Electronic Stairboard

This weekend I was shopping for apartments in Hong Kong and having fun with my friend. We went to this mall. As we were walking down the stairs we wondered what was that noise. There was a set of stairs that are programmed like a giant keyboard. I had fun running up and down the stairs and making noise myself with all the little kids.

Sleeping Children and Laughing Foot Massagers

I don't know why but things are starting to seem funny to me today. I had a student fall asleep in class. I've been staying up late playing piano and writing music, so I could totally relate to her falling asleep. It looked like she was awake, because she had her pen in her hand and she was coloring. It was at the end of the day. School goes until 4pm. It's a long day for little kids. After school I headed to my favorite Indian restaurant and ate some good food and then got a foot massage. That's what I usually do after school. Go eat somewhere and then do something relaxing like a foot massage or a hair wash or nails. Today the lady who was massaging my feet kept laughing at me. It is a Chinese foot massage so they can be painful, because they really like to dig into your feet. Every time it would hurt I'd make a face and then she'd laugh. I started laughing because of her. I think she was laughing at the faces I was making.

Roman Buildings

Making a building is hard work and takes time and patience. Student's in Miss Ray's class are learning how to build Ancient Roman buildings. For the past several weeks students have discovered so much about Ancient Rome. One of their final projects was to research one of the Roman buildings and create it out of recycled material, such as, the colosseum, the circus maximus, the Temple of Jupiter, the marketplace, and a Patrician's home. It has made us think of our own school building and how excited we are for it to be finished!

This is what I recently wrote for our school's newsletter. Students worked hard on their buildings. The pictures show them working on it. The final result was amazing. I'll post some pictures of the finished project soon.

Field Trip

My students just finished a unit on Ancient Rome. We took a field trip to Shenzen to see the Windows of the World. People in Shenzen say, "Give us a day and we will show you the world." It is true you can see all the amazing wonders of the world in miniature. My students had a great time and were so excited to see the colloseum, aqueducts, and statues of Ceasar and Romulus and Remus. All day they were running around surprised and amazed at everything they saw. Four parents came along on the trip and it was nice to see parents supporting their children's education. The kid in me wanted to run around just like my students. Of course the students buy gifts for their parents. One little girl was so happy to get her dad an ashtray. I asked to see what she had gotten him and was surprised to see a picture of Chechavez on the ashtray. She had no idea who he was, but was just so happy. So I had to take a picture of her smiling face next to the Chechavez ashtray. I thought it was so ironic. A smiling little Korean girl holding a Chechavez ashtray.

Shopping in China is like going to a Rock Concert

Some Saturdays, when I am not tired, I take a walk to a shopping center. It is a nice walk along the river. There is a Starbucks there and I like to stop for a coffee and then wander through the vendors. These two blocks are crowded with people. On each block is a stage with people dancing and singing. THe music is so loud. They are trying to draw customers in with this little concert. On one stage these scantily clad girls were dancing hip-hop. I couldn't help think that shopping in China is sometimes like going to a rock concert.

Happy Chinese New Year

This year is the year of the tiger. My school put on a special performance again with some fun Chinese activities. It's so wonderful to be able to celebrate this new year. I really like Chinese New Year. Things slow down, because people go home to their families in the villages. The city is decorated with special red lanterns and flowers. This year the new year officially started on Valentine's Day. The picture of me is with one of my violin students. It's been nice to still be able to teach the violin to some students here. This student is very talented and I wish there was an orchestra for him to play with. Maybe someday if I am still here I could start one.

Hoi An Ancient Chinese Village

Close to the last stop on the cruise was Da Nang, Vietnamn. This was my favorite stop besides Borneo. In Da Nang is an ancient Chinese village called Hoi An. It is a beautiful little city. I had no idea how much China has influenced Veitnamn, but it was under Chinese dominion until the 12th century. Veitnamese celebrate the New Year with multi-colored lanterns. The Chinese celebrate the New Year with red lanterns. The buildings were a lovely yellowish color. There were many temples to visit and lots of great shopping. I highly recommend going to Hoi An in Da Nang.