Peekaboo

Auro and I have been in Belgium for one week now and we have recovered from our jetlag (one day for every hour of time difference). Tomorrow, Auro and I fly to Bologna where Remo should be waiting for us. From Bologna we will drive to Genoa. The coming week(s) we will be very busy looking for an apartment, so it might take a while before I will write here again. But, as soon as we have found our place (and an internet connection) we'll be back!

10 things I won't miss

Ten things I will NOT miss
1. the cockroaches with which the whole apartment building seems to be infested (on average, we 'catch' 2 or 3 per day... and this is with all the possible holes they could come out of securely taped up!)
2. the dust/sand everywhere (Changchun really is just one big eternal construction site)
3. the 'aggressiveness' of people in crowded supermarkets
4. the spitting (actually more the sound that goes with it)
5. the 'collecting' of garbage on the streets
6. the smell of most taxis
7. the fact that 'they' occasionally switch of the electricity/water/internet
8. the tiny little sink in our kitchen
9. the fact of having the complete bathroom wet when you take a shower
10. being behind the Great Chinese Firewall (no Facebook, no Bebo, no Blogger, no Youtube!)

10 things I will miss

We have not lived here that long, but here are 10 things I will miss when we go back to Europe.
1. the size of our apartment (about 120 square metres)
2. the amazing variety of fresh fruit and vegetables in the supermarkets (great for vegetarians like us!)
3. the extremely child-friendly environment (the Chinese simply LOVE babies!)
4. the relative cheapness of things (we could easily live on one salary)
5. the short distance to the university (and therefore to work.... about 10 minutes on foot!)
6. the fact that Remo can be at home a lot
7. the crazy driving style of the taxis in Changchun
8. the sunshine throughout the whole winter (it might be freezing cold outside, but there is always a blue sky!)
9. the amazing internet downloading speed ;-)
10. the feeling of being safe in any part of the city

Packing

Two more nights in our apartment and we are leaving Changchun! And this time we are not leaving on a holiday. No, we are MOVING to Italy! Remo found a job in Genoa (that's northern Italy, west coast) and he has to start working one week from now. So, we are packing once again (sigh). Luckily Auro is helping out ;-)

Bribery

Usually Auro is not too fond of being held by people he doesn't know. And so, when this lady asked if she could hold him, I was sure he was going to let out a cry worthy of China's National Day. But, he didn't! Why? Because this nice lady had a beautiful red flag (with no less than 5 stars on it) that was flapping in the wind ;-)

Red

On October 1st in 1949, the Communist Party of China declared victory in the war against the forces of Chiang Kai-shek. So, today, the Chinese celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (=China's National Holiday) and therefore Changchun was red with Chinese flags. For days now, every other car in the city has been driving around with a small red flag attached to it's bumper or antenna. Today, we even saw a man holding 2 flags out of the window while driving! Not just the official buildings are proudly showing of their biggest flags, you can also see many flags draped from windows of the poorest looking apartment buildings. Really quite amazing for a Belgian like me. I honnestly don't think I have ever seen so many flags in my life. I mean, I have never owned a Belgian flag in my life and the only time I remember ever holding one, was when I was in primary school and the nuns in our school made us wave one when the king visited our town!

Second 'One'

The day after Auro's party, we left Kyoto and made the 2 hour trip to Dejima harbour in Osaka. There we had a second birthday party planned for Auro on Saturday afternoon. Because Jan Haring was scheduled to be hauled out of the water on the same day, we got up early and, while Remo prepared the boat (putting away the sails, lines and other stuff I don't know the correct name of), Auro and I got dressed for our last day in Japan and started preparing the things for the party in the afternoon (ordering pizza, buying snacks and drinks, laying out a couple of sheets for the children to play on...). We had everything carefully planned out, but because somebody (and it was not Remo!) had forgotten to keep the low tide of the early afternoon in mind, the boat could only be lifted out by 3 PM, which was unfortunately the exact time we had told all the guests the party was going to start. But, even though Remo therefore missed the first half of the party, it was a super super big and absolutely great birthday party! We had invited about 30 people and no less than 40 people showed up (8 children)! Auro was showered with birthday wishes and presents. Thank you all!!! And a special thanks to Nozaki-san, the harbour master, for letting us use the clubhouse, to the people of the harbour (Kido-san and Shinya) who came to sing 'happy birthday' to Auro (complete with guitar and drum!) and to mama-san (my former employer) who, without a doubt, brought the biggest toy (a complete entertainment board with buttons to push, pull and turn) and devoted her complete time to taking care of Auro and succeeded in keeping him entertained the whole time! And, thank you, Nakayama-san, for sending me these nice photos!

