what? geometry?

The Daily Post at WordPress has suggested GEOMETRY for the weekly photo challenge. To me, geometry is about the underlying maths of points, straight lines, curves and intersections, surfaces and solid shapes, theorems and proofs. Artists, architects, engineers and all [even nature, look up the golden ratio, not a pop group] use it to create form, beauty, utility  and strength.

In China, many parks are laid out with geometric precision.

Photo 1: the boys do not seem to notice the beauty of the tilings underfoot

A public park between Pubei Road and Guilin Street, Shanghai.

Photo 2: The building draws the eye, but notice the tiles in the foreground, again geometric layout.

From People’s Park, Shanghai.

One of my “fond” memories of achievement is that long ago, I got 100% for geometry in Northern Ireland’s Junior Certificate of Education – BUT – I got it on THE GIRL’S PAPER !!!  In those days, in NI at least, there were different papers for girls and for boys, in subjects such as geometry where girls were assumed to need a different type of question, as they “had a different kind of aptitude”. I will never know if I could have got 100% in a more equal kind of examination.

All young people who read this blog – can you believe that sort of stuff happened, not centuries ago, but relatively recently. What do you think “we” might be assuming now which is just as silly? Or worse, damaging to development?

Weekly photo challenge: Big

This challenge had to be some of the photos from China, but I added one from Block Island too.

Who is this big guy? [When the boys were three, they were a bit lacking in respect for Mao the warrior/scholar]

Also from China,

The Shanghai Stadium complex – so many wide roads and big big buildings, colossal statuary – like cathedrals of past eras in Europe, this is meant to induce awe, the true meaning of AWESOME [not the way WordPress uses it every time someone pushes the 'like' button.]

I prefer human size, maybe that is why I like it so much here (Block Island) where the only big is the ocean, and its power.

Everyday never the same

Weekly Photo Challenge: Everyday Life – offers a picture of Ho Chi Minh city which shows that everyday is not typical for some of us, or that it depends where your everyday happens to be. Different lives, different cultures, different places and different ages and stages.

First – kids bathtime in a chinese apartment which only has shower facilities, but everyone knows kids like tubs, so you can buy these big plastic tubs easily in China.

Louis, Dou Dou and Ali
(Louis and Ali are brothers, Dou Dou is their cousin, all three years old)

Next one not from every day – it is girls make breakfast on Sunday. Ordinary life for this family.

Sunday Breakfast

I was going to take photos of my everyday cup of coffee, but I think I will just drink it instead!

Movement: weekly photo challenge

Movement is too much of a challenge for me and my iphone so I headed over to National Geographic Travel photos and soon found this one

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/traveler-magazine/photo-contest/2012/entries/141514/view/

Photo and caption by Kimberly James

I have not worked out how to put it in as a photo, rather than a link, which is fair enough as it belongs to National Geographic and Kimberly.

But here is an old one – from about May 2008 in Guangzhou – CRAWLING – YES WE CAN.

Twin hazard headbang immediately after this photo opportunity.

Louis and Ali, about 8 months old, they both learn to crawl.
Louis on Ali’s right, has darker hair.

Related articles

• Weekly Photo Challenge: Movement (orthographies.wordpress.com)
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Hugs and Kisses

XxxxxoXXXoooxoxoooooxoxoooxxxxxxoxoxSIDEY WEEKEND THEME HUGS AND KISSES

ooxooxoooxoxooxoxswalkxxxoooooxooxoooxoxoxoxoooooooxxxxxxo

xoxox:-Xoxoooooo(((H)))ooooxxxxxxxxxxoxox:-XooxoxoxooxoxBURMA

xxxxoxooooxoxoooooxoxoooxxxxxTS TS TS Axoxoxooxooxoooxoxooxoxswalkxxxooooo

xooxoooxoxoxoxoooooooxxxxxxoxoxoxoxoxoxooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxoxoxoooooxoxoxooxox

xxxxoxooooxoxooooB.O.L.T.O.PBetter On Lips Than On Paperoxooxooxoooxoxo

oxoxswalkxxxoooooBURMAxoooxoxoxoxoooooooxxxxxxoxox(((H)))oxoxoxoTS TS TS AxooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxoGBH

xoxoooooxoxoxooxoxx(((H)))xxxoxooooxoxoooooxoxoo:-Xxxoxoxooxooxo

ooxoxooxoxswalkxxxoooooxooxoooxoxoxTS TS TS Aoxoooooooxxxxxxoxo(((H)))xoxoxoxoxooooBURMAxxxxxxxxxxoxoxoooooxox

oxooxoxxxxxoxooooxoxoooooxoxoGBHooxxxxxxoxox:-XoxoooxoxooxoxswalkxxxoooooxooGBHxoooxoxoxoxo

ooooB.O.L.T.O.PxxxoxoxoooooxoxoxooxoTS TS TS Axxxxxoxooooxoxoooooxoxo

ooxxxxxxoxoxooxooxoooxoxooxoxswalkxxxoooooxooxoooxoxoxoxoooooooxxxxxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoo

thanks to the SWALK index and BOLTOP where you can find lots more.

