Visit from teachers

Michaela with her teachers

I have been quite happy with Michaela’s pre-school. They seem very professional there. They take the schooling-at-three a bit too seriously (giving homework and grades), but overall everything has been quite nice. One cool thing they do is the teachers (four of them for a class of 25) go to visit all their student’s homes in the beginning of each semester. It really is a great ice-breaker and a way for younger kids to feel more comfortable with their teachers. Michaela was thrilled.

Michaela's Birthday Party

Birthday Girl

LJ celebrates

Michaela turned three! We were planning on having a birthday party at the school. I really did not want a big party since we already went to Disneyland and I just didn’t have time for a huge party (the party last year was amazing). However, on Wed. (we were going to have the party on Friday) the school told us that they changed their minds about the party and would allow it, but no food could be brought in - so no cake. Well, all I had was 10 minutes at the end of class anyway and what is a birthday party like without a cake? So after going over some ideas, we decided to invite the whole class (25 kids!) over to our house that evening instead. I spent the day alternating between fretting over no one coming and everyone coming (our apartment is pretty small). In the end most, but not all students came and although it was a bit cramped, it seemed that everyone had a good time. Since Chinese kids do not generally have kid/group birthday parties I think it was a fun and different experience for everyone. We told people no gifts, but most brought one anyway.

Michaela with her pengyous (friends in Chinese)

David entertaining the crowd with a song in Chinese