Gymnasium murals

Liz's 7th grade art class worked on large painted murals to spruce up their school gym. They plan to host a volleyball tournament with other international school in attendance in March so they wanted to liven up the place. The younger students and parents were invited to the unveiling ceremony. Not very many parents made the trip but I was glad that I was there to see it and support the kids.
Liz and her fellow designers and painters (Freddy, Matt and, oops-I-forgot-her-name). They went with water sports as their theme. I was impressed with the variation of theme and design between the groups.
A closer shot of their work.
There were seven murals, all told, including Olympic-themed and martial arts-inspired depictions.
Liz's friends AJ and Candy with their school sports inspired work. Thanks, Ms. Ogle, for leading your students in this project!

CNY @ XIS

How's that for a cryptic title? Reminds me of my Army-kid days...in case you couldn't figure it out, it means Chinese New Year at Xiamen International School. I'm behind again on my postings as this event was held in early February. Chinese New Year landed on February 14 this year and the school had a two week break (lucky us, we got two weeks off at Christmas and another two weeks for CNY, but the school year is longer, so don't be too jealous). This celebration was held on the last day of school before the break. The school had hired special performers to put on the lion dance (at least I think that's what it is called) in the gym. This first picture isn't too great, but it shows the legs of the two dancers in the white lion outfit. There was much drumming and running around as a story of some sort was portrayed. As usual, I know nothing of the history of this spectacle, but enjoyed watching it anyway.


The lions caught up with the guy-in-yellow and pounced on his back...
Oh, no, don't eat me, lion!
Victory at last...man tames the lions. Or something like that.
The inner courtyard of the school had some traditional CNY decorations. It is difficult to see in the picture, but the rope knot hanging was probably three or four feet long, including the tassel. The end of the two-week-long CNY holiday is capped with the Lantern Festival, so lanterns are displayed for about a month. They were all over town and became quite dusty and dirty by the end! Most of the decorations featured red and gold as these are auspicious colors that depict good luck and good fortune.
Amanda's teacher and his cool, gold Chinese jacket. We were encouraged to send our children to school in their traditional Chinese outfits, but we do not own any.
Traditional craftspeople were on hand to create special treats for the children. This is spun sugar (not unlike that which Laura and Mary made back on the prairie, minus the snow!) expertly dripped and swirled into the shapes of the Chinese zodiac animals. This rooster represents the year of my birth, by the way.
Our fellow American was thrilled with his dragon candy-on-a-stick. Not sure what he had to do to get such a complicated and "lucky" animal, but it sure turned out nice!
Amanda welcomed the year of the tiger with a pin-the-tail-on game. Long live the Tiger!

Window washing

Exterior window washing is never fun, in any type of dwelling (unless you're my friend Bonnie who gets a charge out of using her window squeegee and obsessing over, oops, I mean admiring, the results!). One day when I was visiting my recently-departed friend I saw some window washers at her apartment complex. There is a large courtyard between the buildings and this was my view as I approached her entrance. Look carefully for the two guys in the center.

The doorway to her "block" is right underneath the guys dangling from ropes and I couldn't resist getting their pictures. I often see workers using those long platform window-washing devices on a hotel near our place (in fact they seem to be up there pretty much every day. Seems a bit overzealous to me, but I guess the hotel is doing its part to keep some of the billions of people employed!) but this was the first time I'd seen the guys working from such tiny trapeze-type equipment. I was nervous just to walk below them...I don't know how they got up the nerve to actually use them. Notice how they each have a bucket hanging from their seats--it just occurred to me that the water must be beyond filthy given the amount of windows to be cleaned and the air pollution. They must've been just pushing dirty water around by the second story and there are a LOT of stories to cover!

Yikes...this is the looking-way-up view! I'm not sure exactly how many floors there are in this building, but I know it is more than 30. Can you tell that there is just one rope for each guy, extended all the way to the very top of the building (attached to what??) with the rest of it dangling below? Amazing that anyone would risk this type of work...especially for a job that will need to be repeated so often!
Another day, another kuai...

