Category: Saint Louis

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Life Life Tips Saint Louis

Car Accident 车祸

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Car accident is probably much more frequent than shooting in the US. But the latter usually gets more news coverage and much more attention. Here in St. Louis we know the shooting situation is bad. But the car accident and car/pedestrian accident are bad too.

(Update 08-22-2023) Came across this car accident involves school bus in Ohio – UPDATE: Student killed, over 20 other students injured after school bus crash in Clark Co.

(Update 27-Feb-2023) This one got national attention recently: ‘I can still hear the roaring of the engine,’ says father of teen injured in downtown St. Louis. Basically a 17 year old girl who came to St. Louis to play volleyball tournament and stayed at downtown hotel, was hit by a car and got both her legs amputated because of the injury. || And this one just come over the weekend: 4 killed, 4 critically injured in crash at South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue. || It seems aggressive/careless/reckless driving are the culprits for both cases. We know drunk driving is usually another cause. Other causes include totally avoidable issue such as “traffic signal got turned” (but people got killed in this scenario none the less, I guess the only preventable tactic is to avoid the intersection if known before hand, or drive slowly or carefully at every intersection pretending there is another car will not care about the red light).

I heard about non-fatal accident too. I know a friend’s wife was recently involved in a car accident with school bus, on a snow/slippery day/road surface, when she was dropping off kids to school.

Some tips I like to share: don’t drink and drive; don’t drive when I am really tired; drive defensively, don’t get upset or emotional when other drivers go crazy, ignore them and pretend nothing happened; last but not least, watch this YouTube video “5 Defensive Driving Strategies To Become A Safer, Smarter Driver” which is about defensive driving.

Looking back, I think I did a few stupid things such as “fatigued driving”: once we drove from STL to Yellowstone NP overnight, we didn’t stay at the hotel in the night, just driving continuously. I forgot whether it was on the way to YS NP or on the way back, but the check engine light came on. And that’s not the end of the story, I recall on the way back, I was the driver between 1 am and 3 am, and I was really tired. Eventually I had to pull aside and take a break. I did a similar thing when I was a new driver, driving back from the training at West Lafayette, IN (where Purdue U is) to Rolla, MO (where my graduate school Missouri S&T is), and when I drove past STL metro area, it was between 1 and 3 am, and it was the 2nd time I drove past St. Louis 🙂 I recall changing the lanes for the right highway was both exciting and scary 🙁 Now I think I will tell my daughters don’t do this sort of things when they get driver licenses.

(Original) Here is one just happened last night, a pedestrian was hit/killed by a semi truck on highway 44. I first noticed it from Twitter.

Here is another one in which two cars were involved.

And one more recent accident: “The Saturn was hit on the passenger side by a Ford transit van.”

And this “A preliminary investigation revealed a gold Chevrolet Cavalier was traveling southbound on Halls Ferry Road and was attempting to turn left into a parking lot near the intersection of Halls Ferry and St. Cyr Road, when it was struck on the passenger side by a gray Toyota Camry traveling northbound.”

……I don’t want to add more. Or compare car accidents with shooting victims. This is not my point, my point is mainly on the safety and precautions in terms of driving or walking. Also, from the incidents above and common sense/stats, I think we should strive to get a car that’s proper sized (my personal opinion is Toyota Camry/Honda Accord or above).

Personally I have involved in car accidents, mainly two collisions and one self induced accident (my own car, snow, slipped into ditch, good thing nobody was injured, and car was fine too). I am briefly explaining my accidents and also I like to emphasize the insurance rate will go up after we file claims (regardless who is at fault or the other party has insurance or not, something I realized yesterday).

First my self induced accident. It was about 20 years ago. Christmas night. After dinner at friend’s house, we drive home amid snow. I was driving the 2001 Nissan Altima, and on the outer lane. I lost control of my car near an exit, and I ended up went out to the exit (not my intention, I intended to stay on 270), and ended up in the ditch off the exit ramp. No injury and no damage to the car. But eventually needed AAA tow truck and we cannot get out even with a few pass by driver’s help.

A few years later, on my way home (get off work), I was hit by a left turn vehicle, again it was Nissan Altima. My bumper etc were damaged. The lady hit me had no insurance and my main loss was the deductible plus rising insurance rate after that. Initially the lady also ran away from the incident but I was able to find her the following day with some detective work (not recommended).

Lastly it was last Oct. I was rear ended at a red light near Costco west county, it was my 2012 Toyota Camry. It seems I wasn’t hurt but the car was totaled.

