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.