Tuesday Prayers in a Chinese Mosque

The thought of visiting a Chinese mosque never really crossed my mind, until recently when I signed up to go along with a field trip of Thomas' class. Thomas' current class work is all related to different belief systems and this week he is visiting a mosque, a catholic church, and a temple, covering Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism in one gigantic religious swoop.

 

I never quite realized how big Islam actually is in China. According to some research posted on Wikipedia, about 1-2 percent of the Chinese population is Muslim, which translates into about 20 million Chinese. And, as I learned today, the second largest Muslim area in Beijing is about 10 minutes from my house!

 

 

Here we are, pouring out of the school bus and onto the grounds of the mosque. The mosque was only built in 2011, to accommodate the residents of the brand new building complexes on the right. (When I arrived in Beijing four years ago, there was only a big field. Back then, in 2010, the old homes and villages had just been torn down.) Apparently 95 percent of the people in this little subset of the city (a couple blocks of apartment buildings like the one you see in the picture) are Muslim.

 

 

 

 

 

The imam welcomes us at the door.

 

Thomas is hard to see in his red "Washington Capitals" sweater.

 

We are allowed inside the main prayer room, which is very unusual. Women would normally also be on the other side of the screen that you see in the left of the picture. (The kids had lots of questions about the separation between men and women here.) 

 

The focus is Allah.

 

Inside of the dome.

 

Some autumn gardening and construction.

 

Through the women's shower and hand washing area.

  

Blue sky! Always a treat in Beijing.

 

 Reflection window.

 

 

In het Nederlands: Vandaag ben ik met een schoolreisje--weliswaar een heeeel kort schoolreisje-- van Thomas meegeweest. We hebben een moskee in de buurt van school (en ons huis) bezocht en van de Imam geleerd over Islam en de verschillende gebruiken van de moslims. Het was heel interessant de moskee eens een keer van binnen te zien.

Dutch "Prinsjesdag" in Beijing

About two weeks ago, on Wednesday September 17, Thomas went on a field trip with a few other Dutch kids from school to the Dutch embassy. Just the day before it had been "Prinsjesdag," an important day for the Dutch government on which the king or queen of the Netherlands, currently King Willem Alexander, addresses the Dutch parliament with a "Speech from the Throne" (Troonrede).

 

For Thomas I bet the highlight was the sausage rolls and raisin buns for lunch, or perhaps even a short chat with Dutch ambassador Aart Jacobi. 

 

Thomas as the third "yellow" kid from the right, next to the platter with raisin buns.

 

Thomas and a friend in yellow. (Hhm, was he supposed to wear orange that day?) The yellow outfits are the school P.E. uniforms.

 

Some more pictures of the trip are posted on the blog of the Rode Leeuw, the Dutch school in Beijing.

 

In het Nederlands: Thomas was laatst even op bezoek bij de Nederlandse ambassade in Beijing. Nou komen we daar wel vaker, voor een paspoort, Sinterklaas of Koningsdag, maar niet altijd krijgen we dan een krentebol!

 

 



Hollands Glorie

Ik las dat in Nederland Dick Bruna het voor gezien houdt. Jammer, want Nijntje breekt hier net door! Dit is een foto van een winkeltje bij ons in de muur.

 

We wonen hier met veel buitenlanders ("waiguoren", zeggen de Chinezen) bij elkaar, dus de winkeltjes verkopen ook kaas, Duitse jam, musli, en.... kriek bier!

 

 

 

A new graduate!

If his mom hadn't been such a slacker, you would have found out weeks ago: Simon is a new "Western Academy of Beijing Fifth Grade Graduate"! Woohoo. The blue t-shirt (and some academic credit) is proof: Next year Simon is going to Middle School.

 

As parents, we were treated to a nice assembly, where we reviewed the fifth grade accomplishments this year (camp...some school work...personal project, and.. oh another camp). Afterwards we had a good lunch in the gym (now, that is a reason to go to the gym!), at which we as parents all congratulated ourselves with getting the kids this far without us getting any older. :)

 

 

The Fifth Grade Graduation Assembly at WAB, one of Beijing's many international schools.
(Hhm, not the best picture quality, is it?)

 

Simon and his friends--some other successful graduates, woohoo!

 

Never to old for balloons!

 

 

Family selfie.

 

 

In het Nederlands: Simon heeft onlangs z'n Fifth Grade afgemaakt en rond daarmee de Elementary School (basisschool) hier af. Volgend jaar gaat hij dan naar Middle School (en over drie jaar naar High School). Felicitaties!

 

The bus stop challenge

When you think about China, you might think of ancient mysteries, about temples shrouded in clouds and kongfu masters in praying mantis position. However, the daily mystery boils down to this: Where is the bus going and at what time? Four years in China, and I still don't have a better idea then just to ask the folks at the bus stop and hope for the best.



Pray tell, when is the bus leaving today?


In het Nederlands: Het bordje bij de bushalte: het daaglijks mysterie is hier soms erg groot!

Revival!

Sometimes a blog dies a silent death...and sometimes your family (hi mom!) reminds you that it would be nice if there was another post.

 

Today my mom actually called me to tell me she received my post card from Shanghai, which goes to show that China's regular mail service is done by snail since I visited Shanghai already in early May. In addition to the paper post cards, here are two quick images of the city of rain.

 

 

The Pearl Tower in Dutch weather.

 

Hanging out at "the Bund." Only the Dutch would consider a biking tour in these conditions.

 

 

 

"Happy" in Beijing

Friends - the usual mid-year lapse in blog posts is underway, but we're still very "happy" in Beijing.

The people and street life in the clip below are just so incredibly Beijing! Everything is even in a haze of smog!