SUNDAY, 3/8/15

After the week Judy experienced, she is slow to start moving around. When she finally gets going, her main goal is to find a place to purchase some lotions to ease the skin dryness she’ been experiencing. She can’t sleep at night due to the itching and dryness. She takes off walking for the Galeria mall near Sanyuanquio Station where she found some things last year that worked.

My goal is to get to Metro for our weekly grocery shopping, and then over to the wet market for fruits and vegetables. I found the things we needed and Judy got home, stocked with lotions. We finish the day relaxing around the apartment and making sure preparations are completed for our week ahead.

Judy – talking to the audience at the end of the show.

MONDAY, 3/9/15

There’s “no relief for the wicked”, as the saying goes. As full as Judy’s week was this past week, she has another full week ahead. There is a “Book Week” assembly on Friday, and she has several small performances in which she’s a participant . Saturday, there is a Professional Development (half-day) activity. It was originally scheduled for November, but was moved because of the APEC Conference.

After swimming, I decide I’ve got to have a new swimsuit. My current swimsuit is too big. I remember it fitting ok last year. I’d like to think I’ve lost weight, but I’m not thinking that’s the case. It’s loose enough to concern me while I’m swimming laps, and there’s no reason to embarrass anyone else (or myself). I’m sure there are lots of places to buy suits, but finding that spot isn’t easy. I end up at a sporting goods store near Wangfujing. I found a suit that will work and a swim cap. I’ve never worn a swim cap before. Everyone wears one when I’ve been swimming in China, either at the Marriott or at UHN, so “when in Rome”.

Back at the apartment later, I mix up some vegetables for our evening soup. Judy gets home very late (after 7:30). She spent much of the time after school putting away stuff from the musical.

FRIDAY, 3/6/15

Today is the BISS musical, so Judy has a full day of activities. After school, she and the other staff make all the final arrangements, checking their lists, etc. The doors of the Annex, where the show is performed, open at 6:30. There’s a sizable crowd when they open, and there is a scramble for seats. By the time the show kicks off, the house is full, around 120 or so.

The show goes really well. There are some nice musical moments, as well as staging and light effects, and the crowd is appreciative. It’s always fun to watch the reaction of the actors when they realize the audience is reacting to what they’re saying. Some of the students really “stepped up” as the evening progressed.

After the final curtain, I help Judy clean up a few things, and prepare for the matinee tomorrow. We get home around 10:00 pm. It’s not long before Judy is “sawing logs”.

SATURDAY, 3/7/15

Judy leaves at 11:00 am. The show starts at 2:00. I leave around 1:00, arriving in time to participate in the scramble for seats when the doors open at 1:30. Another great performance of the show today! Several things went better. Judy put a fix on the ending/encore that helped a ton. The participating students were so excited at the end. It’s fun to watch them enjoying the results of their labor. The staff did a great job of putting together these performances, rehearsing only 45 minutes a week with the group. The first time everybody was together was “dress rehearsal” on Wednesday. So many vacations, holidays, sports activities, kept popping up.

After clean-up, the staff all met at a new restaurant, “Taco Place”, next to Homeplate BBQ in Sanlitun. The evening is a lot of fun watching the group “let their hair down.” Several Australians, Americans, and a scot, make for an interesting mix of accents and unusual phrases. We’re all constantly having to ask each other “what does that mean.” Everyone has stories to tell about the challenges of teaching a musical to a group of students where English is their 2^nd or 3^rd language.

THURSDAY, 3/5/15

My new semester starts today. Thursday classes begin for me at 8:00am, but my room is always wrecked out from various groups meeting at different times during the week or weekends. I try to arrive no later than 7:15 to guarantee I’ll have time to get set-up and all my materials and devices ready to go. It wasn’t too bad today when I arrived. I was expecting much worse after a holiday. A few times, I’ve had to go find chairs in other rooms or on different floors.

Time for a little straightening up.

After class, I worked on setting up the new grade book on the computer (has to be done each semester. I have to search the student names from a database of all grade 10, 11, and 12 students (about 190 total). It includes their Chinese name, as well as their English name. Of course, I don’t have their Chinese name in my info, so I get to scan every name, first looking for student ID numbers that start with 2013 (the grade 11 students), then looking for the specific students in my classes. It takes some time to work through it. They’re alphabetized by their Chinese family name.

