. And it was time for our quadrennial family reunion. This was the impetus for our Pacific Northwest sojourn.
Yangchun, a “town” of just over a million people is about a five hour drive from Guangzhou. Every four years families who’ve adopted children from the orphanage there gather to celebrate our children, discuss issues associated with adoption and transracial families, and to just have a good time. This year we met in the foothills of Mt. Hood. And, as she has done the previous three times we’ve gotten together, orphanage director Yu Hong Ying came from China along with her boss, Mr. Chen, to share this time with us.
In the world of Chinese adoption we’re a tight group. While many families who’ve traveled together to adopt their children stay in touch, I don’t know of any group more organized than those of us from Yangchun. This year there were 71 families in attendance, including 86 girls and one boy. With each gathering there are new families and veterans to connect and reconnect with. Attending the first reunion when our girls were 4 and 3, our children are now 11 and 10 and the interests, concerns, and our girls’ reactions to these get-togethers change each time.
Mrs Yu is at the center of our community. She is a magnet to families, each seeing her at an important link to our daughters’ beginnings. This trip she and Mr. Chen first flew to Washington, DC. Staying with friends of ours I got a call at work that they were sightseeing just a few blocks away and I volunteered to take them on an impromptu tour of our newly renovated museum. “Meet you on the corner of F and 9th Streets in five minutes,” I said when I got the call at my desk.
As I got closer I could make out the group and waved. As they crossed the street suddenly Mrs. Yu recognized me and began yelling my girls’ Chinese names. Given the number of children who have been adopted from this orphanage, parents are always amazed at the Director’s ability to remember names and faces. Even though she doesn’t speak English we are never at a loss for words. “He’s gained a little weight,” she said to our interpreter, as she gave me a hug. We laughed (but I vowed to wear my tighter jeans the next day when we’d see them at a party for other DC and Baltimore families). It became the running joke between us her whole stay. And in Oregon she recanted, saying she really meant I looked very fit. Hmmm, ok, I’ll go with that. We laughed. Who hasn’t changed in the decade since we first adopted our two girls?
Things have changed in Yangchun. Clip from a promotional “Chamber of Commerce” video. Click movie to begin. (Quicktime, 35 MB)
When we first went to China in 1997 Yangchun seemed like an exotic backwater destination, far from any tourist route. We stayed at the only hotel open to foreign visitors at the time, The Golden Roc, where the second floor doubled as a brothel. The city was decidedly third world. And it was clear that very few Western visitors came this way.
Then there were about 100 children at the orphanage. The living was spartan but it was obvious the girls were loved and well taken care of. Two years later, when we went to adopt our second daughter, a new building had been built for the children and the old one was now home to many retirees. Last year they built another new building. And, now the number of children generally hovers around 50. Domestic adoption is more commonplace in China and Mrs. Yu told me economics is starting to change the way couples see their infant girls. With the rise of personal income and the rise of economically independent women, parents feel their daughters, like their sons, will be able to care for them when they become older. The importance of having a son is no longer as paramount as it used to be.
During the Olympics Beijing became the showcase for modernization in China. Yet, one wondered just how that change had filtered down to the rest of the country. Watching a recent promotional video about Yangchun it was clear this was no longer the place we last saw in 1999. When I questioned the incredible alteration of the city to other parents at the reunion, those who had recently visited corroborated what I was seeing on the television. Yangchun has changed.
Many families have returned to China to “introduce” the country to their children. We’re planning on doing the same in the next couple years. We want our girls to get to know where their lives began and the culture and history that’s part of them. I took my own video of the city on our two visits to the area. My images sharply contrast to what I see now. My girls will be able to make their own comparisons and judgments. Mrs. Yu will be our conduit between the past and this new present. And she’ll be happy to see part of the family again.
Next stop: The Columbia Gorge and the Wine Country of the Yakima Valley
Related Posts: Waiting for the Love Boat on Puget Sound and A Contemporary Family Vacation: The Velveteria.
