RIP Dorothy McQuillan

It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter from Beijing, China after receiving the phone call I had hoped I would never receive. One joke of our family was that Nanny would outlive us all. I’m not sure I ever believed that I would see the day that she passed on.

Every time I drink a rye and ginger, or see a box of Miltons, or pass a Red Lobster, I will be reminded of Nanny. I will serve my children Nanny eggs and I will tell them about the matriarch of our family that we lost. I will tell them about the woman who lay in the hospital bed, fiery as ever, telling jokes and making fun of the nurses. I will remember the ailing woman who, barely able to lift her arm, gestured to my brothers and me and said jokingly “and what’s wrong with you?!” because we had not yet married or added to the brood of great grandchildren that she has left behind. She was of the generation of children that walked uphill to school--both ways; a life-long care-giver and seemingly everyone’s grandmother.
She was a woman unable to understand my choice to live in Asia but sympathetic to my penchant for travel. She was a stubborn and strong woman who didn’t take lightly to being bed-ridden and helpless. The nurses soon learned what we all have known, that “Nobody puts Nanny in the corner!”

Now we must move on to new endeavours as she would want us to. Marcel Proust once wrote of mourning: “People do not die for us immediately, but remain bathed in a sort of aura of life which bears no relation to true immortality but through which they continue to occupy our thoughts in the same way as when they were alive. It is as though they were traveling abroad.” Although Nanny left her family to work out of the home, and left the country to travel countless times, she always came home. In the end I will choose to believe that Nanny is just traveling on another adventure, like myself, happy where she is, waiting to come home. And when she does, she will tell an exhausted family story like when she came to visit my family in Markham when I was very young, creeping into my bed in the middle of the night. In the morning I woke up and exclaimed, “I waked up and therrrrrreeeee was Nanny!” Perhaps, then, we are both traveling and one day we will meet again.

My New Digs...

My apartment is finally almost done and I am getting very settled. I am still waiting on a microwave from my landlord and am looking for a cheap toaster oven/rotisserie. I will also make one more trip to Ikea and spend the rest of my wan but will have a fantastic studio to show for it. Here are a few pics. The futon rolls out into a double bed. It's a small apartment but you all have an open invitation.

The CBD

I live and work in the CBD in Beijing (the Central Business District). It is very western, very posh, and (not surprisingly) very expensive. I work across from "The Place" which is a big mall with expensive stores inside like Ferrari and Zara and Swarovsky. There is also a GIANT LCD screen that they project nature scenes and other artistic visuals on at night. The Place is usually always busy and loud with music playing and the sound of glasses clinking on the outside tables. Naturally, I love it there.

Yonghe Temple

Last weekend I took the subway from "The Place" to the Yonghe Temple (Lama Temple). I knew it wouldn't be too hard to find since there is a stop on the number 2 subway line called Yonghegong or Lama Temple. It takes two subways lines to get there, one being a sardine-can ride for (thankfully) only one stop. When you get off the train there are neighbourhood maps everywhere in the station, except they all say that they are neighbourhood maps in English but are completely written in Chinese. With no bearings, therefore, I guessed which exit to take, stupidly overlooking the fact that the majority of people seemed to be going to one exit (always follow the crowds when travelling!). I chose the farthest away exit so I had to walk around the complex to find the entrance to the temple but I enjoyed the walk along the street filled with tourists and incense shops. It cost only 25kwai (about 4 dollars) to get into the temple and it was well worth it.

Lama Temple was once a palace but now is known as one of the most important Tibetan monasteries in the world. I was awed by the late afternoon light cascading onto the golden roofs and the seemingly clean air within the temple grounds (so rare to have a nice, clean air day in Beijing!).

"I am....the WALLLLLLLL!!!"

Location: Mutianyu Great Wall

Summer Palace

I went to the Summer Palace in the northwest of Beijing with some Brits the other day. The LP describes the Palace as "a playground for the imperial court eluding the insufferable summer swelter of the Forbidden City." In the centre is a large man-mad lake (18th c.) called Kumning Lake, which foreigners and tourists can tour via dragon boats and row boats. One of our favourite parts was the "silk street" area with small shops and artisans lining a thin waterway. The pictures unfortunately are not ideal since it was so hazy but they are impressive nonetheless.