My takeaway is be careful when driving and try to drive defensively when possible. Don’t cut the lanes. Don’t react or be emotional when others drive crazy. Take needed breaks during long distance trip. Be alert and focus on road and surroundings when driving, don’t look at the phone etc. Listen to music (calm ones) or podcast. Remember the most important part is come home alive, and this applies to pedestrians and bikers too.

Categories
Saint Louis

The Bayer formerly Monsanto Creve Coeur campus redevelopment

Reading Time: 3 minutes

(Update 10-25-2023) STLToday – Residents vow to fight Creve Coeur ‘village’ on former Bayer campus

(Update 10-24-2023) STLToday – Creve Coeur approves turning Bayer campus into mixed-use ‘village’. It seems to me the City of Creve Coeur is keen to move this forward amid the recent setbacks on the Olive and Mosley (HBE building, a proposal to convert it into a Hilton branded hotel), also Olive and Greaser (the proposed QT gas station) development, last but not least the apartment building at Olive Pavilion (Olive and Old Olive, current CPK and former Stir Crazy location). This is obviously a much bigger development. Also KMOV (Channel 4, video): Despite neighborhood pushback, massive Creve Coeur redevelopment approved for old Bayer campus

(Update 10-23-2023) STLToday – Creve Coeur residents want restrictions on turning Bayer campus into ‘downtown’ || It sounds like the city is for the development. At the same time, I think it’s probably fair and reasonable for the developer to give up a bit more, the buffer zone used to be much bigger: probably 200 feet, now they are proposing 50 feet (up from the original 35 feet). I hope the two sides can find a compromise.

(Update 09-30-2023) I received a call from a friend living in the neighborhood of former Bayer campus. They have a petition going on. Please read and consider signing, especially if you live in the impacted neighborhood (Monsanto/Bayer Lindbergh west campus redevelopment). If you have friends live in the neighborhood, please consider signing as well to help your friends. Thank you.

Personally I feel this is a complex topic. In America the private property is respected. But at the same time, private ownership of the land doesn’t mean the developer can do whatever he/she wants: neighbors’ rights should be considered and respected as well. It’s a balance act.

(Update 09-06-2023) KMOV: ‘Impressive development’ at former Bayer site plans on bringing in residential units, more . If this is approved it will be the 1st after the developers failed attempts to build a Hilton brand hotel (next to Mosley and Olive, the HBE building), the apartment at the CPK restaurant (or you can do a google search), and a QT gas station (Greaser and Olive). Note the developer and City of Creve Coeur didn’t always got it right: they approved the Fresh Market at City Place, and it opened probably for a year before shutdown.

Some differences I can see for now: 1) the former Bayer campus is much bigger and developer may have more financial resources. 2) : the neighbors at Mosley and Greaser were pretty fired up and united in terms of opposing the project – I don’t see such as grassroot movement against the former Bayer campus redevelopment so far. I recall seeing people protesting the hotel project by sitting on the sidewalk of Olive Street (and Mosley).

(Update 09-01-2023) Some more movement on the development, as you can read from this STLToday piece – Creve Coeur to review redevelopment of former Bayer campus. Quote “Fireside Financial and its development partner, Jack Matthews Development, are proposing a mixed-use redevelopment with apartments, townhomes, retail, hotels, office buildings and other commercial space at the property, at 10300 Olive Boulevard…… Edwardsville based Fireside bought the 95-acre site from Bayer last year for $55 million, according to St. Louis County records.” From my gut feeling it seems $55 m is a deal.

And at Creve Coeur city gov website – REZONING APPLICATION FOR FORMER BAYER WEST CAMPUS PROPERTY.

Earlier I had some confusion on the developer, and it seems L3 Corp is the realtor (broker), not the investor, per this STLToday article Hotels, housing and retail planned for Bayer’s former Creve Coeur campus – “Northmarq Capital provided the financing for the deal. Hearth Construction, a company Bailey co-founded, is overseeing construction. Rick Spector of L3 Corp. is the real estate broker for the project.”

The division of the labors or the specialization of commercial real estate fascinated me. We have developers Fireside and Jack Matthews, financier Northmarq Capital, construction co (associated with Fireside) Hearth Construction and realtor L3 Corp.

(Update 05-22-2023) Today when I was buying a used Herman Miller Aeron Classic chair from them (first noticed it from Facebook), I noticed the developer hired a company called Refurbiture to dispose the furnitures. Here is my post regarding my research on chair etc.

(Original) I noticed it from news first, then heard from a friend who lives next to them. Here is the twitter thread I wrote.

There seems will be a lot more apartments in the area, as I know Olivette also built/is building quite some new apartments recently. It seems the affordability of single family houses, rising rents and millennials preference for “worry free” or “no maintenance work” prompted the build up of more apartments. In theory a condo or a townhouse is probably a good compromise, but it’s probably out of reach for many millennials and first time home buyers (the 20% downpayment requirement after 2008 financial crisis is one factor).

