After a nice meal with friends the other day, JD visited an "Upside-Down Gallery"(!?), and these were the best of the photos taken there.
JD's been after a new bike for ages, so we went to a few bike shops today and settled on a blue mountain bike. We bought his last bike when he was five years old! This one is a (very) early Christmas present. It made sense for him to get a decent 6 months of usage out of it before we head to the UK, rather than leave it until late December. We're hoping his newfound enthusiasm might lead to a little bit of weight loss, too!
JD's homework today included a 300 character essay on why he shouldn't be naughty. Every student in the class had to write one. Why? Because the teacher left the classroom in the middle of a lesson and while she was AWOL for 20 minutes, some of the students were apparently talking... So the teacher punishes the whole class (guilty and innocent) for HER unprofessional absence, and the punishment is to do some creative writing - in addition to the usual 4-5 hours of regular homework. What sort of lesson is this for kids??
I met up with my old friend Nita (and her friend, LiXia) a few days ago for lunch. LiXia gifted us some homegrown persimmons (a lucky gift in China) and Nita gave me some bread rolls. I'd not been sent the "bring a gift" memo! It was nice to chat and catch up on news. I've known Nita for 20+ years now.
We spotted this worrisome scene near a riverbank last weekend. At first, we weren't sure if we should call the police or an ambulance..?
In the end, we settled for a photo. JD's Primary School have been getting really silly yet again about the amount of homework they set. Last night he did 6 hours, finishing at 12.40am this morning. The day before it was 5 hours. We've heard of classmates staying up until 2am to finish. And there's not even an exam coming. I've started using some of my afternoon "English home-schooling" time to let him have an hour's nap, which is not what we had planned at all! The sooner this term finishes the better. JD probably needed the basketball/dance P.E. session this morning to wake him up.
We headed out of Kunming yesterday to meet up with some friends and try our hand at fishing again (still no rod luck, but a dozen minnows & shrimps in his fish trap). We also finally erected our tent - a Christmas present from my parents which we've struggled to find a suitable time/place to use this year.
JD's best friend is a classmate called GuoDingGe ("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 during the current holiday period, including sleepovers in a den they've built in JD's bedroom!
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AuthorPaul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and regularly updates this blog about his life there. Past blog entries
April 2024
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