Huan Huan's Open House

On Friday morning Helen (known throughout The People's Republic as Huan-huan) had an open house in her school. For those who don't know, Helen's school is on the Xiada campus and many of the kids are children of faculty and staff of the university. Sophia and I arrived a little late, but Huan-huan and the kids were having their morning warm soy-drink (what Helen calls "the milk thing").

Helen sits in her regular spot between her friends Rouen and Xiao Meimei. The day's lesson (well, the fake lesson for parent's day - I remember these days when I was a kid) was about the difference between even numbers and odd numbers. Of course, I didn't know that and neither did Huan-huan because it was all in Chinese. Rouen's mother who teaches in engineering then told me what was going on. After I told Helen, it all made sense to her, but I can see how confused she is most days.

The woman sitting down in the right side of the picture is Huan-huan's main teacher, Cai Laoshi, who is very kind to Helen. You may also notice that Sophia managed to insert herself between Helen and Rouen, demanded a seat and was promptly served by all the teachers.

After the lesson it was time for outdoor play. All the kids had to line up and get these cotton pads inserted into their shirts to prevent getting too sweaty. I can assure you that some of the boys needed it.

Here is a nice shot of the play area with the mountain in the background. You can see Helen and Sophia in the right corner.

In the 'boys will be boys' category, there was a posse of little 5 year old boys who had gotten hold of the jump-ropes and began to rope various items, especially the bridge you see above, but invariably each other, etc.

Huan-huan wanted me to take the picture below because it is such a beautiful scene. I think that even for a 6 year old, she appreciates that her school is between a mountain and the ocean.

Below is a shot of Rouen, Huan-huan's best friend. One of the endearing features of Rouen is that she calls me "Uncle" which is a very Chinese thing to do. At the open house, she pleaded "Uncle, Uncle" and gestured to make clear that she wanted a hobby-horse (isn't that what we used to call them?).

It wasn't easy, as the boys who were riding them were not impressed with my directions about giving one to Rouen. As if they were thinking: "All right guy, I can see that you speak a weird language and that you are big and hairy, but if you want my toy you're gonna have to fight me for it!"

Below is a shot of Xiao Meimei. Her name is a kind of traditional nickname that means "little baby sister" although she is a twin. Maybe her brother is the older one. [I happen to know two twin brothers, and the one that was born 4 minutes ahead of the other never let him forget it!]


And finally, I thought I leave you with a picture that Huan-huan took of Rouen. If you notice Rouen's shirt it reads "Before slow jogging becomes fast running"?!?

You lookin' at me? You lookin' at me?