Missing China

This morning (in Germany) my son (5) saw an airline advertising in the newspaper and started to cry: I miss China ! I want to fly to China and see my friends...

We checked the time and said, okay, lets call your friends. And shortly after he was talking on the phone - not only to his best friend but also second best friend - as his two friends were just playing together.

The two best friends' English was meanwhile better then our son's English (he only speaks German now). And the two boys go to school (British/Chinese system) were they learn already writing - and apparently they love their school.

While my boy goes to a German kindergarten where they have a pre-school class once a week. German system ... here you start school when 6 years old. Before that it is basically playing in kindergarten, a lot of free playing time - they learn a lot of social skills (I was told).

I also learned that our house in Beijing (East Lake) is still empty. And it is not the only one in that compound. Apparently the economic crisis also has some impact there. But I think the competition on the real estate market is big - many new nice villas are available (however outside the city) and western style apartments are more attractive then the old villas in East Lake.

However I would always go back to East Lake. Just a fantastic location.

As we can not follow our friends' Christmas travel plans, we said that we will visit early next year. It will be nice to see old friends again and do some shopping.

Next Saturday we wont miss China that much.
My son and I, go to Chinese school each Saturday morning.
Yes, here in Germany!
It is funny, it feels a bit exotic, a little international flair on Saturday mornings.
And it is funny as in Beijing, we went to Italian school on Saturday mornings.
And the most funny thing about that Chinese school is, that it is actually a Taiwanese school !
I was not really aware of the difference. I just wanted to continue to learn Chinese and not forget what I have already learned. Meanwhile I noticed some differences between the Mainland Chinese and the Taiwanese. Also because the Taiwanese told me some differences right away.

If you have read this post until here, I will reward you with some more beautiful Chinese paintings from Creation Gallery in Beijing:


Hu Yongkai 'Thinking'


Hu Yongkai 'Leisure time in courtyard'


Ma Haifang 'October in Beijing'

1st picture above: Ma Haifang 'Bosom Friends' 68 x 68 via Creation Gallery

Remark about the bird cages:
All paintings show birdcages. October and November are the best months in Beijing regarding the weather. It is sunny and the air is clear. Ideal to go to the park and take your bird for a walk (in the birdcage). Some cages are hang to a tree or standing on a chair while the owners follow some other activities like singing, gambling, dancing or kite flying. If it gets cooler in the evening the bird cages are wrapped with a warm cover to protect the birds on the way home.