One

As I'm writing this post, I am sitting on the sofa of our apartment in Changchun. After having spent one month in Japan, we packed our suitcases again and got on the airplane yesterday afternoon. Eight hours later, we were here. Today, while Remo was chasing the cockroaches out, I spent most of the day disinfecting the floors, so Auro can crawl to his heart's content in a clean apartment. To finish this long day, I want to tell you about our last days in Japan.
As most of you know, on the 17th of September, Auro turned one. So, on Thurday afternoon, we celebrated that with presents and a cake. Auro enjoyed unwrapping his presents and even tried (very briefly) to blow out the candle on his cake (and Carlos was just in time to catch that moment!)

By the way

Just to make sure that none of Auro's milkteeth will ever feel 'left out' because it didn't get as much attention as the others, I have to mention this: last Sunday we welcomed tooth number eight in Auro's mouth! May it grow strong and white and chew many tasty things!

Sailing trip

Last Thursday, we left Osaka behind and went sailing for a couple of days. Together with 2 other sailboats (Catch 22 and Oceantech) we first sailed from Sakai to the island of Nushima (沼島), a small island about 5 km to the south of Awaji island. Just to give you an idea of how small: the island is 2.5 km² 'big' and has a population of about 600 people. On Friday, Auro and I explored the island (lots of shrines and temples, and a beach!) while Remo jumped into the water to clean the hull of Jan Haring. We had planned to leave Nushima the next day, but rainy weather kept us in Nushima until Sunday morning. Not feeling like going back to Osaka already, we (Jan Haring and Oceantech) decided to head for the harbour of Sumoto (洲本), on the southeast coast of Awaji Island. On the way we anchored in Yura (由良) to have our lunch and by the early evening we reached the quiet port of Sumoto. Remo started the next Monday morning with scraping off the last bits of dirt on the hull and after a big breakfast we started our trip back to Osaka, where we arrived 8 hours later... tired, but very satisfied and refreshed!

Change

In the almost 3 weeks we have been in Japan, Auro has undergone (at least in my eyes) a small transformation. Just as the first 3 weeks in Belgium have been the most difficult among difficult periods so far, the change that came after it has been the most amazing...
In only a couple of weeks Auro has learned how to

*smoothly go from stomach to back and visa versa (until recently, when he rolled over, it was mostly by coincidence)
*push himself up to sitting position (I very often find him sitting in his bed in the morning!)
*crawl forward (first with his belly on the floor like a soldier ducking overflying bullets, but now on hands and knees like a real crawling baby)
*walk around when you hold both of his hands
*pull himself up to standing position (using the sofa, a table or a chair, but preferably me!)
*understand some basic 'commands' (like "give it to mama, let mama have a taste, wave goodbye, clap your hands")
*understand that there is a certain order in actions (when I put the towel on the floor, he goes to sit on it and waits for me to bring him his food ... or... when I put him in the stroller, he looks for the seatbelt and tries to lock it himself ... or ... when I put a towel around his shoulders after a shower, he tries to wrap himself in it like I usually do)
*play by himself for longer than 15 minutes

New summer

Just when I thought summer in Japan was over (it was becoming pleasantly cool during the day), all of a sudden the temperatures rose again and on Saturday it was hot, hot, hot! Not that I am complaining, because even if the heat and humidity make me somewhat slow and lazy, I still prefer that too a cold and icy winter. So, while Auro and I spent our time being lazy on the boat, Remo worked hard on the covers of the cushions (with an industrial sewing machine he is stitching turquoise coloured covers for the cushions of the bed and sofa). And on Sunday, we went sailing ;-)

Quick lunch

After our 'amazing' little visit to the public toilet of Imadegawa station, we left the station to meet an old friend of mine during her lunch break. Carmen, who, by now, probably knows for certain whether she passed her PhD exam, definitely passed the "Am I allowed to hold you, Auro?"-test and successfully carried Auro all the way to the restaurant and back! In return, Auro politely waved goodbye before we left!

Apology

I'm fairly certain that people who have gone to public toilets in Japan before have never given it much thought, so I feel I should mention it here: when you have a baby with you, Japanese public toilets are so benri (便利=handy)! Almost all public toilets have at least one cubicle which has a special seat for babies. I have to admit that, before I had Auro, I very often used this seat to put my bag on and never really appreciated it's real value. With this post, I officially apologize to all the baby seats in Japanese public toilets for not seeing how handy they are! I really wish they had them in Belgium or Italy too (I always had to put Auro on the floor close to me), not to mention Chinese public toilets... And while we are at it, maybe airplane companies should also consider installing them. I don't have to explain to you just how much 'manoeuvring' it requires when you need to go and there is barely enough space on the dirty floor to put your feet.
Anyway... here is Auro in the toilet of Imadegawa station!

Bravo

For many months now I've been trying to teach Auro how to clap his hands together, but he never showed any interest. The other day, all of a sudden, he reasponded to my "bravo" by clapping his hands together! Now, every time I say "bravo", he drops whatever he is holding and starts clapping his hands! So, maybe he will not only be able to blow out the candle on his cake, but also to congratulate himself on his first birthday!