At lunch, I enjoyed hearing more about everyone’s travel during the Winter Holiday. The guitar club guys meet during lunch. They’re reviving the music they’ve played in the past, 5 songs, and beginning to record it for themselves. Today is just a rehearsal day, no recording. The orchestra club isn’t meeting today after school. I’m not sure we’ll be meeting again this year. All the 12^th grade members have a required lecture session on Thursdays after school, so they won’t be attending anymore. Some of the grade 11 students are “in charge” now. We’ll see what they want to do for the remaining 6 weeks before all their tutoring and testing begins.

Back home, as it begins to get dark, fireworks start going off in the neighborhood. It seems to be heavier tonight? As it turns out, the 15^th day of the Chinese New Year is another big fireworks day. Looking out from the apartment, there are big displays all over the city. None of this is organized. It’s all individuals firing them off. These fireworks would be really expensive back in the US. They take their fireworks serious around here.

FIREWORKS VIDEO LINK:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u8mm2beee0trdxj/15.3.5.Fireworks.MOV?dl=0

TUESDAY, 3/3/15

Judy’s working hard, keeping herself focused on the musical performances this weekend. As might be expected, all the staff and students are “feeling it”, referencing the tension of the looming performances. I’m sure it will come together, but right now, few of those involved would place a bet on “success”.

I get in another day of swimming, and narrow down my class plans for the weeks ahead. According to the calendar, I have 7 weeks (2 class days each week) before the mid-term exams. After the mid-terms, the 11^th graders begin an adjusted schedule of heavy tutoring for AP tests which take up the first two weeks of May. After that, they begin a 3-week session of intense SAT tutoring, culminating in the SAT test on Saturday, June 6. In more simple terms, I won’t have any classes to teach after April 17, until June 11, almost a two-month break. Then I teach Thursday and Friday that week, and I’m done! Any material I want to deliver to them had better get done really soon. This is the true definition of “part-time”.

WEDNESDAY, 3/4/15

Today, after school is the “dress rehearsal” for the musical. But before that, Judy has to go in and teach a group of elementary teachers a dance for a Library/Book Assembly next week. If she wasn’t earning her salary before, she definitely did today.

I’ve been looking for a time to try my hand at “wok cooking” again. It’s been a couple of months, and I’ve been avoiding it because of the mess I tend to make. I’ve got some chicken, and an open day, and Thursday and Friday are class days for me, so today is it!

After swimming, I go over to the wet market and buy snow peas, tomatoes, peanuts, and several types of peppers. While the chicken is thawing I do all the prep work. I’m not working with any kind of recipe, just a list of vegetables that could be included. The stir-frying begins with reasonable success. I end up with a chicken/vegetable dish that’s not too bad. I’m not ready for “Iron Chef”, but I can eat it with some pleasure.

I proudly dish it out to Judy when she comes in, too tired to appreciate the grandeur of the moment. I don’t think she’s even listening to me as I tell her about my day. Is this “role reversal” or what? Her “dress rehearsal” went reasonably well, and the end is in sight.

SUNDAY, 3/1/15

Today is going to be a “rest and recover” day for Judy. She’s had a very full 5 days of school before this, and she’ll have 6 even busier days of instruction and musical rehearsals/performances after this.

I head out to the nearby wet market for some fruits and vegetables. The “New Year” holiday isn’t fully finished yet, and it’s obvious in the market. Only a few vegetable vendors are open, and none of the fruit shops are open. I have to piece together what we need in this market and several others I found open down the street.

We tried a new delivery place for dinner and found a good Caesar salad and chicken wrap for future reference. We enjoy dinner with fireworks occasionally breaking the quiet of the evening.

MONDAY, 3/2/15

MUSICAL WEEK is ahead and Judy goes out the door determined to make it a success. I’m trying to get our apartment in shape well enough so when our Ayi comes back today, she won’t be wondering what kind of filthy savages we are. I get a little laundry going, and the dishes cleaned up. She’s going to have a long day of vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, and general cleaning, along with an extra large bunch of ironing when she arrives.

Surprise, surprise! She’s not coming back today. Late in the afternoon, when she didn’t come in, I called Lilly to check on her status. Lilly’s mom, who’s been “subbing” for Lilly (and doing a great job) while the baby was born (before Christmas), has still not returned to Beijing. She’s planning to arrive on the train Wednesday, and will be in our apartment on Friday. Lilly’s not sure when she’s going to get back. Maybe April, maybe later. Ugh! Another 4 days without an ayi. I hope we can survive. I’ve been walking around some of these “dust bunnies” for several days already.

I guess the good news of the day is that I managed to get some swimming done today, as well as yesterday. Maybe I’m beginning to get back into a schedule. I keep looking for a day when it’s warm enough to play table tennis. The problem isn’t the temperature, though. The wind has been blowing for several days now, and it’s so frustrating to hit a ping pong ball and have it blow back over your head.

