Spring City Diary

Fungus My Glory

2007-08-22T14:51:00.000+08:00

Like much of Asia, Korea makes very liberal (ab)use of English in advertising, fashion, and just randomly scribed on things like dishtowels or photo albums. In fact, professional photo studios in Korea will take a very nice portrait, then print a bunch of English song lyrics across it. Usually they are something romantic. Sometimes they are just odd. One that stands out had Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't fear the Reaper" lyrics in flowery lettering down the side.

There are websites that do a pretty good job of collecting misuse of English, but I just wanted to share a few recent finds (you might need to click to blow them up so you can read them):
Note the starbucks-esque coffee cups. You can get these in Family-Mart (like 7-11). They come pre-loaded with instant coffee...

Another nice example of odd English is an underwear shop I sometimes pass that is called "Yes". I always tell myself I'll bring my camera and always forget... At any rate, the sign above the door reads something to the effect of:
Jeane, did you see my new panty and brassiere?
Is this one yours?
No, does this one look like mine?
It is nice. Should we go to Yes?
Yes, yes, yes, yes.... Yes!!!!

All things digital and wireless are huge in Korea. The technology's pretty impressive, with the subway full of people watching digital TV shows on their cell phones. Marketing tries to pick up on the high-tech trend--almost any appliance you buy has a digital display and "fuzzy logic" written across it.

Some things are harder to make high-tech/digital, like big apartment buildings. But if you can't make them virtual, then at least you can give them virtual names:
Sweet dot Home (built by the "Pair of Dragons" conglomerate)

Some building names have less obvious connotations:
"We've"

While others are more direct:

My favorite recent find was this one, though. Maybe the guy dreams of being a famous mycologist?

A very merry... ummm... birthday to me

2007-08-07T18:11:00.000+08:00

OK. Sorry for the dorky Alice in Wonderland reference. Ella likes Alice, a lot--she has a thing for the psychedelic.

Anyway, my birthday was August 5th, and I got about the best present you could imagine, even better than the presents my dog-nephew, Ike, got for his adoption day.

My birthday present was Jina Lerato Thompson, and here she is:

Weighing in at a dainty 6lb, 11oz, and born exactly on her due date.

This is the story of her first days in this world. Warning to the squeamish: there are pictures of nude, slimy babies (but nothing more graphic than that).

Things are a little different in Korea. You don't get the luxurious birthing suites of American hospitals, since deliveries here don't bring in the kind of $$ that they do in the US. We did get a private birthing room, though, compliments of our insurance. Most people have shared birthing rooms.

We also got Hyunjoo's best friend, the epidural, for which she was very grateful, albeit very, very itchy.

Things after that went more-or-less as you'd expect in the US, with a few notable exceptions. They kept asking me to leave the room for every minor procedure or exam. Then came the perennial struggle I was accustomed to having with certain respiratory therapists in US delivery rooms. There's no need to give oxygen to a healthy vigorous baby who is still a little blue shortly after being born--babies aren't supposed to be that pink that soon. There's actually growing evidence that being hyper-oxygenated isn't just not necessary, but it can be harmful in newborns. At any rate, people love giving oxygen since it makes the babies get pink faster and they feel they've accomplished something... Korea was no exception
I had to keep subtly pulling away the O2 mask whenever I could get a hand near her.

Did she just mouth-pipette those gastric contents!?!?! That's definitely different.

Jina: "Hey, lady, I've got an apgar of at least 8, even without the oxygen."

Note the nice symmetric moro reflex :-)
Then came the most frustrating part. Although we had requested mother and baby rooming-in together, things here are still kind of like they were in the US in the 1950s. As soon as the baby is born, you get one peek after she's been toweled off and bundled (and then they put the baby to the breast for about 2 seconds--part of new efforts to promote breast-feeding), then whisk her away to the nursery so mom can recover).

Does she look like she needs to have her baby taken away?
That's about 2 minutes after delivery.

At any rate, I went to the nursery and argued for a while that for reasons of bonding, attachment, breastfeeding, reducing postpartum bleeding, etc it's important for mom and baby to be together immediately unless there's a medical reason to keep them apart. I got some sypathetic nods, but the final word was, "We don't do that, sorry." I hate to be the pushy patient. God knows I've experienced some who have pushed too far, but most are simply trying to do what they think is best for their children. I believe I was justified, but I probably pushed a little too long, spending time arguing in the nursery that I should have spent with my wife, supporting her...

In the end, my sister-in-law, Ji-Young arrived, and helped push forward our transfer to postpartum so we could bring Jina in to be with her mom. All told, it was about 2 hours before we got moved into the postpartum room--better than the 4 hours they usually take, but still too slow. Ella was relieved to see her mom again. She had been understandably worried about what was going on.

Hyunjoo soon got her first meal of seaweed soup--which she will be eating every meal for the next month!
And Ella did her best to imitate mom's expression.
Another 15 minutes later, Mom and baby were finally reunited.

Then everyone had the chance to get better acquainted over the next couple of days.

Ella was delighted to meet her baby sister. She constantly wanted to hold, touch, and kiss her...
She also "read" her Dr Seuss's story of overcoming one's fears of the mysterious and unknown, such as "pale green pants with nobody inside them".
After the reunions, things got a little deja-vu:

Jina got attacked by her hand (left), in a scene that was eerily reminiscent of Ella's hand-attack of 28 months ago (right).

Actually, I told her "If your hand's bigger than your face..." and she fell for it! My girls are so gullible...

Finally, we had our first family portrait on the way out the door:

The name:

"Jina" is Korean (진아), since she was born in Korea. It's pronounced similar to "Gina". It's actually two words: "Jin", which mean essentially treasure (or chastity/virtue, or truth) and "A" which means grace/nobility. We're still deciding exactly which characters to use, so the final meaning is yet to be determined. For those who read Chinese, we're considering 珍雅 or 真雅maybe 贞雅--although the Korean pronunciation for the last one isn't the same. There are some other possibilites, too. Hong-Bin and Lily, we're going to need a name consultation.
"Lerato" is Sesotho, since she spent most of her first 9 months in Lesotho. It means love, and is a common Sesotho name.
Thompson, well, that means Son of Thomas. Actually, it should probably be Tobiason (or even Olson per Norwegian tradition) after my great grandfather Ole Tobiason, but that apparently didn't sound American enough, so it was dumped for Thompson. More than you wanted to know.

And now for Something Completely Different

2007-08-02T17:54:00.000+08:00

Not much action lately.

So I thought I'd share Ella's favorite.... ummmm... psychedelic amalgamation of animation and electronica.

That was Lemon Jelly--Nice Weather for Ducks. Or, as Ella knows it "I wanna see duckies on your 'puter"

She also like's "The Frog One"... although that one's a little more disturbing. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Still waiting on the baby... due any day now. The doc kind of wanted to induce Hyunjoo today, but with 3 people at home with colds and Ella's Grandma with a cold sore we don't want the baby to come quite yet...

TV Tourism

2007-07-26T11:14:00.000+08:00

Korea has never been the most popular tourist destination, especially with big draws like China and Japan right next door. But, in the past decade, "The Korean Wave" has been a powerful force in Asian pop culture, with the spread in Asia, and interestingly Latin America, of TV serial dramas that come out of Korea. They are mostly romantic soap opera mini-series, with rather cliched melodramatic acting, people falling in and out of love-triangles and tragedies, and full-frontal face-shot camera angles. Their popularity has led to the spread of Korean fashion trends, pop music, and an increasing interest in Korean culture, food, etc. all throughout Asia. And, as can always be expected when something foreign is popular, protectionist alarms have sounded, with governments and concerned citizens in Vietnam, Taiwan, and China, complaining about their culture (and their TV airwaves) being diluted by the Korean invasion.

In terms of tourist dollars for Korea, the Korean Wave has definitely been washing back to the peninsula, bringing with it a huge number of foreign (particularly Chinese nouveau-riche) tourists wanting to visit the places where the shows were filmed. So, on the advice of my brother-in-law, and not wanting to miss the wave, we went to Nam-I Island, which sits in a river about 2 hours from Seoul by train.

Nam-I Island is a rather quirky place. About 50 years ago, some guy decided to plant a bunch of trees there, so there are a number of pretty tree-lined paths going in all 4 cardinal directions, each flanked by a different type of tree.

Since then, there have been all manner of oddities added to the island, from collections of village guardian "totem poles"...

...a small sculpture garden...

..antique-looking buildings selling tourist-kitsch...

...and perhaps most surprisingly, a permanent UNICEF photo exhibition in a fake castle that is trying to fill that delicate architectural niche between Disney and gothic.

But, what defines Nam-I Island more than anything else today, is that it was the site of the filming of "Winter Sonata", a tale of complicated love triangles, half-siblings, architecture, and brain damage (at least that's what I got from the plot summary on Wikipedia. I must admit I haven't seen it personally.).

On Nami-Island, you can see such Winter Sonata highlights as:

The picnic table where the leading couple made snowmen and shared their first kiss on the first day of snow.

and signposts allowing you to relive that scene in case you'd forgotten the romantic details.

And, in case you were worried that the legacy of Winter Sonata will not endure through the ages, there is a bronze sculpture of the leading actors...

Complete with a plaque reading:

"This sculpture ensures that the memory of 'Winter Sonata' will remain on Nami Island Forever."

As you can probably guess, I did a little bit of eye-rolling, but that's part-and-parcel of tourist sites in Asia. Subtlety doesn't draw tourists or make money--Did I mention that there is a small flock (?) of ostriches running around on the island?

All that aside, it was actually a really nice trip.

My personal highlights included spicy chicken grilled right at the table

Sharing green tea ice cream with Ella

And of course the little boat ride.

I can never get enough of boats and trains...

Ella's imagination

2007-07-06T16:18:00.001+08:00

Mostly just a few photos of Ella.

I'm still busy studying for boards and... ummm... playing Go online. My father-in-law plays all the time, so it's an addictive way to bond, sort of.

The weather is clearing up, so maybe I'll be able to get out more. Planning a trip for next week. Still trying to write my Lesotho retrospectives. It's hard... I'll keep on it.

On to the photos:

Do you think this is a sign of OCD?

Ella likes making "tea" in MinSeo's ExerSaucer. The "teapot" is the red thing that looks like a silo, the "microwave" is the little round depression, and her hand is in the milk/sugar dispenser.

A demonstration of the "grumpy face". She does this on cue when you ask for the grumpy face.

And, practicing for nude toddler chopstick racing. Her grandmother spent all week comparison shopping for training chopsticks. Ella broke them after about 1o minutes. One of life's many small tragedies.

p.s. she has a heat rash, which is why she's topless in all these photos.

Why didn't I think of this?

2007-07-05T18:52:00.000+08:00

Did you know your feet are conduits to the rest of your body? This compelling fact makes these detoxifying natural herbal foot patches truly indispensable. Worn for 8–10 hours while you sleep, they stimulate circulation and remove toxins such as nickel, arsenic and mercury, according to extensive research. Placed on the arch, they go straight to major reflexology organs to maximize the effects. Ten disposable pads per box. USA.