Do YOU remember what we did before smileys and emoticons?

What else can one say?

Louis’ cake sent by email to his Mum

 

Louis (aged 4) realized his Mum had left to go live in New Zealand, and was not coming back for ages (chinese Mums do this, thinking/knowing/hoping their kids are OK when cared for by others, their own childhood having been similar and attachment being an occidental word). He drew her a cake, with cherries and chips in it, her favourites, and she is rather small on top, but he has great big (green) hands and arms reaching to give it to her.

WHO NEEDS HUGS AND KISSES THEN?

YOU CAN HAVE CAKE

Silver linings

Sitting in CJW, whatever that means, in Xintiandi, which is near the Applestore, waiting for the old applemac to be repaired as I decided to give it to the boys to use till it crashes again or forever. Listening to jazz, eating salad, Italian bread, pasta and coffee to follow.
After taking the boys to school, I went to the Applestore and discussed the options which are not too expensive so long as I abandon thoughts of data retrieval. I had abandoned them mentally already though bought a backup drive thing for future use. Reminder: only useful if used. I then took myself off to wait for the repair to Shanghaimamas Monday coffee morning. Thanks Amanda, Melanie, Kellie, Laurie and others. You made a great difference to my last few months here.
Pasta has arrived – delicious- discover from napkin CJW means cigar jazz wine, implies luxury and no sign of C so now very relaxed.
So the boys will have a computer to remember their granny, I have a lovely new clean one -resolve to really really keep it clean- why not rubbish photos and maybe need one day can all go on the backup thing – I have another group of good people to stay in touch with and maybe see again.
Now, only have to get everything acquired in the last six months into the suitcase …. Edinburgh see you soon.
PS Although I have been in Xintiandi
several times, I tend to avoid it as it is Shanghai’s ‘modernity with style complex’ full of western shops and eateries, and tourists both east and west, architecture supposedly a mix of new and preserved brick lanes. Changing my mind, maybe it is quite a nice place after all.

Return to Shanghai

No-one wanted to leave Sanya. Lots of discussion, saying goodbye to the bathtub etc., explaining what a ‘holiday’ is, and worst of all, repeating over and over that Mummy would not be in Shanghai, because she would be staying in New Zealand. Happy thought ensues, then we can sleep with Daddy, Daddy says Yes you can.
More happy thoughts, there are lots of new toys in Shanghai, we have not played with all the Christmas toys yet. And, we have not been out to ride our new bicycles!!! Monday morning, first thing, glad it was not raining, bicycle riding time in the ‘ little park’ in Jiang’An Lu.

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Hainan holiday

Block Island beachgoer friends and all in other parts of the Northern hemisphere, eat your heart out, end of December the place to be is Sanya, Hainan Island off the very south coast of China. Especially if Cindy has cleverly booked a family apartment at the Marina Spa Resort. Now I know that ‘resort’ and BI natural (nearly) surroundings are totally different and I have never stayed in a resort before, but this is China, and holidays are shared with millions of people.
We are in a 12th floor apartment, views out across the spa grounds, one of ‘our’ swimming pools, garden, walks, and a huge working harbor beyond. We are beside a coastguard station so as well as all the fishing boats and chows there are several sleek and warlike silver boats docked nearby. (Why is it I end up near the military wherever I am in China, here they wake me up every morning with their parade and reveille. Maybe there is quite a lot of military at least in the non-western zones where we always stay?)

Seafood is perfect, the way it should be. Beaches are beautiful, several a short distance away as we seem to be on a peninsula, and all relatively uncrowded as Chinese people don’t really do swimming much. On a break from the beach the boys spent an hour on the best bouncy castle, actually ‘castles’, I have ever seen. I took some photos and lets hope I can make them upload to tell more of the story.

On the walk along the shore below the apartment, we meet lots of people taking exercise, like Tai Chi and TaijiTian (traditional sword-play)

This man likes kids better than practice, now it is Ali’s turn to be shown how

‘Our’ big swimming pool, also on the shore walk

Louis is still practising Tai Ji Tian

The crocodile is tempting, now they both want to swim

Luxury every evening, there were two showers, but bath was definitely the winner, and adults had a long rest while it was enjoyed.

One of the beaches – across the bay – we went there in a tuktuk and then walked, ‘swam’ and paddled all the way back to the bus stop for home

View from apartment at night – the near centre right lights are the Coastguard ship, the bright lower left light is at the side of the pool.

We had lunch out at different places, always ready for it

Da dong hai (big east sea) was out nearest beach and was also home to the bouncy castle complex

Ali deciding what to go for next…

This was the highest, then a scary walk along the ‘battlement’ before descending the other side

Kids climbing up and over, all the grown-ups sat below and chatted to each other, well worth 30Y.

