This is Albert's Story

On our way to Thailand, we had a two day stopover in Beijing. We decided to check out IKEA to shop for our house trying to make the apartment more homey. We picked out two coffee table cubes, a huge Eiffel Tower picture, a lamp stand, and Fansta the $5 lamp shade, who we lovingly called Albert.

After checking out, we walked our cart over to the shipping desk to inquire about shipping the items back to Harbin. "Sure, no problem," they say and begin packing the boxes. Except there was a small problem. Albert was not allowed to be shipped!

We had to make a quick decision. Do we return Albert to IKEA or do we carry Albert along on our journey to Thailand? We knew the risks. If we returned Albert, we were unlikely to find a suitable lamp shade in Harbin (we can't even find a table lamp in Harbin, we only find desk lamps). If we take Albert along on the journey, he'll have to clear customs (twice) and numerous security check points (3 times in Bangkok alone). We decided to take the risk and bring him along.

Since we didn't take any pictures of Albert in Thailand (we were too busy chasing kids and taking their pictures when we remembered) here's what might have been:

During conference, we hosted a party for Albert celebrating the halfway point of his journey.


When we got tired of being in the city, we took Albert along for a moped ride around the mountains surrounding Chiang Mai. It was a bit hard to tie him to the back with causing any dents, but he turned out OK.


At the top of the mountain, we watched as the locals danced the evening away. He wanted to join with the locals, but he was too monochromatic.


After the days off for Sabbath, we came together again and sang some songs.


On our not-quite-daily trips to Starbucks to drink some refreshing coffee, Albert always wanted to order his own drink, but we insisted that he wasn't quite old enough yet and we didn't want to get coffee on his beautiful white.


In the end, Albert made it back to Harbin safely without any dent and is currently filling our living room with his warm glow.