Hanoi, Vietnam     4/28/06 - 5/2/06
OK, I've got a great family.  I have a lovely wife and a beautiful, energetic 4-year-old daughter.  Things are about to change in a big way.  I have twins on the way.  My wife and daughter have retreated to the USA in preparation for the birth and I'm left to finish out the school year in Beijing.  I decided to spend my Labor Day break doing something a father of 3 kids under 5 won't get to do for a while, kayaking in Halong Bay, Vietnam. 
My travel partner for this trip was Shane, one of our science technicians, Canadian, traditional Chinese medicine doctor, and all-around good guy.  We set out in a taxi from ISB and in moments were immersed in the  mad dash to the airport with thousands of other like-minded Beijingers.  Surprisingly, we made it in plenty of time and took a leisurely pace through the airport to our gate.  On the plane we a student of mine and two other ISB teachers.  Our flight was pretty turbulent resulting in plenty of spilled wine though thankfully not on my clothes.  A driver met us at the Hanoi airport and whisked us into the middle of the "Old Quarter" to the Hong Gnoc Hotel.  We checked in, changed some money, and went in search of appropriate venue to break Shane's one year and two day beer fast.  We discovered a "german" brew pub on the third floor of a building overlooking what has to be the most harrowing street intersection in the world.  Below us thousands of motorbikes whizzed by in all directions flowing and weaving amongst each other, the occasional car and the seemingly oblivious pedestrians.  Seriously, people who cross the streets here are taking their life into their own hands, yet on that night, and throughout the trip, we never saw anyone get mowed down.  It's amazing really.  People in the know just put their heads down and go.  It's easy to spot the tourists as they nervously glance this way and that and then gingerly step out into the street only to leap back again at the site of a fast-approaching motorbike.  When they finally get out there, it's very reminiscent of the video game "frogger" as they bob and weave their way through. 
Speaking of the motorbike craze, I've compiled a top ten list of things observed relating to motorbikes in Hanoi and the surrounding countryside.
  1. Imagine a whining chainsaw with a horn and you can approximate the noise.
  2. Family of three on one bike.
  3. No helmets.
  4. Lots of face masks - many of then custom tailored.
  5. Carbon monoxide anyone?
  6. Family of four on one bike.
  7. Two people, one dozen chickens.
  8. Andrea's motorbike taxi motoring off without giving her change for the fare.
  9. One dozen feeder-pigs bound and in a basket.
  10. Mom breastfeeding her youngster while dad drive the bike.




The motorbike culture was fascinating, but the real draw of northern Vietnam is the extremely friendly people, great food, and amazing scenery in the countryside.  The rice paddies were a brilliant green the likes of which we don't see in and around Beijing. 
After ending our first night at a Jazz bar we woke early the next morning and headed for Handspan Tour company to embark on our trip to Halong Bay.  We and seven others boarded a bus to Halong City, a 3.5 hour journey.  On the way there was, of course, motorbike-watching, along with  the unique scenery including water buffalo, cut old-growth logs waiting to become Chinese furniture, and rice paddies with beautiful cemetery plots in just about each one.  Our guide, Hua, described the Vietnamese custom for burial.  The people are buried in the rice paddy so their spirit is nourished for eternity (or until it's converted to a housing estate) by the rice crop.  People are buried twice.  First, they're put in the ground in a simple wooden box where they begin to decompose.  After two years, it's up to the eldest son to dig up the parents and clean the bones.  Once this is done, the bones are put in a small stone box and are returned to the rice paddy. 
After arriving at the harbor in Halong City, we had to crawl over several boats to reach ours which was tied on the periphery of over 100 wooden junks packed like a log jam around the concrete pier.  Soon we weighed anchor and moved out into the bay for a delicious lunch with plenty of seafood.  This also gave us a chance to get to know our shipmates which included a couple from Australia, a American-Swedish family of four living in Hanoi, and a Belgian woman volunteering for the U.N. in Hanoi. 
We began our cruise through the 3000 odd islands in the Halong Bay UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The scenery was breathtaking and it was nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of Hanoi.  The limestone Karst peaks plunge dramatically into the sea.  This area was produced when uplift of the ancient coral beds drove these islands of limestone skyward.  Over the years, erosion has worn away the less resistant rock and now water surrounds the islands or more resistant limestone. 
Next stop was a visit to a fantastic cave where we strolled through the stalactites and stalagmites.  We motored a little way farther and dropped anchor for the evening.  Nearly all of us had a swim in the bay and enjoyed the mobile vendors who would row up to the boat to say "you want to buy something from me?" 
Shortly after diving off the boat and coming up to the surface, sure enough, a girl was there to try to sell me something.  I was so stunned that I didn't know how to respond, but just sort of shrugged my shoulders and thought "uh, I left my money in my other shorts."  Fortunately, Shane was on board observing the whole event and had a good laugh about it for days to come. 
The next day we met a smaller support boat and got our kayaking instruction.  We boarded the boats and set off to paddle for the day.  The kayaking was fantastic!  We saw lots of huge jellyfish, some as big as a beach ball!  We were able to take good video of one that was in a shallow lagoon.  We broke for lunch and then paddled on to the base camp operated by Handspan.  This narrow strip of beach with simple huts was a place where we took a welcome break and had a nice swim.