And only $30 for a pack of 10 square stickers!! I want to get on the board of the company who makes these. They probably have sessions where they get together and brainstorm on the most ridiculous health product they could invent that people will actually buy. I swear they must have giggled quite a bit when this product became not only a "best seller", but also a "customer favorite" here.

Please leave any suggestions for looney medical/health devices in the comment section. You have to use the words "natural, detoxifying, and herbal", or else "according to extensive research" to get full credit. I may select the winner as a business joint venture. I'll provide the MD stamp of authenticity.

p.s. If you were considering "micro-massage anti-cellulite pants" as your entry, that idea was already taken ($150!)

Jeckyl and Hyde

2007-06-29T19:31:00.000+08:00

Dialogue:
Ella: Come dance, Min-Seo.

Come dance, Min-Seo.

Watch a little bit more.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
No, no, no, no, no, NO!

Then I had to intervene and Ella visited the naughty corner for two minutes.

Come on ride the train

2007-06-29T13:39:00.000+08:00

Ella calls this thing her train (It's neither hers nor a train, but she's two). She particularly likes taking her cousin Min-Seo for a ride.
And, here is Ella's little sister. We got the ultrasound yesterday. Everyone comments on how "big" (i.e. Western and attractive) her nose is.
I definitely like how efficient and modern the medical system is here. In SA, it was a little like being in the 1950's--the way the office looked and the staff dressed, and the somewhat parochial (but very warm) approach. Maybe it was just because we were in Bloemfontein, the redneck capital of the world (honestly--it puts anything I've seen in the US to shame in terms of redneckiness).

In Korea there are some things that are peculiar, too--you check your own weight and blood pressure, and they don't let anyone accompany the mom into the ultrasound room. In fact, she doesn't even get to see the ultrasound until after it's done/edited. At any rate, we're happy with our new OB, and I will get to be in the delivery room, and the baby will be able to room in with mom (both have to be requested at check-in). All-in-all, we're happy to be having the baby here.

Hike photos

2007-06-29T13:25:00.000+08:00

I took another little hike, sans Ella, but with our point-n-shoot camera, this time. The weather's been pretty humid/rainy, so no great photos, but at least you can see what it looks like.

(Click for bigger versions)

The old fortress wall that's been restored along the ridge. I don't know what army would be stupid enough to climb up these mountains wearing armor and carrying weapons, to attack Seoul. But I can guarantee they'd want to turn around and smack down their commanders as soon as they got to the top and found this wall in their way.

Da Gate where Ella and I hid form the rain on our last hike.

Leaning rock. It looks much more ominous with all those sticks wedged in there.

The neighborhood (you'll have to click on the photo to see anything). This is what residential areas in Seoul look like--mile after mile of high rise apartments. If the weather was clear you could see them stretching to the horizon in all directions. It is the world's 6th largest city (~25% more people than NYC), and you have to fit them somewhere.

Da hills. I'll get some better shots once the weather is nice.

Return of the shutterbug

2007-06-26T12:16:00.001+08:00

Aaah, now I can start posting photos again!!

I haven't actually had the camera out much because it's been pretty much cloudy and rainy, but we're hoping things will clear up in a few days for some photo-expeditions.

In the meantime...

This is where my parents-in-law live (and where I'm living for the foreseeable future). They are on the 8th floor (a very auspicious number in China).

It also has nice views of the nearby mountains.

Ella and I went for a hike a few days ago. It was cloudy, but the forecast said no rain, so I didn't bring any rain gear. In fact, I deserve scolding by any hiker, as I'd brought exactly zero of the 10 essentials, thinking I'd be on a nice trail for an hour or two at most... Anyway, it turned out to be >6km (about 4 miles) with >600m elevation gain (almost 2000 feet), and 30 pounds of Ella/baby carrier on my back. Normally not a huge deal, but I had been rather sedentary in Lesotho. A strenuous outing there typically consisted of a 1.5 hour drive to Bloemfontein to buy real dairy ice cream. Anyway, once we got to the top, of course it started raining. Fortunately, the entire ridgeline is crowned by an old wall built long ago to defend the city Seoul, and every few thousand yards is a gate where we could rest out of the rain. It's not quite the great wall of China, but still pretty dramatic (next time I'll have a camera). There were lots of hikers, and all were super-nice. One made me take his disposable rain jacket for Ella, and many offered food and water. Anyway, it was enjoyable, despite the rain and the persistently sore calves and thighs today.

Ella has also been hanging out with her cousin Min-Seo, and her aunt and uncle, who live in the same building, but on the 4th floor--very inauspicious per the Chinese as the word for "4" sounds the same as the word for death... They are actually doing quite well despite their numerological misfortune.

and, of course, Ella has enjoyed the playground. There's not a ladder she won't try to climb nor a slide she won't hurl herself down. Her mom is looking rather pregnant now, eh?

p.s. Mom, we found the missing rhino and hippo toys...

more soon

One week

2007-06-22T19:18:00.000+08:00

It's a little hard to believe I've been in Korea a full week already. It feels like I just arrived, but somehow Lesotho already seems like it was ages ago... I'm not sure where my brain thinks I've been.

I had very big plans for what I would be doing once I got to Korea--mostly involving daily hikes with Ella and a few hours of review each day for my pediatric board exams in October (and to review all the general pediatric topics I didn't use in Lesotho--ADHD, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, food allergies, etc just aren't things you really think about there).

I'm off to a bit of a slow start, mostly because I'm going to bed late (meaning waking up late too)--partly jet lag and partly because it's nice to use the internet after everyone is asleep. Ella being sick also put the brakes on father-daughter hikes. Explosive diarrhea in the backpack carrier didn't sound like much of a bonding experience.

But, I think I'm turning the corner (Ella has already turned the corner). I got my hair cut yesterday (just like in China, they are obsessed with using thinning shears instead of regular scissors to cut hair here), downloaded 5 years worth of Pediatrics in Review articles to use for board review, got a certified copy of our marriage certificate from Seoul City Hall where we were married 10 years ago (we'll need it for the baby'-to-come's birth certificate and passport). So, I'm not quite putting in a 40 hour week, but who needs a 40 hour week?

I'm still working on the retrospective Lesotho posts, and plan to take the camera out this weekend, so keep checking in.

Seoul Food

2007-06-20T01:10:00.000+08:00

Korea has been a nice change of pace.

I've been eating enough Korean food that I'm already starting to get tired of it, which is always a bit touchy, given that it's my in-laws feeding me.

Seoul seems quite neat and tidy compared to what I remembered. I'm not sure how much of that is just the contrast with Lesotho and how much is true change. But, Seoul's current mayor has made beautifying the city a big priority with new parks, bike trails, and improved water areas. Also, the new bus system is great and the recycling system is impressive too, with about 5 different bins at the bottom of my in-law's apartment building.

I've already downloaded and watched almost all of Lost Season 3. That show is like cheap crack. Speaking of crack, there's a korean popsickle flavored like honeydew melons and cream... Sounds gross, but it's amazingly good, and I was a bit of a Melona junky when I studied here 10 years ago (I've been married for 10 years!?!). They're apparently sold at Sam's club too, but I wouldn't advise buying anything at Wal-Mart unless necessary... Dirty company.

Ella is sick... always seems to happen with major trips, and it was surprising since she was so healthy in Lesotho. It seems like another UTI, although the labs so far are equivocal... It was nice being in a hospital that can actually run all the (probably unnecessary) tests one could ask for. We need to get her out of diapers so this doesn't happen again. At any rate, she turned around quickly after a few doses of antibiotics, and is now being very naughty, living up to her 2-year old potential...

Still lots of errand to run, dealing with figuring out where we'll have the baby, what we need to do for baby's passport, lots of financial loose ends that we left hanging, etc.

I've just started composing my first few retrospective Lesotho blog posts, so stay tuned...

The warm heart of Asia?

2007-06-16T17:37:00.000+08:00

Well, we have landed in Korea.

We took a little twin-prop plane from Maseru to Johannesburg (Ella wouldn't sit by the window because she found the propellers scary). Then we flew on Emirates airline from Joburg to Dubai, then on to Korea. Two 8-hour legs. Emirates is definitely bucking the trend of cheap, no-frills travel. They had the most space of any coach seat I can remember, the food was pretty decent (the "light snack" had smoked salmon), and the cabin crew was very international and extremely attentive. They took Polaroid pictures with Ella and were showering her with stuffed animals, Dr Seuss books, etc. The icing on the cake was the in-seat, in-flight entertainment with a menu of a few hundred movies to choose from. Ella was in movie heaven, and it made the flight quite easy for us.

In the airport in Seoul, there was a tourist billboard with a new campaign declaring Korea the "warm heart of Asia". Oddly, Malawi's nickname has long been the "warm heart of Africa", which I think is probably more appropriate. As much as I like Korea, it's not really the "warmest" country in the world, let alone Asia (Thailand and Burma in particular have strong reputations for effusive friendliness). Korea is temperate in weather and pretty formal in culture, but I guess those adjectives don't really attract tourists. I kind of like the old "Land of the Morning Calm". Anyway, with temperatures hovering around freezing in Lesotho (winter in the South), and peaking above 80 degrees here, and with plenty of family to entertain my daughter, Korea at least occupies a warm spot in my heart.

Now that we're here, I'm adjusting to the time change and the spicy food, which has a rather rapid intestinal transit time... I think that's why Koreans stay skinny... Ella is delighted with the attention and gifts from her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and it's been nice to be able to get out and walk around at all hours. It's such a relief to be able to let down your guard and not have to be vigilant about your surroundings. I kind of feel like the "clear/claritin clear" commercials. I didn't even notice how tense and vigilant I had been until I no longer have to be so. It also helps taht out the window we have a nice view of pretty wooded mountains just a few hundred feet up the road. My goal is a daily morning hike with Ella on my back (I have to get back in shape for my planned adventures in Bellingham). Today, though she's got a little fever, and I'm still sleeping at odd hours, so maybe tomorrow.

Meanwhile... back in Lesotho, there have apparently been armed attacks on the homes and vehicles of a number of politicos... In response, the government has imposed a 6pm to 6am curfew and are searching cars to try to find the attackers. Spooky. I need to try to get a hold of my peeps and make sure everyone is coping.

More soon. No excuses now that I'm in what is widely regarded the most wired country in the world (although there are doubters out there...)

Reporting form the shores of the Black Sea

2007-05-18T05:35:00.000+08:00

Two posts in three weeks... I call that progress.

Right now I'm in Romania at a conference for BIPAI, reviewing what's been going on in the network, learning what plans are for the future, and sharing what we're learning in this new experiment we've all undertaken to revolutionize the scope and quality of pediatric HIV/AIDS care in Africa. It's inspiring, and the knowledge-sharing has been very helpful.

