Happy dance

We have booked our tickets to fly back to Europe next week. By Easter Monday Auro and I should be in Belgium! Remo has to finish his teaching course first, so he will follow later. Either way, Auro is so happy that he made a little happy dance in Eurasia last Saturday!
Auro danst

What's in a name

How many of you know that Changchun (長春) translates as 'eternal spring'? I don't know what the Manchurians were thinking when they gave this so promising name to this city, because we are nearly at the end of March and I still have to see one sign of the coming spring. Three days ago it was still snowing and the temperatures are still not even close to pleasurable. Unless 'spring' stands for 'icy cold season that seems to last forever', I believe the Chinese might be the most ironic people in the world! Or, and I've just realised that now, maybe they meant that if you live here it feels like an eternity until spring comes?!

Blue

One of Auro's favorite things recently is climbing on and off the sofa. Even though we knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, we still got quite the scare when he accidentally rolled off the sofa yesterday and hit his head on the foot of the standing lamp. After a lot of crying and several cold compresses, the swelling went down a bit and he fell asleep. This morning only a huge blue bruise on his forehead reminded us of what had happened (not him, because he immediately climbed on the sofa again).

Eurasia fun

Since the temperatures here are still way below zero, going outside for a walk is not the thing to do on a free day. So, on Saturday, we did what all the other Chinese people with a small child do, we went to Eurasia, the biggest department store in Changchun. They claim it's the biggest in the world and, I have to admit, I believe them!. In this huge department store you can really find anything from food to electronics, from clothes to furniture. And, they also happen to have a mini-amusement park for children, complete with merry-go-round, amusement arcade, mini roller coasters and other fun attractions for even the smallest children. Auro had a good time watching all the other children (or as he calls them: 'titta' = 'kindjes'), pushing all the buttons on the game computers and riding in a speedboat on wheels!

one and a half

Today, Auro is exactly one year and 6 months old! To celebrate, I am preparing only the food that he likes: for breakfast he ate 5 or 6 mini-croissants with cheese, for lunch he ate a full plate of vegetable risotto, after his nap he finished a complete banana milkshake with some cookies and for dinner we are having minestrone soup! We have also tried to measure him: he is about 84 cm tall and weighs about 12,5 kg.

Wéi!

Again... it has been a very long time since I wrote last. But, this time I have something to tell you: we are in China! Remo, who is still employed at the university here, has to teach at least one course per year, so Auro and I came along to keep him company. Auro and I will stay until half of April (after which we will fly to Belgium) and Remo has to stay until he has finished his teaching obligations... probably until the end of April.
In the 2 weeks that we have been here, we haven't been outside much, because it is too cold for Auro (temperatures between -20 and -5 degrees!). Luckily Auro doesn't seem to mind staying in the apartment, which might be because there is almost no furniture and hence no obstacles when running around! And when we do venture outside, people gather around Auro as if he is a local superstar. While other children might feel a bit overwhelmed by this, Auro absolutely LOVES being the center of attention.