Lastly we took a 45 minute paddle to a floating village near Cat Ba island.  The people here live in simple, floating, one-room cabins surrounded by nets full of their captive fish which they raise and sell for food.  Every place had at least one dog to guard against fish rustlers.  Though the pollution caused by these fish farms is a bit of an environmental catastrophe, the unique sites of this totally foreign way of life mesmerized me.  One positive aspect, I suppose, is that if you don't like your neighbors you can just tow your farm to another part of the bay and drop anchor there instead.
We left the kayaks behind and boarded a bus to the other side of Cat Ba island, a five minute ride away.  There we stayed in a brand new hotel that had the most unique, environmentally friendly toilet I've ever seen.  The top of the tank was a shallow basin with a faucet.  When you flush, the faucet runs and the water drains from the basin to fill the tank.  You can wash your hands without using any additional water!  Very ingenious concept I thought. 
The next day it was a boat cruise back through the bay and back to Hanoi via bus.  We met our ISB friends by accident after leaving the tour office and had some fantastic fresh spring rolls for lunch.  Then it was shopping time.  We'd left it all until the last possible minute which made the evening a little less enjoyable that it might have otherwise been, but we did have a good time making deals with the shop keepers and seeing some very nice hand-made items. 
We took our tour guide's advice and made our way via motorbike taxi to Pho 24 and feasted on the delicious beef noodle soup which is like the Vietnamese national dish.  It was great and cheap, less that two dollars for the entire meal.  This was followed by more shopping and browsing the CD/DVD shops. 
Our vacation ended all too soon with the early flight back to Beijing the next morning, but both Shane and I fell in love with Vietnam and suspect we'll be back.


Berlin     3/25/06 - 4/2/06




I know it seems crazy to fly half-way around the world, but we decided to have a "homecoming" visit to Berlin.  We really miss many things about living there and decided to take the opportunity to travel back whilst many of our dear friends were still working at JFKS.  Due to the tax, situation, many of the people who we know there are moving on at the end of the school year. 
We got on an Air China flight to Munich and then I, being the clever guy that I am, booked two different discount airlines to take us to Berlin and back to Munich at the end; or so I thought.  I accidently booked our return flight from Berlin for the 2nd of February instead of the 2nd of March!  Tammy discovered this error the day before we left Beijing so I called the "friendly" German airline receptionist and was shocked to learn that "sorry sir, this flight has already flown."  I said "no kidding" and I didn't get much farther after that.
Anyway, after that 400 Euro mistake, we did have a great time in Berlin.  We stayed with our friends the Lillydahl's who were neighbors in our Dahlemer Weg apartment.  It was like being at home again!  We would get up and go to the local bakery, shop at the same places, take the train and bus, etc.  Isabella had a great time playing with her friends.  She had to play at all of the parks she loved to visit when living there and even went to her old "mat" class.  Too soon the days of eating Doner and drinking pils were over and we found ourselves on the plane back to Bejing.

Thailand     12/20/05 - 1/4/06



We flew into Bangkok, changed planes and then onto Koh Samui - little island an hour flight from Bangkok. The weather was not great in Koh Samui - wasn't bad but not hot either 70's --Isabella swam in the pool with her wet suit. The ocean was very wild (red flags) therefore we didn't spend much time on the nice sandy beach and definitely no swimming in the ocean. We did walk along the beach, getting soaked every time. Isabella nevertheless enjoyed picking up shells and coral in the sand. We took an open air taxi (basically the back of a pick up with bench seats on each side) to the other side of the island to go trekking in the jungle on elephants. Isabella loved it!! We all rode on the same elephant.   His name was Peter and he was 26 years old - it was a rough ride - I will never forget it! After 3 nights on this island we took a ferry (an hours journey) to another island Koh Phangan.

Once at Koh Phangan we took a taxi to the resort. The weather was GREAT! The first two days it would be really really hot in the morning then mid-morning it would rain really hard for about an hour and then it would be really nice again. We stayed at this resort for 6 nights - enjoying the swimming pools, massages and weather. The beach was not as nice as Samui, there was a lot of broken glass so really no playing in the ocean or in the sand. We did walk along the beach into town almost every night for dinner. Isabella's favorite restaurant was this place called "Lucky Crab", they had a fish lady sitting out front and you could pick the live seafood/fish that you wanted to eat. We had to eat at this place two nights in a row because Isabella wanted the red fish again and wouldn't let us walk by. She ate the whole thing too! I couldn't stomach the smell of the fish and basically had to hold my breath whilst Jeff and Isabella enjoyed Lobsters, prawns the size of your arm and red snapper - I tasted them and they did taste lovely but the smell was enough to kill ya! The third night I made sure we walked a different way so we didn't have to eat there three nights in a row.




Our days at Koh Phangan went something like this: Woke at between 8-9am, went to the resort restaurant located by the pool next to the beach for breakfast Went to breakfast in our swim suits all greased up with suntan lotion. We went right from the breakfast table to the pool (LITERALLY!). We layed by the pool and swam, Ice Cream about 10am (maybe 11 if Izzy was really into swimming). Ate lunch at the pool restaurant sometime between 12 and 2. We enjoyed many fruity drinks/shakes in the afternoons and maybe another ice cream.  We took turns getting massages (Jeff would go one afternoon then I would go that evening or vice versa) If it was really hot we would go back to the room (2 minute walk) in the afternoon for an hour or so, then around 5:00 we would head back to the room - shower and get ready to walk along the beach into town for dinner. Back to the room between 8 and 9 and to bed.
Next day.... hmmm what should we do??? .... I guess the same thing.

We could've rented scooters and went out and about on the island but we couldn't be bothered. Jeff read 3 books and started his 4th. I read 2 books and started a 3rd. We all got lots of sun - I go so much and for two afternoons I had to sit under the umbrella - my chest was so red and the sun was so hot. Jeff had several hour long Thai massages (too rough for me!) and hour long neck and shoulder massages - I enjoyed the hour long foot massages everyday and I had a neck and shoulder massage and pedicure and manicure. Hour long massage $4.00 - can't go wrong!

