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Slogans on Chinese clothes never fail to make me laugh but they
are often an interesting barometer of Chinese social values too.
are often an interesting barometer of Chinese social values too.
 I guess if you have to put up an ugly telecommunications
tower, you may was well disguise it as a tree!  These boxes of medicine had me scratching my head last week. It's some sort of infant's cream, but I have no idea where exactly the "Bill" and the "Hoves" come from...?
Jiajia. JD and I went to an amazing theme park the other day, along with two other families from JD’s school. The attraction has an "Ocean Park" (large aquarium, plus dolphin, seal and beluga whale shows), a "Snow Park" (huge indoor -8ºC building with slides, aerial walkways, train, skating, skiing, "live snowing", igloos etc), fairground rides and a circus! And all this just a few hours drive outside of Kunming! 
Since we decided not to make any trips away this Winter holiday, my main targets were to get everything ready in our redecorated flat to move back in, and to teach JD to ride his two-wheeler bike without stabilisers. He was very nervous at first but persevered and, despite a couple of minor crashes [see above, right!] can now circle the neighbourhood without my help. Something of a rite of passage!
 I really think Chinese politician Hou Youyi
should have invested in a human translator!
Yesterday was the big annual celebration here of Chinese New Year, otherwise known as Spring Festival. We had the obligatory family meal, (including Druncle) and JD enjoyed some fireworks and sparklers.
 I've been giving JD daily homework during the Winter holiday - mostly English and Maths - much to his annoyance! But today I got this sheet of paper slid under the bathroom door while I was taking a shower. It's his first ever written message to me (asking if he could get off his seat). Something of a breakthrough!
JD and I joined our Vietnamese friends to investigate a new (to us) park the other day. The large lake in the middle gave us the chance to hire a boat (complete with machine gun for JD) and there were also many funfair activities, such a a digger for JD. Around the lake were lots of nooks and crannies, nice walkways and some tasty snacks.
Despite a distinct lack of encouragement from his parents, JD's favourite topics continue to be guns, tanks, fighter aircraft, World War II etc. Boys will be boys, I guess.
So, relenting for a half-day, I helped him make a machine gun out of junk last weekend. Then we wrote out a list of animals we'd like to "hunt" and headed off to the zoo. By the end of the trip, we had "shot" 19 of our 20 targets, with only the peacock having evaded us!
 I was recently sent a photo of me and one of my classes from Qiannan Teacher's College in Duyun, Guizhou - my first placement volunteering in China, back in 1994. It brought back a flood of memories!
 This shows the surprisingly large number of people viewing this blog each day. Do sign the Guestbook [see above] if you have a moment...
JD and I spent a fun afternoon the other day playing in a local forest with a Vietnamese family we know. Their Mum teaches Vietnamese at my University and the two kids only speak that and Chinese. So JD had to switch from the English he was using with our American friends yesterday to Chinese! We brought along a small play tent and digging tools and so the kids tried to build a Great Wall with rocks and mud! 
Being on the 11th floor, JD woke to the most exciting
view out of his bedroom window yesterday [above left] ! We don't get as many visitors here in Kunming as we'd like, so it was a very real pleasure to welcome Josh and his two friends Maisy and Eve to our city yesterday evening. Josh is the son of an old College friend of mine and is currently studying Chinese in Beijing as part of a degree from Newcastle University. The girls are doing similar studies, but in Hainan, in the South of China.
JD and I met them after JD's school (and term) finished today and we shared am meal of cross-the-bridge noodles. Unfortunately, the girls turned out to be vegetarians, but we managed to find some extra vegetables to add to the mix! We then had a wander around Green Lake Park. Josh looks Chinese enough to be ignored by the locals (his Mum is Chinese heritage) but the girls were quickly dragged in to dancing with the locals! It was lovely to meet them all, albeit too briefly - they take planes and trains to new places within a day or so.
Spent most of yesterday making an aircraft carrier from junk with JD.
 JD was sent home from school last Friday with a temperature (and an official form telling us he was seriously overweight!?). His fever continued over the weekend but his main complaint was stomach pains. He had a poor appetite too but no other symptoms. By Sunday the fever had gone, but he had started a cough and was still saying his tummy hurt. The cough is now less, but he is still not eating well and gets very sleepy for no real reason.  So we took him to the hospital yesterday to get him checked out. After an ultrasound and a blood test the first doctor we saw diagnosed him as having, "an infection and bubbles in the stomach" while the second doctor said, "no infection and mild constipation". So we're still none the wiser, to be honest...!
 I've managed to watch the three most recent "Planet of the Apes" films over the last week or two. Not bad. The plots are a bit hit-and-miss, but there's no denying the CGI is state of the art. Who would guess shots like the one above are totally computer generated? Impressive stuff.
 Ma-in-law has been weeping and screaming this last week, "unable to get out of her bed" due to a bad back. I've made multiple trips across town to her 7th floor flat in response to phone calls requesting, "a glass of water from the kitchen" or "help to walk to the toilet" etc. She seems somewhat improved now since Jiajia returned from her business trip and a couple of her friends visited and gave her some attention. I'm sure she has some pain but Jiajia and I are both convinced she makes the most of it. There are clues such as the medicine she says she has been taking being on the table in the living room (how does she take that if she can't leave her bed) and signs of cooking in the kitchen. My five-year diary shows this is the third year running she's "gone ill" at this exact time, perhaps knowing that I am off work (term is over) and Jijaia is away. Suspicious timing!
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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
February 2019
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