Earthquake and Chinese names

I feel guilty for not having any pictures in this post, but the topic does not lend itself well to photos. This morning at 8:20 am 6.2 magnitude earthquake rocked southern Taiwan (not a very unusual occurrence, I've learned) and, given our proximity to that island nation (or rogue province, depending on who you ask) we were able to share in the joys of tremors. I was hanging around the house, catching up on email and drinking some terrible-tasting instant coffee (won't even go into the sacrifices in beverages I've made this year) when I realized that I should get dressed. Not five minutes later I heard a rhythmic banging sound near our front door. At first I thought someone was dragging something heavy down the stairs that lead to the roof as people often use our elevator and roof-access stairs to dry laundry. When I tried to peer through the peek-hole, I realized the banging was the door itself, rocking back and forth in its frame (it should not do this but the deadbolt is finicky and hadn't fully engaged when the kids left for school this morning). Then I felt the whole building swaying and stood there watching our Chinese New Year/year of the tiger good luck banner sway a good 8 inches in either direction. The realization set in that this was an earthquake so I grabbed the phone and called Gene--he answered with "you feel the earthquake too?" As the swaying was still going on and at least 20 or so seconds had passed, he told me to get out, by way of the stairs, of course! I was very glad that I had put decent clothing on just in time! I made it as far as one flight down when my friend called to see if I was feeling it too--she had run from her building a block away and was pacing the sidewalk. Our stairwells have large pane-less widows to the outside so I was able to watch the many passing pedestrians as we talked and none of them seemed the least bit fazed--seems that being up high really exacerbated the movements. We decided it was safe to stay inside as the shaking had stopped, but, much like the way I feel when I step off an amusement park thrill ride, I felt as though I was still swaying for 20 minutes after it had stopped! Thankfully the only "damage" we suffered was a towel falling from its rack in the bathroom and possibly a few minutes lopped off my life. I was surprised to find out later in the day, after talking to friends and reading facebook responses, that many of them didn't feel it at all. I found a really great website that documents up-to-the-minute earthquake action (earthquake.usgs.gov) and was just dorky enough to register my experience in the allocated section. Chalk up another "first" on our list of firsts for this "adventure" abroad!
Now for the funny part of the week...we finally started back with our Chinese lessons after missing several weeks for CNY, business trips and illness. As is our typical approach to the lessons, we were joking with each other during our xiou xi (don't know the spelling, but it means break) that we should really decide upon Chinese names for ourselves. Since we don't know any proper names, we had to use common words that we have learned (the list isn't terribly long or varied...). We decided that Gene's name should be "fei ji chang" (airport) since he travels so much, I was to be "da dian hua" (make a phone call), Liz gets to have "dian nao mi" (computer-crazy) and Amanda will be called "xi zao" (take a shower, which complements our favorite Mexican expression: te la banaste). Our 20-something teacher was laughing right along with us (or at us) as she usually does when we say ridiculous things to amuse ourselves. Then she says, "Chinese women who have small breasts..." uh, oh, where is this going and where did it come from?! She went on to explain that fei ji chang/airport is slang for a flat-chested woman! We were making a cruel joke without even knowing it...but the label fits my husband a bit better than it fits me. Good thing we were only joking about the names and hadn't actually told anyone to use them.

Shopping trip to Hong Kong

This is the massive Hong Kong airport...I'm glad that I have always been with more seasoned travelers when I've had to use it! My El Salvadorian friend, Lupita, needed to take a trip to Hong Kong to close a bank account as she prepares to move to the U.S. and she graciously allowed me to tag along with her on a quick, two day trip. She knows all the great shopping areas and is a wonderful person--a great combination!
The famous view across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong island to the Kowloon side (if I remember correctly!) I never got to see this view at night, but it is reported to be pretty awesome when all the buildings are lit up. Hong Kong is a confusing mix of island and mainland components that I can never keep straight. Again, I like to travel with those who know more than I do and are not so directionally impaired.
Clock tower at the harbor. This place was almost deserted, though I imagine that's not always the case.
This is for my girls! Hong Kong is such a shopping and fashion mecca and it shows in the cabs. We only have green, blue, yellow and purple cabs in Xiamen, none that I've ever seen with advertisements quite like this. And, is it just me, or does this cab look like an English throw-back to the times of colonialism? Of course I benefited from this city's past as it left a legacy of spoken English.
Shopping at the night market, also called the Ladies' Market. We didn't find too much to buy here but did get some cute little things for the kids. This is the site of some terrible acid attacks, one of which happened when we were in HK for visa changes last October. A disagreement had escalated and a man returned to the market and splattered a bottle of acid across several stalls, blinding one man (with whom he had a money dispute) and injuring several bystanders. There have been other random attacks with people dropping open bottles of acid from windows onto the throngs of people below!
This is a long, narrow alley with stalls on both sides; we had to squeeze through the aisles at times. Sometimes we felt that the shopkeepers' knowledge of English was a detriment since they could then understand our discussions with each other! If I was more confident in my Spanish we could've used that language, but my vocabulary isn't great. Speaking of that, one day back in Xiamen we were having a pedicure together and were able to converse in Spanish when we didn't want the people to know what we were saying. I felt triumphant to be able to finally turn the tables--it really becomes tiresome to not understand what is being said all around me, no matter how hard I try to learn. Of course I get it that this is China and I should adapt to Chinese or suffer the consequences but it takes time.
One of the many malls we visited--I don't recall how many stories it had, but there were a lot! This is the inner courtyard, showing the corridors and the floating escalator. Lupita knew of many shops that I was not familiar with and we spent quite a bit of time looking for clothes. It was so great to find sizes that actually fit "Western" bodies and not just the under-100-pound frames that most Chinese women seem to sport. We were able to score quite a few good buys and I stuffed the extra duffle bag I had brought with clothes for myself and the rest of my family, cosmetics with familiar brand names, hard-to-find food items like lentils and split peas (and chocolates and cookies from Marks and Spencer!) and a few souvenirs.
We had purchased Octopus cards in the airport that allowed us to use the airport train into the city and then subways and cable cars throughout the city. We rode the tall, skinny cable car just once and it was fun. We took seats on the second story for a better view and I wished my kids could've come along for the ride! This was a quick trip but I think we walked about 50 miles judging by the state of my feet and were able to enjoy some lovely sandwiches the likes of which I've never seen in our part of China, did some successful shopping, saw a few sites and enjoyed a much-needed getaway!

