Hunxue Kids
We had a great time at Rich and Cherry's place this afternoon, even if I lost two croquet games. Big turnout of couples with their babies and toddlers -- something like 15 all below the age of three. Unbelievably, Guenevere was the only "pure Chinese" baby (though of course her father is an American citizen). There were two belonging to Wang Xin and his Swiss wife, and one whose mother is Chinese and father is half-Chinese, but the rest were all born to white (mostly American) fathers and Chinese mothers: Rich and Cherry's month-old Declan, Rob and Irene's 2-year-old Annika, Jim and Chen Mei's little girl and many more. I've gotten so used to looking at half-Chinese kids -- my brother John's three daughters, Eric and Titi's son Max, Tara and Jean's daughter Constance -- that it's become the norm for me and I confess that I half expected my own daughter to turn out looking like that as well. There'll be two more "pure Han" kids once Sharon and Mark have their twins, which should be toward the end of June.
Race isn't ultimately important. I'm not bothered in the least, as I know some Chinese and Chinese-Americans are, by "out-marriage," and I only make this observation because I'm sort of fascinated by the mix of features the hunxue kids end up with. The important thing is that all these kids, irrespective of their genotype, are being raised in loving families of means with high levels of education and good values. The ones who can talk are all basically bilinugal, and from what I can tell speak more Chinese than they do English. I bet this crop goes on to do some pretty cool things!
Race isn't ultimately important. I'm not bothered in the least, as I know some Chinese and Chinese-Americans are, by "out-marriage," and I only make this observation because I'm sort of fascinated by the mix of features the hunxue kids end up with. The important thing is that all these kids, irrespective of their genotype, are being raised in loving families of means with high levels of education and good values. The ones who can talk are all basically bilinugal, and from what I can tell speak more Chinese than they do English. I bet this crop goes on to do some pretty cool things!