誰是聖誕老公公?

Who is Santa?

I guess it is official. The tree is up; decorations all over it. The singing moose repeats Christmas songs over and over again and my 3 year old dances to the music like she is the happiest kid in the world. Over the weekend, we produced this story. I wrote this short piece a long time ago, almost a year ago, I think, when Chantal first got an idea of who Santa is. I showed Emilyn my script two weeks ago and we discussed the "plan" to make a Santa for the video. She was very excited about the project and we invited Song Fei, Emilyn's friend, to join the art production. The story is a conversation between me (mother) and Chantal (little sister = mei mei).We recorded the conversation in one take. This was not the case for previous stories when we had to practice and record line by line. Emilyn has made good progress on her Chinese reading.

Chinese with pinyin

Chinese with English subtitles

So here it is. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all. And thank you for reading and supporting my story blog. There will be more fun stories in the New Year and I welcome your ideas and suggestions.

妹妹: 媽媽, 誰是聖誕老公公?Mèi mèi: Mā Mā, shéi shì shèng dàn lǎo gōng gōng?Sister: Who is Santa Claus?

媽媽: 聖誕老公公是一個很有愛心的老公公Mā Mā: Shèng dàn lǎo gōng gōng shì yī ge hěn yǒu ài xīn de lǎo gōng gōngMother: Santa Claus is a caring old man

妹妹: 他有多老了?Mèi mèi: Tā yǒu duō lǎo le?Sister: How old is he?

媽媽: 很老很老, 但是他很健康,胖胖壯壯的Mā Mā: Hěn lǎo hěn lǎo, dàn shì tā hěn jiàn kāng, pàng pàng zhuàng zhuàng deMother: Very old, very old. But he is very healthy, chubby and sturdy.

妹妹: 他為什麼胖胖壯壯的呢?Mèi mèi: Tā wèi shé mo pàng pàng zhuàng zhuàng de nē?Sister: Why is he chubby and sturdy?

媽媽: 因為他總是笑嘻嘻Mā Mā: Yīn wèi tā zǒng shì xiào xī xīMother: because he always smiles.

妹妹: 他對誰笑嘻嘻呢?Mèi mèi: Tā duì shéi xiào xī xī nē?Sister: Who does he smile at?

媽媽: 對每一個人都笑嘻嘻,尤其對好孩子笑嘻嘻Mā Mā: Duī měi yī ge rén dōu xiào xī xī, Yóu qí duì hǎo hái zi xiào xī xīMother: He smiles at everyone, especially the good kids.

妹妹: 誰是好孩子?Mèi mèi: Shéi shì hǎo hái zi?Sister: Who is a good kid?

媽媽: 每一個孩子都可以當好孩子,對別人有愛心,就是好孩子Mā Mā: Měi yī ge hái zi dōu kě yǐ dāng hǎo hái zi, duì bié rén yǒu ài xīn, jiù shì hǎo hái ziMother: Every kid can be a good kid. As long as you are caring toward others, you are a good kid.

妹妹: 要怎麼樣對別人有愛心呢?Mèi mèi: Yào zěn mo yàng duì bié rén yǒu ài xīn nē?Sister: How can you be caring toward others?

媽媽: 要幫助別人,要分享你的好東西,就是有愛心Mā Mā: Yào bāng zuì béi rén, yào fēn xiǎng nǐ de hǎo dōng xī, jiù shì yǒu ài xīnMother: You help others and share what you have. That’s caring.

妹妹: 聖誕老公公小時後是不是一個有愛心的小朋友?Mèi mèi: Shèn dàn lǎo gōng gōng xiǎo shí hòu shì bú shì yī ge yǒu ài xīn de xiǎo péng yǒu?Sister: Was Santa Claus a caring kid when he was little?

媽媽: 是吧! 他才會老了,還是個有愛心的老公公Mā Mā: Shì ba! Tā cái huì lǎo le, hái shì ge yǒu ài xīn de lǎo gōng gōngMother: Yes! When he got old, he is still a caring old man

妹妹: 他會送禮物給我嘛?Mèi mèi: Tā huì sòng lǐ wù gěi wǒ mā?Sister: Will he give me a present?

媽媽: 你是好孩子嘛?Mā Mā: Nǐ shì hǎo hái zi mā?Mother: Are you a good kid?

妹妹: 是呀! 我現在是好孩子, 有愛心,等我長大以後老了,我也可以當聖誕老公公Mèi mèi: Shì yā! Wǒ xiàn zài shì hǎo hái zi, yǒu ài xīn, děn wǒ zhǎng dà yǐ hòu lǎo le, wǒ yě kě yǐ dāng shèng dàn lǎo gōng gōngSister: Yes! I am a good kid now. I am caring. When I grow old, I can be Santa Claus too.

