Back to the previous practice of sending the kid to kindergarten myself since Didi’s kinddy doesn’t have school bus service. Without the comfort of driving a car, I can only opt for the more environment friendly mode of transport and join the local by riding a bicycle.

With the rapid increase in car ownership in Beijing, the number of people commuting by bicycles has fallen sharply. That is to my advantage since I don’t have to fight for space with the others while enjoying a smoother ride on the bicycle lanes.

“Love Knows No Borders” International charity sale by diplomatic organisations at Chaoyang Park and we were there to show some support since the park is just right across the road of our place.

While most (maybe all) other countries took up 1 booth, our Singapore stall was operating from 3 booths! What a crowd they attracted and I think most of the staff operating the booths seemed to be enjoying the brisk sales. I was hoping to find some items that could perhaps cure some homesickness, but the usual pork floss buns (BreadTalk), bak kua (Bee Cheng Hiang), laksa paste (Prima) etc, didn’t much caught my fancy. Would be really delighted if I can find some curry puff, pineapple tarts, kueh kueh or even those left over red and white T-shirts that go on sales during our National Day season.

First day of school for Didi in Beijing today! He was the first to arrive and seemed rather disappointed to see only teachers and no other children around. He looked apprehensive initially, but quickly made himself busy when the teacher gave him an activity to work on. Right, that is a Montessori based school he is attending.

When I asked him what he did in school today, he said he played with some dinosaurs, then ate apples, and then it was time to sleep. My goodness, if that was what happened in school today, those must be some awfully expensive dino toys and super duper royal apples to munch on. If there is a reason why we need to go back Singapore, it would probably because his school fees is god damn expensive and have burn big holes in every single pockets we can find in our wardrobe.

Primary 1 students from the international division gathering near the school entrance.

Zee Yau and her classmates waiting patiently for the rest of the class to arrive before their classroom teacher 苏娜老师 leads them to class.

I have to bring Zeeyau to school today though we have signed her up with a schoolbus. According to the schoolbus coordinator, parents of new students will send and pick up the kids on the first day and ride the schoolbus home with the child so they will know where the exact location the bus is going to pick up the kid in the morning. It is definately a hassle to make another 2 trips to the school today, but then, it makes Zeeyau less nervous and give me an opportunity to snap some photos.

The first day of school is somehow chaotic in an orderly manner. There were many anxious parents like myself, the traffic outside the school is bad (as usual) and there is even a camera man filming. Some students are in school uniforms and some aren’t. The girls wear plaid skirts, but in differernt colours, I wonder why. Students from the international division only needs to put on school uniforms on Monday, but I really hope she could wear it everyday.

Hopefully everything goes well. Now I have to get started on my second task, enroll Didi somewhere so he can attend school as soon as possible.