Then we took the ferry back to Samui and took a flight to Bangkok. In Bangkok we stayed at Ruthy and Tico's condo (friends that live in Berlin but own a condo in Bangkok). Joe and Stacey (friends from Berlin that now live in Hong Kong) were also in Bangkok so they also stayed at Ruthy's. It was AWESOME to see them. Really nice. We went out and about in Bangkok but took things at a pretty slow pace - they have two really nice outdoor pools at their condo so we did of course spend some time lounging by that pool. We enjoyed a weekend market, went to the aquarium, and a couple of temples. We also made it to Ruthy's family's silver store - FUN!! I bought loads of stuff.  We'll definitely be back in Bangkok!
Kite Market     9/10/05




I always knew I married Tammy for the right reasons, but this weekend it was reinforced as I watched her in action as she went head to head with some of Beijing's most seasoned hagglers at the kite market along the Jingshun Road.  We set out to buy some kites as gifts and maybe a few decorative things for our home.  After having directions written out and a taxi called by the CP staff, we set off.  The merchants were hardly busy.  We ambled up to the dozen or so stands of kites and related paraphernalia and it was like poking a bee's nest.  They all scurried into action to serve us and show their wares.  We would find kites that looked interesting and then ask them to fly them, which Izzy loved.  She would run with them and hold the reels of kite string; it was a grand adventure for her.
We of course had fun, but after all, we were here to do business.  So, we got down to business.  We bought kites!  We bought dragonfly kites, butterfly kites, dragons, fish, and dogs.  We found a flying squid, and a feathered dragon.  There were kites of all sizes shapes and colors.  Of course, every purchase required intense negotiations over price.  This is the area where Tammy really shined. Since our mandarin is very limited at best (actually that's disingenuous since we can't converse at all), negotiations took the form of written numbers on the ground with a stick or rock and in some places with the modern technology of the ball point pen.  At one stand during negotiations over three kites, I was watching izzy and one of the women at the stand conveyed to me in Mandarin "she's though!", referring to Tammy and her negotiating skills.  I did my best by pointing to my wedding band and told her "that's why I married her!"

Great Wall at Mutianyu      8/27/05




Our trip to the Great Wall at Mutianyu finally arrived.  We had been the victims of a rain delay on our first attempt at making the trip so we were glad to finally be heading to this world-famous site.  As some living here it’s easy to put off seeing the sites thinking “I’ll do that another time.  I’ve got 2 years…” Then, you discover that your time here is over and you didn’t see half of the tourist sites! 
This, sadly, is the way it goes.  Why fight it?  You know it’s going to happen so why bother.  Yet, here we were, about to step foot on this magnificent attraction.
To get to Mutianyu we boarded a morning bus and crawled in the Beijing traffic toward the countryside.  At this point we’re all getting used to being part of the spectacle of driving in China.  Cars are rapidly becoming a luxury within reach of more and more Chinese.  The long and short of the traffic nightmare is a total lack of obedience of traffic laws and common sense for that matter.  Each of us in the bus has adopted our own strategy to deal with these harrowing adventures.  George likes to take it all in and comments frequently on the near misses and bonehead moves of other drivers.  I just don’t look.  I have found that it’s a lot easier just to throw caution to the wind, get on the bus and rejoice when you get to your destination in one piece. 
There must be mountains out here somewhere…  and then, there they were suddenly as our eyes strained to resolve the green shapes through the thinning chemical haze of the world’s most polluted city (actually, we’re tied with Mexico City so we can’t claim the entire winnings) the mountains of Mutianyu and the promise of the wall.  Off the bus and up through the throngs of hawkers selling everything from t-shirts to post card packs for “one dollar” we walked.  This seems all well and good but you realize quickly that the vendors have not been on X-Rates.com this morning checking the latest Reminbi VS US Dollar currency exchange rates.  The most outrageous purchase: two people in the group purchased a kind of pancake with egg and spring onion for RMB 50 (equivalent to $5.50).  Not a bad price for a nutritious local snack you say?  It is considering the local going rate for these greasy treats is RMB 5 (53 cents)!  That’s what we got ours for and unfortunately, we were the bearers of the bad news for the inexperienced bargainers. 
Family Plaman chose to ride the gondola to the upper reaches of the wall and then walked the wall back toward the pick-up point.  The view was good if not a little hazy since we hit the wall right at mid-day.  But, all in all we were happy with the views.  Mutianyu has sections of the wall that were restored in 1659 during the Ming dynasty.  Though not as heavily toursited and meticulously resetored as other sections, the 20 kilometers at Mutianyu on this day was overrun with upward of 1000 Sony employees out on what appeared to be one of those uniquely East-Asian business team-building retreats complete with video crew, group photos, and company songs.  The main issue was that they traveled as a pack so several times we pulled over against the side and waited as the tide of Sony disciples marched on by, then they’d stop, we’d pass through their picture set-up and then the whole cycle would repeat itself.     It was a little uncomfortable on the wall also due to the mid-day sun and the 50lb toddler who’s legs didn’t carry her over a lot of the narrow, uneven stairs and pavement.  
Of course, Isabella was a big attraction in addition to the wall.  4 different groups of Chinese stopped to ask to take a photo with her.  She was a little hot and tired at this point, but was a trooper and posed for their cameras.  We’re slowly getting used to all the attention.  The wall walk ended at the alpine slide.  We rode the slide to the bottom behind a Chinese woman who was riding the brake the whole way.  Now if only they’d transfer some of this to their driving. 
The wall was…  well, great!  We’re looking forward to sharing this site and others with our visitors. 