秋天的妝,萬聖節的裝 Fall Makeup, Halloween Disguise

In anticipation of Halloween, we are singing silly songs and thinking about the costumes we are going to wear. The stores have everything about Halloween on display. We've visited several pumpkin patches. We can hear the rustling of leaves on the ground when we go for a walk in the woods. I think Halloween is my children's favourite festival (ok, maybe after Christmas). As a kid, I was always excited about going out in the dark. Although in Taiwan, the ghosts are said to be a lot more vicious. Here in Canada, this so-called ghost festival is just a day to ask for treats and dress up in funny or fancy clothes. How fun!

I was surprised I have a lot of stock photos from the past that I can use for this short poem. I want to share this poem BEFORE the Halloween arrives so kids and parents can learn and use a few Chinese phrases just in time for the holiday. I have to admit I don't really like the pumpkin pie but I do like to carve pumpkins. One of the pumpkins in the photos (the happy ghost) was the orginal design of Emilyn when she was 4. Hmmm... what are we going to carve this year?

Here is the full poem. As always, feedback welcomed. Enjoy!

秋天的妝
qiū tiān de zhuāng
Fall Makeup

萬聖節的裝
wàn shèng jié de zhuāng
Halloween Disguise

誰把綠色的樹葉化了妝?
shéi  bǎ lù sè de shù yè huà le zhuāng
who puts the makeup on the green leave?

誰把森林換上紅、黃、橘色的新衣
shéi bǎ sēn lín huàn shàng hóng huáng jú sè de xīn yī
who puts the new clothes of red, yellow and orange on the forest?

誰把地上鋪滿樹葉的地毯
shéi bǎ dì shàng pū mǎn shù yè de dì tǎn
who covers the ground with a carpet of leaves?

好美啊！
hǎo měi ā
so beautiful

原來是秋天涼爽的空氣
yuán lái shì qiū tiān liáng shuǎng de kōng qì
 it is the cool air of the Fall

變的把戲
biàn de bǎ xì
that plays the trick

好玩耶！
hǎo wán yē
so much fun

可以堆滿落葉
kě yǐ duī mǎn luò yè
let’s pile up the leaves

跳進去
tiào jìn qù
then jump in

好吃呦！
hǎo chī yōu
so yummy

烤個南瓜派
kǎo ge nán guā pài
let’s bake a pumpkin pie

喝熱可可
he rè kě kě
drink hot chocolate

啊！不要忘記
ā! bú yào wàng jì
aya! don’t forget to

把南瓜刻成笑笑臉
bǎ nán guā kē chéng xiào xiào liǎn
carve a smiley face onto the pumpkin

也不要忘記
yě bú yào wàng jì
also don’t forget to

把自己化妝
bǎ zì jǐ huà zhuāng
put the makeup on ourselves

貓咪？巫婆？還是小鬼？
māo mī? wū pó? hái shì xiǎo guǐ?
a kitten? a witch? or a little ghost?

過萬聖節了！
guò wàn shèng jié le!
it’s time for Halloween!

天空 The sky is not always blue

I still can't believe it is September already. We spent this weekend getting ready for school and work - lots of shopping, laundary, cooking, etc. Summer is really short this year. And it is a memorable one as we drove across three provinces - BC, Alberta and Saskachewan - in three weeks to visit friends and families. It was a trip of reconnecting. I will write more about the trip as ideas bubble up. I did work on this short poem with Emilyn as soon as we came home. It is about the sky. That's something surprised me the most about the road trip: how much sky I got to observe and enjoy. From the mountain to the prairie, I can really appreciate the differences in colours, clouds, and textures. Yes, I felt I can touch the sky!

Here is the full poem:

天空 Tiān kōng  (Sky)

