Law, Partially

We had a good life in the Lower Holloway area of Islington. Bobby's nursery was very close, and many kids living in our building also attended. His best friend lived in the same building. There were many cafes, all of which knew how to make babycinos (ingredients consist of foamed milk and some chocolate powder), including one on the ground floor of our building. Some of the last few babycinos at the New Zealand-style cafe, Sacred, on the ground floor of our building; since the hamburger restaurant across the square closed, Sacred became a de facto hangout for the local gangs of small children. King's Cross was two stops away on the Piccadilly. This area north of the station was an old intermodal port, where goods could be transferred from train to ships on the Victoria Canal. The big brick building was grain storage but is now an art school with various restaurant chains on the ground floor. Next door are former coal storage buildings that now house a high-end s...

As a northern hemispheric country, just as in the U.S., summer's heat wears away and leaves change color as fall arrives in the U.K. In my years abroad I've learned how memories of time and place attach to seasons, with seasons becoming markers on the timeline. Your perception of seasonal change is shaped by where you've spent most of your years, especially where you grew up. Shaped by the American Midwest, the autumnal months remind me of baseball season's end, football season's start, school terms commencing, green leaves becoming red and orange, Thanksgiving, and Christmas shopping. We find some parallels between the U.S. and London. Fall brings cooler temperatures, although summers are never as hot and winters never as cold here as we'd get in Iowa. This year, fall brought Christine's return to school, this time at the London School of Economics, alma mater of Mick Jagger and JFK, both of whom didn't earn degrees there (hopefully Christine will be...

I lived with Christine's family from March 2011 through August 2012, and now I am living with them again during March (and part of April) 2017. What's changed? Weihao is getting married and has already moved to his own flat with his wife-to-be, Eileen (pronounced Ee-lean). Poor Leslie is gone, and in his place we have the irritable Chewy. And of course Christine and I have an extra family member. Mr. and Mrs. Chen hadn't met Bobby until now, but they both have quickly taken to their roles as grandparents. Both want to spend all day with him, carry him around, talk to him, play with him, and try to make him laugh and smile. Maternal grandmother in Chinese is waipo (pronounced like why-pwoh); maternal grandfather is waigong (why-gohng). Remember that Bobby's Chinese name is Zekai (zuh-ky, with the "y" pronounced like "eye"), and for a nickname we call him Kaikai. Waipo especially seems to have the secret Chinese words to always make Zekai smile. ...