#109 Home Alone

It is my final weekend home alone while Kathleen and the children remain in Peoria. They will return on Wednesday and once again my life will be filled with activity. It will be nearly a month since I left Peoria and I certainly miss my family.

Actually, here in China, it is very common that two working parents life in different cities far from one another and see each other once a month or even once a year. I personally know at least ten people at Caterpillar who do this. I am not entirely sure why this is so common in China. It seems that with so much economic growth in nearly every city that it would be easy for both spouses to find jobs anywhere they chose to live.

On factor, I think, is that both husband and wife work and the child is cared for by one or both of the couple's parents. This means that if they were to relocate their immediate family, also means relocating their parents as well. I suppose the parents are often reluctant to leave their home town and thus the child care keeps the child and one of the spouses in the hometown.

Another factor seems to be that the privelige of going to public school is not transferable in China. That is, your child may have the right to attend school is his home town, but not in the new town. Chinese citizens have something called a "hu kou" which is like a residency permit for the town they live in. When they move, they may or may not be able to get a hu kou in their new town. It is a very different system that is hard to understand and perhaps has its roots in the former communes of the communist system.

I digressed from original intent of writing about my solo canoe adventures this Saturday afternoon. The weather is overcast and sticky, but not too bad out on the lake. My colleague and neighhor, Jon, helped me carry the canoe to the lake today. He got to witness an embarassing launch when I sat in the boat and tipped sideways on the ramp. I got half submerged in slimy lake water, but so far have suffered no ill effects. I also saw a handful of swimmers again today, so perhaps my fears of Jinji Lake pollution are overblown.

During today's waterborne wanderings, I paddled through Li Gong Di and attracted some attention from the locals. You can see one couple snapping pictures of the crazy lǎo wài (me) in the xiǎo chuán (little boat). The Chinese bridges were interesting to see from this perspective. I had never noticed the statues of the fish and dragon on one of the multi-arched bridges at Li Gong Di before.

From there I went across the lake to Rainbo Walk which is directly across the lake from our home at Jin Shui Wan. This is about two miles away, so I was covering some good distance. As I crossed the middle of the lake, I was approached by a man on a jet ski who seemed to be concerned about me. He gestured, I think, that I should stay closer to the shore and I told him I was returning home. He seemed satistied and left.

Next, I went by the same island as last time, got an updated picture of the ferris wheel construction and returned home, altogether after about 2 1/2 hours.