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.

Learning about China

For the past few weeks, our class learned lots about China, it's culture, and history.  We learned about the time before China was formed and the importance of standard measurement.   We also learned about dynasties.  Last week, we learned about kites and silk.  This week, we learned about Qin Qi Hwang Di and Chinese inventions before the Qin Dynasty.  We also smelled different things that might make up the elixor of immortality.  Also, we have been filling in a map of China and the borders of the different dynasties.

The Town of Hwang Long Xi

We visited the town of Huang Long Xi  which is 50km away from Chengdu, China.  The town dates back 2000 years. Now seven ancient streets, which were built during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties, are well preserved. They are all paved with stone slabs, and the porch columns on both sides are lined up in an orderly way. This is a street view in the town.

 

They are interesting columns.

An old lady making a basket.

"One noodle shop" is making one long noodle.

The customers are eating the one noodle dish!

The river running through the town

The lady is rolling silk/cotton like candy and coating it with sweet soy bean flour.

Jay loved it!

They are making candy.

 It was a nice outing and was as if we went back in time!

Adventures in Italy

Our family went to Italy for two weeks this summer. We lived in Italy for two years before Jay started kindergarten at McDonald Elementary School.  So it was very nice to be back to meet Jay's old classmates and teacher in Trani, the town we lived in, in Southern Italy, Puglia province.  If you look at a map of Italy, many people think it is shaped like a boot kicking a soccer ball.  The heel of the boot is Puglia, where we lived.

This is a street in Trani. As you can see, the road is made of cobble stones. Italian small towns have very narrow streets because the towns were formed a long time ago before cars were made. So, many of the streets only allow one car to drive down them. The result of that is that most of the streets in the town are one way streets so it's like a maze because the buildings were made out of  stone, and there are no clear landmarks!

We also visited an island, Sardinia, which is situated in the middle of the Mediterranean sea, closer to Africa than Italy.  The color of the sea there is a blue that we had never seen before. Jay and his brother went to the beach for most of time during the day.

We took a boat to visit the Gulf di Orosei, on the east coat of the island.

These are houses in Cagliari, Sardinia's capital.

We could see wild flamingos resting in the city.

They are flying wild flamingos!

This is the Sardinian bread, "Pane Carasau". Sardinia has more sheep than it has people. The bread was conceived for shepherds, who used to stay far from home for months at a time. Pane carasau can last up to one year if it is kept dry. This bread is flat and very light. We couldn't stop eating!

Gelato!

These are basics of Italian cusine: tomatoes, olives, and mozzarella on the Italian bread!

Interior videos of opening day...

For those who missed opening day and want to look inside the new school...

The hallway...

Room 206, 2nd Grade Literacy, Ms. Kathleen's room, Part I

Room 206, 2nd Grade Literacy, Ms. Kathleen's room, Part II

Sneak Preview - Keiko Sensei's room 207, 1st and 2nd grade Japanese

Keiko Sensei asked me to pass this along...

Here are the special features of her room...

Sneak Preview - Ms. Kathleen's Room 206 (2nd grade Japanese)

The school is closed to the public but teachers have limited, restricted access so we can finally UNPACK all the classroom supplies and set up our rooms.  I was there Friday, 8/17th on that 92F day.  The room in the morning was quite pleasant.  The old fashion ceiling fan and open windows air conditioning worked beautifully and keep the room temperature cool.  The hardwood floors were gleaming and everything looks lovingly restored; it was a welcoming space.

Here is a video overview of the room with furniture.

Here is a video of a really cool feature of the room.

September 5th, here we come!

Bruno

Their soles were completely ripped out and strewn in little pieces all over the bed.  They were my favorite shoes.  I thought the house was abnormally quiet when I walked in.  After a long day, all I wanted was to plop down on my bed and hang with my dog. 

"BRUNO!" I thundered.  I tumbled down the stairs yelling, "BAD DOGGIE! COME HERE!".  I crossed my arms and grimly waited.  His paws scraped the hardwoods as he reluctantly dragged his feet to me.  His body posture screamed GUILTY.

His head drooped.
His tail drooped.
His belly sagged.

Now I was the one who felt bad.  I reduced my happy puppy to this lump of misery.  "Oh, Bruno", I sighed.  I sat down and we snuggled.  He ventured a kiss.  No reaction.  He laid his head on my lap.  My hand automatically lifted to stroke his back..  I felt him relax under my caresses.  We knew he was forgiven.

Jetty Island Day Trip - July 26th

Charlotte, Josie and our friend, Fiona (1st Sp) are pictured here on 

the ferry to Jetty Island, just off the Port of Everett. 

We went over on the ferry today to Jetty Island with our younger siblings and our moms. It's super fun and the beaches are really beautiful. There are no buildings, no electricity and no plumbing on the island (just a bathroom by the dock). We want to come back every week!

Jetty island is a man-made island composed of river sediment. The Port of Evertt gained ownership of Jetty Island in 1929 and, with the help of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, built a new marsh of dredged river materials in 1889. 

Juvenile salmon, waterfowl and bald eagles are just a few examples of the wildlife currently living on Jetty Island. 

Celebrating Canada Day in Canada

Whereas July 4th is considered the birthday of the United States, July 1st is the birthday of Canada!  We vacationed in Canada on July 1st and stayed at a condo right on the inner harbor where they set off the fireworks.  We had a perfect view of the water.

