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Published: October 31st 2008
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Cleaning up my act!
In this shot you can see the water intake coming from the sink on the left, the drain on the floor beside the toilet and the power cord stretching up to eye level on the right. It was in stepping over this power cord that I managed to sit on the control panel resetting the washer. Fortunately (?) I have done this sort of thing so often that we have finally figured out how to reset the washer using the Chinese controls! Some random topics that don’t necessarily fit into a blog of their own….
Several people commented on the washing machine stories. I thought I would include a picture of the facility. My streak of washing machine events without a problem was cut short at one. Carrying the machine into the bathroom (I don’t like to wheel it on the hardwood floors) I managed to knock the drain hose out of its clip and it leaked all over the floor. When I clipped the intake hose onto the sink tap I obviously didn’t secure it properly because when I turned on the tap, the pressure blew the hose off the tap and the water hit the bottom of the sink and ricocheted all over me and the bathroom! You can’t buy fun like that!
The next few loads were quite uneventful but it is now leaking again. Dianne had been after me to wash the bathroom floor. She said she didn’t mean I had to do it every time we did laundry!
It later September we had the Annual Sports Day at Maple Leaf Schools. Not exactly the Olympics but a good time, none the less. The heat and
Opening ceremonies
Not the gltiz of the beijing Olympics but lots of enthusiasm. There were so many people marching I was amazed there were any students left to form the crowd! humidity had finally broken and while it was cool and windy it was still very pleasant. At least to those of us from Vancouver Island. A couple of the girls had five layers of clothing piled on and were still freezing. They couldn’t believe I was walking around in shorts and a golf shirt. The kids were amazing. Some of the equipment was a bit suspect but not the student enthusiasm. It was a little unnerving during the longer races as people would casually saunter across the track as a group of runners was steaming around a bend. As usual, the tug-of-wars were a big hit.
They know about Thanksgiving here but it isn’t celebrated locally like it is in Canada and the U.S. . Except by the 150+ Canadian teachers and their families. There is a theme park just south of the school which looks like a mini-Disneyland. They are very busy during the summer but as we approach the ‘cold weather’ they make deals. We got a group admission to the amusement park and had three hours to tour the rides, watch the shows and people watch. We decided to go on one ride that was kind
Crowd scene
The students who weren't particpating were supposed to sit in the stands and watch but there was no apparent monitoring of their attendance. I was amazed at how many showed up to cheer on their classmates! It was in this crowd we found the girl with the multi-layered outfit who was complaining about how cold it was. I am not sure what she is doing now (Oct 31 and freezing). of like a huge inner tube ride down a river with small rapids. You could buy a flimsy plastic poncho to keep you dry but that cost 3 kwai (we think) and we weren’t paying THAT much. That’s about 30 cents! It’s only water. It’s amazing how conscious you become of relative pricing. Well, it paid off for me…. We were gently floating down the ‘river’ until we hit a wall and a wave broke over our “bow”. It hit the back of my seat so it missed me entirely but it caught Dianne broadside (appropriate?) and she was pretty wet. (“Soaked” says Dianne). Saying it’s only water was probably not a good thing at that point. She was mostly dry (“Hah” - slight editorial comment by the person who got soaked) by dinner which was held in a huge castle on the park. Most everything was just like home except there was a side dish of pizza! And a Russian belly dance and Can-Can girls for entertainment. Lots of laughter and good times. Plenty of kids so it was a true family affair.
We were sitting around the apartment one night looking at the various things that were
Tug of War!
There were several of these going on. Absolute mayhem! Everything was in Chinese and there was no obvious groupings of kids by age, gender, class or what. But when the winner was declared there was plenty of whooping, hollering and good-natured banter. I guess this sort of thing crosses all cultures. used to make up our meals. It occurred to us that many of them didn’t come from China. We started a list of things that were imported and came up with quite a list. One day when we had nothing else to do (ha ha) we stacked them all on the dining room table and took a picture. It was quite a display. It didn’t include our chocolate sprinkles from Holland as we brought them with us and haven’t found any here yet. It also doesn’t include a pyrex-type baking dish that was made in Brazil! How someone could make a glass-like product and ship it around the world to sell cheaper than the Chinese can make it is boggling to my mind.
The list includes
spaghetti Italy
rice Thailand
skim milk France
muesli Russia
bran flakes Italy
wine Australia
Murchie’s tea Richmond, BC
nutmeg USA
tuna Thailand
margarine Lethbridge, AB
jam Switzerland
brie Germany
syrup USA
kiwi New Zealand
cheese slices France
pipe rigate Italy
peanut butter USA
red wine Italy
tea Sri Lanka
espresso Italy
pancake mix USA
Quaker oats USA
corn flakes Germany
One of the most stressful activities when you move to
Discoveryland
In keeping with their liking for large statues, this theme park is like an overgrown Disneyland. lots of kids having lots of fun. a new location is not getting a new doctor or dentist, it’s getting a new hairdresser. I can’t believe that, as a guy, I am saying this. Luckily my guy in Victoria gave me a pretty short cut just before we left. Dianne had the same treatment. We both had the same hair-raising experience over here: our hair is way more manageable than at home. Not sure if it is the water, the atmosphere or what but our hair combs and stays in place way better. But after two months it was getting a bit shaggy. Fortunately, one of Dianne's Chinese ESL teachers offered to take us to the chap she deals with and discuss cuts, pricing etc. The new guy is great and does a really thorough job for 10 kwai each. Under $1.00 Cdn. She said her husband gets his cut every two weeks. At these prices I could afford to!
We are in the "shoulder season" right now. The blistering heat of early summer is behind us and the blinding cold of winter is not yet upon us. In the meantime, the powers that be have decided it is too early to turn on the heat
Just along for the ride!
The wave hit directly behind me so I barely got damp. Dianne was not so lucky. I think she is saying "Oh, that's cold". Or maybe it was something a little stronger. It was definitely a little louder. By the way, I'm not laughing at her misfortune, I'm just glad I didn't get wet! in the apartments and offices. Everyone (except me) walks around with coats, sweaters, gloves and anything else they can find to keep warm. It doesn't help that the cleaning lady keeps the hall windows and outside doors wide open! This is to counteract the odor coming from the boy's (we assume) washroom. There are different standards over here and they do take a bit of getting used to. I'm just glad we live so close. I have been known to go home during a spare!
And just as I was preparing to post the blog, I found some more pictures of Kyle and the family. I chose not to post all 34 of them!
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