News from Japanese Kindergarten class

We had a rainy day today but we still had recess outside.  We performed in the assembly this morning, "Chicken Soup with Rice - September through June".  Charlotte's mom came in last week and we made Calder Mobiles; we also saw a play "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".  We are going to the Tilth Garden tomorrow. 

Transportation in China

Today we would like to talk about transportation in China.

 

There is one subway line which opened last year and goes north and south in the city. Three more subway lines are under construction throughout the city now. It's still not really convenient to go many places by subway. So people ride bicycles, scooters, electric rickshaws, buses, taxis, and personal cars when they go places.  Imagine, there are 14 million people living in the city so there are so many of those vehicles on the roads. Bicyles are more for daily transportation than recreation, as they are in America.  People ride bicycles to go grocery shopping. Many of the bicycles have electric motors like scooters so you don't have to pedal.  We use taxis a lot since they are convenient and cheap.  The first meter starts at 8 yuan (1.3 dollars). Taxis in Chengdu are green.

 

In America, almost every household has a car or two. But not in China. Having your own car is still a luxury.  Because driving is very difficult in China, many foreign companies make their employees use Chinese drivers.  We will have our own car and a Chinese driver.  In China, we are not allowed to drive with and international driver's license and it's also quite a different way to drive from the States. If you don't know how to drive in the Chinese way, it's very dangerous to do so.

In major cities in China, there are big concerns about air pollution. In our city, Chengdu, it's a big concern also. As an effort to reduce carbon dioxide, private cars are only able to drive 6 days a week on certain roads. The day the car is not allowed to drive is determined by the license plate.

 

In China, cars seem to have priority on the road--not like in America or other countries. We need to be very, very careful to cross the road even if we have a green sign and we are crossing a pedestrian cross walk.  The cars will not stop for pedestrians.  Instead, they will beep their horns and continue driving at us! We are the ones who have to avoid being hit by cars. The most scary thing of all are the scooters and bicyles because they sometimes drive in pedestian roads and we can't hear when they are approaching from the back because of their electric motors.  

 

   Here is a photo which shows a scooter, a bicycle and a car, all driving on a pedestrian path (sidewalk). 

 

 

Here are some pictures which show the many kinds of vehicles.  

It's almost an art to put so many things on a bicycle.

 

    This man has his own shop on his rickshaw!

 

 

 

    This is a little taxi. It can be seat two people inside.

 

 

 

 

    This is Jay's school bus! 

 

 

    It's a busy place!

The First Two Weeks...

Dear Charlotte,

 

Thank you for writing me. I really liked your letter and the photo where you are riding a mermaid horse.

 

It is warm here in Chengdu. It's about 30C. I am wearing a short sleeve shirt and no jacket! I just moved to our new apartment and I like it! My bother, Kosei, and I share a room which has bunk beds! In my apartment, I can watch Chinese programs, Japanese programs, and American programs. Today I watched "Madeline" in Chinese, but I didn't understand it at all!  Kosei and I pretend to be Chinese and speak to each other in creative Chinese!

 

Here are the answers to your questions!

 

1. Did you see any panda bears?

Not yet but we are going to see them next week. I will let you know soon and take pictures.

 

2. Did you see any ice?

No

 

3. What does your building or house look like?

This is our building. We live on the 11th floor. The apartment complex has a lot of apartment buildings, a couple of playgrounds, ponds, restaurants, coffee shops, indoor and outdoor swimming pools.

 

4. Are you having fun?

Yes, I am having fun! I am really looking forward to going to my new school next week!

 

5. What is the food like?

The city I live in is famous for spicy food.  It is a type of Chinese food called Sichuanese cuisine. But there are a lot of non-spicy foods that I can eat.  

This is 麻婆豆腐.  This is so spicy that your tong feels numb!

For this, you put meat between flat, steamed buns and eat it like sandwich. It's so delicious!

This is a soup with green vegetables, tofu and ginko nuts.

 

6. Did you eat with chopsticks?

Yes, but it's difficult because they are very long.  But I'm getting better every day.

 

7. Do you have a car or taxi or bus?

We don't have a car here yet. We use taxis to go anywhere.  In a few weeks we will have our own car.

 

8. Do you have ice cream there?

Yes, I eat ice cream often.

 

9. Did you bring all of your toys with you?

I took some small toys in my suitcase. All of the other toys will arrive by air and sea shipments soon.

