JD and I climbed a mountain near Kunming today for vegetarian lunch in the temple and some spring water.
 JD's Primary School held their "End of Term Closing Ceremony" this morning and JD had a nice surprise, winning an award for "Most Improved Student" in his class! Admittedly this represents improving from last place to "5th from last" (in written Chinese anyhow, with a score of 85%), but all his other exam grades were 95-100% and he has indeed worked very hard this term. It's nice to have that recognised.
 The newly-opened underground station near our house has recently put up some safety signs. But, despite the station's futuristic architecture and state-of-the-art facilities, they still haven't managed to string together a sensible English sentence or two.   When running in the neighbourhood the other day, I noticed this odd stain on the pavement which reminded me of some sort of animal.
 I know it's Winter, but to plummet from 16ºC to —3ºC overnight??
 JD's Primary School have been ramping up the homework these last two weeks in preparation for the upcoming end-of-term exams. We pay for an "after-school club" to pick him up from school each day at 3.30pm and then one of their teachers goes through his homework, corrections and review with him until it's all finished. They also feed him. At first he managed to finish everything by about 7pm but more recently it's sipped to 8pm or 9pm and this week he hasn't left before 10pm. I get him home for a quick shower and then straight to bed, poor kid.
 JD and I visited Kunming's Zoological Museum last weekend. When JD was 4-5 years old we bought an annual family pass for a couple of years, so we've visited the museum 20-30 times before, but not for a couple of years. There were a few changes this time. Some things we had fond memories of had disappeared (the interactive computer games, the snack area etc) but there were also some fun new exhibits, such as the tank full of stick insects [see right] and a stuffed "lion catches zebra" display [see below]. All good fun.   JD wanted to try out his air-powered rocket (Christmas gift) somewhere with a big open space, so this weekend we headed for a couple of nearby University running tracks. Unfortunately, guards are still stopping non-University personnel from entering (COVID hangover) and so we ended up at a public play area. It actually turned out to be a much better option.
JD doesn't have any close friends living near us and his schoolfriends are often too busy with extra-curricular classes to play much (as is JD a lot of the time). Thankfully, he is very outgoing and can quickly make temporary friends in a public setting such as this and play nicely with strangers, despite knowing that he may never see them again!
It took me about 5 hours but I've finally completed my main Christmas present - a Star Wars AT-AT Walker. Over 1400 pieces. Fully functional.  If you're not full up on turkey, why not try "flattened pig face", on sale right now at our local supermarket!
A Chinese friend of mine likes to make little Christmas tableaus out of her rice meal! [The title? "rice" is called "mifan" in Chinese!]
Seems like Santa visited last night. The snacks left out for him and Rudolph were nibbled and consumed, and JD's stockings were filled.
JD had decided to try and trick Father Christmas this year by leaving two stockings out in the hope that Santa would fill both. Santa duly obliged and at 8am Jiajia and I heard the pattering of not-so-tiny feet as JD came in and opened his presents with us. After his 2-hour home-schooling and lunch, we'll start on the pile of presies under the tree!
With Jiajia at work and JD at school, it was a low-key Christmas Day for me at home today. So we've arranged for Santa to visit tonight and we'll celebrate our Christmas tomorrow.  My UK family did manage a lovely little get-together on Zoom today though, which included catching up on all our news, a fun quiz and some heartfelt words of mutual appreciation - something which can all too often go unsaid. Happy Christmas, everyone!
 JD is getting very excited by all the gifts under the tree!
 Our friends returned our recent "conveyor-belt hotpot" treat by inviting JD and I (and another family) to their house, which is in in our neighbourhood, for a home-made hotpot (Jiajia is away on business).  The family live on the top floor of their building and have built a glass frame over the rooftop where they can eat and look out on the city skyline. The reflection in the glass also allows you to look up and see down to your food! [see left]
Their son, Johnny, is in JD's school/year, but in a different class. They both go the the same after-school homework club though and are slowly forming a nice friendship.
Final exams this week have consisted of "Restaurant Role Plays", "Business Company Presentations" and "Job Interviews". I find the girls are usually hard-working and well-prepared while the boys often seem "less bothered" about their grades!
The biggest problem with the Powerpoint Presentations (despite it being highlighted and warned about every week for a month or more beforehand) is the use of writing which is unclear, too wordy and too small...   The subway station near our house has been open for a couple of months [glass entrance to the left, above], the road has now been repaved and the surrounding pavements have been rebuilt. It seems years of traffic chaos are subsiding at last!
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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
January 2021
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