Beijing - Week 1      7/30/05 - 8/6/05


After 17 hours of flying, we touched down at Beijing's Capital Airport.  After walking through a line where our body temperature was scanned with thermal imaging cameras we moved through customs and immigration and then collected all eight of our bags.  We were met outside the baggage hall by ISB's high school Principal, Rodney Fagg.  Their drivers took us and our luggage the short ride to our housing complex, Capital Paradise.  We were given a short introduction to the place where we will live for at least the first two months and then shown to our spacious three bedroom serviced apartment.  As we adjusted to jet lag over the next days, the rock-hard mattresses made the job more difficult. 
Life at Capital Paradise is easy.  We have huge indoor and outdoor pools, two restaurants, a bar and coffee shop, salon and massage, and a very useful service contract where if any thing's wrong in the apartment, all we do is ring the management and they sort it out... mostly.  We have a fence all around the complex with gates staffed with 100 young Chinese men who salute you as you enter and leave the grounds.  There is no real threat of violence here, but more the idea of keeping people out who don't belong here.  This will take some getting used to.  To see the other side of the coin, we only need to stroll through the local village.  I can walk this way to school instead of taking the shuttle bus or a one Euro taxi.  It's a nice way to stay grounded and be reminded of what life is like to the 1.4 billion average Chinese. 
We can find pretty much everything we need at the local shop next to our housing complex.  They have a vast variety of western items like cereal, snacks, even Hormel bacon and ham.  The only thing we really need to sort out soon is finding cuts of meat that we recognize.  There is a good German butcher shop in the city we've been told.  Tammy went shopping to the Pearl Market to test out her bargaining skills.  She did really well for a first-timer, getting a merchant to come down from 58RMB to 20RMB on a new watch.
We have hired an Ayi (maiden aunt) named Li Hua from the local village.  She is 42 and has a 21 year-old son.  She was selected for us by our mentor.  Li Hua is a cousin of her Ayi who is also the owner of a local Chinese restaraunt, Red House.  She cleans, does laundry, irons, shops, and will cook for us once a week to start and more if we like it.  She will also look after Isabella, taking her to the park, swimming, petting zoo, etc. 
Now for the school, ISB.  It is jaw-droppingly big and well appointed.  It's like no school I've ever been in before and I'm very much looking forward to seeing it filled with nearly 1900 students come 15 August.  There is a huge amount of very competent support staff.  For example, the technology coordinator has nine full time assistants and engineers.  The catering in the lunch room is a far cry from USDA soy-burgers and the like.  We've had sushi, noodles, and chicken curry to name a few dishes.  I don't think I'll be packing my lunch for the first time in my life!  There are 41 new teachers this year and we've come from all over.  For some it's their first overseas experience and for others it's one of many.   I have a desk in a new office space shared with 8 others.  I have my own brand new computer on my desk from which I can access the very robust intranet, online grade and communication program. 
The transitions team has been really fantastic arranging for us such things as water coolers, foam overlays for our rock beds, cell phones, and golf clubs all delivered to our door. They've taken us to Hou Hai lake for a wooden boat cruise; to the night market famous for fried scorpion, silk moth larvae, and testicles on a stick; around Tiannamen square; out for a Chinese banquet, and on shopping trips. Unfortunately, our trip to the Great Wall had to be postponed due to rain in the mountains. But, it will, no doubt, be rescheduled soon.  
We're all settling in really well, but are wary of the honeymoon period that we're in right now. But still, the reality of the working life in Beijing for us looks to be a very positive and comfortable one.


Minnesota Summer Holiday      July 2005



Our SHORT summer holiday in Minnesota found us spending time at our families homes in Mankato and Gaylord, at the lake in Longville, and in the Twin Cities.  We had lot's of shopping to do, visiting, fishing and getting things in order for our move across to the other side of the world.  Isabella's highlights included  spending time playing with her grandparents and especially her cousins.  She really loved  all of the opportunities she had to see her cousins.  Fishing at the cabin was big as well.  She liked playing "bait girl" and would deliver bait to us as needed.  Isabella and "Paxton" the horse really hit it off too.  Isabella got to ride him three times out at the farm! 


Pomerania      5/27/05 - 5/30/05


Some information on the ancestors of the Plaman family made it's way to us prompting our visit to western Poland.  It turns out that Jeff's great-great-grandfather was born in a small village near Lobez called Unheim.  We drove from Berlin, crossing the border at Szczecin, toward the Draskow Lakes region of northwestern Poland.  Just over the border, Tammy became acquainted with the Polish highway patrol.  She was driving a little too fast and got a stern lecture in Polish from the two officers.  Her "limited" skills in the language probably helped her since they decided it was too much trouble to explain that they were giving her a ticket sending her back to her car empty handed.  Our idea was to drive some of the local roads to get an idea of the lay of the land and maybe do some poking around through cemeteries and villages.  Well, the weather turned out to be absolutely beautiful which led us to modify our plans and head toward the Baltic coast after spending Saturday morning driving in search of Unheim which we never managed to find.  We did stumble upon a parade which we think was commemorating fire fighters in the town o Zlocieniec.  Once at the Baltic Sea coast we settled, pitching our tent, in the village of Rewal.  The weather was absolutely brilliant with temperatures on Saturday in the 30's.  As you might have guessed, our little swimmer had us spending most of our time down on the beach.  The water was chilly , but since it was so warm we were able to swim all day Saturday and most of the day on Sunday.  Camping was great.  Isabella just loves having the tent up, laying in the hammock, and riding her like-a-bike around the camp ground.  All was not perfect as it rained on us on Monday as we had breakfast and packed the tent away wet. 