Categories
Life Tips Saint Louis Technology

Back to school

Reading Time: 2 minutes

A checklist for Ladue school parents and guardians

Buy school supplies;

Meet the teacher / community night (bring school supplies if applicable): mainly say hi to teachers and staff, and for the kids to learn where are the classrooms etc. on 1st day;

Adjust kids sleep routine: from summer (no school or no camp) schedule to school schedule, may take a few days or a week;

Adjust grownup routine: from watching kids + work (or the other way), to do more work and maybe some self care (workout, social etc);

Some apps or emails that are likely relevant:

Parent Square (district and schools to parents communication), iOS, Android. Note PS has website too. But app is a bit more handier and performant. Last but not least please take a look at the notifications customization as well (especially the text messages).

MySchoolBucks (lunch money). From this school year (2022 to 2023) on the free lunch money from the government ran out. There is still the reduced fare lunch and so on, please contact the school as applicable. Note to add money to the meal account, we can do it via credit card (CC) on its website (it seems to me we cannot add money via the mobile app), or via check to school district (which I have not done it, please ask each school administrator as needed). Note MySchoolBucks (heartland payment co.) charges a credit card transaction fee.

Email Ladue Schools e-Connect Newsletter (usually weekly) and the paper Newsletter (usually monthly): district wide information such as lunch or construction, or strategic plan. The content is created by the district Communications Office.

SafeStop (instructions here, note this PDF has the code for the district, the one at the school bus website doesn’t): bus tracking, not the best or most reliable app in the world, but considering constructions in some schools the bus may still be the better choice for many families (maybe on one of those days, I can brush up my mobile app dev skills and create a better app 🙂 Btw, the bus information is here. Last but not least, it seems we only need to put in the code once for one device. || A side note, it seems there is delay of tracking the kids moved up in schools (for example, from elementary to FGC), it’s possible we need an manual update in the backend in terms of kid’s school information. || Another way to track kids, especially younger kids, is to use airtag. It seems it’s working because the main thing it needs is other nearby device’s bluetooth capability. Without today’s popularity of smartphone in the school and in the bus, I think it works most of the time.

Last but not least, for Spoede families, the portal of SSA (Spoede School Association) moved to here. The underlying software is used for the LMSPA website we well.

Categories
Saint Louis

Flash flood in St Louis

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Below are some pictures and videos from this week’s flash flood in the area. Quote the last article (the last tweet) written by Mr. Tony Messenger. “These sure the hell aren’t 100-year floods,” Criss says. “They’re like two-year floods. It’s staggering.” || We were not flood, but I know some people were impacted or lost car or belongings (their house or apartment were flooded).

Update 07-3-2022: I just realized Eastern Kentucky experienced much worse flash flood (refer to this news).

Categories
Edu-and-Ladue-School Featured Fun Life Life Tips Saint Louis

Summer Camps in Saint Louis metro area

Reading Time: 9 minutes

(Update 01-17-2025) Sanborn Western Camps: this is “An OUTSTANDING summer camp in Colorado”. The price is not cheap, but personally I think it’s probably worth to consider if the kid is ready, and the family can afford. There are some other cheaper options such as Boy Scouts per a mom I know.

(Update 06-13-2024) I gave summer camps more thoughts. I think for different families: the need for summer camps are also different. For example, doctors, nurses, restaurant workers, and some other jobs that parents or guardians need to be in office and usually have a 8 or 9 hours working day. If we add commute time, it means those families who need probably 9 to 10 hours of child care (younger or little kids). In those cases, the families likely need before and after care. Not all summer camps do that. If I can categorize camps, I think there are two types: one with the need I just mentioned above, another one is more like “give parents a few hours break, also give kids a few hours of camp / play time”.

Also, for me personally, I am at a stage of my career that I can work from home, and also I can be quite flexible. In that case, I will choose the later camps or camps without before/after care.

(Update 04-18-2024) Ms Donna Matthews, Ladue School District Gifted Specialist, shared this list (google spreadsheet) for summer camps that are suitable for middle school and high school kids.

(Update 12-05-2023) from LCC FB group I came across this Camp ThunderBird at Minnesota. It seems lots of outdoor fun. Seems like a good option for sleep away camps, for the families/kids who want to do sleep away camps (also see Sleep Away Camps (added 05-08-2023) below). I also vaguely recall there is a thunderbird camp in Arizona. I could mixed it up with the Thunder bird school in AZ though.

