The highlights of this week was Bonenkai, a celebration of the end of the year to say good bye to all the bad things that happened and hello to all the good things that are coming. We also enjoyed art. Later today, we will read to Ms. Braxton's class about the Qin and/or Han Dynasty. Tomorrow, we will read to the kindergarteners in Frau Schroeder's class.  We enjoyed gym.  It snowed a little bit earlier this week and some kids had a small ice ball fight.

We are looking forward to Christmas, New Year's, winter break, a white Christmas, snow, snowball fights, being with family, building a giant snowman, building a snow fort, being with friends, sledding down the snow hill, snowboarding, skiing, ice-skating!

Highlights the week of 12/10

The highlights of this week...  We knitted and continue to knit.  We played soccer in gym.  We played soccer in recess too.  We also played two square and four square at recess.  We added stuff to our stain painting in Art.  We are finishing up our realistic fiction writing.

In social studies, we learned about Chinese Architecture. Direction is important because South facing buildings gets lots of sun.  The wind comes from the North so the Chinese try to build the back of the building to the North. You may noticed that the roofs are curved.  One of the reasons is to keep away the bad spirits and curve off rain.

Here are some of the houses we made based on ancient Chinese Architectural Principals.

Next week, we will ...

Highlights of the Week and Thoughts

The highlights of this week are gym, watching Kiki's Delivery Service, Audrey's Birthday.  We will also make scarves in Keiko Sensei's class.  We also enjoyed social studies.  We also wrote realistic fiction.  We also made a cool bag.  Yesterday, we had our marble jar party in Keiko Sensei's classroom and got to eat popcorn - two whole bowls of it with butter!

Lastly, we finished our studies of the Han Dynasty by looking at the Silk Road - a trade route that started in the peace of the Han Dynasty.  We studied goods traded in and out of China.

Last week, we finished up the Qin Dynasty Mural.

Teahouses and Tea

One of the popular spots in Chengdu is Kuan Zhai Xiang Zi, which means "wide and narrow alley".  The area consists of three Chinese style parallel alleys.  You can see beautiful Qing dynasty houses along the alleys.   The Kuan-Zhai alleys became a comprehensive commercial walking street after renovations in 2008, and it continues to feature distinctive elements of Sichuan culture.

Sichuan is famous for its tea culture. The people here enjoy having a tea with friends at tea houses. These alleys have many tea houses.

 It's a painted wooden door on a tea house.

 Here is Starbucks in a Qing dynasty building! This is the most beautiful Starbucks I have ever seen!!

 We decided to have tea in this area with our Chinese friend, Shi Tao. People at tea houses enjoy playing cards and mahjong. It’s a very relaxing life style.

 We ordered "flower tea". As you can see, this is tea with white flower petals floating. It's delicious!

Can you see what is on the windows of this high-rise building?

Is it Spiderman??

Actually two people are cleaning the windows while just suspending themselves with ropes! The water they were cleaning with fell to the ground from way high up, and we could see water all over the ground in
big puddles!

Jay and his classmates went on a little outing for school and they encountered this scene. It was amazing!

Qin Qi Hwang Di and the Terra Cotta Warriors

This week we learned about the the life of Qin Qi Hwang Di, the first emperor of China.  He built a tomb with three mounds and filled them with terra cotta warriors.  Terra means earth.  Terra Cotta is clay.  He wanted to have his afterlife the same as his real life.  He accomplish his goal of being a very powerful man.  Qin Qi Hwang Di was a genius and tyrant.  He was very smart.  He started the Great Wall of China.  Qin Qi Hwang Di also burned books that weren't Chinese because he wanted only one language.   He was a tyrant because he also killed scholars he didn't want to put up with people who argued with him.   He united 7 kingdoms by forcing them to join his kingdom. He sent 500 boys and girls to an expedition across the seas to find the elixor of immortality but they never came back.  He became an emperor at 13.  He read 200 pounds of bamboo scrolls a day.

To finish our study of the first emperor, we made our own terra cotta warriors.

The Mid Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节Zhōngqiūjié) is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar. Since people consider the full moon as the symbol of reunion and satisfaction, the festival is also called the Festival for Reunion. The Mid-Autumn Festival of 2012 falls on September 30th. Traditionally on this day, family members and friends will gather together and enjoy pomelos and mooncakes while admiring the bright harvest moon. The mooncake has sweet and salty flavors with meat, egg yolk or vegetable fillings. It is also carved with decorative patterns and words.  Brightly lit lanterns are often carried around by children. In some parts of the country, people also send airborne paper lanterns to the sky and pray that their wishes written on the lantern will come true. Riddles are written on pieces of paper and posted on lanterns or walls. Any one solving the riddle is awarded a prize. You may also see people burning incense and performing fire dragon dances.

Legend about the Mid-Autumn Festival

The story of Chang E and her flight to the moon is familiar to every Chinese. Although there are many variations of the story, the main characters involved are Hou Yi, the Archer, Chang E, the Goddess of the moon, and the Jade Rabbit. In ancient times, there were ten suns circling together burning the earth. The Emperor of China commanded Houyi to shoot down nine suns and leave only one in the sky.  Houyi completed the task and was rewarded a pill that granted eternal life. Houyi took the pill home and gave it to his wife, Chang E. Chang E hid it in a treasure box at her table when, unexpectedly , it was seen by Peng Meng.  One day when Houyi was not home, Peng Meng held the sword at hand and forced Chang E
to hand over the pill. Knowing that she was unable to defeat Peng Meng, Chang E swallowed the pill and realized that she could fly. She couldn’t help but fly straight to the sky. 

When Hou Yi returned home in the evening, he knew from the maidservants what had happened. Houyi pursued Chang E halfway across the heavens but was forced to return to the earth due to strong winds. Chang E missed her husband very much so she chose to stay in the moon, the nearest place to the earth. She commanded the jade rabbit that lived on the moon to make another pill so that she would be able to return to the Earth. Whenever Hou Yi looked up into the night sky and called out the name of his beloved wife, he found that the moon was especially clear and bright. There was a swaying shadow on the moon as if his wife is looking down on him in the sky.