We haven't seen much of Romania since this is more about business than travel, but what I have seen of the countryside through airplane and bus windows seems like mostly pretty agricultural land. The organization and scale of agriculture stands in dramatic contrast with the mostly subsistence agriculture and free-range livestock grazing in Lesotho.

The cities are less appealing, and kind of remind me of China (the less nice residential parts of Chinese cities)--lots of big cement apartment blocks with shops on the first floor and balconies hung with clothing and surrounded by permanently cloudy windows. I'm also trying to get used to traffic on the right side of the road again. I guess Korea will get me used to that before going back to the States.

I'm also enjoying seeing all the Pediatric AIDS Corps docs from other countries, eating a veritable cornucopia of sliced meats with various permutations of stuffing, breading, stews, and gravy, indulging in too many desserts piled with mounds of sweet whipped cream, and getting kind of bittersweet about the end of my work with BIPAI. I'll miss the chance to be doing this work and having this kind of impact, but I'm in desperate need of a rest, and need to take some needed time to focus on family, especially with the new baby coming.

As I said, there are more pictures (<--Click on the bold words... I need to get in to edit the template so the link will be underlined instead of just bold...)--a couple new albums and some new photos in the old albums along with labels and captions for a lot of the photos that I previously uploaded. So, please browse and enjoy.

Still Alive

2007-04-28T23:35:00.000+08:00

So, I haven't made good on my promise of weekly updates. The big excuse, of course is lack of internet access. I've always like peppering my blog entires with photos, but our unreliable occasionally available dial-up speed access has made that pretty impossible. As more time goes on, I feel like I have to say more to catch up and it just seems like more work, so I'm in this descending spiral of inaction...

Anyway, no excuses. I'm here, and I'm posting.

Work in Lesotho has been a mix of all imaginable emotions. It ranges from the fulfilling to the tragic to the frustrating. I'll try to get more interesting stories posted later, but for now here is a summary of what I've been doing.

I work mostly at the "Center of Excellence" which is our outpatient pediatric treatment center in the capital of Maseru (the pretty building from a few posts back). We see anywhere from 60 to 140 patients per day, ranging from people just coming in for testing to kids who are on death's door to kids who have been on antiretrovirals for a year or more and are very healthy on treatment. We're up to over 800 pediatric patients now. I also work in the inpatient pediatric ward at Queen Elizabeth II hospital, which is the national referral hospital, but considered by most people to be the worst. There are a limited number of specialists and very limited diagnostic testing, but the facilities are run down, and the staff have been overworked and seen so much death to the point of being apathetic. Suffice it to say it's a difficult place to work, but there are occasional victories there.

Much more fulfilling has been the outreach work a few colleagues and I have been doing at a district hospital in the mountain town of Mokhotlong. The district hospital is also understaffed, but with fewer patients, it feels much more manageable, and the staff are much less cynical. We've been making regular trips to work in the pediatric ward, at the HIV/AIDS clinic, and at a few village health centers. The work has included both direct patient care, and a lot of training and mentoring. Although the work in the capital is rewarding, I sometimes feel like just one of 8 pediatricians at the Center. But, in Mokhotlong, I'm able to be the only doctor in some cases and feel like if I weren't there, patients wouldn't get care. We've also been collaborating with Touching Tiny Lives, a small nutritional rehabilitation center which cares mostly for AIDS orphans. They are a very dedicated group of people who do a tremendous job of making sure the money they get goes directly toward the kids they serve, and do an amazing job of stretching each dollar to get the maximum impact. If anyone is interested in donating with the knowledge that there money will be well-used, this is who I'd donate to.

In terms of family, Ella continues to demonstrate what a happy and adaptable personality she's been blessed with. She turned 2 just a few weeks ago, and has started being a bit more whiney, but still more pleasant than most two-year-olds I've met. Her favorite things now include penguins, jumping on the bed, and Nemo (especially Nemo).

Hyunjoo has found life here a bit isolating, especially since she has been staying at home with Ella. There is a fair amount of anti-Asian sentiment in Lesotho. It's partially due to the number of Chinese-owned textile factories which have a reputation for being very hard on the employees, and partially due to the many Chinese owned shops which have opened across the country and undercut local competitors. Although she hasn't been the victim of anything more than some ignorant comments, there are stories of Chinese people who have been assaulted or worse, so it does limit her freedom, at least in Maseru.

But, there are brighter points. Hyunjoo is pregnant again, and due in early August. The pregnancy came as quite a surprise since we had to do in-vitro fertilization to have Ella. Although there are lots of stories and myths, it's actually pretty rare to conceive naturally after in-vitro, so we were pretty lucky. We've decided to go to Korea to have the baby with Hyunjoo's family, so we'll be leaving Lesotho in mid-June. It should be nice to have a few months in Korea. I'm planning to study for my pediatric board exams and take Ella on regular hikes up the mountain behind my in-laws' apartment in Seoul. Hyunjoo is looking forward to seeing her family and eating lots of Korean food. Ella is eager to see her grandparents and cousins.

We've taken a lot of trips and seen most of the highlights in Lesotho and South Africa. I'll try to post about them later. For now, there are some photos on our fotki site.

We've also been fortunate to have a few visitors. My sister, Liz, spent a month and a half with us, and I think our relationship has gotten stronger and that she enjoyed the experience. And my mother is coming to stay for a few weeks in May, which we very much look forward to.

We're planning to be back in the States by mid-September to begin house hunting and I need get all my certifications updated and take my board exams before starting work in Bellingham, WA in November.

I guess that's it for now... Hopefully the next post will come sooner, but I'm not going to make any more promises.

Until next time...

Videos of Ella

2007-01-15T16:37:00.000+08:00

Just a few grainy videos of Ella blowing bubbles, playing with her "boat", and finding evidence of lambs passing by...

A whole month

2006-11-14T23:19:00.000+08:00

Well, it's been a bit too long since my last update. I've been getting a few prods and nudges from a number of circles (apologies to everyone I haven't e-mailed...), so I figure it's time to get typing...

Hyunjoo and Ella joined me about 3 weeks ago. They'd been in Korea with her family, which was mostly good... Ella got to meet her brand new cousin Min-so, and Hyunjoo got to eat some home-cooking.

I picked them up in Johannesburg, which was a long story in itself. I borrowed a van from the clinic, which ended up having major engine problems as night approached in Johannesburg, a city that is a little safer than Baghdad at night... Actually we were in a pretty nice suburb at the time, and the car managed (barely) to limp back to our B&B. The clinic director ended up renting a trailer in Lesotho, and drove it up to Jo'burg as we babysat the van for another night. The trailer suffered a flat tire on the way, and it was replaced with a spare that had a tennis-ball sized bulge sticking out of it... We bought new tires in Joburg and drove slowly back to Maseru without incident.

We've also had a few more pleasant drives since then. Two weeks ago, we drove to Katse Dam, part of a scheme to dam water in Lesotho to provide hydroelectric power and water to South Africa.
It's pretty impressive from an engineering standpoint, but it seems that the promised benefits to Lesotho haven't really trickled down, as is typical--at least not to the people who aren't well-connected. On the way back, we stopped at Bokong Nature Reserve, and hiked out to one of Lesotho's many waterfalls. We enjoyed a nice lunch with a view.
Ella liked the views as well,
but in the end, I think she preferred the gift shop.
The road was pretty, climbing over passes higher than 10,000 feet. At one point part of the mountain had slid down over the road, so we had to follow the bulldozers through a makeshift detour.

At another, we weren't able to avoid a rock, so we bent a rim and flattened a tire on the rental car, sending the hubcap flying off in the dark... It cost about $8 to repair the tire and rim, and we fortunately spotted the hubcap on the side of the road the next day on our drive back, so it din't turn out that bad.

Being a pastoral country, Lesotho's rural roads are also occasionally blocked by animals.
We gave them the space they needed, and in return, the shepherds were more than willing to pose for us.
The guy on the left was a little too cool to wear his Basotho blanket for the picture. I somethow don't think he's a full-time shepherd like his friend on the right.

I also drove with a couple of doctors out to Mokhotlong, the highest "town" in Lesotho, which has been described as the most remote town in Africa accessible by paved road. That may be an exaggeration, but it definitely has a Wild-west feel to it, with plenty of places to tie up a horse outside the stores.

I'd desperately like to begin doing outreach and treating HIV-positive kids in Mokhotlong on a regular basis. But, it seems their hospital is still maybe one step too far away from being ready for significant scale-up, and transportation is quite rough. We'll see...

Since Hyunjoo and Ella arrived, we've been staying at a little "cottage" on the clinic site which is sort of temporary housing for people who rotate through the clinic. It's been comfortable, but it's a bit isolated. Hyunjoo's felt like a prisoner at times since everything is gated, and we don't have easy transportation options. But, we've looked at a house today that we'll probably endup renting, and we're looking at cars as well... I never thought I'd buy a car in Africa, but having our own car will be so much safer and more reliable than the little combis (private mini-van busses full of people) that I think we're going to bite the bullet.

Other highlights:
Bloemfontein, South Africa. Imagine the red-neckiest small town you can, then increase it to
350,000 population, throw in a couple shopping malls and have all the white people speak bastardized Dutch. Finally add a hilltop park with some giraffes and big grazing beasties. That's, Bloemfontein. But, it's the best place to buy things within a 4 hour drive...

Clinic. We're seeing quite a few patients, with a total caseload of over 600 now, and about 1/4-1/3 of those on anti-HIV medication. Most of the care is pretty routine--lots of pneumonias and ringworm, lots of TB, lots of malnutrition. It's always hard to tease out what's from HIV and what's something else altogether, especially since diagnostic testing is limited. We're treating a ton of kids for tuberculosis since it's so common in adults here and we see lots of kids with weight loss, fevers, and something abnormal on their chest x-rays. Who knows how many of them actually have TB, but it's too important to miss, so we treat them.

We've also had some interesting cases--a likely cutaneous anthrax case in a baby who was wrapped in a sheepskin blanket. Today there was a 5 month old with large amounts of bleeding from his rectum... Good times.

Well, I think that's it for now. I'll try to put together some more nice background stuff on Lesotho for the near future.

Khotso (peace)

Life's a party

2006-10-09T21:28:00.000+08:00

This weekend I was fortunate to be invited to a big feast and celebration at the home of one of our clinic's social workers. The party was to welcome her new sister-in-law and her baby into the family, and it was quite the affair, with hundreds of guests--not only family members, but also quite a few stragglers from the neighborhood eager to share their congratulations in exchange for free beer and food. It was quite a nice taste of Basotho (the adjective for the people/culture of Lesotho) culture.

The women worked quite hard getting ready for the party:
(notice grandma's Puma sneakers) and served all the guests:

...while the men drank beer and listened to music. In fairness, they also carried heavy things around and drove to town on important errands, like buying more beer.
Meanwhile, the adolescents posed and looked cool,
while the young kids were content to act goofy,
The proverbial sacrificial lamb had no idea what was in store...

