Something refreshing in your own backyard

Jeanet went to Taiwan in December for two weeks, and I was alone in Campbell being single again, doing laundry and cleaning up the items in the refrigerator.

I have been swimming at the Campbell Community Center's outdoor pool for seven years. I have seen people running or walking on the all-weather track, but I have never been
there myself until this past Saturday.
It was a beautiful California day in December. I took my walk around the track, walked to the athletic field, and checked out what else was there that I have been missing for all these years.

Campbell Community Center has a variety of outdoor facilities including a football stadium, an all-weather track, an athletic field, an exercise park, tennis and handball courts, an outdoor swimming pool, and indoor Gyms and basketball courts. With the exception of swimming pool, all outdoor facilities are free of charge, subject to rules of reservation in certain popular time slots. I see my tax dollars at work in Campbell :-)

It was not too crowded on the Saturday afternoon. I checked out the outdoor facilities. The track was quite nice, and the grass was soft and bouncy. There were some people running, jogging, and walking on the track. The exercise park was interesting to me with all the equipment dedicated to exercising and building up certain muscles. This sort of park has become popular in many modern cities now. A few people practiced catching a football on the field.

Tennis courts were mostly occupied; the conditions of the court were quite nice. Some families played for fun in the courts and were not too intimidating to watch. The four courts used an honor system to set up your own clock and waiting queue. The rules and the "clocks" were in the center of tennis court compound, as shown to the right.



I strolled into the skate park. The young supervisor asked me if I needed any help. He left me alone after I told him that I would like to take a few pictures. This sport is obviously very thrilling and challenging, but is really dangerous.

A week later on a Sunday afternoon, I went again. This time I was stunned with the crowd, and I had to circle a couple of times to get a spot in the parking lot. The athletic field was filled with children practicing and playing flag football, along with coaches, parents and grand parents.
The field was neatly divided with dark green grass lines into 12 sub-fields in a 4x3 arrangement. When I was there, 11 of them were in use. I remember that my son Joseph in his junior high school years went to Dr. Lum's office to have a few stitches on his tongue after biting himself playing flag football. He used a mouth guard, but the accident still happened.














It felt so good to stroll, and I enjoyed my time there. What a shame to have been in a hustle and bustle mood all those many years. Take some time to pause and wander without an agenda and without a deadline. Life can be very simple and enjoyable. There is no need to go far. You'll find pleasure and peace in your own backyard if you look for them.

Our Mother - Always in Our Hearts

Our Mother

Our mother, Yuhsin Ko Lee, was born on August 21, 1927, in Shan Yao, Jiangxi Province, China and passed away on July 15, 2011, at her home in Davis, California, at the age of eighty-five.

Growing up in a farming village, mother developed a tenacious and intrepid character after losing her mother at a young age. She was spirited and bright, though the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War stopped her schooling. In the midst of war-torn China, mother met father, Hsueh Lee (deceased), and they married in 1947 in her hometown. Due to civil unrest, mother fled with father to various places. Their longest stay was three years in Hong Kong, where their eldest child, Tzong-yu, was born, and where mother heard the Gospel, received Jesus Christ as her Savior, and was baptized. In 1954, the family moved once again, settling in Taiwan, where the rest of her three children, Maria Li-ching, Churng-fung, and Si-yang (deceased), were born. While father held a middle school teaching position for the following thirty-plus years, mother devoted herself wholeheartedly to the family. Not only did she faithfully manage the household and lovingly raise her children, she fastidiously monitored her children's learning. As a result of her dedication, we were each able to complete our college education despite difficult circumstances. Mother's selfless devotion to the family had been our greatest blessing and model. For twelve years, she tirelessly cared for our youngest sister Si-yang throughout her ongoing illness until her eventual passing. In his later years, father suffered from three strokes. It was also mother who patiently and uncomplainingly cared for him and supported him. Even the grandchildren, all grown now and leading productive lives, trace their upbringing to their grandparents.

