Ryan's preschool had a Christmas fair today. It rained the whole day but the clouds cleared up for the festivities and left a clean crisp feeling in the air. The school was adorned in all manner of Christmas decorations, all made by the students.
There were stalls selling all sorts of stuff, from wine to crafts. There were also activity stations for things like face painting, arts and crafts and cookie decorating. There was also an area for selling old toys. All proceeds go to charity.
There was a cosy nook, with cushions and soft lights, for story telling (Christmas stories, of course). There was a simple food and drinks stall as well - we skipped that! The stall that we were most interested in was the one selling cookbooks! Haha! Actually they were selling a special recipe book compiled by the school. The school asked the parents/students to contribute a family recipe each (with a photograph) for the book. Proceeds from the sale of the book also go to charity. I contributed a "tang yuan" recipe (glutinuous rice dumplings) with a photo of Ryan and me rolling the little dumplings. We picked up a copy.
The highlight of the event, at least for us, was Ryan's class singing "Jingle Bells" in Mandarin! Richard has the video of it on his phone and I'll get that uploaded soon. In the meantime, here are some photos!
This is Ryan's class. They are standing in a circle so not all are visible. Also, not all of his classmates are here. The fair was held in the evening, outside school hours and it is not compulsory to attend. The children are in their own clothes and not in their school uniform, as you can see. It was a very casual thing. The students in each class just steps up and sings a song and their audience is just their parents and class teachers. The other adults are roaming around the grounds with their own children.
Richard put together this outfit for Ryan - an elf costume! Ryan is holding a shaker to tap along to the tune.
This is the first time we've seen Ryan perform a song! He did great! All the children were wonderful and so so so cute!
It was a funny feeling for me, watching him perform. To see him confidently going through the moves and singing the lyrics - wow. He never practised the song at home, at all. It hit me that, now that he is in preschool, he really does have his own little life which is separate from me. His teachers, his classmates - they all have a part of him every day, a part which I don't. It's a feeling that I'm experiencing more and more, which makes me treasure the time that we spend together even more.
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