It’s a “market shopping” day.  We head out after a relaxing morning and taxi to the “Silk Market”.   It’s 5 floors of small shops partitioned with glass walls.  Each floor has it’s own identity and similar shops are grouped together.  As you walk down the aisle, shop owners are hawking their wares.  Some are really aggressive.  We learned early not to seem interested as we walked by.  Eye contact seemed to indicate you were ready to buy.

When we did decide to look seriously at an item, the bargaining was fun.  Since these people do this everyday for a living, I’m aware I’m not going to “beat them at their own game”.  I just want to make purchases for things we want/need at a decent price.  We were told by some experienced “Beijingers” not to pay more than 20% of their asking price, and be ready to walk away if they wouldn’t come down.  We were working on a cashmere sweater, and politely walked out when they wouldn’t meet our price.  They tried to politely block our exit, grabbed my arm, and finally let me leave, hollering at me as we walked down the hallway.  We were about 10 stalls down the hall when they caught us and said “OK, we ok you price, you killing us”.

After purchasing a few items, we exited, found a coffee shop with outside tables, and enjoyed the comfortable afternoon, people-watching.  With our energy renewed (thank you, caffeine), we jumped in a taxi and headed for the Yashow Market.  Enroute, the taxi driver created a stir when he pitched 80y at Judy, before we paid him anything.  Since we had agreed upon 20y for the trip (he didn’t turn his meter on when we got in?), I handed him a 100y bill, figuring we were paid up.  He looked at the bill and handed it back, muttering under his breath.  I wasn’t sure what he was saying.  I handed him another bill, he looked at it and handed it back.  I kept trying to figure out what was going on.  We finally gave him his 80y back, and gave him another 20y for the fare.  As we got out, he seemed to be asking if the 20y bill was “good”.

We walked into Yashow Market, looking for some more shopping fun.  We found some items, bickered on the price, and paid.  As we walked away, they chased us down and said the 100y bills we gave them were not good.  Apparently there is a lot of counterfeiting going on in Beijing.  Every store I’ve shopped in, the clerks carefully check the bills, or there is a machine they feed the bills into that checks them.  The market sales people showed us how to check the bills, and I went through all my bills, finding several problems.  I got all the bills out of a Bank of China ATM, so I’ll find out Monday how to deal with it.  The counterfeit bills explain the consternation of the taxi driver.  I had been handing him those bad bills, and since I had several, I kept swapping one bad bill for another.  It also explains Judy’s problem Friday night with her taxi driver.  I’m sure it was one of the bad bills she tried to give him.

We finished our shopping excursion, and walked next door to Sanlitun Village.  We found a nice place to eat, then headed home.  It was a fun day with all the shopping and bargaining.  We also learned a valuable lesson about counterfeit bills.  I’m curious how the resolution with the Bank of China will go.

It’s been a pretty boring week!  As I “reflect” on the week, Beijing life is becoming routine.  Judy’s classes are steady.  She has the usual frustrations associated with teaching the IB curriculum for middle school.  She’s developing all new lesson plans that have to meet a very strict criteria.  Frotunately, the upper graders behave well and work hard.  The lower graders are a different story.  Combine their language difficulties with strong wills and bedlam exists.  She’ll solve it, but it’s not solved yet.

My classes are fun!  They began to get more relaxed this week.  Some of the students are language challenged, and I’m not getting through to them as clearly as I wish I could.  I decided to start each class day with some rhythm counting.  It gets them focused quickly, especially when we began counting individually down the line.  Some mistakes led to lighter moments, and we were able to have fun with it.

Working on some rhythms

I began to meet with a few of the students about the “clubs” I’m sponsoring.  I’ve been asked to help with an instrumental music club, and also a guitar club.  The students are responsible for determining their goals for the club for the year.  We’re trying to determine when the clubs will meet.  We have a “Club Fair” Monday afternoon where students promote the club to other students.  The 10^th graders are our “targets”, since they haven’t been at the school before.

