Year of the Tiger!

It's the Year of the Tiger!

  The Year of the Ox is over, and we're moving on to the Tiger.  Here's to hoping there will be more luck with getting rid of the pandemic and all negative things associated with it.  The pandemic started around Chinese New Year in 2020, and here we are still dealing with it and the Covid variants in 2022 with the Beijing Winter Olympics starting in 3 days.  Maybe China will get a better vaccine?

The embassy had a CNY party, so we got to hear so performers, try some special foods, write Chinese characters, figure out Chinese idioms, etc.

Currently, there are 4 Covid high risk areas and 6 medium risk areas, with a little over 100 cases I believe.  They are pulling in random housing complexes to do Covid tests, but so far we haven't been asked.  A few weeks, there was only 1 case in Beijing and the schools were asked to shut down in person school.  So all of the international schools did virtual school for 2 weeks, and now our kids at CISB have 3 weeks off.  Bri and I have the week off of work, so at least we're home for a third of their break.  No one can travel right now.  Even flights coming in and out of China have been severely lessened.  The embassy put a halt on all flights for our diplomats for 30 days, starting about mid-January.  So the restriction should lift around mid-Feb after the Olympics.  Too many people coming in with the new variant Omicron and ending up in fever clinics.  So, we're all stuck in Beijing, but we plan on going on a frozen ice river hike this week and to Gubeikou Water Town the following week.  It's really hard to know what we can plan, but it definitely has to be in the limits of Beijing (or we might not be let back in, or if you are let in, you have to quarantine 14 days).  We plan on outings, knowing that they could possibly be canceled.  We also run the risk of being on the bus or tour or in the store where someone has Covid or is a close contact, and then everyone has to quarantine.  My local staff coworker has a friend that went to buy a cabbage one night, and a week later, was told by the PRC government that she was a "close contact" because of her shopping at the grocery store where someone had it.  She had a few hours to pack, was picked up at 12am, and she was off to test and stay in a hotel for 3 weeks.  Her husband, without warning then, was also locked in to his apartment for 3 or 4 days until a few of his wife's tests came back negative, and then they let him out.  Even though she's negative, they still keep her quarantining for a full 21 days because the incubation period is so long.  This couple also has a daughter who was staying with the grandparents.  Who knows if they end up being labeled "close contacts" too.  Needless to say, we don't really want to risk going anywhere and doing anything fun, or even necessary like grocery shopping, but we've determined that a few excursions might be possible.  We're hoping that with the Olympics starting and ending in 3 weeks or so, that things will ease up with the restrictions and how much the government is trying to control the spread of Covid (as they have for the past 2 years).  Here's to hoping...

I took a walk at Chaoyang Park yesterday since I'm off of work this week, and loved seeing all the red banners and lanterns for the Chinese New Year holiday.  I especially loved the blue skies (no pollution) with the iced over lake with a light dusting of snow.  I had a perfect view of the skyline to enjoy. :)I saw a pretty bird but had to zoom in on it too much, so the resolution isn't great.  There really don't seem to be too many birds here, so I wanted to capture the bird while I could. 

The traditional gift for Chinese New Year is a hongbao, "red envelope" with money in it.  Of course you can find different designs on the envelope, and this one had tigers on it for this year's Year of the Tiger.   And of course some chocolate to go with it.  We gave 100 rmb to each of the kids, which is almost $16.  That's all the cash we had on hand, and the kids just had Christmas. ;)

For the family, we got a bunch of wooden puzzles to tackle.  Not easy though!

Rhea had a fun visit with Danaa, her friend from Qatar a few days ago.  She's the daughter of the Ambassador of Qatar, and apparently they just finished building a pool on the compound, so Rhea got to go swimming in it.  Danaa gave Rhea a bunch of treats and crackers from Qatar for CNY.

We find ourselves often hanging out on mom and dad's bed with Cocoa, and slowly, one by one, each of the family members saunter in to join in the cuddle.  A nice way to ring in the Chinese New Year.

More cuddles with Cocoa.

Dad got back from a walk, and Cocoa was excited to see him.  This is great progress from where she started in her relationship with Dad.  Seemed like she was afraid of male figures for a while.  She's warming up now!

And she loves Thomas!