I know I know, when my older daughter was doing the sleep away camp at Cub Creek in summer 2021, I was refreshing their photos and emails website every 5 minutes in the 1st few days 🙂

(Update 07-01-2023) Came across this one at Webster U. But I could not find it at their website. It seems Webster U has quite a few camps for middle school and above age kids.

(Update May 2023) Added more sleep away outdoor summer camps. Scroll down or search for “sleep away” on this blog post. Also Creve Coeur Racquet Club.

(Update Spring 2023) Some minor edits including adding the FB link for the D & A basketball camp. Added Master Qi Martial Arts school (at the end of this post, good thing takes time and needs patience 🙂

Spring break camps: the J (or JCC), Olivette, and McCormack basketball camp.

Two horse riding camps: Kennedy Farms and The Stables at Lake St Louis. And one cheerleading camp.

(Original Spring 2022) I wrote a piece on summer camp choices a while ago, to be precise, 5 years ago. My kids are growing older and they have attended more summer camps in the past 5 years. Below are some of the camps they attended and are planning to attend this summer, in alphabetical order. Also since a few years ago the Missouri legislature passed a law that pushed back the fall public school opening by about 10 to 14 days, and that makes the summer camp a bit more important for the kids and working parents. Private school were not impacted. I think a general rule of thumb for summer is: take some family vacation if the work schedule allows, spend a few days or weeks at home (if parents work from home); for younger kids, it’s important to put them in a routine, provide some fun activities as well as get off the screen and games when possible.

All American Gymnastics and Super Ninja: this is a popular place for some of the Spoede, Creve Coeur and Olivette kids. They do gymnastics, games (hide and seek), arts and craft (tie dye shirt etc.), and water (field) day. The kids need to bring own lunch. 9 am to 3 pm. Pick up along the car pool line. (Update 01-08-2024: they usually do promotions on early Jan) 🌞Summer Camp Registration Is Open to ALL! | Save $100 until 1/14!🌞

Andrews Academy: our go to camp before pandemic, especially for our old kid who is 6th grader now. She used to go to the neighboring Hope Montessori when she was pre-schooler. They have fantastic activities, food, and field trips. They also do one gathering / open house, with food for parents (picnic, food from Kenricks) for parents and siblings (before pandemic). There are activities after dinner too. Last but not least, before pandemic we had friends come from China did summer camp at Andrew’s academy too. They had good experience there (I recall the kids were about Serenity’s age now about 11 years old).

Cub Creek Science Camp: this is a sleep away animal science camp in Rolla, Missouri. (from FB Ladue community or Ladue parents community group: this camp is popular among Ladue kids. Note the cost is about $1100 for a week 🙂 We signed up our old daughter for one week this summer. Update: she was very happy with the camp. She is going there for a week this summer too.

JCC: they have different tracks too. They usually do swim daily. My older daughter went there the summer before her kindergarten year. They drop off and pick up at the back of JCC, by the pavilion next to soccer field. (Update summer 2023) My younger daughter did 2 weekly sessions there: she made a friend in the 1st week, and later she came back for another week so that they two can be together.

Kids Camp Ladue (KCL)*: lots of kids in the ladue school district and neighboring area. Mr. Long, Ladue Middle School science teacher has been doing this (mostly as a community service for working parents) for many years. Btw, I saw a familiar face on the website 🙂

Ladue Camp Legacy: for the older kids who are entering grades 6 through 9 in the fall.

Maryville U robotics program: signed up my two girls for summer 2022 (one week each). The camp is two weeks long, btw. My girls like to do one week, which is okay. Btw, the school campus map here. It looks like the checkin is at Auditorium. I am hoping to write a post on Arduino soon. Personally I think it’s interesting. Note: parents for the girls, you may notice there are usually more boys than girls as this is STEM arena. Please don’t get discouraged. Send your daughter over to explore, and they usually love the activities there, and those enhanced their confidence on STEM as well. So win-win 🙂 I am speaking from my own younger daughter’s experience, she felt more comfortable with the MIT Scratch game at school after doing this at Maryville last summer.

MICDs Summer Camp*: it’s not cheaper compared to Andrews Academy (the after hour care cost extra money). But MICDs has good facilities including the fairly new indoor swimming pool. They usually have a play (a show) for parents come to watch.

Olivette: usually held at Olivette Community Center. It’s popular among the kids in Olivette and Creve Coeur (did you know some people pronounced it like Creamed Corn 🙂 || Btw, heard Webster Groves has some camps such as fire safety, soccer etc. Sounds similar to Olivette summer camp. Our younger daughter attended one week of Camp O this year (year 2022).

Also, some specialized camps. Bobby McCormack basketball camp.

SPICE Chess Camp at Webster U: my older daughter Serenity did a week in summer 2018. I believe she participated the “girls only” session.

