Happy New Year from The Glittenbergs

2012: the Year in Review

Happy New Year to our friends and family!
We have now been in China for a year and half, working at the Western Academy of Beijing. Joergen is enjoying his position as the the High School Curriculum Coordinator.  In addition, Joergen also works with the IBO (International Baccalaureate Organization) and has traveled extensively in the region on accreditation visits and teaching workshops at other international schools in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Islamabad. Jenny teaches High School English and also works as the Enrichment Coordinator, planning projects like a writer in residence program, and supervising the 10th grade Personal Project.  The kids are quickly becoming experts in Mandarin, already speaking much better than Mom and Dad. Anne-Katrine is in the 8th grade, loving middle school, and enjoying soccer and kick-boxing; our family linguist, she takes both Chinese and Spanish.  Lars is in the fifth grade and an all around sportsman, participating in all the intramural sports offered at school: soccer, track, table-tennis, and hand-ball. In addition, he plays baseball and soccer in private, local leagues.

January Chinese New Year:
Jenny's parents came to visit for Chinese New Year. It was mighty cold, but we still had lots of fun seeing the city. We also made a side trip up the northern city of Harbin to see the ice festival.

Strolling through cold Beijing. Thank goodness for Starbucks!

Spring Break:
We travelled south in China to Guilin and Yangshuo, for a week enjoying nature, hiking, biking, and exploring ancient villages.

biking through rice fields in Yanghuo

Summer:

The Glittenbergs take Manhattan

Come summer, we embarked on our annual marathon journey "home" to visit our families in the US and Norway.  While in the US, we took a special side trip to NYC to celebrate Jenny's mother's 70th birthday, along with her brother Mark, and his family.
Then we were off to Norway to be with Joergen's
family. It's been a tough year for his brother Jon, and his
family, as their youngest daughter, TJ, has been
battling leukemia. We are thrilled that she is fighting and
doing better.

The big kids, in front of the King's palace in Oslo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October Holiday: National Day

We had a week off of school in October, to celebrate China's National Day. We went to the mountains and stayed in the weekend home of one of Lars' buddies.  Great hiking on an old section of the Great Wall.


Christmas:
Since it was so cold last year, we decided to escape the Beijing winter and meet Jenny's parents in Bali. Ann and Don Piehl lived in Indonesia in the 90's, and this was their first trip back since they left 14 years ago.  We had a wonderful time exploring Bali together.  It was strange for the kids to have a tropical Christmas, but they had a blast creating our own version of a Christmas tree  in the hotel room with their clever Gramma, using palm fronds and a waste basket!

Balinese Cooking lesson

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                 

snorkeling in the Indian Ocean

 

 

 

 

On December 27, Jenny and Joergen celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. Since Mom and Dad were with us, we were able to leave the kids with them at their hotel and head off on a little two day getaway to Ubud, Bali.

We hope you all have had a joyous Christmas season. Our doors is always open in Beijing, and we welcome visitors to come share our China experience.

love from
Jenny, Joergen, Lars, and Anne-Katrine