Bamboo Sketches
by Charity Lee JenningsLantern Festival in Ink and Watercolour
Did you know that in China, Chinese New Year is more commonly called Spring Festival? The fifteen day celebration truly is designed to put the coldest days of winter behind and usher in Spring. Friday night was Lantern Festival, the last night of the celebration and...
Mandarin Minute – Happy Chinese New Year
February 16th is Chinese New Year. Join Jia Jia and I so you can greet your friends, saying Happy New Year! Charity: Hello, 你好, and welcome to Mandarin Minute. I’m Charity Lee Jennings. Jia Jia: 你好, 我是 Jia Jia. Charity: Jia Jia, thanks for joining us...
Home and Family – the Heart of 2017
As I look over my posts from the past, I see markers along my path. Some made bigger dents, and some extended beyond myself, to you. I don’t know if it means these posts resonated more than others, but going by number of views, my top posts of 2017 were: # 3. A...
12 Days of Christmas & a New Year Collage
You know that feeling when you’ve spent two hours preparing a meal and everyone finishes eating in twenty minutes? For me it’s an energy slump and my mind goes a-blur. I feel the same way the day after Christmas. I can never pull myself out of bed and the details of...
Gallery of Hearts
Grab a drink, sink into your chair, and enjoy this slideshow, created by my daughter and I, of valentine hearts. If you want to choose your pace, ignore the link and select the first photo. Then you can click through the show. [ngg_images source="galleries"...
Valentine’s Day Mandarin Minute
Learn to say, "I love you," on this Valentine's Day Mandarin Minute. And come back tomorrow for our Chinese New Year Mandarin Minute. Charity: Hello, 你好, and welcome to Mandarin Minute. Jia Jia, it’s great to see you again. JiaJia: 是的。 好久不见。 Charity:...
Juggling Dreams and Family
As the river of 2018 sweeps me away, I grab a tree branch, and look back. The current of life moves faster every year and I don’t want my story to be just a blur. I want to remember. Looking back, I see years of tension, trying to find balance between family and...
A Different Sort Of Resolution
Something shifted that day, though I couldn’t put it into words. A speaker said something I’d never heard before. He admitted weakness to a crowd. Without knowing it, he offered me an invitation, but I couldn’t accept. I was afraid. As long as I remember, I’ve...
At Home Art Class – Cold Porcelain
Remember my post about wanting to put a movie on for my daughter so I could get one last thing done? Writing it awoke a picture of what I want our relationship to look like. I don't want to be too busy each time she approaches. I want to make memories together, to...
Culture Snapshot – Cold Snap
Pristine snow stretching through the distance, and the flutter of intricate flakes - today, a Canadian winter sounds inviting. Today, I woke to a thermometer that read 9 degrees celsius. No, not outside - the thermometer is at my bedside. I don’t forget...
The Spirit of a Child
My daughter was already pained that I wasn’t getting any surprises for Christmas, when we arrived at the store. Close your eyes, she said, and hid something in the cart. I smiled, then wondered what the sales clerk thought when I turned my back while my daughter...
4 Things I Love About Christmas In China
It's easy to focus on what we're missing by not being in Canada for Christmas. But after an expat friend travelled home for the holidays, she told me how much more she appreciated Christmas in China. So although I haven't gone home for the holidays since we left...