St. Louis Chinese Language School: 圣路易中文学校 2023 Summer Camp During pandemic Serenity attended a few classes (math came to mind, Zoom only). They have in person culture and martial arts camp this summer (maybe more are coming).

Some Ladue school specific camps or camps led by Ladue School Teachers

there are also D&A basketball camp (Dockery & Anderson, they are Ladue PE teachers and basketball coaches) , as well as Jessica Mitchell’s Spanish camp (Ms Mitchell is Spanish teacher at Spoede elementary).

Spoede teachers / coaches Dolan and Williams have a PE and STEM Math camp too. My old daughter did Dolan / Williams camp before pandemic (once), and my younger one did Spanish camp (twice). (Update 04-06-2023 new for summer 2023), Dolan and Williams’ camp is back, here is the peachjar flyer.

(04-19-2023 added Hadfield Enrichment Camp, as a friend asked about the writing enrichment.) This is the flyer.

Cross Country: saw 2 familiar faces right there, Coach Strayhorn is Ladue Middle School math teacher and Ladue High School girls cross country coach. He has been doing the camp for a while too. I signed up Serenity for session 2 this summer (2022). Interesting question on the google form: on scale 1 to 5, 1 means “my parents make me do it”, 5 means “I love running”. I thought in America, we don’t force kids do things they don’t like. LOL. Our old daughter did this camp in summer 2022.

Ladue School District Summer Enrichment Programs (July 6-30, 2021) An invitation and details will be shared with eligible families.(copied from Ladue Schools e-Connect Newsletter — April 30, 2021). Note some of the program are invitations only.

Ladue Camp Legacy (new in Summer 2022, and it’s there for 2023 as well, note this is a fee based program, and open to all.

(04-12-2023) Today I learned there are also ESL (English as Second Language) and Ladue LEAP program (this one is for selected incoming kindergarten kids).

(We have not done the below camps) There are other Ladue teachers led specialized camps: reading, baseball etc. Those are usually communicated via peach jar (email). Contact me if you like to get some more information.

Below are some of the camps in the area that I am aware of, or we think we may attend.

Community school summer camp: I learned they have a summer camp when our Spoede teachers (coaches) used their campus (facilities) once for summer PE / Math (STEAM) camp. Of course some of people may know CS (community school) is a feeder school for MICDs and John Burrough school (JBS)

Creve Coeur Tennis-Camps-and-Lessons: please check with the city of Creve Coeur, the Parks and Recreation dept.

Creve Coeur Racquet Club: “We are going to start offering Day time (tennis) clinics on Tuesday and Thursdays starting May 30th from 1:30-2:30 for orange and green ball kids. You register by the day. A minimum of 3 kids must register for the clinic to go for that day. Registration is open online. If you have difficulties registering online, please email the proshop at proshop@ccrctennis.com. Please let me know if you have any questions. -Toni”

Forest Lake Tennis Club: Summer Junior Camp

GRC: gifted resources council summer academies. This is open to everyone. Unlike the gift programs in many schools that require a test. They have activities (learning labs) during regular school year too, it’s being held at Wydown Middle School (clayton), on Saturdays. Before pandemic, I have been to their “Creative Convention” and my older daughter also attended the “equation competition”.

Camp Invention: saw it from school communication, I don’t have any knowledge about. If you have any feedback or comments, please email to minjie.xu@gmail.com. Thank you.

Highland Golf & Tennis Youth Camps: at forest park. This seems to be a popular place for many families. Note on some summer afternoons, St. Louis could be really hot and I assume they will put kids in indoor facility with AC (as playing outside could be dangerous).

John Burroughs summer program

Laumeier Sculpture Park art camp:

Missouri Fine Arts Academy: this is actually in Springfield, MO, the Missouri State U campus. Note invitation only: it’s a selected program. The kids can apply and the camp will decide who are chosen. || I came across it from FB: “A total of six Rockwood School District students – 5 kids’ names (Eureka High) and 1 kid name (Rockwood Summit High) – were chosen to participate in the Missouri Fine Arts Academy this summer! The Academy, which runs June 4-17 on the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield, is a two-week summer residential program for highly motivated student artists in visual arts, theatre, dance, creative writing and music. The Academy offers an intensive schedule of classes in interdisciplinary and discipline-specific arts and a wide range of co-curricular activities. Congratulations to these outstanding student artists!”

St Louis Academy of Dance (SLAD) summer program: our daughters go there during regular school year. Typically they have quite a few Spoede/OB/Ladue kids.

SIUE (Edwardsville, IL): my old daughter’s percussion teacher at LMS send us the information on percussion institute.

