China - Day 60, Saturday

Yesterday I had to do some last minute errands before our trip. As we, Richard and I, were heading to lunch I got a phone call from the school nurse telling me that Daniel had gotten hurt during PE and I should come pick him up. So Richard and I headed to the school. This is the day before the National Holiday and the roads are very busy, so it took us almost an hour to get there. The school does have emergency transportation on site in case of a real emergency, but for minor things, parents can pick the student up. Daniel had tripped over a ball and hurt his foot and the nurse suggested that we have a doctor look at it. I agreed, especially since we are leaving for Germany on Saturday. 

The doctor examined him and determined that he did not break anything - thank God. He just sprained his foot. A couple of days rest will help it - along with a 12 hour plane ride!!

The school nurse gave him some crutches to use and he has been very happy to walk around with those, even though they aren't really needed. He is just having fun using crutches!

As I mentioned before, the National Holiday starts on Saturday. This week the Chinese celebrate the start of Communism. The main part of the holiday is October 1-3. Chinese communism is not like the old Russian Communism. They are not oppressive. They are very much business oriented, open to foreigners (hence why we are here). Most people are very happy with the government and the way things are here.

 Everyone in China has next week off. If they are working they will get double or triple time. Stores and restaurants are open. Banks, schools, and offices are closed for the week. Century Park had a big display of fireworks last night. We could have gone, but the tickets were 260RMB (about $42), so we opted not to this time. The fireworks lasted for over 1 hour.

We are leaving for Germany on Saturday evening. We will be gone for the week. Randy has to go to Belgium for work. Daniel and I will be visiting my family whom I have not seen since 1985! It will be great to see them again. While we are in Germany, I am not sure if I will have Internet service, so not sure what will happen with my blog. I will try to write if I can.

Cultural Differences/Frustrations 101: Today, in honor of National Day, I wanted to talk about the Chinese Flag. I recently found out what the designs mean and wanted to share them with you.

The large star represents the one government party. The four smaller stars represents the people gathered around the party. Everyone united and happy. In China red means happiness and gold means wealth and happiness.

Chinese Flag