What's all that noise?

A few weeks back Amanda said she didn't feel well and needed to stay home from school...I wasn't so sure that she was actually sick, but decided not to chance it. Her room is located in the back side of our apartment or, as we call it these days, the cold side. I'm directionally impaired, but I think it is the north side and doesn't get any sunshine. She and I were huddled under her covers, watching Lost on my laptop when I heard a loud voice and music. When I finally looked out her window, I saw that there was some type of presentation going on in a seemingly empty lot that is next to a construction site behind our place. A lady was yelling into a microphone (that's the way it's done here) at a group of people seated under a temporary shelter. This is the view, with just a little bit of zoom, from the window.
A closer view of the action--of course I couldn't understand any of the yelling, but we figured that it was the ground-breaking ceremony for yet another apartment building. I could not tell how those giant gold lantern/ball things were suspended so high in the air, but I guess they were attached to the construction cranes.
Next came loud music and a dance extravaganza! We watched as these big puppet guys danced around and put on a show (I found out later that it was probably the traditional lion dance--will post pictures of the one performed at the kids' school for Chinese New Year soon).
It was hard to get a good picture, but several times there were loud explosions and tons of gold confetti was shot into the air. Here is the aftermath!
We went back to watching our show. When I looked again about an hour later, this is what I saw. Seems that the ceremonial stuff had to be taken back to the rental place right away! We will continue to monitor the progress of this building from our 15th floor vantage point, but we hope the loud banging at all hours of the day and night that usually means construction around here doesn't disturb our peace too much.

Hiking the weather station path

Very near our home lies a high hill with a weather station perched atop. We'd heard that it offered a nice little hike and a great view but had not tried it ourselves until a beautiful Sunday in late January. (I refused to consider a hike during the very hot months of August, September and even part of October and then forgot about it during the more temperate months that followed!). This is the main entrance to the hiking path--we could tell that there were other entrances for both pedestrians and cars but are unsure of their beginning points. I suppose this place has a name, but we don't know what it is!
Oops, my head was not supposed to be in this picture--notice the round, white thing peeking over the treetops. That is the top of the weather tower.
This is the back side of the "mountain," looking out toward the shipping yards and across the water to the mainland. Even on this nice, sunny day only the closest buildings were in clear view as the distant haze shrouded the far-lying locals. But we know that our hometown tends to be gray for pretty much all of January and February, so we didn't complain!
About half way up the climb the tower loomed large. We had to walk in the road since the path only covered part of the distance, but not many cars came up this way. Many people we saw were wearing winter coats but I was down to my sleeveless shell by this point! The general population seems to focus more on the calendar than the actual weather when deciding on wardrobe choices...I could not disagree more!
We reached the plaza at the foot of the tower. Pretty anticlimactic as we couldn't find out much about the weather station itself, but maybe a reader of Chinese characters would have been able to appreciate it more.
See the smog? I would've called this a clear day before seeing this view. Xiamen is considered to be one of the cleaner cities in China, thanks to the proximity to the ocean (I guess?). I've heard that one can actually taste the air in Beijing and Shanghai and it's not pleasant, so we are certainly glad to not have that situation here, but we have noticed lately that we are congested all the time. We assume this is a physical reaction to the air quality or possibly our allergies flaring up. Either way, it is unpleasant but not unbearable.
Another close-up shot. Our daughters like to say that this is a giant golf ball and golf tee set up. I wish I knew more about this thing...
Gotta love signs like this...I know we have funny signs in the US too, but I couldn't resist.
This is apparently a tea cafe of some sort. There was a little stand that sold small, packaged snacks and tea (served in Xiamen-style sets made up of a tray with a receptacle underneath to catch the spillings, a small pot with a wire mesh insert to hold the tea leaves, tweezers to hold the little cups while sterilizing the cup edges in a cup of hot tea and a number of shot-glass sized tea cups). We don't really know how to order tea and all the tables were taken so we didn't spend much time here. Even though this is right in our neighborhood and people tell us that we live in the "foreigner" area, we were the only non-Asians to be found. It was a nice day and a nice walk that I might try a few more times before the heat begins to blast us again...