More Sleep Away or Outdoor Camps (added 05-08-2023)

I am aware of a few, and I saw friends sent kids there. My kid so far only went to the Cub Creek Animal Science camp I mentioned above.

Camp Manitowa: 12770 North Benton Rd., Benton, IL 62812

JCC Camp Sabra: this is in the lake of Ozarks.

YMCA Camp Lakewood: 13528 State Hwy AA, Potosi, MO, 63664

Those looks quite fun both in terms of outdoor actives, as well as let the kids have some independence (a necessary training, so that we know when we send them away for college, they would have some experience on their own). Also I did notice the price is more steep than a normal summer camp: consider the room and board. It’s a good experience for the kids though (both being away from parents, bonding with new friends, at a cabin, outdoor environment, doing new activities).

St Louis Modern Chinese school: check back for more info.

SLU Summer Camp: I just heard about it. One friend recommend the swim camp, another the cooking camp. It sound like something I can send my 2 girls next summer.

UMSL bridge program: saw a parent sending kids there (FB friend)

Webster U middle school challenge (assume a bit similar to wash u program below): saw another parent sending kids there (from Twitter)

wustl summer camp for middle school kids: link here. We were thinking about it, the cost is $780 for a week (wustl employee / family has 10% discount). Noticed the 6th grade is full now. We won’t go this year due to a conflict. Personally I feel 9 am to 5 pm is too much for the kids. For that matter, I feel 9 to 5 is overrated for grownups too (which is off topic, I know). Also noticed they have need based scholarship, too.

St Louis Master Qi Kungfu School : 麒师傅 (Master Qi) has opened the martial arts school in the Olivette/Ladue area for a while. He has after school program for the kids, and summer program as well.

========

*: means the older kids (incoming 7th graders and above for KCL, and high school for MICDs camp) will have opportunity to be a counselor, think that as an leadership training opportunity.

No longer actively maintained posts on summer camps

03-10-2017 : Summer Camp Recommendations

04-14-2014 : Kids Summer Camp In St. Louis Area

Categories
Fun Life Life Tips Saint Louis

Youth self defense class at SLMCS

Reading Time: 2 minutes

(Update 01-07-2022) The Chinese school starting date for Winter / Spring semester is pushed out by 2 weeks. So the below class will start on Jan 23rd instead of Jan 9th, 2022. Please refer to the SLMCS class link for more up-to-date details.

(Original) “Youth self defense” class in the STL Modern Chinese school, this will be a new class (https://slmcs.org/Register/classdetail.asp?cid=4202). 5 weeks class from 1/7/2022 to 5/5/2022, on Sundays at noon 12 ~ 12:50 pm (the cost is $120).

I do believe most instructions will be in English, as 3 out of 4 instructors are native speakers, for the one Chinese martial art coach, my expectation is someone will translate as needed.

Here is the Chinese: Youth Self-Defence (girls 12 -16 Yo) 青少年自卫防身训练营 New(SD01A_22S)Note: This class is a 15 weeks class from 1/7/2022 to 5/5/2022 礼拜天 中午12点到12:50 pm (the cost is $120).

结合当前形式，相关资源，SLMCS将于2022年春季学期开设为期15周的青少年自卫防身训练营 — St. Louis Youth Self Defense (SLYSD)。作为试运营，首期将只针对初中女生，年龄限制在12-16岁。明年秋季进入正式运营，可根据情况酌情扩招至其它年龄段和男生。请空手道老师Kayu Lui，麒师父武术学校行麒师父和圣路易著名功夫师父Tim Bruewer 每人针对这个年龄段孩子的特点设计为期四周的防身自卫技击课。其它三周，请来自Clayton Police Department 的Jennifer Schwartz 警官为孩子们讲授自卫的法律规范及其它注意事项。 具体日期安排如下： Jennifer Schwartz: 1/9, 1/16, and 1/23 Kayu Lui : 2/6, 2/13, 2/20, and 2/27 行麒师父 : 3/6, 3/13,3/27, and 4/3 Tim Bruewer : 4/10, 4/17, 4/24, and 5/1 每位教员都将根据自己的优势认真准备教案，所以每一个阶段都将为孩子们带来不同的体验和收获。

And in English mainly using Google translate. Youth Self-Defence (girls 12 -16 Yo) Training Camp New(SD01A_22S) Note: This class is a 15 weeks class from 1/7/2022 to 5/5/2022, on Sundays at noon 12 ~ 12:50 pm (the cost is $120).