Now that Judy and I both have our official “Z” Visa (work permit), good for multiple entries for a year, we had to register at the police station, again.  Each time we leave China and return, we have to visit the police station and update our residency.  The law states that it must be done within 24 hours, but there is some leniency.  Since we’re visiting Korea next weekend, we’ll have to visit the police station again on our return.  We have to have our passports, a copy of our apartment lease, a copy of our landlord’s ID, and a tax statement from BISS showing they paid the rent and tax on the apartment with all the official stamps.  It gets complicated finding a time when the police station is open, Judy & I are both available, and our agent Lisa is available to accompany us to translate if an issue occurs.

Last weekend, the BISS Head of School was telling us about their TIC (this is China) moment.  Their hot water stopped, and he assumed there was a problem with the meter, or payment, or something.  When he was able to ask the apartment management about the problem, he was told there was work being done on the “hot water” that affected all the apartments in their complex.  When he asked when it would be working again, he was told “it may be only a month, but it could be longer”?  How fun!!!!

Judy had a little added excitement on her trip home Friday evening.  When she handed the taxi driver a 100y bill for a 28y fare, he became very agitated.  He insisted she go to one of the stores just outside our complex and get change.  She finally found one of the stores that would do it, and she returned to the taxi and paid her fare.  We thought he just didn’t want to “change” the 100y bill, or didn’t have change himself.  Read tomorrow’s blog entry for an update on what was probably happening (oh boy, a cliff-hanger)!

We’re finally going to visit The Great Wall.  The weather has cooled enough so that it should be comfortable.  The bus picks us up at 7:45 and we’re off, headed out of Beijing.  This is our first trip out of town and I’m curious about the countryside.  There is agriculture everywhere.  I see lots of corn, and many orchards.  It’s very green and really relaxing.  As we start up into the hills/mountains, it reminds me of the drive in New Mexico, through the Ruidoso area, or from Tres Ritos to Taos.

We arrive at the base of the chairlift that provides access to the top of the wall.  Not only is there a wall, but it’s built on top of the mountains.  We catch the chairlift (like a ski chairlift) at 9:00 when it opens.  There isn’t much of a crowd.  We’re at Mutianyu, one of the two main areas to visit The Wall.  This site is further out of Beijing, and the crowds are smaller.

It’s gorgeous!  The weather is cool and comfortable, around 68F.  We can see for a really good distance.  It is a little foggy, due to the 98% humidity.  We have two hours to walk the area.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

There are two routes down, the chairlift, or the toboggan.  We choose the toboggan, and it’s a blast.  Judy is ready to pay to ride back to top, so she can ride the toboggan back down.  We walk around the lower area, dodging aggressive “hawkers” trying to sell “I Climbed the Great Wall” t-shirts, as well as many other valuable trinkets. They don’t take no for an answer!

We get back on the bus and leave around 11:00, headed for the Ming Tombs.  It’s about an hour drive, weaving up and down narrow mountain roads.  There are occasional small towns, and the road is so close to the homes, you can look in the windows as we drive by.

We are visiting one of the Ming Tombs, the resting place of the 13^th emperor of the Ming Dynasty.  All but 3 of the 16 Ming emperors have a “Tomb” area.  Our visit is to the only one with actual access below ground, into the tomb itself.  It’s a huge area, cavernous below, and acres & acres above ground, just for this one emperor.  The whole region is one tomb site after another.

We’re starving, and lunch is next on the agenda.  We pull into a parking lot in front of a very large plain building.  It’s the government Jade Factory.  Apparently, every tour company is required to bring its’ “Great Wall” visitors through the Jade Factory.  We have a really good meal on the 2^nd floor, and then downstairs for some demonstrations of jade carving, etc.  It’s truly interesting, and the building is HUGE!  There is jewelry and carvings everywhere.  It’s like it’s the Costco of Jade.

I’m becoming a little “jaded” with history (sorry) as we head back into Beijing.  We drive by the Olympic area.  I take a few photos, but we’re planning on visiting more next weekend, so I’m bound to have some better shots.  We arrive at a traditional Tea House for some instruction on the Chinese Tea Ceremony, and sampling of several teas.  It’s fun, and a nice change from all the ancient sites we’ve been seeing.  When the bus drops us off at home, it’s 5:00 pm and we’re “bushed”, but the story doesn’t end here.

