Zao an

The other day my daughter asked me the meaning of a long sentence. The only catch was that the sentence was in Chinese (at least it sounded like Chinese). Thinking she was up to some make believe games, I just gave her a reply. But she repeated the sentence and asked me to listen carefully before answering. After she had repeated (with no changes) a couple of times, I told her that I didn't know the meaning. Then she told that it was 'dear children, sit down, sit down'. I'm still not sure whether it is the correct sentence, but I have to give her the benefit of doubt. She repeated the sentence with the same words and sounds each time I asked her and she didn't waver a bit. She attended the Chinese class for a year when she was in nursery and her teacher was all praise about her grasping power. But being her mother, I know that she loves to speak gibberish. There have been instances when she has replied in 'Chinese', but in all the cases it has been to non-Chinese speakers. So I take her Chinese speaking ability with a pinch of salt.

Incidently, the title means "Good Morning" in Chinese and that is all that I know in Chinese!!!

No smoke, no fire

It was a colleague's birthday yesterday. Some of his teammates got together and decided to throw a surprise party for him. A cake was bought and mail sent out to all his friends in office. So around 3pm all of us gathered at the pantry. There were around 15 of us. The cake was placed on the table, candles fixed, plates and knife kept ready and someone went to call the birthday boy. It was then that we realised that we didn't have a match box or lighter to light the candle. There was not a single soul in the 15 people gathered there who smoked. Then began the hunt for a lighter. It took us nearly 10 mins to find a lighter. It was a pleasant surprise indeed.

Painting

The little girl loves to draw and paint. She prepares birthday cards for all her cousins and takes great pride in it. She is now attending an arts class in her school and has started to appreciate the great painters. Last month, they were introduced to Van Goh's paintings. I needed Google-Baba's help to have a decent talk with her about the paintings. I was pretty surprised that they had not only taught her about the paintings but also about the painter and his life. It's good that she is getting a wholesome picture. Last week she came home with a copy of a Van Goh's painting that she had done. It was really cool and she has managed to almost reproduce a recognisable painting ;).

We put up her painting in a prominent place in the living room and as we were admiring it, she spouted these words of wisdom..."Mummy, do you know that Van Goh was not rich and not well too? Sometimes he didnt even have enough money to eat. He spent most of his final years in the hospital and died pretty young. But his paintings are very very costly now...Millions and millions of dollars. Poor guy, he should have sold his pictures when he was alive. Then he would have earned millions and millions..." a BIG pause and... "Mummy, will you sell my painting?"