Slovenia       5/5/05 - 5/8/05

We really feel our time in Europe coming to an end.  Very sad...  Our feelings are all the more magnified following our trip to Slovenia, the most beautiful place in Europe.  Slovenia has been on our list for a while along with many other destinations.  We are very glad we finally made it here, but now we're left trying to figure out how we can possibly get back! 
Slovenia is a small country sandwiched between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia.  You can drive from one corner to the other in less than two hours.  You can have breakfast on the Adriatic coast and be in the Alps skiing by lunch time!  We, of course, couldn't manage an itinerary this ambitious with a three-year-old in tow, but we were able to explore the capital, Ljubljana, and the lakes region around Bled in the northeast.  We were fortunate to have the guidance of a native Slovenian, Nejc Sekula, a former student of Jeff's, as we planned our travels. 
On Thursday morning of the "himmelfahrt" holiday we flew Easy-Jet from Berlin to Ljubljana.  Susan Zapata, a friend of ours from JFKS, was also on the flight so we shared a taxi into the city, checked in to our hotel, then found a traditional Slovenian restaurant for a late lunch.  The weather was rain off and on so after parting company with Susan, as she headed up to Bled, we explored the city a bit and returned to Hotel Slon following a late dinner at a wood-fired pizza restaurant.
The next day we explored the market, the old town, castle and Tivoli park of Ljbuljana. It was great weather and felt good to be outside. The currency in Slovenia is the SIT which traded at about 240 to 1 (Euro). This takes some getting used to since you can have a fist full of bills that amounts to only about 20 Euros. Prices in Slovenia were much lower that we are used to in Berlin. Cappucino can be had for about one Euro in most places and a nice meal out for three with drinks etc. topped out at about 30 Euro.  We also enjoyed the local Slovenian beer, "Union". Browsing the market stalls and craft shops was very interesting. Two of the most popular craft items were bee hive panels and clay pipe drums. Traditionally, bee keepers in Slovenia painted the front panels of their bee hives to protect the bees inside from frosty nights and to improve the honey production of their hives. The scenes on the panels are widely varied but many reference folk tales. The clay pot pipe drums are made of a clay pot with a pig's bladder stretched over the opening. A reed pipe is inserted into the center of the bladder and sound is acheived by wetting the index finger and thumb and then sliding is up and down the shaft of the pipe. This sends vibrations to the bladder which then resonates at a pitch related to the size of the pot. Very cool.



We rented a car for a day and drove to meet Susan in Bled which has a large lake and Slovenia's only island. The island has an old church on it so we rented a row boat and Jeff rowed the group to the island where we were greeted with a shot of blueberry schnapps. On the way back to the boat we were given some plum schnapps. I think the marketing strategy is that if you give away enough free shots a person will think less critically about whether or not he really needs to buy a whole bottle of the stuff to take back. It worked on us. After our boating we drove up the valley toward the Bohinj area with another beautiful mountain lake and many unspoiled rural villages. Between periods of clouds, we were treated to amazing views of the snow-capped mountains above the lakes. Our trusty rental car took us up over the foothills into the next valley on very small "logging-type" roads. The destination was the well-preserved medieval city of Skofja Loka. Returning to Bled, we had dinner at Penzion Mayer and then left Susan and headed back toward Ljubljana. We met Nejc and he chatted with us a bit in our room and them Jeff and Nejc went for a stroll in the old town and out for coffee.  It was fun to reminice with Nejc about Forest Lake MN days and also to get his perspective on the changes facing Slovenia.
Sunday morning had us strolling the antique market stalls along the river. We found many nice items, but nothing that we couldn't live without. Isabella found a couple of toys that she needed so those were our only purchases. After a short drive back to the airport and an uneventful flight back to Berlin our holiday was over.  Now, when can we get back...
Monaco       3/21/05-3/26/05


Our original plan was to meet the Ward's here in this tiny principality on the southern coast of France, but plans changed for them and we ended up coming here ourselves.  We have to admit that Monaco was not high on our list of places to visit.  We're not into gambling, yachting, or Formula 1 racing yet we were pleasantly surprised by the place and are very glad we came.  We flew in to Nice and had some trouble getting our car since the broker who we booked from botched the reservation and we were left with two hours to kill while a new car for us was sorted out.  We took the short drive to Monaco and after a few wrong turns we managed to find our hotel, Le Quai des Princes.  It was a small hotel, in contrast to some of the high rise buildings dominating the skyline, situated directly on the harbor of Cap 'd ail.  Right out our balcony we were treated to the life of the yacht-set as we overlooked six huge yachts moored in the harbor.  Our apartment had a kitchen so we really enjoyed cooking meals instead of always going out.  We enjoyed sampling the fresh seafood from the market and the French wines, breads and pastries. 
Aside from eating, we took time to see the sights of Monaco:  the old city, the ports, changing of the guard at the palace.
The weather was nice. Temperatures were in the range of 65 degrees F, really strong sun when it was out.  Jeff even burned his "peaks" slightly.  Isabella did manage to talk her papa into taking her swimming one afternoon in the "shorty" wet suit.
The travel headaches continued on the way home. Our flight back to Berlin was delayed by 4.5 hours so instead of getting home at 20:00, we walked into the house at 00:30. Monaco was a great place, we'd recommend it to anyone looking for a low-key holiday.
Erfurt, Heidelberg, Dinkelsbuhl, Bamberg       3/11/05-3/16/05


Having three weeks off as a combined winter/Easter holiday, we decided to visit new places in Germany. Following a big meal with many of our JFK friends at Weisses Roess'l in Berlin, we set off for Erfurt. Isabella was in her 'jammies and fell asleep in the car as was our plan. Erfurt was little more than a stop-over on the way to Heidelberg, but Jeff managed to get up early and walk around the city for a couple of hours before we left.
We arrived at the Crowne Plaza, Heidelberg which served as a nice base for exploring the city. We walked the streets of the Altstadt, browsed the shops, and of course found time to swim at the hotel. The castle and bridge over the river Nekar were highlights of our visit.
After Heidelberg, it was on to the walled town of Dinkelsbuhl. We found a room at the small pension "The Golden Lamb" and went out for a fantastic meal at the "Deutches Haus." Dinkelsbuhl is a really beautiful village full of half-timbered buildings and still completely surrounded by defensive walls.