After father passed away in 1991, mother moved to the United States. First, she accompanied Churng-fung's family to Wisconsin where Churng-fung pursued her advanced degree. Following those blissful years, she joined Li-ching's family in California and settled there, returning occasionally to Churng-fung's home in Taiwan. Throughout those past twenty years, mother participated in church life, increasingly depending on the Lord, calling often on His name and enjoyed His love. Early this year, mother was confined to bed rest due to her congestive heart failure condition. All of her children rallied to care for her -- Li-ching tended her full-time; Tzong-yu traveled to Davis regularly, spending innumerable weekends with mother; while Churng-fung made a special trip from Taiwan to visit mother in May. During those months of illness, whenever mother heard brothers and sisters singing and praying out in the living room, she would joyfully echo with "Amens" from her bed as she enjoyed the Lord's comforting. At the time of her death, both Tzong-yu and Li-ching, who resided in the States, along with their families, surrounded her, accompanying mother to peacefully complete her journey on earth. The comfort that mother received in the Lord and from the saints was evident from her countenance. We are grateful to the Lord for His grace toward her.

We thank the Lord for giving us such a mother.

[NOTE: These will be used in the Memorial Service for my mother on July 23, 2011. I came up with a Chinese draft with Li-Ching. Churng-Faung did the beautiful final editing. My niece Tina took this and translated to an English draft while I did the final editing. We are proud to do this for her and we are sure that she is proud of us as well. She is always in our hearts.]

我們的母親

我們的母親 李柯玉馨女士，生於1927年8月21日中國江西上饒，卒於2011年7月15日美國戴維斯家中，得年85歲。

母親生長於農村，因年幼喪母，養成堅忍獨立的性格；母親生性開朗健談，聰敏過人，惜因中日戰爭爆發而輟學在家。1947年母親在家鄉與父親--李雪先生(已逝)相識相愛，在戰亂中結為夫妻。跟隨父親輾轉流離，在香港調景嶺三年中，生下長子宗虞，期間聽得福音，接受耶穌為救主，受洗歸依主名。1954年一家人再度遷移，在台灣相繼生下三女：麗卿、春芳與思琰(已逝)。在父親擔任中學教職三十餘年間，母親勤儉持家，無微不至的照顧兒女，同時嚴格督促子女課業，使我們都得以完成高等學業，在無依困頓的環境中得以自立。母親對家庭盡心竭力，成了我們兒孫最大的祝福與榜樣。么妹思琰天生殘疾，母親日夜照料長達十二年；父親晚年三度中風，也多虧母親耐心照顧扶持，無怨無悔，如今孫輩也個個長成，品性端正，都源於父母親的恩澤所賜。

父親於1991年辭世後，母親遷居美國，先到威斯康辛州陪著春芳一家求學，享受天倫之樂，後再與麗卿一家長居加州，也間歇往返台灣春芳家休養。二十年期間參加召會生活，對主耶穌愈發信靠，常呼求主名，享受主愛。今春(2011)，母親因心臟衰弱臥床靜養，麗卿全力照護，宗虞來回奔波照應，春芳亦於五月飛美探望。臥病期間，當母親聽見弟兄姊妹在客廳唱詩禱告時，都會喜樂地在臥床上以“阿們”回應，得主撫慰。母親臨終之際，在美居住的宗虞與麗卿兩家兒孫們，隨侍在側，平安地陪伴母親走完她在地上的行程。母親在主裡在聖徒中所受之安慰，洋溢於眉宇之間，使我們感謝主對她的恩典。

感謝主，把這樣一位母親賜給我們。

Grandma Update from Davis, California

I have been back in the Bay Area for almost three weeks now. I have spent all the weekends in Davis with my mom and my sister. I am glad that Jeanet is there as well to feed us all good and different food. Grandma has stabilized so much that we take her out every day for a walk to a nearby pond. She is still weak and has to be in a wheelchair most of the time. Here is a picture of her with my wife Jeanet, my sister Maria and my youngest nephew Yong-En.