FRIDAY, 2/27/15

Today is an incredibly busy day for Judy. She has a full day of classes with only a short break for lunch. At lunch, she’ll be working with some of the small groups from the musical. After school, she has a musical rehearsal. At the end of the day, she’s pretty sure she earned her paycheck.

The only item of note I did today was get back into swimming mode. After all our travel, and a blockage in my right ear, I haven’t been able to swim for over 3 weeks. After my doctor visit yesterday, I hit the water today, trying to get myself back into a regular exercise regimen.

SATURDAY, 2/28/15

Judy has a full day of musical rehearsals scheduled, finishing sometime around 4:00pm. They’re beginning at 9:00, and there’s a slight dusting of snow on the ground and light snow falling as she leaves around 8:00. They have a successful day of working through all the pieces and parts of the show, beginning to tie the big pieces together into a cohesive production.

I have a faculty meeting today, and I’m out the door to the train at 8:15. I’m looking forward to finding out how everyone’s Winter Holiday has been. My hour commute should get me in the door of the school well ahead of the 9:30 am scheduled start. WRONG! My timing was right, but somehow I didn’t get the word that the meeting was beginning at 9:00 am. I only found out when I met one of the other faculty members on the train, and he told me someone had texted him, wondering where he was. He also missed the email that was sent out late last night.

We arrive at 9:15, and the meeting is underway. I thought we were getting a “start up the semester” session that would finish at 11:30, and I’d be done for the day (that was the original plan). Instead, one of our faculty is presenting a Professional Development training to all the foreign teachers on how to interview students and accurately determine their English comprehension. A major stumbling block for students in our school is if they have poor English comprehension. So much of the classroom material they get is in English, and if they’re comprehension is slow, they are destined for failure. Each prospective student is interviewed by a team of native English speakers, and evaluated on his ability to handle the instruction. Our instructor is Bolivian, and spent time in the Peace Corps. One of her jobs was interviewing prospective job-seekers and determining their level of English competency.

The session is very interesting, as we try to develop a flexible guide for the upcoming interviews. Part of the training involved splitting into teams and participating in a “practice” interview with a current student from our school. This particular student had just completed a three-week exchange at St. Marks School in Dallas. One of the strategies is to develop an informal rapport, and after getting the student relaxed, get responses from him that show an ability to think through an issue and relate the situation comfortably in English. Our question to him was “what did you not understand or like about your visit in Dallas?” His reply was that the family he stayed with had 3 kids, and when everyone got home in the evening, the family split into various rooms for homework, television, and meals. He missed the sense of “family” he has in China where there was much more family interaction (most likely due to the “One-Child Policy”). Even on weekends in Dallas, the family continued to split into different destinations (mall, home, sports activities). In China, he was used to spending weekends with his parents and regularly visiting grandparents.

After our interview, we met together and discussed pros & cons of the sessions. The last hour of the afternoon was a combined faculty meeting, including the Chinese faculty. We received an updated calendar, and some information about our “International” program combining with the original “International” program at the main Beijing #4 HS campus. This gets a real “buzz” as everyone begins to question their role next year in the school with the added student body, and possible over-crowding? For faculty members planning to return next year, I’m sure they go home with many questions. For me, I’m just glad it’s not me with the questions.

WEDNESDAY, 2/25/15

I seem to have developed an alternating daily activities schedule.  One day, I seem to be super unproductive (lazy), and the next day, I seem motivated to take care of jobs hanging over me.  Today was the “lazy” day.  I kept thinking I was going to do something productive, but really never did.

Judy is suffering through the throes of pre-performance anxiety.  She had a lunch rehearsal session today for several of the solo singers in the upcoming show (next week).  They, of course, hadn’t practiced over the just completed holiday, and no one seems to be able to remember their lyrics.  It’s a challenge, since English is the second language for most of them.  Today was a “wake-up”, or at least she hopes it was.

THURSDAY, 2/26/16

Today was my “active” day.  I started off with Facetime calls back to the US.  Then I called the medical clinic to set up an appointment to look at my right ear.  I got water stuck in the ear on Friday, January 30.  I went to the doctor on Sunday, Feb. 1, and he gave me some medicine.  I understood then that I had a little swelling, and the drops he gave me would take care of the minor infection, and ultimately clear the ear.  Now, almost a month later, I still have some blockage, after trips to the US, and then Bali.  I hadn’t been in the water since it happened, except for a few dousings during my failed surfing attempts in Bali.  I’m beginning to wonder if I have a more serious problem.

