The Engleson Files

Well, one major difference we have noticed between Magnus and Svea at their early ages is Svea’s strong desire to climb things. Since she could, Svea has always been very adventurous in the pursuit of going above and beyond her reaches, while Magnus was always happy with two feet firmly on the ground. First she was was climbing on couches, next chairs, desks and tables, and now, the Mt. Everest of our house, the bunk bed. Not too sure if this is a sign of things to come but up, up she goes!

Well, much to the surprise of young Magnus Bjorn, the Easter Bunny left behind a very special present - a brand spanking new bike. For two years Magnus enjoyed puttering around Kaifaqu on his trusty Radio Flyer tricycle, but there is no question it was time for him to move up in the world. The big guy loves his new bike dearly and cannot go a day without riding it around wherever he can. I was truly amazed with how quickly he picked up the subtleties of the bigger bike and we are now expanding our weekly treks downtown to newer, far-away places. Yes, he’s a big boy now and one must have a big bike to make that official!

I can see by the lack of replies that many of you are not quite convinced by my claim that Neptune is the best planet. So allow me to up the ante. Yes, I think after all of you watch this short video clip you will be fully convinced that Neptune is, pound for pound, the greatest planet in our Solar System!

As a child, the music you hear being played on this video (named Arabesque No. 1) used to scare the you-know-what out of me. I can remember very vividly listening to this song play overtop the CHBC credits once the station went off the air in the evenings. Now, just imagine a pitch dark room downstairs, this music playing, and a glowing television screen eerily flickering collages of Canadian geese flying near Okanagan Lake - Well, I’m sure my age played a factor in this fear, but you have to admit, it is kinda scary! Anyways, I still find this song terribly haunting and it just gives me the heebie-jeebies everytime I hear it play!

I don’t like to be too political on this forum, but every now and then I think it is important to take a stand - which is what I would like to do today. Throughout all of this Tibetan brouhaha, it has been most interesting and disconcerting to see how the Chinese government deals with, and talks about, the Dalai Lama. Growing up in Canada, anything I have ever heard about the Dalai Lama has been so positive and inspirational (to which I think his actions truly reflect), while over here in China he is vilified by the government, which has invariably filtered down to become common thought amongst most Chinese citizens - and this is a sad thing; the juxtaposition is absolutely amazing. Over here he is referred to as “the Dalai clique” or “the monk” and is being constantly berated for his so-called involvement in these latest riots, when really, he has never done anything with his words or actions to deserve this. The Dalai Lama has always stood for peace and to be labeled a common criminal by the government is simply ridiculous. I for one am a big fan of His Holiness and hope that one day he can go back to his home in Lhasa and live out the rest of his days in the beautiful Potala.

Wow, things are really beginning to heat up for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Committee and the government of the People’s Republic of China. It has been amazing to see how quickly the spotlight has turned onto China and its human rights reputation in the wake of the recent protests in Tibet. While there has always been loose chatter about how China needs to clean up its act but it has just always been an underlying conversation. But now, it seems that the Olympics have put the spotlight directly onto the issues and there does not seem to be enough places to hide. For the record I would like to say that I hope the games do not get disrupted and in the end they are a huge success; this is a big deal to the people of China and for them a successful show would be great. But with that said, there are some key issues that China could use some help weeding out and maybe this large spotlight will help aid in resolving those - and Tibet is one of them. Who knows, but right now I am sure things are a little bit more tense around the ol’ office in Beijing.

Well, now that all the dust has settled and all the bills are beginning to get paid, Tuesday, March 22nd signified the official day that Kristin and I took over the place we bought at The Waterford in Penticton, BC. While this is an extremely exciting new venture to begin in our lives, the insane rate of all the taxes and fees you need to pay to get going was enough to make to you want to quit! Canadian taxes are a rip-off (and you can quote me on that!), and the process has been a little daunting to say the least. Anyways, the other day the keys were handed over to us and as of April 1st our new tenant, Doug, will be moving in. I do not know much about our tenant except for the fact that he loves his cats. The story goes something like this: when Doug inquired about renting our place he basically pleaded with my Mom and Dad that if he were able to be chosen his cats must be able to come with him. This request was so serious that he organized an interview process where Mom and Dad were to go over to his other house and check them out. So, Mom and Dad went over, gave the cats a strict once over interview and the rest is history - Doug and his cats are in! From all accounts he seems to be a very nice man and we are very excited to have him rent out our place.

