Spring in the City of Eternal Spring

I feel like there has been enough snow this year (two dustings!) to somewhat discount the whole "City of Eternal Spring" label, but now that Spring is actually here, I would quite like to think it will be forever. We have been enjoying 70 degree days and sunshine for a long while now. The jasmine and rhodies are blooming all around our neighborhood and my own geraniums are thriving! Welcome Spring!

View of our corner of the neighborhood from our deck.

Blooming mum

Blooming geraniums

MUN Trip to Shanghai

For the second year I had the opportunity to bring a small group of students to Shanghai and attend a Model United Nations conference this past January. Held at Concordia International School in Pudong, the conference is attended by over 500 students from around SE Asia and beyond. This year there were schools from Italy, Saudi Arabia, and Zambia in attendance. The theme of the conference was World Population. It proved to be an informative and challenging topic for my group of girls, but I know that they came away from the weekend with a more full understanding of the issues and opportunities that they may face.

The KIA girls

Dinner at a New York Steakhouse. They were so excited!

Pu Dong Skyline from the Pu Xi side of Shanghai along the Bund. Pretty awesome.

A Wild Couple of Weeks in Kunming

It has been a wild few weeks here in Kunming. I am sure that many of you have heard about the train station attack. Be assured that we are all fine and good. 

The weekend of the attack many students and teachers from KIA, including Eric, were taking part in and leading a huge youth conference (Permeate) about 15 min. away from where we live. Eric didn't stay overnight at the resort like the rest of them so I was grateful that when I received the phone call on Sunday morning from Michelle informing us of the Saturday night attack that I knew Eric's exact location (at home, with me). Michelle gave us the information that she knew and said that we needed to stay home from Fellowship because our building is only two blocks or so from the train station. She also said the wedding that we were all planning on attending that afternoon (a KIA colleague was getting married) was probably going to be cancelled because it was being held at a Muslim restaurant. Later that day we received an email from our school Director, who has the privilege of being our Field Director, that all OASIS staff (us) were not allowed to attend the wedding, but it would still take place without us. An email a little later on told us that school was cancelled on Monday so our weekend was unexpectedly extended a little longer so they could better assess the needs of the community and our safety. That evening (Sunday) some of the kids attending Permeate actually had to go to the station to take trains back to their homes around Yunnan. A friend of ours who dropped them off said that they seemed okay about it and the station was pretty cleared out by the time they arrived. 

We laid low on Monday and on Tuesday returned to school to find three policemen guarding our school gate and a new set of rules regarding going off campus during the school day. The students seem to be handling it fine. Besides a few changes at school and the increased police presence around the city, the attacks didn't affect any of them personally. The fear was that some of our students have lived in countries where terrorist attacks are quite the norm and I know of at least one student who was actually caught in the middle of an attack. We were somewhat apprehensive as a school that the student's experiences elsewhere would be brought to the surface with the attack here. I haven't seen this to be the case, they are a resilient bunch, but I am also no expert. 

Another result of the attacks was the cancelling of our yearly service trip to an orphanage about 5 hours south of the city. It is located in a largely Muslim area and they asked that we not come. We willingly agreed because we didn't want to position ourselves as a nice big target. Additionally, we were going to have a group of students from our sister school in Kabul visit, but we asked them not to come because we couldn't guarantee their safety. We were a little bummed about both cancellations, but we understand there is sound reasoning behind them. 

Sinterklaas and the Annual Staff Christmas Party

Look what Sinterklaas brought!

For our annual staff Christmas Party on Dec. 14th, we went to a local Chinese restaurant, ate amazing local foods, held a white elephant gift exchange, and took part in the British tradition of Christmas poppers (hence the fabulous paper crowns).

Kim, Michelle, and I

Kunming in the Snow!

This is what Sunday Dec. 15th looked like in Kunming! Our first snow in China.

There is something super cool about snow on palm trees.

Monday morning brought more snow and very chilly temps.

View of the KIA track and field from the fifth floor.

Looking through the buildings in Hu Pan, our neighborhood.

So many of the students were disappointed we still had school with the 1/2 in of snow on the ground, but let's face it, why do schools in America get classes cancelled? Extreme cold, loss of water, icy roads etc. We live without central heat so cold is the norm, we loose water about once a month so no problem, most people bike or walk to school so it really wasn't an issue. Sorry kids. 

Christmas Time is Here!

I purchased this awesome tinsel tree from a friend of mine who is sadly leaving the country soon. I am so happy she was willing to part with it.

The cloves and oranges make the house smell amazing!

Our tree!

I did not make this. Sadly, I am not this talented. One of my students folded this and the star in the next picture. 

Another student creation.

My cyclamen is thriving.

New addition to the tree. This was purchased Christmas Day 2012 at Hong Kong Disneyland. 

Domestic Day: Thanksgiving Edition

Once a month my friend, Michelle, and I host Domestic Day at her house. We invite all of the seniors over and cook/bake/hang out. This past Friday we held the Thanksgiving edition of Domestic Day focusing our food making energies on Thanksgiving favorites: apple pie, pumpkin pie, Oreo cheesecake (this may be a China expat thing), mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes (we also had curry, but that really doesn’t fit into the Thanksgiving favorites category). The students genuinely enjoy making dinner/dessert for each other and hanging out with us, their teachers! Crazy kids. Earlier this year I introduced them to the game Pit and this has been regularly played at each of our get-togethers ever since. I think it has something to do with the necessary shrieking/yelling that is involved. Every time I play I have a hard time talking the next day!

Domestic Day students getting ready to dig into pies and cheesecake!