When I mentioned this to David, he said something along the lines of "ridiculous! How would anyone know? I mean - who can see your pot plants 20 floor up?" etc, etc. Until two days ago, I thought he had a point, but then.....
We had just returned from the half term break and with the kids at school, I was just catching up with a few bits and pieces. Then the door bell rang. There on the doorstep is a man with a clipboard and ID badge, claiming to be the "mosquito inspector" and he needed to check our apartment.
Well, there were suitcases everywhere and everything was a tip. I hoped he was averting his eyes as he asked "do you have any house plants?". I showed him the two we have. Fortunately, I'd completely forgotten to water them since returning from holiday and they were so dry that they were probably about to drop dead. This seemed to be how he liked them though and happily ticked his sheet. Next, he checked the kitchen (complete with piles of dirty dishes I was getting round to washing up) and our bathrooms, to check for stagnant water. Finally, he asked to see the aircon shelf. This is a sort of inaccessible balcony style arrangement full of aircon units. He told me it was in good condition (phew) and departed after ticking a few more boxes.
He visited a neighbour here too who told me that in her previous condo, a friend there with a pot plant in water got fined $5000. Wow - so glad I'd forgotten to water ours.
Meanwhile, just before half term (which was last week), the school had it's annual UN Day celebrations. Most international schools celebrate this day in October and it is an opportunity to appreciate the multiple nationalities and cultures in the school.
Each national group dresses up in their national costume, then they do a parade. Each country has some traditional music played, and a few words spoken about their country as they paraded around the school buildings holding their flag. It's something like the Olympic opening ceremony with commentary and only slightly shorter.
Of course, being English, we don't actually have a national costume, so each year the parents come up with a representative theme or two. This year it was summer sports founded in England (cricket, tennis and the odd England football kit crept in), kings and queens (lots of little girls in princess dresses and tiaras) and Alica in Wonderland. Adam, who hates dressing up, wore his tennis kit and Hannah was one of a number of Alices. The English teachers had opted to dress as morris dancers. It was an idea suggested at the parents meeting for the kids, but nobody took it seriously at the time!
Some of the costumes were fabulous and colourful. The biggest group was the English, but only just, as the Koreans in their wonderfully colourful national dress numbered almost as many. Overall, there were 45 nationalities represented. Most had a national costume although the South Africans dressed as animals with amazing masks and the the lion costume from last years "Wizzard of Oz" got another outing. The Scots wore their kilts and someone even played the bagpipes. Many nationalities were represented by only one family, but everyone had their moment.
I felt a little sorry for anyone who's national dress was desgined for a somewhat cooler climate. Fortunately, there were no Eskimos, but Hannah's friend from Estonia, the Welsh girls and a few others must have been BOILING.
After the parade, parents had decorated the classrooms with posters and artifacts from their country and provided samples of traditional food. The English had gone for cupcakes. Apparently in previous years, they'd done English high tea with cucumber and salmon sandwiches, but the cakes were always the most popular by far, so this year, we just went for the popular vote. The children all had their Dover Court "passport" which was stamped in every classroom they visited and is a momento of the day.
The many children of mixed nationalities could choose what to be. In our English group was a Portuguese lady. She had insisted her children were English this year as being the only Portuguese mum had been hard work last year decorating the Portuguese classroom.
