What Does September Mean?

Each year, the ninth month brings certain things with it that make it unmistakably September.  When I was growing up in Nebraska, September meant the start of the school year; however, at Kunming International Academy (KIA), we start our first semester in the middle of August, so by September, we are already at least two weeks deep into the first quarter.  That said, when September starts, we are still at least a month away from the start of basketball season, the annual KIA Family Fun Fair is not for another six weeks, and the students need something to remind them that education is more than just the important information they are expected to learn in their classes.  That is why I originally started the KIA August/September Intramural Soccer Leagues (high school and middle school).

Basketball is arguably the most important team sport in all of China; however, because KIA is an international school, more of our students are used to soccer/futbal than any other sport.  This suits me fine, because I grew up playing the sport and love providing opportunities for our students to play "the beautiful game."  I still enjoy watching basketball and other sports, but there is just something so free flowing and lovely about a ball and two goals, with very few rules to slow down the action.

In the middle school league, we had four teams competing for the glory of the 2013 KIA Intramural Soccer Championships.  We did run into a few glitches with academic issues, but for the most part, our teams competed fluidly over the course of five weeks.  In the end, Team Green walked away with first place.  In the above photo, Nathan (red) takes a shot on goal, while John (yellow) lunges to make the block.  As you can tell, the action was so intense that Timothy (background) was getting into the action, even though he was not on the court at the time.
 

The high school intramural league also had four teams, and it was intense.  Only one team really became a statistical non-factor relatively early on; however, even that team--Team Mauve--remained competitive from match to match, never losing by more than a couple goals.  In the end Team Chartreuse and Team Kelly squared off for the championship, with the brighter green team walking away with the honors.  For the high school students, the nice thing about the intramural soccer league is that it provides the basketball players an opportunity to get onto the court and get in shape a month before their chosen sport begins.  In the photo above, David (black and yellow shorts), one of KIA's point guards, tries out his feet at futbal.  On this occasion, he has to thank the crossbar for denying Joelle's (knee brace) shot.  The arc in front of each goal is a no-play zone--if a defender defends inside the arc, a goal is awarded to the attacking team; if an attacker plays inside the zone, the defending team automatically gains control of the ball.

September also marks the annual lunar calendar Mid-Autumn Festival.  This national holiday is celebrated with family feasts and the eating of "moon cakes" (yue bing).  In Yunnan Province, the most well known moon cake filling is a dried, sweet ham mixture.  In other parts of China, including Taiwan, the traditional center filling is either chicken egg or duck egg (thankfully, that is not a huge tradition in Kunming).  Other traditional fillings are red bean paste and a mixture of nuts and grains.  However, more recently, moon cake manufacturers have also made fruit flavored fillings--mango and muskmelon.  With the advent of Xing Bai Ke (Starbucks), moon cakes have become even more removed from their origins.  The moon cake pictured above has an espresso flavored filling.  (Do be aware:  'espresso flavored' is a relative term, most likely being much less strong than what most Westerners are expecting.)  In any case, we celebrated with moon cakes and looked at the full moon, while enjoying this espresso filled treat.

The summer months--May through August--weather wise are the rainy season.  Therefore, when September roles around, even though we may still receive some rain, it is more likely that we will get to see blue skies again.  The middle to end of October is really when we receive regularly clear skies, but in September, we thank God for those first sunny, warm days that we remembered from the previous Spring.   The above photo is taken from our terrace, looking West.  Just beyond the buildings in the foreground, one can see all the construction that is happening west of our neighborhood.  Beyond that, the majestic cliffs and 'mountains' of the Western Hills rise above the western boundary of Kunming.  With drier, sunnier weather, September also marks the real start of mountain biking season, because the trails, which consist mainly of slippery red clay all rainy season, dry out enough to become negotiable.  Thank the Lord for the sun.

This year, September also means that August, who was born in June (go figure), is four months old.  He is becoming quite the little man.  He loves his older brother, who is entertaining him just outside the boundaries of this photo.  That said, older brother also causes August's greatest grief, when Oswin smothers him (literally) with his love:  Oswin will lay down on August and shake the little one until he cries.  However, in this photo, August loves his older brother.

Because the KIA staff receives a five-day weekend to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival, and because Suli deserves a break during my break, I took Oswin to the Minority Village to spend the afternoon learning about the various minority people groups living in Yunnan Province.  On this day, we were once again blessed with a clear blue sky and plenty of sun.  As has become a China Franks tradition, Oswin got his picture taken sitting on the back of his Chinese zodiac animal:  the tiger.  He wanted me to join him, but I replied, "But I am a 'dog.'"  Then he wanted his picture taken on each of the other animals, but I responded with "But you're a 'tiger.'"  He did not put up much of a fight, because there were so many other things to see.  In the end, we gave mom a six-plus hour break from Oswin's energy, and he went to bed early, being wiped out from all the fun at the Minority Village.

At first glance, it would be easy for me to forget September, because it is not as filled with activities as other months of the school year.  However, when I look back at like this, I remember just how much is actually going on here in Kunming during the ninth month.  I pray the rest of the months hold at least as much excitement.