We started dancing a little after noon, and the party was still going on well after sunset. A good time was had by all, drunk and sober.

Lesotho--First Impressions

2006-10-08T21:51:00.000+08:00

Well, it's been 10 days since I arrived in Lesotho, and I haven't gotten the blog updated yet... We are on dial-up here, paying per minute, with no home internet access, so the photos may become fewer and more far between, but I've got extra time today, so why not splurge...

Flying into Lesotho from Johannesburg was the flattest country I've ever seen--the Orange Free State--with nice farming and rangeland that used to belong to the Basotho (people of Lesotho) before they were forced to the highlands that now make up Lesotho by various groups of Africans and Europeans in the bloody conflicts of the late 1800s.

Once we flew over the river into Lesotho, however, the landscape changed immediately, with formations that looked like those of northwest Arizona--pretty dry, with mesa-like sandstone formations rising sharply from gently sloped fields and pastures.

Through the windshield:
Here's a view of the clinic that I've started working in.
It's a beautiful facility with lots of local crafts hanging on the walls, and is nicely stocked with most things that we need/want. The clinic has been open for about a year now, and we're seeing anywhere from 50-90 patients a day. We also spend some time on the inpatient ward at the local government hospital--I haven't been yet, but I hear that it's pretty eye-opening.

In addition, we have a grant to cover the costs of exanding to more remote areas of the country. We'll be covering about 5 remote sites, and have just begun our investigation of the various candidate facilities.

Last week I got to join in on one of the site-assessments, looking at two hospitals in/near the town of Butha-buthe.

It was a great opportunity to get out to see the countryside, which is quite stunning. Here is a traditional "Rondhavel" with mountains in the background:

And, like everywhere, once you get out in the country, people seem just that much friendlier. In particular, the kids, who love having their pictures taken. The Basotho are traditionally pastoral, with the boys looking after the animals, so the most common site seems to be young boys, either individually or in groups, accompanied by their donkeys or ponies as they look after their livestock.

According to one friend here, that has had the interesting side-effect of allowing women to be much better educated than men on the average, particularly in the countryside, since it was considered more important for boys to look after the animals than go to school. Despite this, Lesotho has one of the highest literacy rates--83% according to one source--in sub-Saharan Africa.

All-in-all, Lesotho seems to be quite the nice little country. Internet access aside, it's what one former diplomat referred to as "Africa-Lite", meaning that as an assignment, it's a lot easier than one would expect being in Africa. You can pretty much find anything you need at the local shop-rite. The local gym, which is priced for the wealthy, but still pretty reasonable at under $20 per month is one of the nicest facilities I've ever exercised in--2 swimming pools, squash, basketball, tennis, sauna, steam room, spinning classes, yoga... The main roads are pretty smooth, although the side roads are rutted dirt. And, this coexists with traditional culture that still gives it a much more African than colonial feel.

Once I get Hyunjoo and Ella here, I think I will be pretty satisfied, and happy to linger for a while.

Parting Shots...

2006-09-25T21:31:00.000+08:00

Well, as I head out of China, and into Africa, I thought I'd use the camera to tell a bit of the untold story so far. Please forgive the atrocious formatting... I was trying to get creative, and blogger and I had a difference of artistic opinion. Hopefully it's ok now...

Last week a group from BIPAI came to Kunming for the purpose of conducting some training and for hashing out the details of our proposed collaboration. By now, you probably all know the upshot. The situation isn't really ready for the project we'd initially proposed, hence the departure for Africa. It's been a bit tense with all the intrigue, and certainly a hassle.

After spending the last 5 weeks finding a place to live and furnishing it, we've now spent the last week revoking our leases, selling our furniture, and eating at lots of farewell banquets.

Of all of us, Ella has been the least frustrated by developments, remaining blissfully unaware of the politics and intrigue. She'll be flying with Hyunjoo to Korea for about a month to visit family before joining me in Lesotho.

We've also spent the past week taking pictures, documenting the things that we hadn't yet had the chance to document. The big building on the right is where Hyunjoo, Ella,and I lived--on the 13th floor (less unlucky in China than in the US). We were above a big department store, which made for a fair amount of noise, but it was a fun location.

Here i am with my mighty steed. Although looks can be deceiving, this is NOT a girls' bike... really... With all the stop-and-go biking and dismounting that goes with it (the bike lanes are insanely crowded and nobody obeys laws or common traffic courtesy), the Chinese prefer their bikes to have limited potential for genital trauma, hence the low cross-bar.

This is the bike parking lot for our building where my bike found its home during our brief time together.

Despite the limits on religious freedom in China, there is certainly a lot of evidence of religion. Kunming is a much more Christian place than one might expect, with lots of foreign missionaries (unoficially, of course), and a lot of local Christians. This church was just across the street from our building. I also saw a number of mosques, as Kunming has a pretty sizable Chinese-muslim population. This doesn't imply unlimited religious freedom, but there is a certain degree of tolerance for sanctioned religious groups.

We also spent the past week catching up on many of the things we had planned to do after settling in--trying to live all the fantasies we'd had about what our lives in Kunming would eventually be like. For Hyunjoo, this meant getting some very inexpensive massages and hiring someone to entertain Ella for a few hours. For me, I had always been looking forward to spending more time at Cuihu (pronounced tsway-hoo), aka Green Lake, Park.

Cuihu is the place where old people congregate to do the things that old people do--exercise, drink tea, play Mahjong or card games...

...and most of all perform. Cuihu is kind of a gigantic open mic amateur night for all the elderly people in the city. The old folks come with their instruments, their microphones, and their very powerful amplifiers... while leaving their sense of shame, embarassment, and privacy at home. Like any open mic night, the results are mixed, from the truly inspired to the truly horrific.

For all these reasons, this is my favorite place in Kunming. It's great for people watching, and for the fact that everyone is just doing what they enjoy without worry of what others may think. The photos of the following performers are just a few examples of what makes Cuihu great.

Working on his raspy country-blues vocal cords?

Although this is primarily a place for older folks to perform, this girl was certainly the cutest performer. Did I mention none of these performances are done for money. There aren't any jars or hats passed around. People simply get together out of camaraderie and a love of performing. Often a love that exceeds talent, but that just makes it more charming.

We also bid farewell last week to the HIV treatment clinic in Kunming. Despite our relatively minor role in the clinic, we were sad to leave some of the people. This couple are a formerly-retired husband and wife team of doctors who came out of retirement to work for this clinic, caring for HIV/AIDS patients. They are so loved by their patients that they are continually invited to weddings, funerals, graduations, and even to preside over separation of property when their patients get divorced... I think I'll stick to my slightly more Western limits to the physician-patient relationship.

Finally, here are a couple of the younger doctors at the clinic who are also following in the mold of their older mentors. Although I'm eager to go somewhere that I'll actually be able to see a meaningful number of pediatric patients, I'll definitely miss this group, and hope that they're successful in their HIV/AIDS treatment efforts in Yunnan. The province needs more dedicated doctors like these, not to mention the political will to make their work as successful as it can be.

...and Parting thoughts

2006-09-24T21:48:00.000+08:00

I think it's fair to say that I have a love-hate relationship with China. Although, maybe I should emphasize it more, given what follows, my love for China should hopefully be obvious, ... Arguably the most enjoyable year of my life was spent in Taiwan (culturally, if not politically, China). In the mainland as well, particularly in the smaller cities and the countryside, there is just so much to appreciate--the scenery is incredible, the people are amazing, and the food... despite all the fear-factor type snacks (which I've mostly avoided), we've made amazing new culinary discoveries every day here. My current favorite is a wild fiddle-head fern that the Dai minority people eat. And since we've been in Kunming, we've constantly had people who were friends of friends go out of their way to treat, entertain, and take care of us. For those things, I'mincredibly greatful, and will always love the people of China.

As far as the more negative feelings, things get more messy. This is the second time I've had to abandon professional plans in China due to barriers placed by "collaborators" for reasons that were never transparent... The first was when I had planned to do dissertation research in China toward a PhD in public health (in the end I decided to get a masters degree instead...). I was going to take part in a multicenter rotavirus surveillance project, under the auspices of the International Vaccine Institute in Korea. My job was to involve coordinating data collection between 6 or 7 hospitals, visiting each one to ensure consistency of data collection, then assembling and analyzing the data. Those plans fell through a month before my planned start date when the Chinese collaborator (whom I never met), refused to allow the project to continue if there was a foreigner (me) in a supervisory role. It was clear that he never had any interest in letting me be involved, but that wasn't made apparent until plans were well under way.

Fast forward to today. I am now a bona-fide pediatrician, with something meaningful to contribute for the good of Chinese kids, not just a research project. I am backed by an organization with tremendous depth of expertise, an amazing international track record, and a lot of capital. There is also a very pressing need for pediatric HIV care here, with an estimated several thousand kids infected in this province...

[I have edited the middle of this post, cutting out some sections that are too sensitive to keep on a public site. If you would like to read the entire blog, please e-mail me. Suffice it to say that we are unable to do the clinical work here that we had originally hoped, primarily for lack of identified patients, despite the estimates of thousands of infected children. ]

Although my role is a small one, I do think that our leaving is a big loss for China, and is symptomatic of a major problem within the Chinese bureacracy. I will still be able to go to Lesotho, see lots of children, hopefully impact their lives and make a meaningful difference. I also will get to travel and reap the cultural rewards inherent in this experience, so although I'm frustrated, I'm really not losing out. I wish I could say the same for the HIV positive kids in Yunnan.

Moving from fall in the Spring City to spring in Southern Africa

2006-09-19T22:15:00.000+08:00

Well, we're pulling out of China.

I guess the writing was on the wall.

The government officials we've been working with haven't been able to provide what we need to be able to care for kids in Yunnan province. In fact, they haven't been able to provide the kids that are supposed to be here. Without kids to see, a clinical pediatrician isn't very useful, and there's no tangible plan to identify the many infected kids out there, and no clear role for us even if they were identified. So, it's "zai jian" (aka adios, sayonara, adieu).

We'll be heading to Lesotho once we sell our things and get our rent back... assuming all goes well. In Lesotho, the new clinic is seeing plenty of kids, so there should be plenty for us to do. As frustrating as this process has been, and as sad as it is for the HIV positive kids in Yunnan, it's also exciting that we know we'll be able to see a lot of kids and make a difference in Lesotho.

I'll write more later.
For now, here's a Houston Chronicle article about the Pediatric AIDS Corps and what they're doing in Southern Africa

Lost in Translation

2006-09-14T18:33:00.000+08:00

We all know that piracy of movies, CDs, computer games, and brand-name clothing is commonplace in China, and is done much better than it is in New York. Near Yunnan University, for example, there's a big bootleg movie store just 2 doors down from the local police station. I'll neither confirm nor deny personal use of such products (70 cents to one dollar per disc!!!).

Anyway, here's a quote from an article about US movie studios suing a Chinese firm that allegedly sells pirated movies. Even when things are translated correctly, they may still sound funny.