We left Dinkelsbuhl and headed towards Bamberg, a city renowned for its brewing heritage. We found Bamberg to be a beautiful city with a large pedestrian zone and a nice layout with the Dom dominating the skyline and the river bisecting the Altstadt. We did manage to find some beer and it was, as advertised, great. After we left Bamberg we drove through the beautiful German countryside to Kloster Banz where we enjoyed an excellent lunch followed by an afternoon walk through the forest.

Beijing - Week 1      7/30/05 - 8/6/05


After 17 hours of flying, we touched down at Beijing's Capital Airport.  After walking through a line where our body temperature was scanned with thermal imaging cameras we moved through customs and immigration and then collected all eight of our bags.  We were met outside the baggage hall by ISB's high school Principal, Rodney Fagg.  Their drivers took us and our luggage the short ride to our housing complex, Capital Paradise.  We were given a short introduction to the place where we will live for at least the first two months and then shown to our spacious three bedroom serviced apartment.  As we adjusted to jet lag over the next days, the rock-hard mattresses made the job more difficult. 
Life at Capital Paradise is easy.  We have huge indoor and outdoor pools, two restaurants, a bar and coffee shop, salon and massage, and a very useful service contract where if any thing's wrong in the apartment, all we do is ring the management and they sort it out... mostly.  We have a fence all around the complex with gates staffed with 100 young Chinese men who salute you as you enter and leave the grounds.  There is no real threat of violence here, but more the idea of keeping people out who don't belong here.  This will take some getting used to.  To see the other side of the coin, we only need to stroll through the local village.  I can walk this way to school instead of taking the shuttle bus or a one Euro taxi.  It's a nice way to stay grounded and be reminded of what life is like to the 1.4 billion average Chinese. 
We can find pretty much everything we need at the local shop next to our housing complex.  They have a vast variety of western items like cereal, snacks, even Hormel bacon and ham.  The only thing we really need to sort out soon is finding cuts of meat that we recognize.  There is a good German butcher shop in the city we've been told.  Tammy went shopping to the Pearl Market to test out her bargaining skills.  She did really well for a first-timer, getting a merchant to come down from 58RMB to 20RMB on a new watch.
We have hired an Ayi (maiden aunt) named Li Hua from the local village.  She is 42 and has a 21 year-old son.  She was selected for us by our mentor.  Li Hua is a cousin of her Ayi who is also the owner of a local Chinese restaraunt, Red House.  She cleans, does laundry, irons, shops, and will cook for us once a week to start and more if we like it.  She will also look after Isabella, taking her to the park, swimming, petting zoo, etc. 
Now for the school, ISB.  It is jaw-droppingly big and well appointed.  It's like no school I've ever been in before and I'm very much looking forward to seeing it filled with nearly 1900 students come 15 August.  There is a huge amount of very competent support staff.  For example, the technology coordinator has nine full time assistants and engineers.  The catering in the lunch room is a far cry from USDA soy-burgers and the like.  We've had sushi, noodles, and chicken curry to name a few dishes.  I don't think I'll be packing my lunch for the first time in my life!  There are 41 new teachers this year and we've come from all over.  For some it's their first overseas experience and for others it's one of many.   I have a desk in a new office space shared with 8 others.  I have my own brand new computer on my desk from which I can access the very robust intranet, online grade and communication program. 
The transitions team has been really fantastic arranging for us such things as water coolers, foam overlays for our rock beds, cell phones, and golf clubs all delivered to our door. They've taken us to Hou Hai lake for a wooden boat cruise; to the night market famous for fried scorpion, silk moth larvae, and testicles on a stick; around Tiannamen square; out for a Chinese banquet, and on shopping trips. Unfortunately, our trip to the Great Wall had to be postponed due to rain in the mountains. But, it will, no doubt, be rescheduled soon.  
We're all settling in really well, but are wary of the honeymoon period that we're in right now. But still, the reality of the working life in Beijing for us looks to be a very positive and comfortable one.