With advice from the doctor when discharged from the hospital, my mother signed up a Hospice Program. We were told that average life span was about 6 months in their program. We have learned a lot about this program quickly. We are still not very sure that this is right for her. Normally terminally ill cancer patients will go through hospice because there no treatment is available. Providing care and comfort in the home is dignified and appropriate for those patients, and is often the preferred way for the last few months. My mother is weak, is diabetic (no need to do injection), and has high blood pressure. She is prone to complications, but not literally terminally ill in my definition. I have to admit that the end of a precious life might really happen in the next few years. Although I struggle to understand and accept this, I try to be with her often, holding her hands, pushing the wheelchair around, and hugging her like a baby. My mom is quite happy to have me around. I try to cherish the times together and take care her the best we can. It is a struggle to think of when she might pass away. God gives and God decides when she will be back. I just don't want to be sorry later.
We are planning to hire a live-in or a 9-5 caregiver for 6 days a week. With this, my sister's family and my family can have the time and energy to take care of other business.

Davis is a college town of 60,000 people. It is relatively quiet and is a carefree place to live. The nearby drainage pond has a few different varieties of ducks, Canada geese, and turtles. See this picture of sun-bathing turtles on a piece of floating deadwood.











Spring is a great time to have a new family. The goose family has quite a few new members in the afternoon water cruising with a fleet formation on the left.












Spring in Northern California is really beautiful. I had a chance to drive through Niles Canyon following Route 84 to the Dumbarton Bridge to Menlo Park. Mid April's plush tender green on the hills really soothes your eyes. The tranquility of the windy road and the sweetness of the air is a treat to me.
I am trying hard to capture this awareness and sense of appreciation after almost 4 years of absence from California. After a while, I'll take everything for granted and be spoiled again in America.


It is also time to work on the yard. I helped my sister trim the bushes to provide more sunlight to the rooms and to grow grapes and vegetables in the garden. Yard work is fun and rewarding.





Only during the week, I am in Campbell at "home". I have not completely unpacked yet. But, the azaleas started to bloom and blossom in the backyard. It is a pleasure to be back in Spring time.

The Pursuit of Happiness - Owning a Home in Beijing

[Home, Sweet Home]
Although China is still a socialist country in name, people already found ways to express their personal desires and aspirations. Having a home is a dream for many Chinese. And having a home tailored to their tastes is reflected in a big way by the plethora of choices in furniture, home decorations and essentials. Owning a home is a very basic element of happiness. This pursuit of happiness is happening in China everywhere. I cannot help but to compare this basic inalienable right of the pursuit of happiness to the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

[A Typical Home - an Apartment]

A typical home is an apartment unit in the city. A suburban house in the U.S., with a nice backyard and two-car garage, is not practical for the typical Chinese. That type of home is referred to as a "villa" or "resort".
Housing prices are one of the hottest and the most discussed topics in people's lives. The dream of owning a house certainly adds to the demand side in the emerging Chinese economy. But the opportunities of making quick and large short-term profits in the housing market attract many speculative investments. Government interventions are frequent, but it is hard to to be sure that the new regulations and polices achieved what they were intended to. It is sad to watch the middle-class in anger and in despair.

[What do you get as a new Home Owner - the Phase I Home Project]
One thing really unique in China is a so-called "bare-bones apartment" delivered to the purchaser of the new home. Let us say that the Phase I home project is completed by the developer and the new owner must hire contractors to do the Phase II work.
To enumerate a few of the must-do items: the ceiling has to be leveled, conduits have to be planted into the walls for desired plumbing and electrical wiring, and then walls need to be painted. The frame of the apartment is concrete. The 2x6 frames and plaster board/sheetrock that are common in many American homes don't exist yet. After that work is completed, work can continue: laying floors with ceramic tiles or wood panels, and installing doors, moldings, switches, electric plugs and light fixtures. The kitchen and bathroomare bare. All cabinets and basic elements of a bathroom have to be added, including a water heater and natural gas plumbings.

The picture to the left is a typical new "kitchen". It is bare-bones and looks quite devastated. It has radiator heating elements, a sewer line and some water pipes.











This picture to the left is what you get for a bathroom: a radiator, two electricity outlets, a water pipe, and a sewer line receptacle for the toilet on the floor.

It is very difficult for a new home owner to start from that point. But the Chinese take this as the norm these days. You might wonder about how much time and energy is spent and wasted along the way, because every new home owner must go through the second phase of home building to create a reasonable place to live. Only then can the homeowner begin to decorate.








The third photo of this primeval series to the left is a picture of the guest bedroom leading to a small balcony for drying clothes. It is easy to see that you need to wire for electricity, and to provide a door, molding, and flooring.