Photo courtesy of Kristin Bond

The other day the Easter Bunny swung by and dispersed candy to all the kids of Kaifaqu. All throughout the Songhaili apartment complex you could see 25′ish young and old children running around hunting for chocolate eggs and beating the tar out of the Easter pinata. It was a beautiful sunny day and it definitely looked like all the kids involved had a great time and left with a raging sugar high. Happy Easter folks!

For whatever reason, I have always had a fascination with flags and have actually found that I am not too bad at knowing which flags are which. While I cannot boast to know them all, I seem to have the ability to find certain patterns in them and can usually get the answer correct, or be in the right vicinity geographically. So, my main question is this: can you? What national flag do you see before you?

Send a comment to give your answer (with reasoning), and, no cheating!!

Sorry, but I am bored, extremely tired, Youtubeless (with the Tibet lockdown), I have no pictures of the kids uploaded and just do not have much on the go right now. So, I’m just going to come right out and say it: Neptune is, and always has been, my favorite planet in the Solar System. It’s blue, it’s gaseous, it’s got some moons, it’s got some rings like Saturn and it has a big black spot like Jupiter - I mean, c’mon, it’s like three planets in one! And, with the deplanetization of Pluto, Neptune is now officially the furthest planet from the Sun. I think you see my point and if any of you out there think you have another planet that can top Neptune, I dare you to leave a comment and try!

Click here for some cool pictures and statistics on the great planet of Neptune.

If all else fails, there might be one man who can help…

This past week has been very tumultuous in Tibet where reports out of Lhasa say 30 people have been killed so far, but that number could be somewhere realistically around 100. With this being the Olympic year in China, there is no question that things could get a little dicey here politically before the games begin. I am not sure if this current uprising in Tibet has anything to do with the games, but you have to admit the timing seems bang on (with the Olympic torch supposedly to be marched through in the next couple of weeks). The Dalai Lama has urged the people to stop the violence and one can only hope the people listen (both sides) and all of this comes to a peaceful end soon.

Well, once again those pangs of homesickness kick in with the coming and going of the 2008 Brier. I miss being able to soak in and watch this great Canadian event on TV (even though I heard this year’s version was a bit of a stinker). Word on the street from my Grandma W, who is a serious curling fan, is that the ice nowadays is too perfect, which makes the game not as exciting because the game has become too predictable. I agree with her in that curling needs to go back to its roots and bring back the good ol’ corn brooms, beauty sweaters and hats and re-instill the class and charm it originally had; the game of curling is pure Canadiana and we need to tap into that more in order to give curling that pizazz it once had!

Click here for some classic curling moments - now this is curling!!

The past couple of days have been shining for young Magnus Bjorn who was recently awarded with two medals for his outstanding achievements. The medal you see hanging around his neck is a participation award for the Peace Cup contest, which is an international children’s drawing and calligraphy contest. Here, Magnus’s work was selected by his teacher to be viewed for his age group throughout all of China. I would have loved to have known about this while it was happening, but to be honest, I have never seen the artwork he produced and was never really told this was even going on - maddening! The small, orange patch you see pinned to his chest is called the Sunny Boy Award, which was given to him by his teacher for being a happy, helpful, co-operative student within his classroom. Magnus loves going to school and all the reports we hear so far prove he is just a happy little boy having fun. These are the first ever awards recognized for Magnus’s achievements and we could not be more proud of our little Dingle-Bat (as Kristin calls him) - congratulations big guy, you have earned these and we love you very much!