After 17 hours of flying, we touched down at Beijing's Capital Airport.  After walking through a line where our body temperature was scanned with thermal imaging cameras we moved through customs and immigration and then collected all eight of our bags.  We were met outside the baggage hall by ISB's high school Principal, Rodney Fagg.  Their drivers took us and our luggage the short ride to our housing complex, Capital Paradise.  We were given a short introduction to the place where we will live for at least the first two months and then shown to our spacious three bedroom serviced apartment.  As we adjusted to jet lag over the next days, the rock-hard mattresses made the job more difficult. 
Life at Capital Paradise is easy.  We have huge indoor and outdoor pools, two restaurants, a bar and coffee shop, salon and massage, and a very useful service contract where if any thing's wrong in the apartment, all we do is ring the management and they sort it out... mostly.  We have a fence all around the complex with gates staffed with 100 young Chinese men who salute you as you enter and leave the grounds.  There is no real threat of violence here, but more the idea of keeping people out who don't belong here.  This will take some getting used to.  To see the other side of the coin, we only need to stroll through the local village.  I can walk this way to school instead of taking the shuttle bus or a one Euro taxi.  It's a nice way to stay grounded and be reminded of what life is like to the 1.4 billion average Chinese. 
We can find pretty much everything we need at the local shop next to our housing complex.  They have a vast variety of western items like cereal, snacks, even Hormel bacon and ham.  The only thing we really need to sort out soon is finding cuts of meat that we recognize.  There is a good German butcher shop in the city we've been told.  Tammy went shopping to the Pearl Market to test out her bargaining skills.  She did really well for a first-timer, getting a merchant to come down from 58RMB to 20RMB on a new watch.
We have hired an Ayi (maiden aunt) named Li Hua from the local village.  She is 42 and has a 21 year-old son.  She was selected for us by our mentor.  Li Hua is a cousin of her Ayi who is also the owner of a local Chinese restaraunt, Red House.  She cleans, does laundry, irons, shops, and will cook for us once a week to start and more if we like it.  She will also look after Isabella, taking her to the park, swimming, petting zoo, etc. 
Now for the school, ISB.  It is jaw-droppingly big and well appointed.  It's like no school I've ever been in before and I'm very much looking forward to seeing it filled with nearly 1900 students come 15 August.  There is a huge amount of very competent support staff.  For example, the technology coordinator has nine full time assistants and engineers.  The catering in the lunch room is a far cry from USDA soy-burgers and the like.  We've had sushi, noodles, and chicken curry to name a few dishes.  I don't think I'll be packing my lunch for the first time in my life!  There are 41 new teachers this year and we've come from all over.  For some it's their first overseas experience and for others it's one of many.   I have a desk in a new office space shared with 8 others.  I have my own brand new computer on my desk from which I can access the very robust intranet, online grade and communication program. 
The transitions team has been really fantastic arranging for us such things as water coolers, foam overlays for our rock beds, cell phones, and golf clubs all delivered to our door. They've taken us to Hou Hai lake for a wooden boat cruise; to the night market famous for fried scorpion, silk moth larvae, and testicles on a stick; around Tiannamen square; out for a Chinese banquet, and on shopping trips. Unfortunately, our trip to the Great Wall had to be postponed due to rain in the mountains. But, it will, no doubt, be rescheduled soon.  
We're all settling in really well, but are wary of the honeymoon period that we're in right now. But still, the reality of the working life in Beijing for us looks to be a very positive and comfortable one.


Minnesota Summer Holiday      July 2005



Our SHORT summer holiday in Minnesota found us spending time at our families homes in Mankato and Gaylord, at the lake in Longville, and in the Twin Cities.  We had lot's of shopping to do, visiting, fishing and getting things in order for our move across to the other side of the world.  Isabella's highlights included  spending time playing with her grandparents and especially her cousins.  She really loved  all of the opportunities she had to see her cousins.  Fishing at the cabin was big as well.  She liked playing "bait girl" and would deliver bait to us as needed.  Isabella and "Paxton" the horse really hit it off too.  Isabella got to ride him three times out at the farm! 


Pomerania      5/27/05 - 5/30/05


Some information on the ancestors of the Plaman family made it's way to us prompting our visit to western Poland.  It turns out that Jeff's great-great-grandfather was born in a small village near Lobez called Unheim.  We drove from Berlin, crossing the border at Szczecin, toward the Draskow Lakes region of northwestern Poland.  Just over the border, Tammy became acquainted with the Polish highway patrol.  She was driving a little too fast and got a stern lecture in Polish from the two officers.  Her "limited" skills in the language probably helped her since they decided it was too much trouble to explain that they were giving her a ticket sending her back to her car empty handed.  Our idea was to drive some of the local roads to get an idea of the lay of the land and maybe do some poking around through cemeteries and villages.  Well, the weather turned out to be absolutely beautiful which led us to modify our plans and head toward the Baltic coast after spending Saturday morning driving in search of Unheim which we never managed to find.  We did stumble upon a parade which we think was commemorating fire fighters in the town o Zlocieniec.  Once at the Baltic Sea coast we settled, pitching our tent, in the village of Rewal.  The weather was absolutely brilliant with temperatures on Saturday in the 30's.  As you might have guessed, our little swimmer had us spending most of our time down on the beach.  The water was chilly , but since it was so warm we were able to swim all day Saturday and most of the day on Sunday.  Camping was great.  Isabella just loves having the tent up, laying in the hammock, and riding her like-a-bike around the camp ground.  All was not perfect as it rained on us on Monday as we had breakfast and packed the tent away wet. 