The Water Cube, Olympics

The Birdcage Olympic Stadium

Judy’s BISS friend, Deb and husband Graham text us about visiting a Chinese BBQ just outside the gates of our apartment complex.  We really enjoyed our food last weekend, so we’re “game” to find a similar spot close by.  They meet us at the apartment gates and it’s right across the alley/street.  The food is great!  They both ordered their food “hot”, as in spicy, and we can’t be outdone (we did live in New Mexico for 25 years), so it’s “hot” for us, also.  And boy, is it HOT!!!!  There were chicken, beef, and lamb choices on the meats (and a few other meat parts we weren’t so interested in).  There were lots of vegetables.  It was all very good, and very spicy.  The bill totaled $13 equivalent, including drinks, for all four of us.  Tomorrow will be an interesting day for our stomachs.   I’ll be less inclined next time for the “iron stomach” challenge.

Back to the apartment and the “crash”.  It’s 8:00 and I’m not long for this world.  Judy has a few loose ends to tie up to be ready for school, but teaching part-time has its’ advantages.  One of those is that I have several days to tie up my loose ends before class.  Judy starts talking to me…………..zzzz

This is a recovery day.  Judy has been teaching a month, but for me, my two days have worn me out.  It’s not so much the teaching.  The commute is what’s wearing me out.  It’s forcing me to walk quite a bit.  Yes, it’s good for my health, etc., etc., but it’s still work hauling me and my junk all over town.  I’m determined to get healthy, if it doesn’t kill me first.

We both sleep late, and lounge around the apartment, eating, and generally being bums.  We try to Facetime back home, but the internet is slow today, and it’s too frustrating with all the “buffering” and waiting.  We’ll catch up with everyone another day.

Judy has a haircut today, and I’m just planning on staying around the apartment, writing and working on next week’s classes.  She gets home from the haircut and starts to work.  We have a big sightseeing day tomorrow, and won’t have energy to do much but “crash” when we get home.

Day 2 at BHSFIC begins earlier.  My classes on Friday start at 9:50.  The hour commute means I have to be out of the apt. earlier than usual, especially if I need want to arrive in time to set-up the classroom ahead of the students.  I’m not carrying my clarinet today, so the load is a little lighter.

I arrive about 9:20, and start setting up.  After getting the music playing, I realize there’s no projector.  I start checking around and there are none to be found today.  Many of the rooms have mounted projectors.  The few projectors that are not mounted are all in use so I’ve got to do some quick adjustment of my lesson plan.  I’ve got a lot of musical excerpts, but they’re so much more interesting with video.

I check roll today, calling the students’ first names (in English).  They each stood and told me their last names so I can begin to work on pronunciations.  After roll, we start some simple rhythmic instruction, and we do some early rhythmic reading.  The students seem to get the hang of it, but listening to the whole group counting in English is pretty interesting.  We’ll build on this as the school year proceeds.

When I the finish the 2^nd class, it’s lunch.  The opinion of the faculty is that the food at the IC campus is better than the main campus.  I fill up and start planning my afternoon.  I have to figure out how to get to the foreign passport office, then back to the main campus to meet, Amy Song, who’ll be helping me set-up a bank account.  With advice from several sources, I head for the subway.  Coming out of the subway, it’s a long hike to the office.  I find it, and pick up my passport with my long-awaited “year long” multiple entry visa.  It basically means I can “come and go” as I please for a year.  Most of the paperwork we’ve been doing since we started this whole process in January was to get this document.  SUCCESS!!!!

I walk back to the train, travel to my next stop, and walk to the main campus.  Amy meets me and we go to a nearby Bank of Beijing branch to set-up an account so I can be paid.  Since payday is next week, this is an important job.  One hour later, I have an account.  We head back to the main campus business offices to complete more financial paperwork with my new visa and bank account, and by 4:30, I’m finished.

Judy’s school is “unwinding” as a group at the Drum & Bell Bar after school today.  It has a rooftop patio and overlooks the courtyard between the Bell Tower and Drum Tower we visited a few weeks back.  They’re traveling from school on a bus.

I catch a taxi to meet them.  It sounds so easy to say “catch a taxi”, but I have to try and give directions.  He seems unable to read the Chinese address on the information I have, and no matter how fast or slow I say “Drum and Bell Tower”, he isn’t getting it.  I finally pull up a map on my iPad and a glimmer of understanding shows up on his face.  He drops me off close to the historic sites, and I start wandering through the ancient neighborhood looking for the group.  I finally find them and. join them on the roof.

