This Chinese New Year Holiday started off with a BANG!
At school, Lucas and his class performed a wonderful song and dance about the Chinese Zodiac Animals. And my class sang a lovely song with the other year 5 class, while one of my students, Leelam, did an amazing dance on stage. In the afternoon, when school was out, we had several friends over for some snacks, pizza, conversation and all around GREAT company!
On Saturday, we went with my friend Joanna and her family to an art district downtown, called Redtory. There were so many shops, cafes, old buildings and all around cool scenery. We had some lunch at a place called "Uncle Restaurant" and then stopped in for coffee and tea at "Hanging Garden Art Cafe." Finally we ended the night at "The Brew" for a calm patio dinner. Lucas and Hannah found a doggie and skateboard to play with, while Hannah's little brother, Elias, found another boy's car to play with. Another great day!
Finally, it was Sunday, THE DAY! We were at home all morning, preparing for Paul to FINALLY be here! It was hard to believe that after a YEAR talking about this and planning, the day was HERE!!!!! Lucas had made a wonderful sign to hold up at the airport for Paul and we headed down. The flight was a little late, but Lucas held that sign up in the air for about an hour and a half!
He was SO happy for Paul to get here! Unfortunately, one of Paul's bags was even more reluctant than he to make the trek across the ocean to China and decided to stay in Vancouver. After tracking it down, we finally saw Paul, coming out of the exit!!! YAY! We had a quick airport dinner of rice and veggies, then taxied it home!
Obviously, when we got home it was off to bed for the boys and time for me to finish my homework.
Monday, February 1st (today) was DAY 1 for Paul in China!!! We had quiet morning, some Lego building, Lucky Charms for breakfast, and THEN it was time to head out! We first walked through the complex and pointed out where our school is and our favorite fruit and veggie stands. Then, we walked to Bus 28 to head into Longdong for a short tour and lunch. When we got into Longdong, I first showed Paul the experience which is the "wet market." It is called a wet market because the floors are often wet from washing off the fresh veggies. The interesting thing though, is that not only can you find fruits and veggies, but TONS of meat. And all hanging out in the open. Traditional western type meats, but also things like whole legs, shouts, ears, chicken feet, innards, entire chicken bodies including the heads and pretty much any other animal part you can think of.
After that little tour, we went to the noodle shop and had a delicious lunch of noodles with veggies, YUM! Paul did exceptionally well perfecting his chopstick skills in a very short period of time!
We walked a bit through the shops and clothing market in Longdong, then we were off to the Big City....aka, Downtown. Or as Joanna calls it, "the other side of the world." ;)
We went to Redtory, the art district to walk around and visit some of the cafes and shops. We showed Uncle Pauly the "Uncle" restaurant, then went to the cafe for some nice coffee and tea.....and cake. :)
While we were sitting there, we decided to go to the painting studio and paint some pictures. This was BY FAR my favorite part of the day! I could just sit there and paint ALL DAY!!!! And if I could, I probably would. But alas, we did not have time for that. We painted a bit, then it was time to go. All of our pictures came out really well, so it was a success!
After painting, we went to a Fancy Pants mall and met Joanna and Hannah at a lovely restaurant called, "Element Fresh." Where we ate a yummy dinner and chatted.
Finally it was back to the 'ole A-P-T. Paul has survived his first day in China and had a great time!!! Tomorrow is a new day and a new adventure! I can't wait!
