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Today I got a Kindle. It was delivered to me by a wonderful
elf (a fellow American expat who bought it for me in the U.S. and hand-carried
it all the way to Shanghai). As you can imagine, I am wildly grateful because
while we do have a number of bookstores that carry books in English, the books
are not necessarily the ones I want to read.
So…
Minutes after my friend the elf handed me my new toy and went home to nurse her jet lag, I met another friend for coffee. “I got my Kindle!” I said.
This friend (who had been away for a month or so) was confused. For a long time, I had been vehemently anti-Kindle (well, not really anti-Kindle, but anti-reading device). “A Kindle? I thought you hated those things,” she said.
“I did,” I said, “but I’ve changed my mind.”
Then I started to think about why. After all, I’m a writer and a voracious reader. I love books. I love paper. I love bookstores. I love libraries (to see just how much, click “Because of a Book”). In fact, an important part of my writing process happens while I’m reading. Believe it or not, I actually write IN books…my own stuff in books...hardback and paperback…whenever I get inspired by what I’m reading. (Shock…horror…I know…but I write all over my books. In the margins. Between sections. On the title page. On the covers. Heck, I write right over text if I’m on a roll.) Without the ability to write by hand while I read, what will happen to my writing process?
Great question.
And how will I “browse” for new books…the way I do at a library or in a bookstore?
Another great question
AND...if I have such concerns, why am I suddenly so gung-ho about my Kindle?
Because…
So as we enter 2010, picture me here in Shanghai, powering
up my Kindle, deciding which book I’ll download first. And second. And third.
And 1,336th.
And guess what?
I’m not the only one talking about this. Seth Godin (the Godfather of What Comes Next) and The Christian Science Monitor are talking, too. See what they have to say.
Snow in Shanghai doesn't happen often. It was kind of fun on a post-Christmas Sunday afternoon. (not the prettiest shot of Shanghai, but the snow shows up)
Because on the day AFTER Christmas, Tully fell asleep in the buggy on the way home from the playground (which she never does). She didn't wake when we transferred her to floor (see below). She didn't wake when we changed her poopy diaper. She didn't wake when we took off her gloves (see below) or carried her to her crib or plopped her in.
She didn't wake until four hours later. Four hours! She even missed lunch.
So, yep, no question about it. Great Christmas 2009 for the Bair O'Keeffe clan!
Isn't she sweet?
See?
Told ya I'd get to the fa la la'ing!
To be honest, it is not nearly as easy to get into the Christmas spirit in Shanghai as it is back home in the U.S. or Ireland, but we do our best.
Here, in our buzzing Asian metropolis, the fancy hotels decorate their lobbies, Nanjing Road sports a GIGANTIC gold Christmas tree (and a weird GIGANTIC gold rose...related?), I heard Bruce Springsteen singing "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" at my favorite coffee shop, and I can even buy poinsettias on most street corners...see?
A few weeks ago, Tully sat on Santa's lap and was given a really cool (gender neutral) medical kit that has introduced into our home the daily ritual of taking everyone's blood pressure (including McGillicutty the Gorilla).
And we've partied and frolicked at a variety of Christmas parties...
But the thing that FINALLY stirred up the Christmas spirit in me?
Making peanut blossom cookies! A tradition in our family...and my favorite cookie.
(Of course, our family tradition has never included baking the cookies with an amazingly competent, incredibly sweet Filipina ayi...and then having someone to clean up the mess...but some changes to tradition are welcome, right?)
So Merry Christmas, world!
Or as we say in Shanghai, Sheng dan kuai le!
Last week, my husband and I got word that our family in Ireland had sent the annual Christmas basket of goodies, including, of course, plum pudding! Whoo-hoo!!!!
Then we got word that the Customs Dept in China was holding it for investigation.
Boo! Boo! (the crowd goes mad!)
And THEN we got word that they weren't going to release it until...what?
So, after the Customs folks cracked open the beautiful box in which the goods were packed (and I mean cracked!), studied the contents, received the form, and yup, palmed the cash, we got the goods delivered!
So a big thanks to everyone in Ireland. Makes China feel a little homier at the holidays.