I call this a Phase II home project to distinguish it from Phase III. Phase III is the actual furnishing of the apartment, such as adding a dresser, bed, dining table, sofa, TV stand, refrigerator, stove, sink, washer, and other essentials. This Phase II work is unique in China. Most people have to spend 3+ months haggling with contractors to get things done correctly. And many spend a year or more to really complete the Phase III furnishing projects. Many are short of funds and are completely exhausted after Phase II work is completed.

I observed the following list of priorities in Beijing (from high priority to low priority): living room declarations, sofa, TV, guard rails (for windows), refrigerator, kitchen stove, sink, master bedroom essentials, dining table set, washer, bathroom toilet and shower stall.

[After the Hard Work of Phase II Home Project]

To compare the “before and after” of basic room finishing project, see the photo at the left. Here is a kitchen after flooring, ceiling, countertops and shelving are installed. Remember that the new home owner does this by selecting the materials and then subcontracting the work out. Notice that a range/stove and a sink are also in place in this photo. An 11-liter natural gas water heater is on the left wall with the gas meter at the end of the narrow kitchen. The long, narrow kitchen is typical in city apartment/house units. An open-space kitchen design is considered outrageous and unthinkable for the Chinese. Chinese cooking involves a lot of stir-frying and quick flame and smoke, so the Chinese usually like to keep the kitchen separated from the main open space of the apartment and house as a practical matter.






As a comparison, a remodeled bathroom is shown here to the left. It is quite a nice sight with the ceramic siding and a flushing toilet. The heater is slightly relocated to the front and closer to the door, and thus not quite visible. The glass shower stall and the sink are close to the door and to the right, and therefore are also not visible in this picture.














The guest bedroom is shown with built-in bookshelf and a computer table on the left and a closet on the right. A door opens to a small balcony that is curtained and normally used for hang-drying clothes.

[Furniture Shopping]
IKEA is big in China. It must have been an eye-opening experience for the Chinese when it first opened. Today it still attracts people who just come to look. I think that following are some of the reasons:
1) Comprehensiveness in terms of home furnishing needs. It is one-stop shopping.
2) No price haggling, so there is no negotiation required.
3) The modern and utilitarian designs are from the Scandinavia. These designs especially attract the new middle-class young couples.
4) There are places in the store to sit and rest, and even to eat.

To the left is a photo I took in one of the weekends when the place was packed.



IKEA is a new concept, but there are many other ways to meet home furnishing needs. There are furniture shopping malls in which a homeowner can find a great deal of name-brand furniture.
LanjinLijia is a furniture mall frequented by the middle-class in the northwest corner of Beijing. The variety and selection are good, so that this store could be a one-stop shopping place for people who wish to complete the modeling/remodeling and furnishing of their new apartments in one trip. These types of furniture malls are scattered throughout the city. It is difficult to see how smaller outlets can survive in this competitive environment.



To the left, you can see a nice 90 cm by 90 cm shower stall for 1200 RMB in the furniture mall. But many Chinese apartment owners place bathroom amenities at a low priority. Very often you can expect to see only a simple shower head over the toilet. People in China probably cannot imagine that American bathrooms receive much more attention. The room is even often carpeted outside of the shower stall and/or bathtub area. The same mentality prevails over the treatment of restaurant restrooms in terms of their importance and appearance. It is all too common to find lousy restrooms in nice Chinese restaurants inside and outside of China.











[Furniture City]
There is a giant Furniture Super Mall southeast of Beijing, the XiangHe Furniture City.
The picture to the left shows one of the many gates to the warehouses of furniture stores. As is typical in Chinese government planning and organizations, similar types of furniture are grouped in nearby parcels. That is convenient to the shoppers, but difficult for the merchants in differentiating product offerings and prices.















Free bus transportation to this super mall on weekends and major Holidays is available in 20+ locations of the Beijing city. I once took the bus from the east gate of the University of Geology in northwest Beijing. It took about 90 minutes to travel the distance of close to 80 km.
The picture to the left shows a converging bus depot for all the buses to come together. Some reshuffling can be accomplished to pack shoppers into different buses for the sake of efficiency.