 

10. Do you have new friends yet?

Yes, I do. I made new friends at my Japanese school, which meets on Sundays, and the sports activities for international students. Their names are Kaichi, Take, and David.  My regular school will start next week and I will make more new friends from many different countries.

Safe Arrival in Chengdu

Hi everyone,

We safely arrived in Chengdu, China. We took three airplanes to come here, Seattle - San Francisco, San Francisco - Beijing, China, Beijing - Chengdu. In total, it was a 16-hour airplane ride.  We took the first airplane on early Thursday morning and we arrived in Chengdu at midnight on Saturday morning. We lost Thursday and Friday during our journey! China time is 15 hours ahead of Seattle.

 Today is the fourth day since we arrived. Jay is having a hard time adjusting to this time zone. He is very sleepy during the day and wakes up at 3 am. So, it's been hard to find a good time to go outside but yesterday we were able to take a walk near our hotel. It was a beautiful spring day, 27 degrees!  

This is "Tianfu square" which is located in the center of the city.

Jay had his first hair cut in China! He really liked it! It costs 8 dollars for a cut! 

We took a break at Starbucks. There was a big line in front of McDonald to get soft ice cream!

 

The view of the main street

 

No Blogging in China

As the Piper Explorers found out, Blogger, Facebook, and YouTube are blocked in China!  The social networks we take for granted here and in most countries are not allowed there.  I understand the government unblock them  for short periods but the timing is not dependable.

So, instead of having them write directly on the site, we will communicate via e-mail and I will post their comments and responses on our blog.  Parents should comment and ask questions directly on our blog.  I will copy and paste onto e-mails to the Piper Family. 

Yuki, Jay's mom said after some research, "...as far as I know for now, Facebook and youtube are blocked as well.  It's good that google is working, though.  But! There has to be blog sites that are not blocked in China. I will work on making my own blog site that I can do in China." 

 

Questions For Jay's Family

1.  What does your new house or building look like?  Can we see it in a photo?
2. Do you see any pandas?
3.  What does your school look like?
4.  What color is your house?
5.  What does your teachers look like?
6.  I'm wondering if you will see any ice there.
7.  I wonder if there are beaches there.
8.  Do you see snakes there?
9.  Are you having fun?
10.  Do you like your new language?
11.  Do you like your  house?
12.  Do you have new friends?
13.  What restaurants do you like?

Add'l questions from Charlotte
Dear Jay,

This is me, Charlotte. I am riding on a mermaid horse. We're at the Tacoma zoo with my cousins. We went on the carousel. My cousin, Annie, rode a Beluga whale.  My other cousin, Aidan, rode a poisonous frog. My brother, Hugh, rode a horse next to Annie's Beluga whale. This is the picture of me riding on a mermaid horse. 

I have some questions for you and your family. 

1. Did you see any panda bears?

2. Did you see any ice?

3. What does your building or house look like?

4. Are you having fun?

5. What is the food like?

6. Did you eat with chopsticks?

7. Do you have a car or taxi or bus?

8. Do you have ice cream there?

9. Did you bring all of your toys with you?

10. Do you have new friends yet?

We miss you in class! Pearl is sad because you're her reading partner. I am having a play date with Josie on April 18th, 2012. I think Josie misses you too! I do.  

we are sad you can't go on the blog. 

Please write me back when you can. 

Thanks,

Charlotte

From Jay's Family

I am Jay's mom, Yuki.

 

As some of you may have heard, we are moving to China for three years for my husband's job. The city, where we will live, is called 成都　("Chengdu") in the Sichuan province. It is very sad for us to leave the fantastic Ms.Kathleen and Michiko Sensei classmates and families. Jay really enjoys this school and he is always excited to go to school in the mornings.  He comes home with good stories about his friends and shares what he has learned everyday. Knowing Jay is in a school where he feels secure, fun and warm, means so much to us.

 

As a Japanese person, it was a great pleasure for me to witness how American kids learn Japanese. I am very impressed with how much the kids understand now, and I always love to chat with them in Japanese. 

 

In China, Jay will go to an international school during the week and a Japanese school on Sundays.  Jay is looking forward to being able to come back to McDonald in three years.  As I have talked about with Ms.Kathleen, I will try to post our lives in China on a blog and we hope you can check it sometimes and give us comments or questions so that we can keep in touch.  The blog will be introduced in Ms. Kathleen's class.