Blog

DingDing

1/10/2023

JD's best friend is a classmate called GuoDingGe, or "DingDing" for short. We've been helping look after her a bit recently as her parents are dealing with the death of her Grandfather a few days ago.

DingDIng and JD share similar interests and sense of humour. She is a little more sensible than JD, but he brings out the "silly" in her - so it's a nice mix and they love spending time together. They've spent 3-4 days playing together in the current holiday including sleepovers in a den they built in JD's bedroom!

Fish, feast and fast boats

30/9/2023

Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese National Day fall in the same week this year (the former being linked to moon phases). This means everyone gets an 8-day holiday (minus all the catch-up days before and after). JD is very excited at being off school for so long, especially as it coincides with his half-birthday!

The main tradition for Mid-Autumn Festival is eating little round pies, with various sweet or savoury fillings, and gazing at the full moon. We'll spend our holiday in and around Kunming with plans for a fishing trip with friends, spending vouchers at a huge all-you-can-eat buffet, R/C boat racing and a yard sale of JD's unwanted toys.

Flashback: This day in ...2008

28/9/2023

Another in my occasional series of "Flashbacks" looking back at blog entries made before this Weebly version started.

“Keeping up appearances at all costs” seems to be ingrained in the culture here and recently the space programme was caught out. Conversations between the Chinese astronauts currently in space and Mission Control were accidentally published online before their rocket even left earth! The publicists claimed it was a “technical glitch” but it appears that even routine communications are scripted for public consumption. Last night I watched President Hu congratulating the astronauts by phone from Mission Control. It seemed like he was reading the questions from an autocue, and the astronaut wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he was reading his answers from a file of papers! At one point he even read out the wrong answer. Hu asked, “How did you feel doing the space walk?”, to which the astronaut replied, “Thank you. We can assure you all that we will fulfil our mission”. Hu then continued, “The people of China are very proud of your achievements”. A pause from the astronaut, followed by a sheepish, “Thank you. We can assure you all that we will fulfil our mission”. Ooops!

No cross no crown

26/9/2023

Strange jacket slogan spotted recently.
Maybe some sort of religious reference...?

Robocop

24/9/2023

This scary-looking guy waves his arms up and down to try and calm the traffic. It made me laugh!

Every cloud...

22/9/2023

Photo taken by JD.

Path or fail

20/9/2023

We sometimes forget how lucky we are. At least JD can do his homework inside, away from noise and traffic pollution. But when your parents earn their living selling roadside fruit each evening...

Oh aye, A.I. !

18/9/2023

Our local Metro ("Cash 'n Carry") now has a little robot cleaner!

The robots are gradually taking over, I tell you!

Wart a palava

16/9/2023

JD went to the hospital recently with 2-3 warts and verrucas on his foot. The doctor "burned" them off by dabbing them with acid - very painful - and told us to return in a month for another session. Ouch!

Reappear thy girlhood??

14/9/2023

No clue what this English is about!

Krap parK

12/9/2023

This is typical Chinese parking. Drive down the middle of the road, spot some dumplings for sale, and just stop. Nobody can get past you. And the amazing thing is that other drivers just patiently wait for the car to move again, once the driver has bought his snack and wandered back!

What's not to lake?

10/9/2023

JD spent a chunk of his pocket money on a remote-controlled boat last week. We've since been out on two different Kunming lakes trying it out. It's fast and agile (unlike its owner!) and JD loves it so much he's now talking about buying another even bigger/faster one! Never happy.

Burning incense, extinguishing nonsense

8/9/2023

JD and I popped into a temple last weekend and saw some freshly-painted murals on the walls. Next to a Buddhist fire god breathing flames, were a selection of brave Chinese firemen, extinguishing the fires using the latest technology, including a search-and-rescue dog!

Needless to say, JD and I got the giggles and had to leave when the worshippers started casting annoyed glances at us!

It makes me screan!

6/9/2023

Proof beyond doubt?

4/9/2023

When JD's school suddenly ask for proof that all students have studied Communist Party ideology over the holiday(!?) we have to be creative. So, with a little technical wizardry, we were able to hand in a photo of JD "attending an exhibition" about our wonderful leader, Xi JingPing. Just don't ask exactly when/where JD is supposed to have been there!

The Chase

2/9/2023

"Chase" is one of about a dozen private students I teach each week - some at home and some in an office or classroom. The youngest is 7 - the oldest is 62. Now that I now longer work for the University, I have more flexibility to fit these classes in. Also, JD's Primary School have now formally agreed to let him leave after lunch each day to have English (and a bit of Maths) lessons with me each afternoon, to get his written English up to scratch before he starts a UK Secondary school this time next year. Busy!

Four no more

30/8/2023

JD started his new (and probably final) term at Chinese Primary School yesterday. The Chinese says, "Shine in Grade 5! Goodbye to Grade 4!"

Food, glorious food!

28/8/2023

We went to a fantastic buffet with some friends last week, courtesy of a dozen VIP vouchers from Jiajia's bank. There was every food imaginable on offer. This [see left] was just my first of 3-4 platefuls! JD ate so much ice-cream he was sick afterwards! Oh dear!

The five-star hotel even laid on some Chinglish for me...

Flashback: This day in ...2006

26/8/2023

Another in my occasional series of "Flashbacks" looking back at blog entries made before this Weebly version started.

MouDing County isn’t too far from here. Last month, they had their third confirmed case of rabies and the local government decided to take action. Dog owners were offered 5 yuan (30p) to kill their own dog or face the threat that, if they didn’t, the local police would do it for them! Over the next few weeks, 90% of the dogs in MouDing county were killed...

“...On Saturday, a woman was walking her dog - a small white animal she’d had for a long time - in an alley. Several men approached, talked her into handing them the leash and then beat the dog to death as the owner looked on in horror...”

“...Around midnight, men carrying clubs made noises to set the village dogs barking. Homing in on the sounds, the men would find their quarries, and the barks would be replaced by shrill yelps as the animals were dispatched. ..”

Sometimes you’ve got to admire the Chinese leaders, who simply brush aside any local upset to crack down and solve a problem almost overnight. But a lot of doggies died! How many? 500? 5000? ... Nope. China Daily’s conservative estimate was ... 50,000! Bet the cats are having a party!

I meet-a Nita

24/8/2023

So nice to meet up with Nita yesterday - a friend for over 15 years but who I haven't seen for four years. She was visiting Kunming and tracked me down!

What a feet...

22/8/2023

There's no accusing JD of being picky with his food (apart from tomatoes, which he refuses to eat!). Encouraged by Jiajia, he loves to tuck into a plate of crawfish [above], while his favourite dish at the moment is pig's ears [right]. Jiajia [top right] is chewing on ducks' feet.

I've tried most of these dishes in my time, but I don't really see the attraction of gristle and chilli. Give me a chicken breast any day!

Built from sCATch

20/8/2023

My latest scratch-built Lego model. A cat? A dog? Who knows?

...and missed ability

18/8/2023

I spotted this sign whilst in hospital for my recent eye operation.

That's what friends are for...

16/8/2023

JD joined his best fiend, Guo DingGe and her parents on a 3-day trip last week while I had my eye operation. They drove to a lake for a sailing trip and stayed at a 5-star hotel (courtesy of her father's company) with a spa, swimming pool and top quality food. JD loved every moment!

Coming of age

14/8/2023

My 18th Anniversary! I've been keeping an online blog for 18 years now, with 14 of those on this Weebly platform. I never realised it would last this long. Mind you, I've been keeping a written daily diary for almost 50 years now, so the blog has some way to go to catch up on that.