Lao2dong4jie2 or Wu3yi1jie2
Labor Day or May 1st Holiday is one of the three biggest holidays in China called Golden Weeks. The other two include Spring Festival and National Day. All of these holidays allow for at least 7 days of vacation. During May Holiday, the surrounding weekend time-off is moved to earlier in the week to string the seven days of vacation together. Many Chinese families travel and play during this time and the bus and train stations can be packed. Most shops stay open to take advantage of holiday shoppers, but smaller ones may close for a day or two.
Some foreigners prefer to stay home during this time because the travel is so heavy. Our boys had a half day of school the last friday in April in which the school held a field day. The elementary and upper schools were split between two athletic fields. The weather was glorious and the boys enjoyed competing in mixed teams from all grade levels. For Pete the high-light was probably jumping and for the older boys, their highly competitive tug-of-warm. Although, the teenagers made up on the spot rap cheers were pretty entertaining too.
Being at an international school, the boys only had two full days off and then it was back to work. Tim had been busy all along, practicing for the school Spring play that was coming up at the end of the week. He performed the role of the doctor in O. Henry's "The Last Leaf." All together the students performed 3 one act plays (The also did "Out the Window" and "Drop Dead Juliet"). Tim's was serious; while the other two were much lighter. It was really fun to see all the students get make-up and costumes on and perform in a real theater setting.
Now that we're mid-way into May, we are experiencing the beginnings of the rainy season. Even as I type this, it is gray and rainy outside. And in fact, the older boys were rained out of a camping trip this past weekend. We love the rain - when you can be safe and dry inside snuggled up with a good book or great movie. (The boys even think it's fun to run around outside getting sopping wet. But they weren't to thrilled about sleeping in soaked clothes and wet tents.) We are counting down the days til the end of school and preparing to say some good-byes. Very often at this time of year our foreign friends travel back to their home countries for visits or to stay. The boys will be losing several good friends at the end of the school year; so please be thinking of them. Saying "good-bye" over and over is very much a part of our lives.