"China's IPR [Intellectual Property Rights] protection efforts will carry the full force of steel, and will definitely not be as soft as bean curd," Premier Wen Jiabao said last week.

Hotel Hygeine

2006-09-14T15:55:00.000+08:00

Last weekend Megan and I went to the city of Ruili, and to Longchuan county, two sites along the Burmese border that are among the hardest hit by HIV/AIDS in China. I am still processing some of the things that we experienced some disheartening, and some very encouraging. I'll post about them later, but for now I have a few amusing items to share.

The border area is a hotbed for drug injection and prostitution and Ruili once had the reputation for being quite the Wild West fronteir town. Things have cleaned up somewhat since then, but the economy is still pretty heavily dependent on the "oldest profession". On the right, is the "24 hour beauty and health maintenance massage parlor" that sits in the lobby of our hotel in case anyone needs a backrub at 3 AM... The phones in the guest rooms have on/off switches!? It soon became clear why: In the first 5 minutes Megan was in her room, she got 2 calls from ladies soliciting gentlemen requiring companionship.

It's now mandatory for hotels in Yunnan to provide condoms in rooms as part of the program for AIDS prevention. They charge for them, of course. And, the Chinese entrepreneurial spirit being what it is, not only are condoms sold, but a variety of other pleasure and prophylactic products.

The placard on the left was in one hotel bathroom, in Chinese and Chinglish. You can click for a larger image, but I'll provide highlights from the Chinglish text, because reading it was the most fun I'd had in a while.

Mouth Antiseptic-Oral condition is actually a mirror for the healthy condition of the whole body... it is a good healthy habit to maintain oral sanitation. Spraying your mouth with Gargarisma every day can remove unpleasant odor and keep mouth sanitary...

Clean-Tooth--Outstandingly effective special Double-whitening recipe...

Antibacterial Towels [these are for wiping your naughty bits...] The product is 100% cotton, convenience for use, can prevent illness of infect effectively. It is the best ware to travel or get about.

Antibacterial Underpants and Sock--special material and technology, antibacreria, venerelate, deoderant. changing and washing frequently are good habit for health habits.

Washing-Liquid--DIANS Washing-Liquid can quickly enter the private parts skin inside the exoenzyme, and kill the fungi, bacteria. Availabely kill various sexually transmitted disease germ, prevent the in fection.Can become to defent the germnatural cover.And construct the health environment and prevent the germ irruptive.

Water-based--Advanced directiongs and technology , particularly fitting the character of the eastern human's hair.while keeping the hair wet,it make easier to camb the hair to shape.l

Condoms--More security,more funny.
Wet turban [no explanation follow this one...]

Below is the in-room "mini-bar" in another hotel, including: his-and-hers disposable underpants, two varieties of "Indian Saint Oil", one described in Enlgish as "Joy Woman Sex Oil", Man Lotion and Woman Lotion, Condoms, and, "Compressed Hygeinic Towel--soak before use"

I wonder if part of the reason for very limited condom use among prostitutes and their clients is that some people actually believe compressed hygenic towels and DIANS washing liquid might prevent AIDS... Any MPH students out there need to do a KBAP (knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, practices) study? Who comes up with these acronyms??

The funny part is, despite all the hygeine products, one of the hotels didn't even have a top sheet to put between your body and the (presumably unwashed) comforter. Not comforting... Well, my lightweight travel sheet should be coming from the US with the next group of people to visit from Houston, so I'll at least have my dry turban saint body wrap before my next hotel adventure. In the meantime, maybe I'll try the Gargarisma.

And, now for something completely different: Here I am being fitted for a skirt.

Settling and Unsettling--to Africa after all

2006-09-08T14:19:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since I last posted, so you'll all be treated to two postings today!

Since we left the hotel things have been a little bit of a roller coaster. We moved into our apartment, which we've generally been happy with, a few minor maintenance issues aside. Perhaps the most exciting homefront event was crushing my toe with a headboard while rearranging Ella's room. Nothing broken, but it looked pretty gross (the picture doesn't do it justice, fortunately)...
We've also purchased bikes (well, Megan and I did--Hyunjoo is appropriately scared of the traffic here). We've got cell phones, made a few friends, figured out where to buy things. We've eaten tons of excellent food, and begun to use public transportation. All in all, we've started to settle.

Having gotten basic needs taken care of, the next task was to get to work. To that end, we've had a few meetings with our local contacts at the clinic where most of the HIV patients in Kunmming are treated. There are estimates of well over 1000 HIV-infected children in the province--most far from the capital. But there are very few that have been identified, even fewer receiving life-sustaining treatment, and just a handful seen at the clinic in Kunming. Given the lack of current patients, our contacts had hoped we could see some adult patients, do some translating, and help with some training, with seeing children being a rather small component of what we do.

Well... Our primary purpose in coming here was to treat and care for children with HIV. We're pediatricians, and would like to spend most of our time in the clinic. So, it's been a bit sticky trying to figure out how we're going to proceed. We've suggested some patient identification strategies, but the response has been lukewarm, and it's not clear why.

So, we're taking a few weeks to get used to how the clinic operates, see children when they're available, and adults when they aren't, and are reading through a bunch of Chinese documents on HIV/AIDS policies and programs. It's been slow, and not exactly what I'd imagined, but I've learned a lot. I have learned how to say things like, "the appropriate government agencies at the county level and above should implement the AIDS control and prevention policies as dictated by the national council".

This week, in clinic we actually saw a new pediatric patient whose mother had been avoiding starting her on therapy for fear that it wouldn't help. When she heard that there were some American pediatricians here, she decided to give us a shot, and we convinced her to start the child on antiviral medications. The mother's primary concern wasn't actually that the girl had HIV, but that she "acted more like a boy than a girl--anything you can do about that?" Ummm, yeah. You can love her... a lot.

From a clinical perspective she was doing quite well--nice and chubby, with a boderline profound level of immune suppression based on her CD4 T-cell counts. Fortunately, the only real evidence of her infection was a lot of enlarged lymph nodes, and repeated itchy eruptions on her skin. The kids we've seen so far have all been pretty healthy. I get the sense that the sicker ones that had been identified have all died for lack of therapy. In her case, it was pretty rewarding to have started at least one child on therapy in the first week that we've been seeing patients.

That said, for us to be effective, we'll need to find a lot more patients, and those discussions will need to involve our higher-ups from Baylor and our local collaborators. There's a group coming in 2 weeks. Hopefully we'll clarify a number of the patient identification issues, and establish what our role will be and how we can reach the patients in the countryside.

In the meantime, we're taking a trip to Ruili this weekend, a town that sits along the Burmese border. It was the first place in China where domestically-transmitted HIV was identified, and is the hardest hit part of the country. We'll meet a few doctors and their pediatric patients to get a sense of the situation there.

Then, in about 3 weeks, Megan and I are off to Africa for a month to get some more clinical experience--Megan in Botswana and me in Lesotho. The Baylor-operated Centers of Excellence in those countries see more kids with HIV each day than the total number of kids receiving treatment in all of Yunnan province. So, we're hoping to learn a lot in a short time to bring back with us to China. While we're in Africa, Hyunjoo and Ella are going to spend the month with her family in Korea. It will be hard to be apart (again), but I think given the amount of change Ella's already been through, it will be much easier for her to be in Korea with family than relocate to Africa for a month where everything will be foreign again.

Finally, we'll come back to Kunmking in the beginning of November to help with a three week training session about pediatric HIV treatment. Hopefully by that time, the kinks will have been ironed out and we'll be able to get to work in earnest seeing patients here.

Although it's frustrating to not be able to do what we'd come here to do, I'm confident that it's possible to get around whatever the obstacles are and do what's needed in terms of providing therapy here. It just takes a while to navigate the bureacracy. I'm sure there's an ancient Chinese proverb that would apply, but I just can't think of it right now.

A day at the lake

2006-09-08T13:45:00.000+08:00

Last weekend, we got a call from Zhang Xiaoming (pronounced just like it's spelled...), the brother of our very good Chinese friend from Connecticut. He and his family happen to live in Kunming, and have been very kind and helpful, particularly when it comes to feeding and entertaining us. At any rate, last week, they wanted to take us with them on a family outing to Fuxian Lake, so we of course agreed.

Our first stop was a restaurant where they'd reserved a stewed duck the day before. But, the special item on the menu was fresh fish. A bucket full of bullheads to be exact. I generally avoid fish here, since it's not close to the ocean, and the freshwater tends to be polluted, but these were raised in a pretty pristine lake, so we went for it. If you've never seen 1.3 kilos of bullheads before, feast your eyes:
After being cooked up, they looked much more appetizing:
The spicy bullhead stew was actually the tastiest item on the menu. The fish were mostly head and bones, but the meat was quite tasty, despite the work involved in getting it. The sauce was super spicy, and laden with the Western Chinese spice "hua jiao", also called Sichuan pepper corn. It's basically a seed that numbs your tongue when you eat it. It's an odd sensation, but one I've gotten to like quite a bit.

Ella decided to serve us:

And also serve herself:A good time was had by all (Zhang Xiaoming and family):

After eating, we decided to take a look around the lake. It is incredibly clean, unlike the stereotypical polluted Chinese waterways. The lake has a rule of no motors to preserve it's current state, and in the areas where there's no swimming, the water is crystal clear down to the bottom.

There's quite a bit of fishing, swimming, and just people hanging out:

It's also been developed for tourism, and there were strings of cars from Kunming filled with Chinese families out for the weekend. We decided to join them at one of the developed beach areas. The Chinese idea of how to enjoy a beach is a little different from the Western concept. It seems to include mostly little tables set up by the water with lots of snacks, and rental of tacky self-propelled boats. That said, the scenery was quite pretty, and there were plenty of friendly people around.

Hyunjoo got herself a little wet...

While Ella and I joined Xiaoming and his daughter, Lulu, for a more total-immersion cultural experience.After we were worn out, we finally headed back to Kunming, most of us sleeping in the car, and finished the day off with dinner at a Korean restaurant.

Shelter from the Storm

2006-08-25T10:07:00.000+08:00

It's been a busy week since we last updated.

After having found a place to live (the one with the owner's photo above the bed), we all sat down to go over the contract. That's when things got complicated... It mostly came down to 2 things: 1) the landlord was completely inflexible. He demanded $1200 as a deposit (3 months rent), and wanted the rest of the year's rent paid in a lump sum within 10 days, or he'd claim the deposit as his own, and send us back onto the street. He insisted that the deposit was reasonable since his furniture is so nice, and that his terms were reasonable because he didn't want any hassle and was just protecting himself...; 2) For us to get our money from Baylor, the initial requirement was for us to get a copy of the lease, forward it to Baylor's lawyers for review (translate into English, review it, make amendments, back-translate into Chinese, and then present to the landlord again). This would take several days after which funds could be released (to be added to our next paycheck), then the process of wiring the money to China would take even more time.

