Thursday, June 14

The wind howled around the apartment all night.  And this morning, we cannot see even the buildings across the small lake from our windows, it is that foggy.  Gusts of wind are still filling the air.  What will the sea look like?

Now, 12 hours later, I can report that the sea was in turmoil all day; the waves at high tide came over the rail, over the boardwalk, and even occasionally out into the street.  It made for great window theater all day!  There was even a report that someone fell in right out there on our stretch of the boardwalk  (and a report of a rescue).  The spectacle drew spectators, as well.  While there weren’t as many cars out there as on a sunny day, there were a good number of people getting as close to the action as they dared.  Including Julia, who got a little close for comfort while I was preoccupied with the viewing screen!

In some of the photos, a green weed can be seen on the sea.  Sabrina told me a funny story about this seaweed, one that seemed quintessentially Chinese.  Just as the Olympics were about to begin, in 2008, this green seaweed covered the Qingdao harbor in 4 large areas.  Since Qingdao was the host to the Olympic sailing events, international visitors would be in town.  So the government called for volunteers to come to the aid of the state and help to bring in the seaweed.  People went out in boats to ‘haul’ it toward shore, and many, many other volunteers (Sabrina included; she went twice) went to the beaches and stuffed the weed into the heavy duty plastic bags supplied to them.  I love that idea that the world could be cleaned up to specifications! And, to a certain extent, it can be, if you have a billion people to call in for aid. 

The first day of summer vacation went ok; we had 12 kids and 4 teachers (Hanzhe is back, with his own personal aide), and 2 staff kids who spent a good part of the morning with us (that would be Julia and a rising first grader, Dylan, who speaks English).  So, it was a busy place and not entirely to my liking for a while, but it will be fine; it is what it is!  Julia had an adequate day, not ‘great’ but far from bad.  She and Dylan teamed up eventually, which will be a positive thing because having an age-mate makes all the difference.  The Chinese staff person who spent the afternoon (nap time for the Montessori kids) with them was not forceful enough actually to make Julia spend some time on Chinese lessons.  While I agree that ‘school’s out,’ this is an opportunity not to throw away.  We’ll see!  She is promoting the idea that she can count to 6 in three languages; let’s see if we can raise that to 10!

Meanwhile the remaining staff packed up most of the rest of the rooms; I had no idea that everything was going into boxes this week! Including the library and most of the resources room.  What if we need something?!  I could wish for a bit more clear and timely communication!

Walking up the boardwalk in the wind and sea spray was fun, even though the day wasn’t pretty.  Crossing the Music Square, Julia asked to drive a battery-operated car; of course I said yes, for 10 yuan, or $1.60.  Watching her today, I thought, maybe I made a mistake not springing for the $300.00 5 years ago when she started begging for one of these cars!  She’d probably have more than amply gotten our money’s worth out of it!  Surely she is ‘too old’ for this toy; but she’s so little, she still fits.  And just look at her face—she loves to drive these cars!  After 15 minutes, I had to call time, or we’d have never left (it’s not like there was a crowd waiting for a turn). 

Intent driver

Julia loves these cars!

We have our favorite routine for a free afternoon—walk up the boardwalk, buy bread at the expensive international grocery store, do a little shopping at the high-end mall—Zara, H & M, Uniqlo, and Muji (the last two are Japanese).  It puts us in the culture if not of the culture.  We are still outsiders, walking past people with whom we cannot speak.  But it gives us mini-opportunities for people contact and occasional communication; it gives us tiny events, like wave watching and car driving.  We can be amused at the tourists, old hands at Qingdao that we are. 

Our main errand was to pick up a cake we ordered from the Japanese cake bakery (we ordered it last week when we picked up Julia’s birthday cake) which we are taking into aide Sabrina tomorrow, ostensibly for her anniversary on Sunday.  The cake turned out to be stunningly pretty! Chocolate with curls of chocolate and sugared fruit on top.  I hope it lives up to its appearance; it should taste delicious!  It is the Chinese custom to pack cakes in wonderful boxes—good protection and great advertising! 

Getting on the bus with a cake box, a scooter, a small grocery bag, my messenger bag, and Julia, appeared to be a daunting idea!  But we were lucky that the first bus we could take was a 312 (not a 314)—it was much less crowded than the regular bus, and it never did get packed.  Julia got a seat right away, which meant she could hold the cake! And I got one about half way home; it was so uncrowded (even though 6 pm) that I felt ok about taking the seat!  So, we lucked out, is the moral of this story, and all survived including the cake.  Hope she likes it!

The cake bakery!

Although you can't see the cake itself, what a beautiful box!