monsoon hits late; calgary cucumbers freeze

Here in Delhi we are enjoying the much-awaited arrival of the monsoon rains. There has been a terrible drought this year and farming reports have seen an 80%+ drop in the regular amount of rain. Apparently, farmers have planted more than 3 crops in some cases and each time the paddy rice just blows away. It's likely that this rain is still going to be too little too late, but it's very pleasant for us. It is still super duper hot. I was waiting for Ji outside his class (ie not in the air con school area; out on the grass) for five minutes the other day and by the time he came out I was utterly drenched with sweat. This was on a day just before another big rainfall, and the humidity levels and temperature were astounding. It's still not as bad as Thailand, though, where it would be hot and humid year-round. I actually quite like Delhi so long as I have an air con available. It's wonderful once you get to October and stays pleasant until the end of March. Kind of the opposite of Canada, really.

Speaking of Canada, I had a lovely chat with Grampa Paul this morning. He's well and was telling me that Cecylia's cucumbers all froze in a recent frost. Now Calgary really is truly topsy turvy. We were there, what, two and a half weeks ago and it was 95' and now it's below zero. Psycho!

Seung Yi just wandered in to ask for a cuppa tea. She's wearing this adorable little tank top that she CUT INTO WITH SCISSORS this morning. She was standing by the door, holding her shirt, flaunting a smirky smile and saying "Mama, no look at my shirt" when I defied her and looked right at her shirt. Two slices, right in the middle. Naughty! But still terribly cute. She and Laree are doing well at school although they both almost got sent home for not doing their homework. I can't keep track of what we're supposed to keep and what we're supposed to send back. Hallelujia for Ji's school, where they've made a decision to have no homework at the elementary level, and instead have parents encourage the kids to read for fun. Meanwhile, Seung Yi gets worksheets like, "print out a painting from Delhi's Museum of Modern Art and paste it onto the square below and then draw a line connecting the map of Delhi with the picture of the Museum." Dude, half the kids in the class aren't even toilet trained! They got in trouble cause "they" didn't do "their" homework for Independence Day: cut out a 2" in diameter circle and write a patriotic message on it. NOT. TOILET. TRAINED!

Ji's good; his best friend had to move up to Grade 3, but he's got a new buddy and seems pretty happy. He tells me one of the girls has a crush on him, and I think she's adorable, so I'm fine with that. We love his teacher. He's joining Tae Kwon Do and Crafts with Recycled Materials for his after school activities, and he did not want to do Little League this year. We let him escape from that (which we really like cause we get to watch games and hang out and enjoy the field with Seung Yi) so long as he agreed to do soccer in the spring, which Phet thinks he'll coach again. Great line from Phet's coaching career last year when he was trying to whip some kids into shape - attention shape, not physical shape, that is...

Kid: Ji, does your Dad beat you?

Ha! Anyways, Ji's also arranged for his first sleepover with his buddy who moved up to gr 3 who will come and spend next Friday night with us, which is great.

Things at school are good and busy of course as always. We had auditions for the play this week and had our casting meeting on Friday. We had 66 kids try out and have a great cast and dance crew and about twelve hundred other kids who want to help out with crew etc. It's going to be a real spectacular-spectacular for sure. Must run and get ready for school tomorrow.

[Delhi-16-August-2009]