Well, that wasn't going to work... So, we ended up getting the lawyers to take one of the local lease contracts, amend it, leave some blanks to fill in, and give it back to us as a sort of pre-approved contract. Our local Chinese counterparts loaned us some money so we could make the big up -front year's payment within a reasonable amount of time, and Baylor has made things flexible enough to forward us the money now, and revise the amount after we send them the final lease !

So, we signed our lease 2 days ago (Megan got hers done 3 days ago), moved most of our stuff in, and today we leave the Uchoice hotel and move into our new place!!

The best part of the contract process was getting my thumb red (not the same as getting your palms read).
We didn't go with our first-choice apartment because the landlord seemed like he'd be too much of a problem. We were afraid he'd find a tiny scratch on the furniture and keep our whole deposit. The landlord for the new place also let us sign an 11-month lease, saving a few hundred dollars, and required a much smaller deposit. So, here's our living room:
Not our style of furnishings, but it's comfy, has two decent-sized bedrooms (guests always welcome), and a little office. Yesterday we sat around the living room for a few hours while unpacking and such. It was nice to have some personal space in a country where the sea of humanity is always threatening to engulf you.

We need to buy a fridge and a number of other essentials, but that shouldn't be too much hassle--they deliver and install everything when you buy here. Labor is cheap.

Oh, did I mention there are two bathrooms. One with one of these (!!):
The other has a squat toilet for anyone who needs to exercise their pelvic girdle. Just be careful of losing change from your pockets into the nether reaches of Chinese plumbing.

The building also has a nice little park where we've seen other families playing, and it's perfectly located, right on the major bus routes, close to both modern and traditional markets and restaurants, a few minutes walk from Green Lake Park, and from Megan's apartment, and about 20 minutes by bike (we hear...) to our work places.
So, our next update will be from the new apartment once we get connected, which may be a few days... Don't fret if you don't see us online, we're just moving.

Becoming a person

2006-08-18T22:00:00.000+08:00

One aspect of being a stranger in a strange land is a loss of self-identity. I am no longer a person. Instead of just being the non-descript guy walking down the street, I'm suddenly the 老外, the foreigner. In general this is pretty harmless--it mostly attracts a lot of "hello"s, occasional pointing (by kids mostly), and a stare here and there--a big change from the China of a few years ago where any foreigner outside of major cities would draw crowds of onlookers.

Being a foreigner colors everything, however, as made crystal clear by our search for an apartment over the past few days. On day one, we were accompanied by YunFei, the incredibly helpful lady from the provincial bureau of health who met us at the airport. We definitely needed the handholding, as everything is different here. People often don't clean the apartments before they move out--the landlords leave that to the incoming tenants; rent is expected for the entire year up front; and rentals are generally handled by agents who are often only familiar with an area of a few blocks. It seemed that no matter what requirements we stated we had, someone felt they knew what would be better for us, and showed us places that came nowhere close to meeting our expectations. Case in point:
That's the squat toilet, that's the state of cleaning, and that's the water heater sitting on the squat toilet, instead of haning from the wall.

After day one, we managed to take over for ourselves, having learned some of the local real estate lingo, and managed to find some more appealing places in areas where transportation is more convenient and in neighborhoods where Hyunjoo and Ella will have something to do during the day. Figuring out how to talk with the agents and not just be dragged around has definitely made me feel like more of a real person again. We've finally found a few places that will be acceptable (some very nice), at prices much higher than most people spend here, but much lower than what we'd pay in the States.
The photo above is the master bedroom of our top candidate apartment for the time being. It's furnished, on the 14th floor of a nice building, with 2 bedrooms, for about $450/month. I asked the landlord if we had to keep the wedding photo of him and his wife above the bed. He very sincerely and emphatically replied that we didn't have to keep it up as he'd be taking it with him. After I explained I was joking, his mood brightened a bit, and I think I earned a few more person points.

But the biggest factor in becoming a bit more of a real person is this:
It's the cheapest, most featureless phone we were able to buy, with no monthly plan, just pay as you go. So, I'm nowhere close to being cool, but I am reachable by the real estate agents, and approaching personhood.

We are falling into a bit of a routine as well. The residual jetlag still has us waking just before sunrise, which defnitely has it's perks:
I've actually been running in the morning for the past 3 days (the most I've done in at least 5 years, if you've noticed the belly in the photos...). Sometimes I run with Megan when our jetlagged awakenings coincide, and we're brave enough to knock on eachother's doors at 6:30. My routine is walking down the 14 flights of stairs from the room, 10 minutes jogging along the river, 10 minutes of stretching, another 10 minutes jogging back, and finally the climb up 14 flights back to the room. Megan and I have both gotten some stares from the people by the elevators as we ascend the old-fashioned way.

After running, we proceed to our BufetBreakafase:
"It's complimentary in lage's baby" actually translates as 18 yuan for children, free for kids under 2 years. I don't have any clue where "lage's" came from...

Ella continues to make friends. She's not suffering from any identity crises.
As for me, the other big step in becoming a person is moving toward doing something productive. We had dinner this week with Dr Zhou, who holds many titles, and is a local expert in treating HIV/AIDS, vice-president of an infectious disease hospital, and our local contact who will be guiding us through the process of preparing for the eventual opening of the Clinical Center of Excellence in pediatric HIV/AIDS, which we are here to help establish and staff.

Dr Zhou is the one with the Baylor College of Medicine cap--a little gift from Houston, and the lady on the left is Yunfei, whom I've already mentioned has been an invaluable help. Hyunjoo is the one behind the camera...
So far we've only met briefly over dinner regarding our plans. Dr Zhou says that there are so few pediatric patients in the current clinic that he doesn't think we'll make good use of our time just seeing children. He'd like us to help see adults locally, as well as occasionally travel to outlying areas where we probably will see some kids. He'd also like us to help with interpretation and education. We still have to meet formally to go over many things and discuss our plans further.

I think we'll try to convince him that our primary purpose here is to treat children rather than translating (not really qualified anyway) and seeing adults. So we may need to do some outreach to identify kids that we can bring to the existing clinic and begin ramping up the treatment program sooner rather than later. Our purpose in coming here before the new Center is established is to make sure that kids aren't dying for lack of treatment while we wait for the Center to be built. My guess is that the current clinics aren't short on pediatric patients because there aren't kids with HIV/AIDS, but rather that there isn't a system to get them into treatment. If nobody is treating kids, there's no reason for them to seek care. That said, we're new, and despite approaching personhood, we are still foreigners looking in from the outside with a limited understanding of the situation. We certainly need to get a better feel for things before we go making too many suggestions. We have a lot of work ahead of us.

5,000 glorious years...

2006-08-16T01:46:00.000+08:00

Mmmmm... business class. So, the deed (of riding in business class) was better than the anticipation. The seats were comfy, the attendants particularly attentive, and the legroom/footrest were a delightful change from coach. If only I had the means to do this more often... We pretty much slept for the entire 4.5 hour flight from Seoul to Kunming. The food wasn't that impressive, but it was merely a distraction from sleep anyway.

We landed in Kunming, and proceeded relatively quickly through immigration and customs. I was briefly detained for a random passport check (I'm the subject of a lot of random scrutiny it seems...), which was nothing more than a brief inconvenience. All our bags were there, before I'd even gotten through immigration, and customs waved us through without any delays. We were delighted to see Yunfei--the representative of the Yunnan Provincial HIV/AIDS care center--carrying a sign for Megan and Greg in the reception hall. She had two guys along with her who'd brought an extra van to carry our luggage, and we set off for our hotel, chatting about what exactly we might be doing over the next few weeks/months (more on that another day). For now, we'll have a day to recover, then start looking for an apartment.

We arrived in our hotel, which was clean, and full of gleaming marble and polished fixtures (is this the same country I lived in in 1998???). After saying goodbye to Yunfei, we had a midnight snack of rice porridge and pumpkin cakes and went to sleep around 1am.

We woke the next morning at 6:30, and took in our surroundings through the hotel window. Outside, there was a little river, with a tree-lined riverwalk, and building after building Peking (sorry) through the haze.

We weren't sure whether the haze was pollution or just the morning moisture in the air, but it made for some nice diffuse lighting for photos... Ella wasn't really at her best at 6:30 though.
The city was already alive, with people biking to wherever people go, and carting their vegetables off to sell.
The Chinese are fond of reminding visitors of their "5,000 years of glorious history", "5,000 years of continuous civilization", etc. Although I won't get into the accuracy or uniqueness of such claims, I am sure the Chinese have a long history of doing things in public without much concern about privacy. When you live in a country of 1.4 billion people, there isn't that much privacy anyway, and public spaces are convenient for doing just about anything.

A daily ritual throughout China (and parks in Chinatown throughout the world), is public morning exercise. Most of the older folks do dancing or tai-chi, although some create their own routines of contortions and gyrations.
For an interesting example, check this out.

The younger generation is getting more modern about things. This group of kids is apparently taking a morning roller-blading course.
Having gotten my voyeuristic observations of exercise out of the way, I searched my luggage for 45 minutes before finding my underwear... then a refreshing shower and off to breakfast.

The 5,000 glorious years of cooking were pretty well represented with a nice breakfast buffet. Megan wields a Chinese sausage,
as I fill my plate--rice porridge, pickled veggies, eggs, a little tripe (it was there), some fruit, and a spongy little steamed sweet cake--no idea what it is, but they sell something similar in Seattle's Vietnamese stores. Megan ate tons of watermelon, Hyunjoo ate tons of noodles, and Ella pretty much ran around the restaurant harassing other diners.
China has somewhat less than 5,000 years experience with elevators--hence the sign in the lift, warning about the dangers of smoking and playing (?). There is even less experince with English it would seem...

Having been fed and frightened, we decided to take in the river-walk firsthand. The whole thing was lined with playground equipment and exercise contraptions for all ages.
The ladies rather enjoyed the hip-rotation gizmo.
Ella preferred motorized transport.
After exercising, we set off to visit CuiHu (greenlake) park.
Ella made a friend.
Being a public place, in China, Cuihu park is also a good place for other activities considered private by most Westerners, such as sleeping.
The Chinese also have 5,000 glorious years of experience with potty training, and have a rather environmentally-friendly, if not hygeinic way of helping babies taking care of their business...

Yes that is his butt, and that is a pair of crotchless baby pants, known as kai deng ku. My understanding of how this works is that the parents hold the kids up over a bush, garbage can, toilet, or whatever is convenient, and make a whistling sound. Eventually the kids develop sort of a Pavlovian reaction and will do their duty every time they hear the whistling. It gets the kids out of diapers very early--like 3 months... It must realy save on the diaper rash, and probably reduces the rate of urinary tract infections by keeping the dootie off the bootie... With the new trend in the US to not use diapers, I'm going to have to do a little more research on this so I can be a more effective pediatrician once I get back to the states. Maybe I'll even start a business selling crotchless baby pants in Seattle...

Well, on that note, I should get back to sleep or I'll never resolve the jet lag.

the moment...

