JD turned seven today. No chance of a party under the current lockdown, but we did manage a Pizza Hut delivery, half a dozen presents and JD's preferred cake. Happy Birthday, Bug!
Things are slowly picking up here. We're still supposed to stay at home (or within our neighbourhood at least) but buses and the subway have started up again and there haven't been any new confirmed infections within Yunnan for a few days now. So, maybe some small Advances towards being able to Go out! Meanwhile, JD has been getting homework projects sent through from his school and I've been keeping him busy with Monopoly, making dens and sorting drawers, cupboards and CDs/DVDs.
The last time I tried a jigsaw with JD (a few years ago, to be fair) he got bored after five minutes and we gave up. But this 500-piece map of the UK kept us amused for over an hour, despite four missing pieces [hence the grumpy face below].   We're in our 4th week of self-quarantine. We venture out into our neighbourhood occasionally to pick up food deliveries or do some exercise, but otherwise we are stuck at home waiting for the worst of COVID-19 to be over. Our Province of Yunnan is one of the least affected places in China, but that doesn't stop my good wife worrying about every possible "one in a million" chance of us catching anything! And to be fair, the advice from police, local government, hospitals and my University is also a pretty strict <STAY AT HOME>. So here we are for now, slowly going crazy!  JD/Jiajia painting for school {P.S. Our school entered the above (Jiajia /JD) painting
in a Provincial Competition and, to our surprise, it won!]
An afternoon spent making a chocolate cake which looked better than it tasted to be honest!   JD's daily routine throughout this extended virus outbreak "holiday" involves doing 1½ hours of homework each morning (Maths and English with Daddy) and 1½ hours more each afternoon/evening (Chinese with Mummy). He doesn't like it, but he's getting used to it!
Two days of junk construction! We have four different routes for the marbles to roll down, all ending in the same collection box. The kids in the neighbourhood loved playing with it once it was finished! This is the sort of thing which happens when you get quarantined for three weeks!!
 Keeping JD occupied and entertained during our weeks of self-quarantine is a strain on the creative juices sometimes! This activity was a board game we made up all about planes and their possible mechanical failures (...JD's current passion!).
JD's junk seaplane designed and made all by himself!   Being largely confined to the house (while Coronavirus apparently rages everywhere outside!) JD had been keeping up 1-2 hours of homework everyday. I usually do some English and Maths with him in the morning, with Jiajia taking over for Chinese in the evening. In between, he's allowed to play! Usually, the homework is using our own workbooks or ideas, but these two were set by his school, to bring in next term (whenever that turns out to be). One was a display on shapes and their properties, while the other was to make up a game involving (fake) money and transactions.   After a very stressful fortnight of 3-4 hours of homework every evening, JD's exam scores came back yesterday. He did really well, with "A"s in every subject (except a "B" in P.E.). The 96.1% in Chinese was particularly pleasing as JD struggles a bit with Chinese characters, coming from a family who read/speak a lot more English.
 JD goes to "basketball practice" every Sunday morning. JD's teacher made it clear that joining the club was technically "voluntary" but that all the class were really expected to sign up. Bizarrely, though he's been 12 times so far, he has yet to touch a basketball!? It's an odd school.
While waiting for him last week, I noticed these wires which run up the walls, but made a wild outward bend for no apparent reason. Strange. And I wonder if the rounded columns sandwiched between the square pillar sections are an earthquake-dampening measure? This has been a very stressful week as JD is doing mid-term exams and the teachers have been putting a lot of pressure on the students and parents to prepare their child to pass the tests. JD has been doing 3-4 hours of review at home every evening (even over the weekend) and getting very sleepy (and grumpy) as a result. This was how we found him between homework and shower the other evening...!  I'd like to say it has all gone smoothly, but we've had our share of tears, tantrums and toy-throwing (...and that's just the wife!). The Primary School concentrate on three subjects: JD's English is great, his Maths is OK but his Chinese is weak. Many other students in his class started doing after-school Chinese language classes over a year ago in Kindergarten and, of course, JD only has one Chinese parent. So we were pleased and relieved to hear JD got 97% in his Chinese exam yesterday. He was still only mid-class, but it was a lot better than the 77% he got two weeks ago. English last week was 100%. The Maths exam is today. Fingers crossed...
 JD's latest "den" involves blocking off the whole balcony with cut-up cardboard boxes, apart from a tiny entrance and various peepholes for weapons to stick out of! How do I get dragged into these projects?