Considering the current situation and related resources, SLMCS will open a 15-week youth self-defense training camp – St. Louis Youth Self Defense (SLYSD) in the spring semester of 2022. As a trial operation, the first phase will only target junior high school girls, and the age limit is 12-16. It will enter the formal operation in the fall of next year, and it can be expanded to other age groups and boys according to the situation. Karate teacher Kayu Lui, Master Qi of the Qi Master Martial Arts School, and Tim Bruewer, the famous Kung Fu Master of Saint Louis, each design a four-week self-defense and self-defense martial arts class based on the characteristics of children of this age. In the other three weeks, Officer Jennifer Schwartz from the Clayton Police Department was invited to teach the children the legal norms and other precautions for self-defense. The specific dates are as follows: Jennifer Schwartz: 1/9, 1/16, and 1/23 Kayu Lui: 2/6, 2/13, 2/20, and 2/27 Xingqi Master: 3/6, 3/13 ,3/27, and 4/3 Tim Bruewer: 4/10, 4/17, 4/24, and 5/1 Each teacher will carefully prepare lesson plans according to their own advantages, so every stage will be for the children Bring different experiences and gains.

Email me at minjie.xu@gmail.com or text me at 314 540 2721 if there is any question. Thanks.

References below

How to register at SLMCS

Introduction to the youth self defense class

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Business Economy Fun Saint Louis

Recent Olivette Developments

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(Update 03-09-2025) Irvington Place, Chevy’s 墨西哥餐馆后面的新大公寓在建设中.

Centennial Green Way is breaking around near Indian Meadows Park/Napoleon Blvd near Dielman Road – Feb 2024

(Update: 10-04-2023) The Olive Crossing apartments at Olive and 170 just opened as the Clover luxury apartment. I have a recent YouTube video on this.

(Update: 09-11-2023) Yesterday I noticed the new Hilltop West development: My YouTube video when I walked by yesterday am, the Olivette City Website, and a Zillow link (and developer website, not much info there, by the way). Again I saw quite a few torn down and rebuilt in that neighborhood. The new house in the school district went up probably 50% in the last 3 years. For average wage earners, the salary didn’t go up that much. I recall in the good old days the rule of thumb was that we buy houses about 3 times our before-tax income. So in order to buy a $ 750k home, we need to earn about $ 250k (which is still quite a bit of money for the average worker salary in the St. Louis area).

(Update: 06-22-2022) Besides new apartments below (again The Oliver which is almost done as of June 2022, and The Opus Group Multifamily Redevelopment Project at Irvington and Reyem Courts which I assume will take some time / years or months), there are also two townhouses complex. Hilltop West-attached home redevelopment project and Olivette Townhouse Redevelopment (this is the 35 new townhomes below). (Update 04-01-2025) Irvington Place is taking shape. See my recent YouTube video here.

(Update: 12-30-2021) I heard about this one, but the new 35 townhomes at Dielman and Olive Road are official. Here is the developer’s website. I took a short video here. As of 04-16-2023, I saw earth-moving equipment flattened the surface when I was driving by Olive Road passing the Dielman. (Update 04-01-2025) Looks like it’s going to be 33 units now – see my youtube video here. I am guessing price starts at $750k.

(Original) We can see a lots of new developments, both residential and commercials, at Olivette along the Olive road in last year or so.

Some of the bigger development projects I am aware of: are the Oliver (apartments and some retail), Olive Crossing at Olive and 170(apartments now opened as the Clover luxury apartment, hotels, retail and dining), and the Opus group olivette project. , one of the new neighbors in my neighborhood moved from the last project site (a single-family home sold to a developer and bought a new home in my neighborhood). We briefly discussed the trend of apartments over single-family houses (SFH) in the younger generation. I think it’s also a desire from the city and the developer as well. Maybe the apartments are more environmentally friendly compared to SFH. (Update 09-06-2023) It seems the apartment behind the Chevy Restaurant didn’t take off: all I can see right now is weeds and bushes in that empty lot 🙂

Back to the topic, there are also two smaller projects along Olive Road, the Firestone project (near Price). and the Planthaven commercial center (this is next to the Olivette Shopping Center).

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Life Saint Louis

JCC St. Louis and my exercise

Reading Time: 3 minutesJCC St. Louis (2 locations, Creve Coeur and Chesterfield) are very good. I joined JCC in early 2012 mostly for its exercise facilities. At the time I got discounted rate through my employer, and at the same time the employer paid 3/4 of the membership fee. Over the years I changed my employer couple times, and I still kept the membership (paying the full price from my own pocket). But I felt it’s worth it, not only I used it for exercise, but also my family esp. my kids have lots of funs at the recreational pools. Also my old daughter had her art summer camp there last summer.