2006-08-15T15:02:00.000+08:00

"Better than a deed, better than a memory, the moment... of anticipation" -- according to Jacques, the bowler who nearly seduces Marge Simpson after Homer buys her a bowling ball for her birthday--a bowling ball engraved with the word "Homer"...

Well, the moment of anticipation has certainly been long and generally quite sweet, but must come to an end as we actually set off. We've wrapped up our month of training, learned quite a bit, and met some great people (stay tuned for some photos from Houston...). In particular, we met the amzaing crew of people who have put together BIPAI (Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative), and finally met Megan, who I'll be working with in China for the next year. Megan is great--very easy going, loved by Ella, and she puts up with me, so I think this will work out well.

At any rate, having tied things up in Houston, and gotten our visas to China,
it was now time to be on our way.

We flew from George Bush... Intercontinental airport, having arrived 3 hours early for the heightened security. Things moved very fast, however, so we had plenty of time to move about the concourse. Speaking of security, Hyunjoo and I both were subject to random searches of our carry-ons. They found no liquids. Interestingly enough, after they had searched, we found a bottle of Purell in Ella's diaper bag, and a bottle of lens-cleaner in the camera bag. Not exactly confidence-inspiring... anyway, they didn't explode.

We flew to Dallas on AA, then we had a 3 hour layover before our next leg on Korean Air.
The flight was delayed about an hour--first for "heightened security checks", then for "delayed connections". It gave us some time to explore the international terminal. I was a little hesitant to use the restrooms...
At least I found out it wasn't just a male phenomenon...
And, Ella made good use of the extra time running off her energy before the flight, and making Texan friends.
We finally settled in for our 14 hour jaunt across the Pacific to Seoul. Ella's favorite thing about the plane was the in-flight entertainment.
She also managed to sleep a little bit. I think I got about 4 hours sleep, and Hyunjoo even less. We'd been up late the night before packing, as well, with only about 2 hours sleep, so it was a very tiring flight. After landing in Korea, we went to my neice's first birthday party. By the time we got there, it was essentially over, but we did get to indulge on the food that was left. It was quite the party... in a hotel, with hundreds of fancy balloons, an ice sculpture, catered, professional photographer... impressive. I regret that I was too tired to remember to get the camera out... Anyway, I slept through the entire cab ride (much more comfortable than coach seats), back to my in-laws place and crashed after a cool shower.

the next morning it was time to go out. Ella accessorized with a purse and hat as she walked along with Halmoni (grandma), Halaboji (grandpa), and mom.
We got to the bank, where Ella was jealous of those at the counter. Idon't think this lady was too bothered when Ella tried to help her with her loan application.
Then, we went to see the new condo building where my in-laws will soon be living. It's being built on the site of their old apartment, so they got to buy a unit at a big discount.
The safety rules are fairly lax in most parts of the world. Grandma's and babies are allowed in construction sites without hardhats.
Grandpas, too.
and Megans (did I mention that Ella adores "auntie Megan").
We also got to visit Hyunjoo's brothers and sisters-in-law.
Yes, Ji-Young is glowing... she's 38 weeks pregnant. I think Jong-hyun might be glowing a bit too.

At the airport, we got to see our neice Yuna again (the one-year-old birthday girl). She and Ella enjoyed posing.
Yuna with her mother Eun-Jin.
And Ella with Uncle Jong-Jin.
After the usual goodbyes, we passed through security and on to our waiting flight, ready for my first foray into business-class... the anticipation...

Houston, we have a program

2006-07-17T13:19:00.000+08:00

So, we have arrived in Houston and picked up the program for the next 4 weeks of our lives! I'm still not done with the posts of our road trip (coming soon), but just wanted to let everyone know we arrived safely and all is well. In the meantime, you can see some of the uploaded photos by following the link on the right.

By the numbers: Our trip took 15 days, 14 nights, 3464 miles, 109.1 gallons of gas, and one oil change. Oh, and we ran out of windshield washer fluid. We stayed at 6 campgrounds, 2 friends' houses, 2 cousin's houses, and 4 hotels, one of which was more a casino with some rooms in the attic... We visited 4 national parks, a number of state and local parks, and one doctor's office. We ate at two Chinese restaurants, one German restaurant, two Mexican restaurants, 2 Arbys, one Sonic, one In-n-Out burger, and got to indulge our hosts or eat camp food for the rest of our dinners. We ate at least 18 hard-boiled eggs... and went through 7 bags of beef jerky, the most popular snack of the trip, with dried mangos second for me, and apricots second for Kim. Ella preferred pepitas (Mexican pumpkin seeds). We shopped at Wal-Mart twice, more than I've shopped there in the past 5 years because of their draconian labor and purchasing policies (I suppose I have also shoppe at a Mexican Wal-Mart in the past year--but "What happens in Mexico stays in Mexico", so that doesn't count, right...).

The biggest disappointment of the trip was Ella getting sick with a urinary tract infection, high fever, and not feeling her self for a few days. Because of that, we decided to skip the scenery for the last 3 days and stick to hotels and interstates rather than camping and scenic sites. In the end, the hotels were a nice respite, anyway. Runners-up for disappointments included driving through Redwood National Park without stopping (Ella was sleeping too peacefully), the hectic crowded nature of Yosemite Valley, and missing getting a view of the Hoover dam.

The best parts of the trip included simply seeing the amazing diversity of landscape between Washington and Houston, catching up with old friends and family along the way, getting out of Yosemite Valley to visit the beautiful Toulomne Meadows (a much less-visited part of Yosemite National Park), finding an amazing campsite in the middle of nowhere along a scrubby California highway, and seeing how much Ella loves swimming pools. The biggest annoyance was the RVs hogging roads and blocking traffic from Oregon through California, Nevada, and Arizona. The biggest umm, whatever the opposite of annoyance is... was the amazingly friendly people throughout the Southwest--I guess I need to retire some of my Texas prejudices.

Anyway, we're here in Houston, safe and sound. Ella is better, and we've settled into our hotel which will be home for the next 4 weeks. It has free breakfast, free wireless internet, and a pool--Ella is quickly becoming a little mermaid. Tomorrow we get to do all our employment paperwork and get oriented to the Pediatric AIDS Corps. It's all very exciting...

I will post catch-up posts of the last few weeks' journey as I get a chance (they will be below this, in order of date).

In the meantime, please click on "comments" below and say hi.

Day VI--Leaving Yosemite, an exercise in contrasts

2006-07-07T15:00:00.000+08:00

July 7, 2006 from Gray's Meadow Campground, CA.

"Camp 4" proved to be a peaceful enough place to rest despite the crowds, and I even got to steal over to the main lodge to use the wireless internet access there. There are some perks to the high level of development.

We also found out that after the sun goes down, Camp 4 fills with rogue campers who just sneak in, use up the "camp 4 only" parking spots (meaning I had to park far away and walk back to camp), and pitch their tents wherever they want. We got two extra tents in our site after dark, but both had packed up and sneaked off by morning.

We had planned to spend 2 nights in Yosemite Valley, but we'd pretty much seen the sites, and with Ella, we weren't going to do any extended hikes into the other parts of the valley, so on we drove. At the start of the trip, Yosemite Valley was one of the expected highlights. In the end, it turned out to be mostly stressful sightseeing and waiting in lines--be they lines of cars,campers or gawkers. I guess that's why we travel, see if reality is the same as our expectations...

Anyway, driving west out of the valley we saw some pretty amazing things that most people who visit the valley never bother with. There were some interesting rock formations along the road:
and beautiful vistas, of mountains and alpine lakes:
After about an hour, we arrived in the sub-alpine Toloumne Meadows. We had missed the wildflowers, but the views were still pretty amazing.
We hiked around for a while, and found a few mosquitos, but it was worth it. Even Ella was enchanted by the reflection of Lembert dome in a crystal-clear pool.
We lunched under Lembert Dome--chicken salad peppered with sliced grapes and more boiled eggs, and seasoned with Balti seasoning (we brought the last remains of the Indian spices my brother,Ian, gave us for Christmas a few years ago. Mmmmm Balti). The mosquitoes were pesky, but it was a nice restful lunch, and there were no crowds.

Driving on, we climbed over Tioga Pass at 9945 feet, then descended along a scenic valley (you can just make out the road on the left wall of the valley in the photo), with views of yet more waterfalls.
The terrain eventually opened up to flat scrub with a backdrop of layered hills and mountains:
We drove past more lakes dotted with resorts and vacation homes, and Ella slept as we enjoyed the scenery from the road.
We woke Ella up for pizza at Pizza Factory in Bishop, California. Their moto is "We toss em, they're awesome". It was certainly tasty, if not awesome, and Ella enjoyed terrorizing the other diners. We finally managed to seat her, and filled her up with green peas from the salad bar.

After dinner, we kept pushing southward. There weren't many campgrounds that we could find, so were considering getting a motel room. Then we passed the town of Independence, with a sign down a long road to nowhere but three campsites from 2 to 13 miles off in the wrong direction. We gave it a shot. The first campground was basically a few gravel pads about 10 feet from the main road, and about 5 feet from eachother. We weren't expecting much at this point, but we decided to check out the next campground--another 5 miles--thinking that it couldn't be any worse.

Here's the sign that greeted us:
Much to our surprise, the campground was perfect. There was a nice stretch of open area between the campsites and the road, offering views of the scrubby hills and mountains:

and behind us was a pretty little stream that produced enough white noise that you couldn't hear any of the other campers.
When we did walk past the other camp sites, everyone was incredibly pleasant--a number of older Native Americans with their camper-trailers, and in the site beside us a middle-aged couple feasting on lamb chops and drinking wine under the light of their 3 gas-powered lanterns. They offered one of the lanterns to us, but we were happily doing our thing with our little headlamps.

I set up the tent while Ella posed and played with a blue ballpoint pen.
Then I wandered around taking photos of the scenery as the moon rose above the mountains,
and the sky grew dark.
It was the perfect end to a perfect day. Nice scenery, tasty food, friendly people, and a great little campground in the middle of nowhere that we'd found by pure happenstance. To top it off were the sounds of the stream to lull us to sleep...

All this from a day where we'd espected nothing--only to put some miles behind us after our visit to Yosemite Valley.

Day V--Yosemite

2006-07-06T15:01:00.000+08:00

July 6, Yosemite National Park (posted 7/17/06--Houston)

We were in a hurry to get to Yosemite before the first-come-first-served campsites were all gone (the Yosemite website warns they often fill up by 9am on summer days), so we set off from Sacramento before 6am.

Ella slept as we moved into the brushy hills leading into Yosemite.

The trees gradually got taller as we approached Yosemite Valley, but we were on a mission to get a campsite, so we pressed on. By the time we got into the valley and through the traffic jams, complete with rangers directing traffic, we pulled up to "Camp 4" to the site of a long line for sites.
The one guy behind the desk was painfully slow, taking more than 5 minutes per person just to assign a site and take $5 per camper. We had to spend 90 minutes in line, but did get a site!