Slovenia       5/5/05 - 5/8/05



We really feel our time in Europe coming to an end.  Very sad...  Our feelings are all the more magnified following our trip to Slovenia, the most beautiful place in Europe.  Slovenia has been on our list for a while along with many other destinations.  We are very glad we finally made it here, but now we're left trying to figure out how we can possibly get back! 
Slovenia is a small country sandwiched between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia.  You can drive from one corner to the other in less than two hours.  You can have breakfast on the Adriatic coast and be in the Alps skiing by lunch time!  We, of course, couldn't manage an itinerary this ambitious with a three-year-old in tow, but we were able to explore the capital, Ljubljana, and the lakes region around Bled in the northeast.  We were fortunate to have the guidance of a native Slovenian, Nejc Sekula, a former student of Jeff's, as we planned our travels. 
On Thursday morning of the "himmelfahrt" holiday we flew Easy-Jet from Berlin to Ljubljana.  Susan Zapata, a friend of ours from JFKS, was also on the flight so we shared a taxi into the city, checked in to our hotel, then found a traditional Slovenian restaurant for a late lunch.  The weather was rain off and on so after parting company with Susan, as she headed up to Bled, we explored the city a bit and returned to Hotel Slon following a late dinner at a wood-fired pizza restaurant.
The next day we explored the market, the old town, castle and Tivoli park of Ljbuljana. It was great weather and felt good to be outside. The currency in Slovenia is the SIT which traded at about 240 to 1 (Euro). This takes some getting used to since you can have a fist full of bills that amounts to only about 20 Euros. Prices in Slovenia were much lower that we are used to in Berlin. Cappucino can be had for about one Euro in most places and a nice meal out for three with drinks etc. topped out at about 30 Euro.  We also enjoyed the local Slovenian beer, "Union". Browsing the market stalls and craft shops was very interesting. Two of the most popular craft items were bee hive panels and clay pipe drums. Traditionally, bee keepers in Slovenia painted the front panels of their bee hives to protect the bees inside from frosty nights and to improve the honey production of their hives. The scenes on the panels are widely varied but many reference folk tales. The clay pot pipe drums are made of a clay pot with a pig's bladder stretched over the opening. A reed pipe is inserted into the center of the bladder and sound is acheived by wetting the index finger and thumb and then sliding is up and down the shaft of the pipe. This sends vibrations to the bladder which then resonates at a pitch related to the size of the pot. Very cool.



We rented a car for a day and drove to meet Susan in Bled which has a large lake and Slovenia's only island. The island has an old church on it so we rented a row boat and Jeff rowed the group to the island where we were greeted with a shot of blueberry schnapps. On the way back to the boat we were given some plum schnapps. I think the marketing strategy is that if you give away enough free shots a person will think less critically about whether or not he really needs to buy a whole bottle of the stuff to take back. It worked on us. After our boating we drove up the valley toward the Bohinj area with another beautiful mountain lake and many unspoiled rural villages. Between periods of clouds, we were treated to amazing views of the snow-capped mountains above the lakes. Our trusty rental car took us up over the foothills into the next valley on very small "logging-type" roads. The destination was the well-preserved medieval city of Skofja Loka. Returning to Bled, we had dinner at Penzion Mayer and then left Susan and headed back toward Ljubljana. We met Nejc and he chatted with us a bit in our room and them Jeff and Nejc went for a stroll in the old town and out for coffee.  It was fun to reminice with Nejc about Forest Lake MN days and also to get his perspective on the changes facing Slovenia.
Sunday morning had us strolling the antique market stalls along the river. We found many nice items, but nothing that we couldn't live without. Isabella found a couple of toys that she needed so those were our only purchases. After a short drive back to the airport and an uneventful flight back to Berlin our holiday was over.  Now, when can we get back...
Monaco       3/21/05-3/26/05




Our original plan was to meet the Ward's here in this tiny principality on the southern coast of France, but plans changed for them and we ended up coming here ourselves.  We have to admit that Monaco was not high on our list of places to visit.  We're not into gambling, yachting, or Formula 1 racing yet we were pleasantly surprised by the place and are very glad we came.  We flew in to Nice and had some trouble getting our car since the broker who we booked from botched the reservation and we were left with two hours to kill while a new car for us was sorted out.  We took the short drive to Monaco and after a few wrong turns we managed to find our hotel, Le Quai des Princes.  It was a small hotel, in contrast to some of the high rise buildings dominating the skyline, situated directly on the harbor of Cap 'd ail.  Right out our balcony we were treated to the life of the yacht-set as we overlooked six huge yachts moored in the harbor.  Our apartment had a kitchen so we really enjoyed cooking meals instead of always going out.  We enjoyed sampling the fresh seafood from the market and the French wines, breads and pastries. 
Aside from eating, we took time to see the sights of Monaco:  the old city, the ports, changing of the guard at the palace.
The weather was nice. Temperatures were in the range of 65 degrees F, really strong sun when it was out.  Jeff even burned his "peaks" slightly.  Isabella did manage to talk her papa into taking her swimming one afternoon in the "shorty" wet suit.
The travel headaches continued on the way home. Our flight back to Berlin was delayed by 4.5 hours so instead of getting home at 20:00, we walked into the house at 00:30. Monaco was a great place, we'd recommend it to anyone looking for a low-key holiday.
Erfurt, Heidelberg, Dinkelsbuhl, Bamberg       3/11/05-3/16/05


Having three weeks off as a combined winter/Easter holiday, we decided to visit new places in Germany. Following a big meal with many of our JFK friends at Weisses Roess'l in Berlin, we set off for Erfurt. Isabella was in her 'jammies and fell asleep in the car as was our plan. Erfurt was little more than a stop-over on the way to Heidelberg, but Jeff managed to get up early and walk around the city for a couple of hours before we left.
We arrived at the Crowne Plaza, Heidelberg which served as a nice base for exploring the city. We walked the streets of the Altstadt, browsed the shops, and of course found time to swim at the hotel. The castle and bridge over the river Nekar were highlights of our visit.
After Heidelberg, it was on to the walled town of Dinkelsbuhl. We found a room at the small pension "The Golden Lamb" and went out for a fantastic meal at the "Deutches Haus." Dinkelsbuhl is a really beautiful village full of half-timbered buildings and still completely surrounded by defensive walls.




We left Dinkelsbuhl and headed towards Bamberg, a city renowned for its brewing heritage. We found Bamberg to be a beautiful city with a large pedestrian zone and a nice layout with the Dom dominating the skyline and the river bisecting the Altstadt. We did manage to find some beer and it was, as advertised, great. After we left Bamberg we drove through the beautiful German countryside to Kloster Banz where we enjoyed an excellent lunch followed by an afternoon walk through the forest.