Cub Scouts

Here's Jack with his Cub Scout Den learning to fold a flag. Jack pacticed with the American flag and the with the Australian flag. We are headed to Australia and Singapore for the upcoming school break, so it was good timing!

After the run, the kids are rewarded with a refreshing popsicle.

Jed's Terry Fox Run

On Tuesday Jed ran his Terry Fox Run with the rest of the Lower Elementary School. He had lots of fun and did great! The sky was not clear, but the spirits were high and the school raised a lot of money for cancer research.

Excitement

Jack was very enthusiastic about the event.

Terry Fox Run for Life--- Jack

Go Speed Racer!!!

If you look closely, you can see Jack running in this picture. He toughed it out and ran the whole time!

Wednesday was the Upper Elementary School Terry Fox Run for Life. Terry Fox was young Canadian who lost his leg to cancer and then ran across the country. Every year, they have a run to raise money for cancer research.

For the Upper Elementary School, it's a House Color challenge. There are 4 house colors, Jack is Green. They compete for most money raised as well as placement in a speed race.

A Blue Sky Day

Check out the blue sky! We had 2 or 3 days of blue skies and when we had the Terry Fox Run, we could see the mountains from the bleachers in the International School stadium! When the air is clear, we can sometimes see them when we drive near our house, but it's rare. It's so nice when that happens.

This is quite a change from the previous week, as you can see in the crane picture.

Today is somewhere in between, but pretty bad.

Chinese Restaraunt

This is an example of what you might find at an authentic Chinese Restaraunt here. You can select your fish or seafood and are charged by the kilo.

The National Bird of China is the Crane

Last week we went downtown to run a few errands and when we found a place for lunch, this was the view from the parking lot. How many cranes can you see? Look carefully through the polluted air. They are in a mad rush to finish all exterior construction by the end of 2007 as directed by the government in preparation for the Olympics.

Notice the lovely air quality...

Cub Scout Great Wall of China Hike 2007

Today was the Great Wall Hike for Jack and Jed's Cub Scout Pack. Jack is now a WEBLOS 1 and Jed is a Tiger. Tom took them. There were 4 busloads full of families and they all had a great time.

It's a pretty great opportunity for the boys. When Jack was a cub scout in Virginia, their annual hike was from a park to the ice cream shop, which is nice, but it's no Great Wonder of the World.

Jed the Tiger Scout

Jed is new to scouting and he loves it.

Great Wall Hike

Lately

Here are the boys the other day.
They are busy now that school has started. Jack does wushu (a Chinese martial art), cub scouts, American Studies and swimming.

Jed does tennis, cub scouts, American Studies and swimming.

Huck now goes to school 5 mornings per week.

I am teaching the embassy's American Studies class to the 7th and 8th graders. We have this class because the kids don't get any US history or civics at the international schools. It's once a week and is conveniently located in the clubhouse of the compound where we live.