天空是籃色的 Tiān kōng shì lán sè de

The sky is blue

不過 Bú guò

but

有時後是黃色、橘色、紫色、紅色 Yǒu shí hòu shì huáng sè, jú sè, zǐ sè, hóng sè

Sometimes it is yellow, orange, purple or red

在平原上的天空，很大 Zài píng yuán shàng de tiān kōng, hěn dà

The sky on the prairie is very vast

大得包圍起草原和漫遊吃草的牛馬 Dà dé bāo wéi qǐ cǎo yuán hé màn yóu chī cǎo de niú mǎ

So vast that it embraces the grassland and the grazing cows and horses

我站在很大的天空下 Wǒ zhàn zài hěn dà de tiān kōng xià

I stand under the vast sky

感覺我自己很小 Gǎn jié wǒ zì jǐ hěn xiǎo

I feel I am very small

在高山上的天空，很小 Zài gāo shān shàng de tiān kōng, hěn xiǎo

The sky in the mountains is small

小得像被山谷和森林擁抱在懷裡 Xiǎo dé xiàng bèi shān gǔ hé sēn lín yǒng bào zài huái lǐ

So small that it is embraced by the hills and forests

我站在很小的天空下 Wǒ zhàn zài hěn xiǎo de tiān kōng xià

I stand under the small sky

感覺自己被緊緊地抱著 Gǎn jué zì jǐ bèi jǐn jǐn dì bào zhe

I feel I am tightly held

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I was reminded this week how important it is to keep telling stories. Salman Rushdie once said "Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, the power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change, truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts". It sounds pretty heavy and serious but it does resonate with the reason I am writing this blog and creating these poems and stories. Children (and adult) who learn Chinese as a second language need to tell their own stories. Emilyn learned a few new Chinese words through writing and recording this poem. More importantly, for me and for her, we are using the language to decribe our exepriences. It is an awesome feeling of empowerment. Now I can't wait to write more about our road trip. It was packed with fun and new exepriences for sure!



夏天去海邊 Summer, let's go to the beach!

Summer is my favourite season. With my new camera in hand, plus bucket and shovel, we head out to the beach a few times already. A lot of the photos were taken at Witty's Lagoon. The water there is warm and shallow. When the tide is out, we can easily see fish, crabs and all kids of sea creatures.

It is really rewarding to hear my girls citing phrases from this poem and the previous one - Spring Rain. These short rhythms are catchy and easy to remember. My pinyin is improving too, although I did purchase a Chinese font program and used it to add pinyin to words. Here is the full version with English translation:

夏天去海邊 xià tiān qù hǎi biān

沙子、沙子 shā  zi, shā  zi
Sand, sand

海邊有好多沙子 hǎi  biān  yǒu  hǎo  duō  shā  zi
Lots of sand at the beach

也有好多貝殻 yě yǒu hǎo duō bèi ké
lots of shells too

白色、黃色、橘色、紫色的貝殻 bái sè, huáng sè, jú sè, zǐ sè de bèi ké
white, yellow, orange, purple shells

拿水桶 ná shuǐ tǒng
take a bucket

做一個沙城堡 zuò yī ge shā chéng bǎo
make a sand castle

用貝殼點綴 yòng bèi ké diǎn zhuì
decorate with shells

彩色的沙城堡 cǎi sè de shā chéng bǎo
a colourful sand castle

海水被夏天的太陽 hǎi shuǐ bèi xià tiān de tài yáng
the ocean water, because of the summer sun,

照得暖暖的 zhào dé nuǎn nuǎn de
is warm up

我和魚兒、螃蟹一起游泳 wǒ hèn yú ér, páng xiè yi qǐ yóu yǒng
I swim with fish and crabs

不過他們很害羞bú guò tā mén hě hài xiū
But they are very shy

我一靠近 wǒ yī kào jìn
I get closer

他們就快快逃跑了 tā mén jiù kuài kuai táo pǎo le
They quickly run away

慶祝春天 Let's celebrate Spring

I have been waiting for Spring for a while. With the west coast rain, it feels like a looooong wait. The flowers are not waiting, though, and the kids are certainly happy to put on the rain boots and jump in puddles. Hence this poem. I wrote one poem for each season. Again, we turn the production into an art project. Emilyn is more than happy to grab the camera and experiment with it.

Emilyn can read the poem easily on her own. I also installed Audacity this time for the recording so the sound quality is a lot better. Chantal was featured in two of the photographs, one of which was a snapshot I took of her a year ago. She loved her pink boots and insisted on wearing them to match her tutus.

We will try photography for the remaining three seasons - summer at the beach, Halloween in the Fall, and nihao Mr. snowman. Oh, I am including the translation of the poem in this blog because I inserted pinyin (I am learning pinyin myself so this is MY homework), which takes up the screen space for English subtitles. Enjoy!

春－下雨了chūng  -  xià  yǔ  le

Spring – it’s raining

天空黑黑的烏雲  tiān  kūn  hāi  hāi  de  wū  yuēn
In the sky dark clouds
不走開 bù  zǒu  kāi
Won’t go away

下雨了 xià  yǔ  le
It’s raining
唏哩嘩啦  xī  lī  huā  lā
Pitter patter
濕溚溚  shī  dā  dā
So wet

穿雨衣  chuān  yǔ  yī
Put on a raincoat
拿雨傘  ná  yǔ  sǎn
Grab an umbrella
雨靴呢？ yǔ  xuē ne
How about rain boots?
在這裡，在這裡  zài  zhè  lǐ,  zài  zhè  lǐ
They are here, they are here

左腳，右腳，穿好了  zuǒ  jiǎo,  yòu  jiǎo,  chuān  hǎo  le
left foot, right foot, all done
出去找水坑  chū  qù  zhǎo  shuě  kēng
go outside to find puddles
一腳，兩腳，跳進去  yì  jiǎo,  liǎn jiǎo,  tiào  jìn  qù
one foot, two foot, jump in
SPLASH!