I took the train to the clinic and walked in about 10 minutes late.  I signed the insurance form, and they walked me around to the doctor who was already in the room.  She looked in my ear, pulled out a little vacuum device, stuck it in my ear, and pulled out what looked like a rock.  It was huge!  She said it was wax, but it looked like so much more.  That was it!  Problem solved.  I was out the door 10 minutes after I walked in, no charge.  I guess now I’ll have to start swimming again.  Darn!  It was a really convenient excuse.

After the doctor, I spent a half hour in the bank on the ground floor, exchanging left-over Singapore dollars for Chinese currency.  Back to the trains, and Taiyanggong Station where I bought some suckers at BHG that Judy needed for her show.  Next stop was the local wet market for some green beans for tonight’s soup.  Our phones are running low on currency, so I purchased some recharge cards at a local UHN shop.  Last “outside” chore of the day was dropping off laundry at the cleaners, and picking up what we left before the holiday.

Back in the apartment, I prepped the green beans, and started the soup.  When Judy got home, I listened to stories about the pre-show frustrations while we enjoyed dinner.  No matter how much you plan or work before a show, there are so many loose ends that keep cropping up.

Judy heads out to a full day of school.  There isn’t the usual line of taxis waiting.  Beijing still isn’t in “full work” mode.  She flags one down without too much trouble, but it’s always a little scary when none are aroun.

 I managed to make up for my lazy streak yesterday with a full day of activities today.  I washed and dried six loads of laundry.  Talked to mom back in Baton Rouge, and Courtney in DFW.  I rode the bike over to the police station to register our return to Beijing after the trip to the US and then Bali/Singapore.  The computer was down, and the single clerk on duty was filling out all the forms by hand?  She said the system was being upgraded.  After a holiday like this one, I would think there would be lots of people checking in and re-registering.  I was lucky and caught a “hole” in the line, but when I left, there were 12 people behind me.

I stopped by the bank on my way back to check our account balance.  I have to check it at an ATM.  My bank doesn’t have an English website, so all my confirmations have to be done on-site.  Next stop was the local wet market for fruits and vegetables.  Only three vegetable vendors were open today.  Everyone else must still be on holiday.  I bought the necessary vegetables for soup, and climbed back on the bike.  Found a vendor on the street selling fruit, so I picked out some nice apples.

Back at the apartment, I unloaded the vegetables, grabbed our wheeled cart, and headed out to Metro for groceries.   Back at the apartment after Metro, I began prepping the food for the soup.  By the time Judy got home, I had the soup ready, the dishes washed and put away, and most of the laundry put away. 

I guess traveling is hard work. We’re both worn out! Judy’s school begins classes tomorrow, but she goes in around 10 am to meet with one of the other faculty to work on backstage planning for the musical. She gets home around 2:00.

I managed to find time to take a nap, while I was lying around. We finished up some the final unpacking when she got home. It’s going to be a tough week for me. Our Ayi is still enjoying her New Years Holiday, and won’t be back until Monday, March 2. I’ll be doing lots of laundry and dishes between now and then.

Today is officially the last day of the holiday. Stores and restaurants will begin to open tomorrow. The fireworks vendors didn’t take a holiday. Tonight is another big fireworks night, one of three major celebration nights during the holiday. I posted a short video link below.

FIREWORKS LINK

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7p86j5rf0x1gcy6/15.2.23.Fireworks.MOV?dl=0

Today was really full. After breakfast, we went out and caught the “Hop On Hop Off” bus, checking out the sights. At the central sightseeing hub we switched over to the “Duck Boat”, for a tour of the Marina Bay area.

Some of the government subsidized housing. 85% of Singapore residents live in government housing.

Some of the private housing for the upper 15%.

Our “Duck Boat”

After the “Duck Boat” tour, we boarded another “Hop On Hop Off” bus for a different section of their tour. They took us through Little India, and Chinatown. We eventually got off at the Marina Bay Sands and walked through their mall area. Singapore is a really modern “western” city. It was one of the easiest cities to maneuver around we’ve visited.

Inside the Marina Bay Sands Shoppes

We went back to the hotel, changed into our traveling clothes, and made the trip to the airport. Our flight was packed with everyone heading home at the end of the Chinese New Year. Immigration was such a breeze tonight. There were only two people in line in front of us. After we had our luggage, we went to the taxi area. Everyone who wasn’t at immigration was in line for a taxi. It was like a holiday line for a ride at Disneyland. We found a guy scrounging for passengers, offered him 200rmb, and voila, we were home in a flash. I think we would’ve still been in line for a taxi at the airport when we walked into our apartment at 11:45. We started the unpacking process, but it didn’t long before we both crashed.