Keep in mind JCC is more than an exercise facility, or a summer camp. It also has a lot educational, cultural, or health related facilities and activities. Recently I attended a free seminar hosted by St. Lukes Hospital which talked about joint health and replacement (mostly knees and hips). For me it’s mostly educational since I am still in 40s and there is no need for replacement, the reason I went there is I got some hip pain, and I like to get more information out of it. Also, my doctor is also working at St. Luke’s orthopedic and joint center. Let me back to the exercise topic. Over the years I started pay attention to my activities esp. daily walking steps (read my post about this one 10 years ago>pedometers I used over the years). In St. Louis weather, there are some days in summer and winter, it will be too hot or cold to walk outside, we can walk in mall, in company hallway (if they have a long one, note I try to stay away from stairs recently as it may have contribute to my hip issue). JCC always offers the opportunities for me to walk or swim, probably more swim than walk for me. Most recently as I mentioned my hip issue, I started doing walk in water instead of swimming, using the floating drum-bells. It can exercise my upper body nicely. And in the past I used the steam room, recently I started using the whirlpool. It’s funny I heard once from a gentleman says he has been to 5 JCCs across the country, the St. Louis one is the best (I think he meant the Creve Coeur one 🙂 So basically I used water to relax and get the stress out of my hip and back. I will try get back to swim soon, hopefully. Maybe someday I will find a swimming coach to correct my technique.

I used the Chesterfield facility too, both for exercise (again walk/swim) and kids activity (KinderMusik). My old daughter attended kindermusik for 2 years (between 2.5 years old to 4.5 years old). I recall when she was switching from toddler program to the preschool (when she became 3), for a brief period, KinderMusik class is the only class she wanted to go. The indoor swim pool at Chesterfield is not as big as Creve Coeur (it has 2, a lap pool and a recreational pool). But Chesterfield has one advantage, the water temperature there is just about right, vs “a bit cold” in Creve Coeur lap pool, and “a bit warm” for the recreational pool.

I recall once I went to see the shabach on Friday afternoon during my daughter’s summer camp, it’s fun and interesting to see how they share the special bread. And also kids perform. It’s something that will stay in my memory for a long long time. Note they have koshal food too. I esp. like their corn beef, which I can also get from Kohn’s, which is down the street.

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iPhone app Saint Louis Software development

Resources for aspiring software developers in St. Louis

Reading Time: 2 minutesWe know St. Louis is not a hot (or cool) place as Seattle/Silicon Valley in terms of job opportunities for software engineers. But St. Louis area have plenty of opportunities from small to large organizations, with a diverse industries. There are also many resources for aspiring software developers who like to join the industry.

The No. 1 resource I recommend is LaunchCode. It was relatively new, but I personally knew 3 people got internship position through them, and 2 of them received full time offers, in last few years. They seemed really got the non-traditional students/newbies connected with the industry.

The No. 2 resource I like to mention is all these “user groups”, e.g., the old ones such as St. Louis Java User Group, St. Louis .Net User Group, St. Louis Unix User Group. They are mostly free and open to everyone, here is a list of monthly calendar compiled by the good folks at sluug. There are also some groups concentrate on newer technologies, such as iOS, Android, Angular JS Group, and functional and dynamic languages. Relate to the last one, there is also a conference on coding StrangeLoop which is considered good in the midwest (if not the US). I have been to most of the user group meetings and StrangeLoop conference (a while ago, when I’ve not got busy with 2 young kids), and I think they are good in terms of two aspects: 1) Learn new trends on the technology; 2) Get to know some of the people (they are not all nerds 🙂 Last but not least for user groups sometimes they have free food or door prizes: they are usually sponsored by the hosting companies or the recruiters who are looking for developers.

This is also my last bullet point. The recruiters. I know in this day of the age, we have a somewhat love/hate relationship with recruiters because they spam us on the phone, and on linkedIn. But looking at another way, for many openings esp. contractor positions are coming through recruiters. And also keep in mind not all recruiters are the same, there are some (if not a few) who are really good at finding positions and are also pleasant to work with. Not all are like car salesperson (for that matter, I think the perception on car salesperson is also rated unfairly). So my advice for aspiring developers is to establish something on LinkedIn, and start looking for a few good recruiters. I personally have worked with some very good recruiters, and my friend who found internship via LaunchCode worked with a recruiter at one time too (both out of necessity, sometimes companies can only hire contractor).

Will update this post as time goes.

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Life Saint Louis

Some thoughts after seeing movie “Up in the Air”

Reading Time: < 1 minute(Update 04Feb10) Watched the “Outsourced” movie from Netflix on Feb 02 night, quite interesting. It has a similar theme with “Up in the Air”.

(Original) Went to see movie “Up in the Air”. That’s the first time my wife and I went to see a movie. We figured time is running out for us to go cinema in the near future as we expect our new baby this March.

Couple thoughts after seeing the movie:

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