Here's a little peek...
As a mom to an almost 2-year-old daughter, I think a lot about how to raise a strong, independent, adventurous, curious, self-assured, creative, loving, smart girl who will eventually become a woman. I think about my choices, my actions, my words...because I know from experience that that is how I learned the most from my mom...by watching, absorbing, listening, feeling.
Even though Tully is just 22.5 months old, I know already that raising a strong, independent, adventurous, curious, self-assured, creative, loving, smart daughter is not going to be easy. I watch my sister and friends and strangers doing their best with it...sometimes succeeding beautifully and other times falling flat on their faces.
I'm sure I will do the same.
But last weekend, I witnessed something that reminded me that the world isn't always supportive of my goal to raise a strong, independent, adventurous, curious, self-assured, creative, loving, smart daughter. In fact, in some ways, it may even be fighting me on this goal.
What prompted all this?
I went Christmas shopping at Toys R Us in Shanghai.
In the "Girls" area of the store, this is what I saw:
In the "Boys" area of the store, this is what I saw:
Um, HELLO?????? How am I supposed to raise a strong, independent, adventurous, curious, self-assured, creative, loving, smart daughter when the entire "Girls" area of the store is hot pink and filled with ironing boards, washing machines, dolls, and cooking sets? While the "Boys" area of the store (aka "Action and Adventure") is filled with action- and adventure-related toys? Cool stuff.
Why is this wrong?
Because pigeon-holing girls into this "pink, house-wifey" role shapes their self-images, their imaginations, and their ability to consider all the crazy, wonderful, innovative possibilities for their lives. While many toys encourage boys to imagine themselves as swashbuckling explorers or inventors, many toys encourage girls to imagine themselves as...as...house tenders. How is that fair? (And no, readers, I don't think that tending a house is a bad thing. It's an important part of how we manage our lives...and anyone who can run a household deserves respect...male or female. But come on...girls need as much of a chance to dream about their lives as boys.)
And to turn the situation on its head, what about little boys who want a washing machine from Santa? Boys who think it's fun to wash clothes? How will they feel when they open a pink washing machine in a box marked "Girls Only" (see top left corner of box in photo above)? I mean, if a toy store MUST sell a washing machine for kids, why not sell a cool, silvery blue one in a gender-neutral part of the store set up to make both boys and girls feel comfortable?
Boys or girls...this kind of stereotypical gender marketing doesn't work for anyone.
I shouldn't be shocked at this, right? I've been in Toys R Us before; I've seen the differences between the "Girls" section and the "Boys" section. I'm not clueless to the fact that this kind of gender petrification goes on. But this is the first year that I've really shop-shopped for Christmas presents for Tully. Last year she was a baby; Santa brought rubber-bottomed socks, books, and stuffed animals.
But I am shocked. And irked. How long are we going to nurture girls in this traditional housecleaning, button-sewing, soup-stirring role? (Don't even get me started on the princess myth...)
Gggggrrrrrr...
Of course, I had to laugh because at first my husband thought this was a "China" thing. That only toy stores in China were marketing toys this way.
He couldn't believe (and still isn't quite convinced, I suspect) that this kind of "pink, housewifey marketing" goes on in toy stores in the U.S. as well. (After all, many of the toys in Shanghai's Toys R Us are intended for the U.S. market...there's not even any Chinese writing on much of the packaging. All English.)
The thing that irks me even further is that we (the West) are teaching the Chinese about gender petrification and "pink, housewifey marketing." Although China has a long tradition of assigning value to boys and girls in significant ways, it is still in its infancy stage of consumerism and is not yet a "stuff" culture. The segment of the population with extra cash for toys from fancy stores like Toys R Us is small but growing rapidly. These folks are hungry for the "stuff" we "rich" folks from the West have...like pink washing machines marked "Girls Only" for our daughters. (Ironically, the majority of people in China don't even have a washing machine in their home.) And we, being the great leaders of consumption that we are, are showing them how it's done.
What I want to know is, when the heck will it be done differently? In China or the U.S.? Anywhere?
Related Article in The Guardian: The Power of Pink
