China 636 Sunday funday

My love bought a new guitar a few days ago.  It is an AoSen,
which is made in Korea. I love that when he plays it, you
mostly see just "O-S-E-N" which is very close to Olsen :)

It actually has a pretty sweet sound.  I love that

there is live music in my apartment once again :)

There is an old hutong (traditional Chinese housing) next to the
driveway of my apartment complex.  You can see the South
Apartments, where I live, towering in the background.  It
is unbelievable to me the meager abodes they call home.  I
don't see how they can keep warm in the winter as it gets
bitter cold with north winds from Siberia bearing down. The
broken tiled roofs are covered in sheet metal, plastic tarps,
plywood, cardboard- whatever they can find. Some of these homes
still have dirt floors, and are heated by a coal burning stove.

We got up close and personal with this hutong as TWICE I
accidentally flung the frisbee from the driveway up on to their roof!
Not surprisingly, though the strange laowai's came wandering in
to their neighborhood, they were most helpful in retrieving
my frisbee.  Trying to explain what we were doing was a
hysterical game of Charades, but we were successful!  I love
their smiles :)  Note the shower curtain for a front door on this
man's home...there was no shame or embarrassment in helping
me, but I honestly felt embarrassed going back to my beautiful
apartment that shadows his neighborhood. These hutongs,
while iconic to Chinese culture and tradition, are slowly
disappearing from the city landscape due to their decrepit
 condition and the need to construct high rise housing for an
 ever expanding population. It's sad really, very few hutongs
are being preserved, and one day that history will be gone.

Often there is a standing game of cornhole on
Sunday afternoons at the North Apartments.
Hank brought his guitar...

So did Rob...

As did Len, and before long they had a
standing audience of Chinese folks
listening to them give a concert :)

Chris and Santosh, pictured above, are two
teachers heading out to new locations for
next school year.  It was fun to hang out
with them one. more. time. :)
My cornhole skills did not fail me, lol.

This little princess kept edging ever closer to the action...

Soon she was strumming right along as Len
kept playing- he is a patient man :)

One thing about these 'onlies'- because they have been

catered to by grandparents and parents alike, they can be

a bit precocious as well as presumptuous. They are quite

accustomed to the adults in their life giving in- which makes

for some tears and hissy fits when Western teachers refuse to

'give them points' at the end of the year to boost their final grade.

The last I checked, grades are earned, kiddos. It's a tough life

lesson in responsibility and accountability that must be learned,

but this is just one reason we were brought here to teach them.

My how their world will change when they land on a college

campus in the good ol' U S of A !!!

G'nite, y'all!