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August 23, 2008
A Contemporary Family Vacation: The Velveteria
There are two types of families: the Communist Party Central Committee variety —those that plan their family vacations and the Jack Kerouac variety —those that don’t. Planning a family vacation takes time and forethought. Like a Soviet five-year plan. But some families are simply not wired that way. They like to wake up in a strange motel and decide at breakfast what direction to head. We are not that kind of people.
But we’re not apparatchiki, slaves to the Plan, either. We like a little “fuzzy room.” We’re open to a modicum of serendipity, but we like to scope out each day’s unique venues beforehand. We don’t want to miss anything important (we still can’t forgive ourselves for missing the National Bowling Stadium in Reno). A little bit of forethought can go a long way. So when we knew we’d be spending a few days in Portland, Oregon I consulted the Google Gods for advice.
Google’s special analytics made our number one destination immediately clear: The Velveteria, the Museum of Velvet Paintings. Susie and I like good kitsch, you know, so bad it’s good. You might remember last year’s foray to the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas. Yes, that’s the stuff vacation memories are made of. Family vacations are fun but we also see them as learning experiences for our children: a chance to impart our values on our progeny. And appreciations of the finer things in life like this are just the values we’d like our girls to have. Whenever possible we like to provide them with fodder for their own family stories-to-be. And we see it as one way to ensure our legacy.
Kitsch-based museums often are marked by a bit of stealth. Blending into their neighborhoods to filter the unappreciative (and calls for rezoning), while making “the find” more attractive to the kitsch cognoscenti is de rigueur. And the Velveteria was no exception. The Liberace Museum was in a strip mall; The Velveteria looked like its building had once housed a hardware store on the city’s east side. The open layout of the interior required the museum’s collection be housed behind a wooden partition with a bright pink shroud hiding the masterpieces from unpaying eyes. It was like I was being beckoned to enter the ape man’s lair at a carnival. The exotic called to me as I laid down our $5 entrance fees.
The owners were taking a day off but the man at the desk offered us an introduction to the collection. Caren Anderson and Carl Baldwin had been collecting velvet art for ten years and, lucky us, they were showcasing their favorites at the moment: Banditos. I couldn’t wait to take some photos. But the sign at the entrance clearly stated the museum’s photography policy: NO PHOTOS were allowed. With their new book just out, our guide mentioned something about copyrights, book rights, yadda. Don’t these people know that sharing is the new Web 2.0? Photographing art (and sharing it online) is a great way to connect with the masses and build audiences. The more the merrier when it comes to appreciating these masterpieces. (Funny, I had just been discussing this very issue professionally when I spoke in Spain last month.)
Disappointed as I was I was not disappointed when I entered the exhibition. Caren and Carl were serious collectors. And I would have loved to talk with them about the finer points of their treasures over lattes. As great as the series of Bandito paintings were, the highlight was taking the kids into the black light room housed in the very back of the museum. The girls were transfixed. We laughed as our white socks glowed, each experimenting with various bits of clothing we were wearing (let’s just say I got a laugh when I briefly pulled down my pants zipper).
Pup in a Cup: a Paris Hilton favorite I’m sure
Back at the entrance I had to have a souvenir of my visit. They had a series of black t-shirts available and I quizzed my family and other like-minded visitors about my selection. I wanted the cheesiest of course so I picked one Paris Hilton would be proud of.
We had one last task before we departed for our next carefully chosen vacation stop. The Velveteria offered us a special challenge. Just before the exit was a velvet portrait of someone who looked vaguely familiar. Guess who this was and we’d win a prize. I pondered. I know I’d seen his face before. My children yelled out names from their favorite Nickelodeon shows. But it was my wife who correctly answered the question and took home our free departing gifts. Who do you think this velvet likeness is the spitting image of?
Related Post: Waiting for the Love Boat on Puget Sound
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