Farm Visit

My son is turning 9 . Last week we talk about how we will celebrate his birthday. As a winter child these past 6 years we celebrated his birthday indoors due to chilly weather. This year we are staying in Jakarta with 29 degree almost everyday. Wow..what a life, this year we are escaping winter, no more below 0 C degree.

Anyway, I told Omar that birthday is not always about big celebration or big party. Birthday also means spending quality time with people that he loves or doing hobbies that he likes. So we talked about any possible activities we might do on his birthday.

It turned out there is a new nursery Kuntum Farm Field in Bogor that we haven't visit yet. Children can pet baby animals and feed sheep and cows with milk bottle. It's a perfect choice for his birthday since we are going to invite Omar cousins too (which are still in their toddler years).

So yesterday we went there and the children love every minute of it.

Peeking out of the window

It's a week of national holiday in China, and I am not going anywhere. People said this is the best time to go explore China because the weather is perfect. I don't know, I don't feel like going anywhere, I haven't slow down since last summer holiday so this is the best time for me to stay put and catch up some looong sleep. Plus, I have tons of homework which frankly speaking I haven't done it yet even though my one week off is almost up.

But I feel like writing today, because I stop by on my favorite websites and look how they are already change their lay out and updated some news here and there. These are the things that I love to do and I miss most since I arrived in Beijing last year. I have no time to do nothing, to just sit and daydream or to peek on everybody's webpages or just to stroll down a park...do absolutely nothing like I used to do in DA...Beijing after all is a busy city... you would be left behind if you don't run in the same pace like everyone else.

This is why my son and I miss Darmstadt so much. On our weekends back in DA, we don't have any fancy plan..just to go to a park and have a small picnic...could brighten our day. Some of my dullest day I would stroll down to a Marktplatz and bought beautiful cutting flowers to put some colors in my home. But hey, we don't want to dwell on the past and we feel like we are ready to create some new memories...

Besides, this is Beijing...it rocks if you could find the right place to go...there is so much to be explored..only this time we opt to stay indoor have a rest and look at the outside world from our window. We might as well go on a bike tour to the Houhai lake this Saturday, if we feel like to go...Anyway speaking about window, I have an obsession of looking at the window frame everywhere I go. Below is some of them that I captured during my travels.

Istanbul

 

 

Mauer strasse, DA

Forbidden City, Beijing

DA

Fort Rotterdam,Makassar
 

 

 

Do you know why I love windows ? I think because it can tell you so many stories, if you look from outside the window you will wonder who is sitting inside and what kind of room inside those curtains..but if you stand inside a room and look out the windows you will wonder what happen on the world today, what kind of weather we have and what interesting things happen just outside our windows. What do you think..have you ever notice any windows surround you ? If you do..share with me will ya'...Have a nice evening...

Maizidian Community

Hello there, it's been a while since the last time I wrote any post here. So many things has been going on in my life and guess I haven't got a time to write down and share it with you. One thing that is too valuable to pass is my experience in learning Chinese in Beijing. I've got a rare opportunity to learn chinese language without any tuition in Beijing, thus I would like to share it with you in case you are interested too.

 

A friend of mine recommend me this place where most of expats wife learn how to speak practically basic Chinese when they are first arrived in Beijing. Living here is difficult if you can't speak one words or two. To learn Chinese is merely a survival kit you need when you have to go alone trying to bargain in the market or give direction to the taxi cab driver. Honestly speaking my first 3 month here is unbelieveably difficult, just because of this language challenge.

 

This place where I learn chinese for free called Maizidan Community. It's a community building where people work for other people.The official in Maizidian district support this community by providing the building and class for us to study as well as books and cultural trip to understand China and its people better. The teachers all volunteers and they teach us all the basic stuff that can help surviving Beijing rapid live. As an expats we are too being offered to teach english to this community. They have other courses like chinese calligraphy or chinese cooking class and lots of activity that can keep your life in Beijing exciting.

There are also some special occasions when they introduced us to Chinese culture and chinese medicine lectures. Below are pictures of Maizidian comunity cultural workshop that we have with Beijing Opera performers.

workshop by Beijing Opera

Musician from Beijing Opera

The Maizidian community is also participated in an intercultural event that celebrate international tradition from all over the world like the event below where international community participate in this cultural event in Solana, Beijing.

The most important role of this community is it becomes a bridge between foreigners who just arrived in this city dazed and confused and the local people who are just opening their eyes to the international community and welcoming people from all over the world who are curious about what China is all about. So if you happen to be in Beijing for quiet sometime and you need a positive activity, this community is the best place to go.