我喜歡雨  wǔ  xǐ huān  yǔ
I like rain
春天的花也喜歡雨  chūng  tiān  de  huā  yě  xǐ  huān yǔ
Spring flowers also like rain
黃色的水仙  huáng  sè  de  shuě xiān
yellow daffodils
紅色的鬱金香  hóng  sè  de yù  jīn xiāng
red tulips

摘一朵、兩朵、三朵  zhāi  yī  duǒ,  liǎng  duǒ,  sān  duǒ
Picking one, two, three flowers
把春天帶回家  bǎ  chūng  tiān  dài  hué  jiā
Brining Spring home

We had a great time at Chinese Story Time 有說有笑的故事時間

The first Chinese Story Time went really well. Lots of enthusiastic kids and parents! My two girls were very involved in the process. Chantal especially loved to pull the suitcase full of Chinese books. I had the first 20 minutes or so with Chantal so we read a few stories together. When other kids showed up, she didn't like the idea of sitting down with others so she spent most of the time playing with the suitcase on her own. Emilyn wanted to read a story to others so she did the Fat Cat. I'm very encouraged by the positive feedback on those videos of our stories. A few kids also wanted to listen to our third book "Planting a vegetable garden", still in its hand-made book format. I need some ideas for turning this book into a video. Emilyn is working on it. Any suggestion?

As I expected, sharing books and story time is fun and the kids really enjoyed browsing all the colourful books we put on the table as display. Dora is very popular among the younger ones. I also found it very good for kids with little Chinese. It is almost like a picture and vacabulary book. And it is very interactive with the built-in activities. 

I will probably go on a shopping spree to add more books to my collection in the next week or so. There is also a risk of staying awake at night thinking up an idea for the video production of the vegie book. Oh well, I did start our vegie garden this year so maybe my inspiration will come soon as the kids and I continue to dig in the dirt.

A tree falls down 樹"終於"倒了

It took me a long time to finish the video but finally it's here: A Tree Falls Down Chinese version and English version . My second story is about our favourite Goldstream Park where we visit often and especially in the Fall when we go to see the salmon run.

I feel a sense of urgency to get this story and video done because of the recent accident on the highway by the park. A feul truck crashed and spilled lots of oil and gas into the river, killing the fish and polluting the envrionment. The accident happened a day after the park staff released hundreds of young salmon into the river. Really bad timing...although there isn't any good timing anyway. Local newspaper showed pictures of dead fish, which really concerned me. We haven't been to the park after the accident but it was always on my mind as I was working on the video production of the story.

This time, Emilyn helped a lot more with the video production. It was really fun for us to spend almost two full days to design the paper cutouts, rehearse the "play" scene by scene, often involving improv and conflict resolution when we had very different artistic views. She also learned how to shoot the video. That was exciting for her. I was planning to narrate the story myself. I would have finished a lot faster for sure. But I decided to keep Emilyn involved and recorded the narration with her line by line. It was not easy but we did it. She also had the brilliant idea to sing the song for the opening and closing scenes. "Monsieur le chene" is about a tree, very fitting for the story, she said. 

About the story itself, Emilyn remembered that day well when a tree almost fell on top of her as we were by the river bank to get a closer look at the salmon in the river. She was only 3 yeas old. What scared her was the noise of the tree trunk breaking off and crashing to the ground, as well as her dad's sudden reaction to grab her and run. She cried a bit but later she recounted the story repeatedly to grandma, her friends and us, with the most enthusiasm a 3 years old can have.

Oh, I do hope we will see the salmon run this Fall. I did not mean to write this story to remember a past time. It's an ongoing story of our family's annual ritual to visit the salmon returning home. Emilyn is 6 now and her sister, Chantal, is turning 3 this year. We tell the story to each other a lot so Chantal thinks she is in the story and she is the one crying when the tree falls down. This has to be a story from kids to kids, year after year. It should never stop.

Chinese Story Time 說故事時間

For the next two months (May and June), I'll start a Chinese Story Time. This will be a fun time for me to read Chinese to my kids and share this experiences with others who also are trying hard to mantain the language and culture in their homes. The details are:
Date: Saturdays from May 7th to June 25 (Every Saturday except June 11)
Time: 11:30am to 12:30pm
Place: 2215 Dowler Place, Victoria BC (Chinese Pentecostal Church)
I invite childrens (and their parents) of all ages. I'll bring our Chinese children's books to share, including the books my daughter and I wrote together. It's a free event but a $3 donation is appreciated. Feel free to contact me at  iningtracychao@gmail.com for more information.