JD and Jiajia had a craft afternoon the other day.
This was a mosaic coaster made by JD.
This was a mosaic coaster made by JD.
After watching a recent Star Wars TV episode, JD suddenly decided to identify as a Tusken Raider!
I spotted DongBaiShaHe Reservoir on my map of Kunming the other day and thought it looked worth a visit. Two underground trains and a 20 minute walk got me to the shores, but the supposed green grass on my map is now largely construction sites and walled neighbourhoods. I found a small path by the water but, as I walked it, it got narrower and less obvious, and I ended up climbing through a hole in a wall and skipping across a stream of effluent! A couple of buses got me home. I won't go again!
 ...to the palate give first choose the."
Another morale-boosting surprise for JD yesterday when he received a First Prize Certificate from the Yunnan Provincial English Speech Competition (which we'd entered by video a month ago and completely forgotten about!). We know his English is good, but to come first in all Yunnan (pop: 40m) was both unexpected and very encouraging.  Now we just hope that yesterday's mid-term Chinese exam earns him an "average" grade in his class and not "bottom five" as we've come to expect! [...UPDATE: Sadly, another bottom five score - 76%]
JD was awarded a special Certificate at school this week. He had been asked by his teacher to enter a National Art competition about a month ago (celebrating the COP-15 Conference held in Kunming last year) and we were all pretty stunned to hear he came top in Yunnan Province and second out of all China!
Admittedly there was a bit of parental help in thinking up the idea and drawing some of the creatures, but that's pretty normal in China, and JD coloured in most of it. So we were all chuffed and JD's Primary School teacher apparently gained a lot of kudos.
 JD's mixed heritage seems to lead to some very odd food preferences. He likes Brussel sprouts with his chicken's feet, salt with his pineapple chunks, and ice-cream with pepper. But his latest favourite breakfast - croissants with sweet pickle - is truly disturbing!
Jiajia and I had free comprehensive medical check-ups last week, courtesy of vouchers from one of her VIP bank accounts which needed to be used by the end of the year. Neither of us had any major problems show up, but we were both told we needed to lose weight.  I've been doing 40-minute "rides" on my exercise bike 2-3 times a week for 6 months, but I think I need to up my game a bit. So last week I did an 18km (11 miles) walk from my house to the Waterfall Park in the north of the city. It took 2½ hours and I was blistered and exhausted by the time I sat to eat my sandwiches there. It then took me three buses to get back home.
 Really lovely to catch up with all the family on a Christmas/New Year Zoom today. We were even joined by my nephew Josh from the ambulance where he is a trainee paramedic! Online meeting technology has come such a long way over the COVID period.
We celebrated Christmas a day late as everyone was working and/or studying on the day itself. JD woke to not one, but three full stockings - his (successful) attempt to trick Santa into extra gifts! Then, after dinner, we opened all our presents - those for Ma, Jiajia and myself combined being less than those for JD alone! Lucky boy!
 OK, so it was chicken instead of turkey, "ganlan" instead of sprouts, home-made crackers and rice-based stuffing, but it was still pretty Christmassy and very tasty! Merry Christmas, readers!
Decorations have been up for a month, the advent calendar is nearly empty, presents are piled up beneath the tree ...and someone is very excited!
 JD finishes a three day course of IV drips today. After a fever earlier this week, we took him to hospital for a blood test. That indicated a very elevated white cell count, and the doctor strongly advised an intravenous antibiotic drip. JD has been in fairly good spirits since then, mostly at the thought of three days off school. We are hoping he will be OK to return to his class tomorrow as he has important end-of-term exams next week.
 Some friends of ours invited us out to a meal yesterday. Dai Minority food - quite sour and spicy in parts, but lots of choice.
 The biggest scratch built Lego model JD and I have ever made.
 After "Whitey" died a year ago, we assumed "Bitey" might not last too much longer. Yet here he is, seemingly as perky as ever.
JD's Primary School is in a road full of Gingko trees. Their leaves are quite something at this time of year. JD believes the oncoming car in this photo is floating!   I was asked by my University to attend a "Thematic Briefing on the Sixth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth CPC Central Committee" yesterday. To be fair, the organisers tried their best to make it accessible and fairly interesting (Powerpoints in English, real-time translations, phone app "games", gifts, etc) but there's only so much fun you can wring out of "XiJingPing Marxism Thought"!?
 JD is enjoying his "Advent Calendar train" - he opens one carriage a day, each containing a small toy.
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 About the blogger
Paul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and updates this blog about his life there every other day. Past blog entries
December 2021
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