The buddha is carved from one piece of trunk – in the Marina Spa foyer along with lots of other ‘art-work’

Better artwork, Louis missed Cindy so he spent one evening making her a strawberry and pineapple birthday cake, which he gives her – see his big green hands

Another Louis special – there were Minjie and Mickey Mouse dress-ups on the beach (selling of course) so he created this all by himself from memory

360 something days …

OK so it is just past that time of year, and where on earth if here at all [on earth I mean] will I be this time next year? To everyone I have not yet managed to email with greetings [in both senses of the word if you know the northern meaning of greeting] sorry, and do send me one as it will inspire me.

Our Christmas Day was like this: Donal Cindy and the boys went out for the morning – to their usual Sunday Fastrack school – no Christmas holidays here, they went to normal school yesterday, Boxing Day. Fastrack had arranged an earlier party with Santa before the class which would be the first bit of Christmas apart from our own small tree for Louis and Ali. When they came home, they had their usual pm sleep while Granny put the tree in the middle of the sitting room and surrounded it with presents. There were in fact got more than most chinese families. Thanks Callum and Wendy for your great parcel, ditto Veronica, and thanks me from George and Neill who had stuff wrapped on their behalf. Cindy and Donal had bought bikes, though where they will be able to safely ride we do not yet know, and I gave Lego, so at least I can hopefully play inside when we can’t go out.

I was ‘home alone’ feeling something I can only call culture shocked as it was not like any Christmas I have ever spent. It was not about being alone, as I have spent Christmastime alone before, but something about all the run-up being ‘as if‘ it was the same, but it just is not, it is somehow contrived or an attempt to copy something which is not understood. In the shops and the boys school, decorations are everywhere, but reindeers and cribs and snowmen are all mixed up in a sort of disney glitter version. Like I said already, there is no Christmas Day holiday. Even food – I could go and get a lunch or a dinner, but it would be look online for the right kind of restaurant and either go by myself or persuade the family to come with me. We do not have an oven here so I couldn’t do it at home, and any way of ‘doing it’ would also feel too contrived. So here are a few Christmas Day pictures – showing that it was really very very cheerful.

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Very very interesting! I suppose that Cindy often feels the same in reverse, and she was talking about the time she was in UK for Christmas and we took the boat over to Ireland and had a big meal at Irene’s, with Veronica and Neill and Claire and Steven. Shared the cooking etc. I now realise she must have been totally bewildered about it all.

’tis the season…

There isn’t supposed to be Christmas in China, and indeed there isn’t unless I look very hard indeed, if “Christmas” has meanings like Someone’s birthday, or Goodwill, or general thoughtfulness. Ditto Hanukah and other possibilities around this winter solstice. Thus except 2nd January, there are no school holidays until 9th January when the run-up to Chinese New Year on 23rd begins.

Taikang Market - hole-in-the-wall shops with EVERYTHING

But, if you are thinking glitter and shopping and more glitter and getting things, and anything at all which has come to be associated via Disneyland and others of that ilk, then this is your place. AAAAAGGGHHHH ….     The boys school is covered in reindeer and snowmen etc etc. and of course they are having a great time.

Taikang Market, one of the narrower lanes, they all invite visits

I am also having loads of emails and e-cards from lots of people so I am intending to answer them all after I finish this post.

Korean Noodle lunch after shopping in TaiKang all morning, somewhere on RuiJin Lu

If you read this post and I have not reached you yet, blame the season, and the need to screw together flat-pack bicycles before certain people get home and generally do shopping [YES I DID DO SOME] and wrap other things and find hiding places for all of the above. Hints on bicycle hiding would be gladly received as inside duvet-cover on top of wardrobe is a bit suspicious if it gets in the sight-line, so far not been noticed.

However, I also found time to visit the Pearl Museum underneath the very very famous Pearl tower which is part of the Bund skyline. It was a great visit, a huge number of exhibits tracking the history and development of Shanghai from way back until the present day. A bit IKEA like, in that one started and then had to follow round the arrow-guided directions with no other way to finish, and there was so much that was of interest that I simply had to skip lots of it. The exhibits were a mixture of pictures,photos, models in various sizes from miniature to actual size, and many were waxworks depicting scenes in pretty vivid reality. Some things like past times were fascinatingly similar to the same kind of thing as is exhibited in the Ulster Folk Museum, and it would seem that rural life and needs there or here find similar answers. The slide show below is just a sample of the exhibits. I was absorbed by the views of houses and streets I am quite familiar with. So I was taking photos thinking “I have been there”. For example, see if you can spot the Shanghai Arts and Crafts Museum House in the slideshow shots – looks a bit like the White House, and I have been there several times now, with George and with Carolyn. These photos are intended to be a self-reminder for me when I use these posts as a Diary, readers may not be so absorbed as I am! There was also a model of the “Red Cathedral, Shanghai Holy Trinity” visited way back in June, which is where Kaye’s parents were married way back much much longer ago! I also liked seeing the ‘things’ whose purpose was functional, like the spinning wheel, and even if I am more actually more acquainted with the Sleeping Beauty version than a real one, it did look just like a spinning wheel should. That photo also has a child being kept safe by being inserted into a barrel, maybe a little better than tied to the table leg, or maybe the long-ago version of a play-seat?

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Time to get to the emails, Happy Season and Happy Holidays if you have them, xxx