Ella didn't mind the wait, and managed to entertain herself.

Camp 4 is a "walk in" campsite, meaning it starts about 20 feet from a parking lot. It was something like a mix of a refugee camp and a youth hostel. It wasn't exactly what I'd call a wilderness experience, but it was an interesting mix of people, from cooler-than-thou hi-tech outdoors folk to ex-hippies. The air was filled with lots of foreign accents, and a number of very American accents loudly voicing their political opinions.

At any rate, we got a slot in site 8, with 4 other people sharing it, and Ella got to work helping set up the tent.
She got dirty fast, but seemed pretty proud of herself nonetheless.
Having established shelter, we turned to nourishment. The menu included "cheeseburgers".
Now, fed and sheltered, we set off to see the sites that draw so many to Yosemite.

The valley was beautiful.
And the requisite sites (such as halfdome, below) were stunning. But, there was reality as seen through the lens:
and reality as seen on the ground.
The place was so crowded they needed rangers to direct traffic, and every inch of roadway was lined with cars.

We saw all the famous waterfalls
including the vista of Yosemite falls from the site of John Muir's old cabin.

Bridal Veil Falls graced us with a delicate rainbow suspended in the mist.
But sometimes the nices sites were the quiet, out-of-the-way and un-named spots away from the crowds.
As the sun went down, we visited the Valley's general store for a bite of ice cream, and headed back to camp for some Louisiana hot sausages and Annies Mac-n-Cheese.

Finally we drifted off to sleep to the gentle roar of falling water, mostly obscuring the sounds of the ongoing political debates a few zippered doors away.

From the Road IV--July 5th

2006-07-05T15:00:00.000+08:00

Backdated July 5th, Sacramento (posted July 17th from Houston)

After a peaceful night's sleep at Burnt Ranch Campground, we loaded up the car and had cold breakfast of our previously boiled eggs and some granola bars--by now we were out of milk and cooking fuel. As we set out, we were able to fully appreciate the pretty mountains and the river that meandered below, now that the fog had cleared.

We finally descended from the mountains and the Shasta-Trinity National Forest on one of the twistiest stretches of road I've ever driven. The driving required a lot of concentration, but each corner revealed a new vista to keep it interesting. Eventually, the terrain opened up and we headed south to take a loop detour around some pretty little mountain lakes, and later through broad flat agricultural fields that felt more like they belonged in the midwest than California:
right down to the barns...
and the grain elevators.
The fields of sunflower seeds were definitely not midwestern.
We stopped in the town of Red Bluff to re-supply on camp fuel and milk, as well as get an overdue oil change. I abandoned my no chain restaurant resolution altogether with another trip to Arbys while our car was on the lift... Mmmmm Super Roast Beef.

As we approached Sacramento, we passed our time trying to teach Ella to imitate Arnold Schwarzeneger--"A'll be ba-ack". The first syllable was pretty convincing.

We knew we were getting close to Sacramento when the dry flat fields gave way to developments of suburban cookie cutter homes,
coated with some Spanish-flavored sprinkles (click for a better look).
Even the latte's apparently had the same flavor sprinkled on them.
Finally we arrived at the home of Kong and Muouah-Chi, the older brother and sister-in-law of one of my best friends form grade school.
We had a nice dinner and a great chance to reminisce on friendships, and the process of growing up and reconnecting with family. It was a welcome break from the road.

From the Road III-Independence Day

2006-07-04T15:00:00.000+08:00

Posted July 13 from El Paso, backdated July 4--Siltcoos, Oregon Coast (Waxmyrtle Campground).

We woke up bright and early to the sound of 4-wheelers with no mufflers tearing around on the nearby dunes. The neighboring campground had coin-op showers, so we all squeezed into one stall and came out sparkling clean, but poorer by $2.50. As we packed up camp, Ella did her best to help out.

She ended up dirtier than before her shower...

We were on the road shortly, Dad at the wheel, Mom navigating, and Ella chatting herself to sleep on her toy cell phone (note the change of clothes from the above "helping out" pre-dirtying-up picture).

The scenery was mostly quite pleasant, but we did get reminders of the clearcut logging which scars Northwest hillsides. I know we need wood for housing and paper, but there has to be a better way than this...

After a short while, Ella woke up fussy, and it was time to take another look at the coastal scenery,

and join in the Fourth of July festivities at Port Orford, OR. We just missed the parade, but there were still food stalls selling hotdogs.

Ella posed dramatically with the remains of my snack.

Hyunjoo wasn't to be outdone.Finally, bellies full, Ella hopped in the car and drove us on our way.

We got a few last vistas of the Oregon Coast, near Cape Foulweather (the weather was fair):

and finally stopped for a late lunch at a somewhat dodgy Chinese restaurant. No matter how small a town, anywhere in the world, there always seems to be a few Chinese people there (I even ate red-braised pigs' feet with some Chinese friends in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea once upon a time). Hyunjoo thought the hot-and-sour soup was ok. Ella was just happy to be out of the car.
Here is Ella's fortune--advice she didn't need. Maybe the numbers will be helpful, though?
We drove on through the northern parts of Redwood National and State Parks. The drive was beautiful, but Ella was sleeping so peacefully, and we needed to get in some more miles that day to catch up, so we didn't stop or get any pictures... one of the biggest regrets of the trip so far.

Just north of Eureka, CA we turned eastward on California 229, which was a beautiful drive (see photos tomorrow...), but soon we hit mountain peaks shrouded in dense fog, the sun was very low in the sky, and Ella was very unhappy about how long we'd spent in the car. We would have to stop soon...

California isn't Appalachia, but driving through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, as I rounded each corner, I half-expected to encounter a barefoot toothless kid plucking dueling banjos on his front porch... It just had that kind of a vibe... Eventually, we passed the town of Burnt Ranch, population 200-something, which was evidenced only by a biker bar with a bunch of beat up 4x4s and Harley's out front, then came upon this sign:
We were desperate, so we pulled in. It was $8 for the night, and we needed to stop.. But there were no other campers to be seen (did they know something we didn't), it was only a half-mile from the seedy bar, and we were in bear country now.
with no bear-boxes provided. The bears don't make me afraid for my personal safety, but just for the survival of my car. In many California campsites with bears, you can't even leave food in your car because the bears will break your windows to go after it--even tearing out the back seats to get into the trunk-- so many campgrounds provide heavy duty bear-proof food metal boxes at each site.

Anyway, we needed to stop, so we set up camp. It was a fairly pretty and quiet site (we got our choice of all the sites...).
After us, two more parties of campers pulled in after dark to set up their tents as well. Maybe seeing us already there made it seem less scary. At any rate, we had a delightful night and slept well. It was much quieter than our site at the dunes.

Happy Independence Day!!!

Posting from the Road II

2006-07-04T14:13:00.000+08:00

July 3rd (backdated)

Despite the travails and stress of the previous day, we woke up refreshed, and made a quick breakfast of boiled eggs we'd brought along, instant oatmeal, and coffee cake.

First thing in the morning, we set out to explore the coast. Ella had fun with driftwood:

Michael had fun with his nose...
And Ella bid Nehalem Bay farewell with an impromptu pole dance.
Since we were near Tillamook, we had to tour the cheese factory (actually a cooperative of dairy farmers)

where Ella kissed a cow,

we saw cheese not being made,

learned that

and finally said goodby to Michael and Lilly over a bit of Tillamook fudge.

As we drove south along the coast, we learned how unpleasant Tsunamis can be...

...but despite past natural disasters, the coast was still beautiful.

Finally, we arrived at the Oregon Dunes near Coos Bay

where we perched on top of a grassy dune to watch the sunset

before crawling into our tent to sleep.

All in all, it was a good day. It still hasn't sunk in that we've left Seattle, and won't be back to the Northwest for another year. The roadtrip is working out so far. Hyunjoo's legs have been a bit squashed by all the things that keep ending up by her feet--the only place where we can get easy access to them. We're starting to fall into a bit of a rhythm, though, and Ella did really well, until the last little stretch of road where she made it clear that she'd had enough of her carseat for the day.

Posting from the Road

2006-07-03T13:25:00.000+08:00

(Backdated to Sunday, July 2nd)

No photos today. It was just too hectic... We had planned to leave Seattle at 1pm and get down to the Oregon Coast before Sunset so we could watch the sun going down from Hug Point--yes, it's the point where you go to hug your sweetheart while watching the sun set over the Pacific. In the end, we finally got everything packed, repacked, thrown away, given away, stored, or stowed by about 6:45.

We ended up taking up MUCH more space in the car than I'd planned. We did a dry packing run about a month ago--clothes for Houston/China, our camping gear, etc, and figured it would all fit in the trunk except for food which we'd stick in the back seat. Well, the backseat is pretty much full--Ella's carseat (in the middle) is sandwiched between toys, food, bags of diapers, and her stroller all occupying the spots which would normally hold other backseat passengers... well, the best laid plans...

Speaking of plans, one of my resolutions had been to not eat any national chain fast-food during our 2 week trip to Houston. I gave up on that plan within a half-hour of our departure, with a Super Roast Beef from Arby's. Mmmmmm beefy. Hyunjoo thought I was crazy for such a stupid resolution to begin with. We never eat at fast food chains in Seattle, so why not do it on the road when we really need the convenience. She has a point.

By the time we got to the coast, it was 11pm (well past sunset, even in midsummer in the far Northwest). Ella had a bit of a meltdown as we were heading through the hills along the Columbia river, so we had to stop and feed her. Thankfully she fell asleep and stayed that way. We finally pulled into our campsite at Nehalem Bay, which we were sharing with our good friends Michael and Lilly. They were asleep in the back of their station wagon, so we se up our tent up in the dark, to the light of my Petzl headlamp--thankfully th tent is very easy to set up. Ella didn't wake up for the transfer from carseat to tent, and we slept more-or-less like babies in the chilly sea breeze.

Motorcar Diaries part-I: the road trip

2006-06-30T17:00:00.000+08:00

The Plan: To travel 3275 miles in 14 days from Seattle to Houston (July 2-16)
The method: Drive during Ella's nap time.
Objective: Seeing as many sights, friends, and relatives as lie on our path.
Equipment: "La aburrida" 1998 Nissan Altima with a leaky sunroof and mostly functional driver-side window.
The pilot: Greg Thompson, a 31 year old pediatrician fresh from residency.
Copilot: Hyunjoo (Kim), eternally 29-year-old navigator, photographer, computer consultant, and baby-juggler.
Co-copilot: Ella, 14-month old happy-go-fussy toddler.
The route: South from Seattle, along the Oregon Coast to Northern California, then inland to Yosemite, Death Valley, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Pheonix, White Sands, and then 772 miles of bare Texas freeway into Houston.
Final Destination: Baylor University. Home of the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Intitiave, and our intended home from July 16th through August 12th. In August we'll fly to China to help establish a new "Children's Clinical Center of Excellence" in HIV/AIDS care.

More to come...