We watched the fireworks from the lawn outside of the condo...

It was very beautiful to see them against the background of the lit up parliament buildings...

Leshan Giant Buddha

We went to see the Leshan Budda. It is a World UNESCO site and is a two-hour drive from Chengdu.
Construction of this giant Buddha was started in 713 AD during the Tang Dynasty, and was led by a monk named Haitong.  It was carved into a cliff face overlooking the Dadu river and the Min river.  The Giant Buddha was built to calm the swift rivers and protect the boatmen.

There are two ways to approach the Buddha. One is on foot to climb the mountain and see the Buddha from its head. The other way is by boat to see the whole body.  We went on foot and saw its big face!

Can you see the people on cliff? You could go down on the stairs on the cliff to see the Buddha from the ground level. It was too crowded, with heavy rain, so we decided not to do it. We will definitely go back and do it next time.  

The Buddha is 71m tall, his ears stretch for 7 m and his shoulders span 28m and each of his toes is 8.5m long. It is HUGE!!!

There is a beautiful temple behind the Buddha.

We had a relaxing day trip.

 

Dragon Boat Festival

June 23rd was a Chinese national holiday called Dragon boat festival (Duan wu Jie). It was the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Chinese people celebrate this holiday by eating Zongzi (rice wrapped in bamboo leaves)  and watching dragon boat races.

 

Here is a quotation from Wikipedia about this holiday. "The best-known traditional story holds that the festival commemorates the death of poet Qu Yuan (c. 340-278 BCE) of the ancient state of Chu during the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty.  A descendant of the Chu royal house, Qu served in high offices. However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance; he was accused of treason. During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry, for which he is now remembered. Twenty-eight years later, Qin captured Ying, the capital of Chu. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

 

It is said that the local people, who admired him, dropped sticky rice triangles wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river to feed the fish. The rice was wrapped so that fish would not eat Qu Yuan's body and eat the rice instead.[6] This is said to be the origin of zongzi. The local people were also said to have paddled out on boats, either to scare the fish away or to retrieve his body. This is said to be the origin of dragon boat racing."

 

 In Japan, we have similar celebration which is held on May fifth. This is called " Kodomono hi" (Children's day). Although it doesn't have the same meaning as remembering Qu Yuan, Japanese eat the same thing called "Chimaki" in Japanese to celebrate all children's well being.

 

Among the Japanese expat wives, we made "Zongzi" together.This is how we made the Zongzi that day and the boiled bamboo leaves were in the center.

 

 

 

Inside the sticky rice is seasoned beef and nuts.  The rice is wrapped in bamboo leaves like Origami.

 

 

 

The leaves are tied to the rice with cooking thread.  These are Zongzi!  They can be boiled or steamed as they are for thirty minutes.

 

 

Sneak Peak of a Classroom

This is my classroom on the second floor at the new McDonald International School Building.  It will the be the classroom for second grade literacy.  Most classrooms 1st - 5th will look similar as the space will not change much.  The exceptions to this will be Kindergarten classrooms which will be larger and equipped (some of them) with restrooms in the rooms. 

It is hard to see but I will have a view of the Cascades!  It is not obvious in the video but they kept the old chalkboards and mount them on sliding walls that goes up and down.  When raised, the walls reveal a "closet" for backpacks and coats.  When lowered, the walls hide the closet and will be usable chalkboards.  The projector will be mounted on the ceiling.  Yay!  It was a big hit with all the teachers to no longer have a tech cart in the middle of the room that everyone trips over on a regular basis.  We also have air conditioning in the form of a ceiling fan.  Hey, this IS still a public school.

Sneak Peak of the New Library

Here is a sneak peak at our new library and computer lab at McDonald International.  It is on the third floor with a spectacular view of the mountains.  This video is a couple months old but the room was close to completion by then.  Books and the rest of the furniture will be moved in August.

A Hong Kong Visit

We went to Hong Kong last weekend. It was a two-hour airplane ride to get there.  Although Hong Kong is included in China, the city used to be a British colony. It was returned to China in 1997 and since then, Hong Kong has been a Special administrative region of the People's Republic of China.  This means the city is under a different law/system from mainland China. 

 For example,  the money is different: Hong Kong uses Hong Kong dollars, Mainland China uses Yuan.

These are the Hong Kong dollar bills.

These are Chinese Yuan bills.

In mainland China, the government controls what people read and watch. For example, many books in English are banned and internet access is limited.  But Hong Kong is not under this policy. So, we could access to internet sites such as YouTube, Google, and Facebook, and I could buy a couple of books, about China in English, which I have never seen
in Mainland China.

There are more differences particularly because of the British influence. People in Hong Kong speak Cantonese, which is a different Chinese language from Mandarin.  Mandarin is spoken in most places in Mainland China. Also Hong Kongers (also called Hong Kongese) can speak English very well. People drive on the other side of the road from the Mainland and the U.S. The drivers in the cars sit on the right side of the cars.

Did you know there is a Disneyland in Hong Kong?  This was the first time in Jay's life that he had been to Disneyland, so he was very excited. But as soon as we arrived there, Jay got sick and he couldn't ride many of the attractions...Too bad.  We managed to see the parade and fireworks. Jay had a good time...

  

The next day Jay felt even worse so we remained in the hotel room and we couldn't go into the city of Hong Kong. We will go back in the future..M