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We met up with friends today to explore one of Kunming's wetland parks. JD took along the camera he bought recently with his birthday money. He had wanted a film or instant polaroid type but we managed to persuade him to buy a digital camera that just "looked" old-fashioned. And a good job too, as he took over 250 pictures during this one trip alone!
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 JD had his Birthday Party last weekend in an old traditional courtyard house, converted into a restaurant. The owner is one of Jiajia's customers! Most of JD's friends date back to his old Kindergarten class and the kids' favourite Kindergarten teacher came along, too.  We had some very nice food and JD received a pile of presents. Then the kids played hide-and-seek around the restaurant while the adults chatted. There was a huge birthday cake to round the evening off, after which JD insisted on wearing the cake packaging as a top hat!
Halfway up, it decided to rain - the first rain we've seen in Kunming for 2-3 months. We learned later it has been artificially seeded. Fortunately we had brought umbrellas. After a vegetarian lunch at MiaoGao Temple, at the top of the mountain, we headed back down and home via a welcome ice-cream! 
The "Flying Tigers" were formally known as the "American Volunteer Group", who flew fighter and cargo planes in WWII in Myanmar and China to try and fend off Japanese advances. They are still remembered fondly for supplying food and supplies to war-torn Kunming and its Museum has a permanent exhibition in their memory.   JD's new Secondary School in Chippenham was finalised yesterday when we accepted an offer of a place at "Sheldon School" (our first choice). Another small step towards our relocation to the UK.
JD has spent the last couple of days photographing and pricing the many toys he realises he won't be able to take to the UK.  We've sent lists to my private students, to friends with children and to our local neighbourhood. I think he's found the whole downsizing (and money-making) process quite cathartic!
A gift for me when I was one year old [left], now JD looks after Big Ted and arranged for him to be restuffed a few days after this photo [right] was taken. 
So I sketched a picture [above right] while JD made a 3D train [below left] out of card and glue. He was also in charge of planning our journey there and back by underground train. So, a pleasing mix of academic, art and life lessons!
It's not his first, but the others were cheap and broke fairly quickly. We struggle to find wide open spaces, but he's flown it in our neighbourhood basketball court a few times with only a few crashes. The inbuilt camera can take photos and video from quite a height, albeit low res.  JD has left his Chinese Primary School for the last time. After 5 years there, he said his goodbyes. He will miss his friends and some of the teachers, but he won't miss the daily 3-4 hours of homework!
The plan, starting today, is for me to home-school him for 6 months, to try and get his English level (spellings in particularly) up to the right level to start in a UK Secondary School in September 2024.
 Whatever it is, JD has it, according to blood tests at the hospital yesterday. It's been sweeping through the classrooms of China recently, so it was probably only a matter of time. JD has a fever, headache and cough. He's off school, sleeping a lot and vomiting up anything he eats. He's on antibiotics now which should help (though internet messages are mixed on that one). Fingers crossed for a swift recovery. His Primary School yesterday suggested JD have his last lessons with them at the end of this month. So he needs to get better quickly to say goodbye to his teacher and classmates. Then it's home-schooling until starting a UK school.
The only exercise JD got during his school's Sports Meeting last week was walking to the stadium and back with his classmates! Athletic prowess isn't really part of JD's skillset. But it meant less homework for a few days, which is always welcome.
 JD's class were chosen to be the guinea-pigs in a maths teaching competition this week. JD is centre in the second row.
After learning the spellings of certain words for ages, he'll take a 5-minute break and then forget them all! But we're very slowly getting there, I think. Very slowly!
JD went on his annual school outing last week - along with half the school (2000+ students). The trip started and ended with a 90 minute journey by coach, with various kids throwing up. The location was just some place housing a handful of animals (pigs, some llamas and a camel) with very little to see and do. The weather was cold and wet.  There was some sort of presentation, but most of the 2000 kids couldn't see or hear anything. It seems that none of the teachers had visited the site in advance and the hosts had been caught unawares by the number of visitors. Kids were unable to do the various craft activities, squeezed 15 to a table. And JD's class had been told not to bring raincoats, so the outdoor activities were mostly cancelled.
JD was so excited beforehand, but returned very disappointed. The one redeeming factor for him was the promise that there would be no homework that day - until three papers came through later in the evening to be completed by the next day! More broken promises. This is the third outing in three years that has been something of a disaster. You'd think the teachers would learn...
 JD's "girlfriend", QiQi, invited us to join her large birthday party yesterday, [JD & QiQi are in the centre of the bottom left photo].
JD's been sleeping in a home-made bed-den this week. He says it keeps him warm and snug through the night, and cuts down the noise from the construction site at the back of our house. They seem to be working all night recently - banging, grinding and floodlights!
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??
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.
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!
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.
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 AuthorPaul Hider started this blog to share his rather odd life living in China for over 20 years. Since returning to the UK in 2024, the blog now records his more "normal" lifestyle! Past blog entries
December 2024
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