This week's home-school outing was to Kunming's Space Museum. It was quite a trip across the city (1½ hours via the underground) but the remoteness meant we ended up having the whole place to ourselves! The early exhibits were a bit dull - black & white photos and patriotic displays of military missiles, etc. But later there was a room full of VR simulators and, whilst we were supposed to pay extra money to use each one, the museum staff were charmed by JD - their only real customer - and let us use them all for free!
JD and I have been spending our Tuesday mornings over the last month. playing badminton with a couple of friends of ours. It was a new sport to JD and he has thoroughly enjoyed picking up the basics and seeing his "successful hit rate" rise from 30% to 70%. It's proven a valuable way to try and get him leaner and fitter!
JD and I attended what is likely to be our last D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) game in Kunming a few days ago. JD's character [left] was a sniper with telescopic goggles, while I was playing a cleric [right] with powers of lightning bursts and healing spells! A pair of Chinese twin brothers completed our team. After three hours we had defeated pirates, robots and a huge octopus!
Another home-school outing yesterday. I tasked JD with planning a round trip across Kunming using at least 3 types of public transport... After some mapping and transport investigations, we left the house at 9am. A 20-minute walk to the subway station and we travelled to the Horticultural Exposition Park vie two subway lines. An hour's walk to the far end of the park led to a cable car which took us to the Golden Temple. After a picnic lunch we headed down the other side of the mountain, including an alpine slide ride, in order to catch a bus home. 5½ hours total travel time, and we never got lost - well done JD!
JD had a fairly profitable afternoon last weekend, selling off many of his toys to kids and parents in the neighbourhood.
We met up with friends today to explore one of Kunming's wetland parks. JD took along the camera he bought recently with his birthday money. He had wanted a film or instant polaroid type but we managed to persuade him to buy a digital camera that just "looked" old-fashioned. And a good job too, as he took over 250 pictures during this one trip alone!
JD had his Birthday Party last weekend in an old traditional courtyard house, converted into a restaurant. The owner is one of Jiajia's customers! Most of JD's friends date back to his old Kindergarten class and the kids' favourite Kindergarten teacher came along, too. We had some very nice food and JD received a pile of presents. Then the kids played hide-and-seek around the restaurant while the adults chatted. There was a huge birthday cake to round the evening off, after which JD insisted on wearing the cake packaging as a top hat!
Earlier this week Jiajia's Spousal Visa application was accepted. It took me months to compile all the necessary documents and though I was 90% sure it would be accepted, that 10% doubt would have been a huge problem for our plans had it been rejected. So there was a lot of relief when it came though. We'll be heading to the UK in June. The visa means Jiajia can live and work in the UK for 2½ years, at which point we need to extend her visa by a further 2½ years. After the full 5 years she should be eligible to reside permanently in the UK. Well, that's the plan. Little by little....
It was JD's 11th birthday today. His preferred treat was to travel to a professional flight training school for a couple of hours on an A320 simulator [see below]. The trainer showed him he various instruments and displays for the first hour, but then wandered off for a cigarette, saying the JD was quite able to handle the aircraft by himself! A solo take-off and landing later, we had to agree. JD loved it!
Halfway up, it decided to rain - the first rain we've seen in Kunming for 2-3 months. We learned later it has been artificially seeded. Fortunately we had brought umbrellas. After a vegetarian lunch at MiaoGao Temple, at the top of the mountain, we headed back down and home via a welcome ice-cream!
We continue to pack for our move to the UK, with fingers firmly crossed that Jiajia's visa comes through successfully soon. We are planning to send a dozen boxes 1-2 weeks before we leave, expecting them to arrive at our new address in Chippenham a month or two after we are settled there. It's just hard to know what to send and what to buy once we're there. The "Flying Tigers" were formally known as the "American Volunteer Group", who flew fighter and cargo planes in WWII in Myanmar and China to try and fend off Japanese advances. They are still remembered fondly for supplying food and supplies to war-torn Kunming and its Museum has a permanent exhibition in their memory.
Whenever there's an important Government get-together in Beijing, the "powers that be" flick a switch and suddenly VPNs no longer work. VPNs are the software products that (normally) spoof the internet into thinking you are in another country and thus get round the "Great Firewall of China" which blocks Chinese citizens from using "dangerous" apps like Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Google, Yahoo, BBC, etc. I rely on VPNs to keep in touch with the rest of the world and the Chinese Government appears to tolerate them most of the time. But it just goes to show that when they really want to cut China off from the outside world, they can! Another reason to return home...
The large building being constructed behind our neighbourhood is a little less noisy these days than in the first six months of it going up. JD and I often spot this worker who seems take VERY long lunchbreaks hiding in the shell of the half-finished section nearest our flat. She is often sleeping or looking at her phone - sometimes for hours at an end! Should we report her or celebrate her cheekiness?
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AuthorPaul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and regularly updates this blog about his life there. Past blog entries
April 2024
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