 We celebrated our Halloween a little late this year due to exams. We invited our American family friends over and played a variety of scary and silly games such as "Get the chocolate out of the flour" game [JD lost - see above], "Crisps on a string" [see below], Pass-the-Parcel, "Treasure Hunt", "Guess the crisp flavour" and a "Feely Box". JD dressed as a fish(?!), while I was Spiderman. Our guests were a witch and a Ninja! All good, but not clean, fun!
  Jiajia, JD and I are currently taking a little break for a few days (this week is a national holiday to celebrate China's 70th year as a nation). We decided to use our annual tickets at ShiLin's "Ocean and Snow Park" but, unfortunately, after the 2-hour drive to get there we found out that our passes are not valid on holidays - that small print gets you every time! So we had to fork out for fresh one-day tickets. After bumper cars, the carousel and a terrific circus we headed into the huge sub-zero warehouse for tobogganing, skating and tyre-sliding. Then it was on to the ski run for JD's second "lesson". Last time he didn't quite manage to get all the way down the slope without falling over. But this time, after a couple of early tumbles, he was able to get all the way down a dozen times. And very proud of himself he was too! Mind you, pride comes before a fall and there were a couple of spectacular wipe-outs later as he tried to master "turning"!   JD's Primary School uniform was delivered last week - the boys get a bright pink tunic while the girls get blue!? It's either a very progressive decision or someone made a cock-up! Jiajia was mumbling about the cost - she found the same clothes online for 50RMB but the school insisted that they have to be bought through the school shop at 400RMB -a clear rip-off. JD rather likes the uniform though and was keen to be photographed in his "at attention" stance. The constant school "marching and dancing" seem to be having an effect on him!  JD's Primary School continues to be an education to me, if not to JD. Can this really be the top school in the city?? Today the teacher posted photos showing how "well-behaved and happy" the students are. Really?? They look scared and bored to me. JD's first three weeks seem to have been all about "control", with very little actual education. The kids get marked every day - with all the grades being sent to all the parents by phone. Most kids get "As" but JD usually gets "Bs". Why? Well, one day it was for "holding his pencil for a few seconds too long when the teacher had told pupils to put them down". Another day it was for "looking at the textbook when the teacher was talking". And another was for "raising his hand inappropriately to answer a question".  As a ex Primary School teacher myself, the "rows and columns" seating and the publicly published minor infringements seem all about the teacher keeping strict control, rather than having any education value. And woe betide any parents who fail to complete the multiple forms, the homework signing sheets or book purchases. They want control of us too! [And if you're wondering where JD is in the picture above, we were told he was having a unscheduled trip to the toilet ...another "B"!!]
 More e-bike upset at the weekend when JD and I hit a pothole and the rear tyre exploded! Fortunately we were pushing distance from a repair shop and, for the equivalent of £15, the mechanic quickly replaced the broken tyre and also the ageing back brakes. JD loved watching it all.
  JD and I attended a foreign teachers' Mid-Autumn Festival activity the other day to make traditional mooncakes. Other teachers also brought their kids and together we had a sticky, but successful, time with the finished products look pretty professional and tasting jolly good too. My Vietnamese friend Cao [to my right, below] came with her two kids (FeiJi and YoLun) and we realised it was exactly a year since we first met (at last year's cake event).   JD's latest obsession is playing Monopoly. He has a firm grasp on the rules and tactics, but does favour the green set above all others. We've been playing almost every day of late, sometimes twice in a row. It's great for his Maths and English. He charged me £26 yesterday for landing on his property before spotting he had the whole set and immediately saying, "Oh no, £52! And on the e-bike to school this morning he suddenly asked me what "annuity matures" means! He only wins about one game in four at the moment though and has to choke back the tears when his houses get removed.
Last week was a steep learning curve both for JD and his parents! He has had multiple random and nonsensical school rules to get used to while learning dance routines for hours every day. Meanwhile Jiajia has had to trawl through well over 50 texts a day from the school ranging from what the maths homework is (received at 9.40pm - to be handed in the next day) to how the school expects pencils to be sharpened. We are trying to bite our tongues, especially in front of JD, but it seems like Chinese schools are indeed as disorganised and petty as we'd been led to believe.  JD managed to get 10/10 "thumbs up" stickers most days last week. He had a bit of a wobble on Tuesday, getting told off for "whispering in class", "not dancing energetically enough" and "allowing his elbow to lose contact with his desk while trying to volunteer an answer"!? We had to apologise to the teacher and give JD a "stern" reprimand at home!? To try and get back into the teacher's good books, we have agreed to let JD represent the school in an "English Speaking Competition". Fingers crossed!
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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
March 2020
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