It’s another gorgeous evening and we enjoy ourselves, sitting in the middle of all this history, meeting more of the very international faculty at BISS.  There are so many unique individuals with interesting stories about their international teaching experiences and destinations.  Much of the talk is about everyone’s destination for the October holiday.  We hear talk about Bali, Mongolia, Phillipines, and Hong Kong.  Our Yangtze River Cruise is beginning to sound “tame”.  I think it’s going to be a great way to start off our travel experiences.

We drag ourselves home and quickly get to bed, looking forward to a lazy Saturday morning.  I feel as though I walked all over Beijing.  My knees are screaming at me.  As I tuck the blanket under my neck, Judy laughs and tells me it’s 8:15.  I was asleep by 8:20.

Yea!  I finally get to go to work today!  No vegetable prep and market shopping for me.  Traveling to school and students are my order of business today.  I’m loaded like a mule.  I’ve got my clarinet, and a big backpack with computer, cords, etc.  I don’t want to take a chance on not having something I need, on the first day.

My first class is scheduled for 2:20, but I leave early enough to arrive around 10:15. I want to make sure I can hook into the projector, and also have some way to play the musical segments on something stronger than my computer.  I may need time to go buy some adapter cords.  I knew last week I wouldn’t have my own room this week.  Renovations and improvements are still finishing, so sharing of rooms is required this week, and maybe next.

BHSFIC front entry

I check in with the principal, Serene, when I arrive.  She happens to be speaking with Edward (facilities manager) about where my classes are going to be and what I need.  Great timing!  We schedule to meet at 1:30.  I kill time before lunch in the library, cleaning up my powerpoint.  I head down to lunch around 11:45.  It’s nice to see some of the faculty again.  They’ve been working all week, and have a few stories to tell.

Lunch choices at BHSFIC. (Right to left) Pork, chicken, and a duck/chicken dish.

More choices: vegetables with egg, some kind of a tofu dish, and noodles

Noodles, Rice, and “chinese tortillas”

3 soups, and sweet potatoes. I haven’t tried the white stuff yet?

After lunch I find my room and start fiddlin’ around with the sound system.  It’s way more than I need, and a little complicated, since all the notations are in Chinese.  I make a few educated guesses, flip a few switches, and I have sound.  Edward arrives and gets my computer hooked up to the projector, and I’m in business.  Now all I need are students.

Since my room number is changed for this week, the students are slow to arrive.  I’ve got Maynard Ferguson’s “Birdland” playing to help them find the room.  I even played along on my clarinet (as best I could).  They filter in, very friendly, and chatting with each other.  When the bell rings, I turn on Copland’s “Fanfare For The Common Man”.  I needed something short that would get their attention.  As it finishes, I check roll.  Each student has an “English” first name they’ve chosen.  I don’t attempt their last names today.  Even checking roll in our first class, I can see where the “problem” children are.  They’re not really problems, but they’re a little too talkative.  Some creative seating adjustments should solve the problem.

The rest of class is spent working through the powerpoint about my education and teaching experiences.  Since these students will be attending universities in the US, and part of my job is to help “socialize” them, knowledge about the US high schools should be relevant.  I get in a few musical excerpts from the Martin Band, and some short video clips of a marching band.  One of the students, tells me he plays trumpet, and was the drum major of his marching band.  I’m anxious to find out what his experiences have been.  He seems very proud of the group.

I also have a flutist, several pianists, and a few students play violin.  Six tell me they play “Chinese Flute”.  One of the students tells me he plays Chinese fiddle?  I ask what the difference is between a Chinese fiddle and a regular violin?  “Nothing”, was the answer!  I’m going to give him a chance to play, so we’ll find out what makes it “Chinese”.

Overall, the students are quiet and attentive.  They are slow to respond to my questions.  Some of the reluctance may be “language” related, and some may be “peer” related.  I’ve been told they are unaccustomed to answering for fear of “losing face”.

The classes are 45 minutes each, with 10 minutes in between.  Both are about the same.  One has 33 students, and the other has 30.  When I get my own room, I’ll need to work on a seating arrangement that gets them closer to me (or me to them).  The 5^th row is too far back, and it’s too easy for the students to “drift”.

When class ends at 4:00, I begin gathering my stuff, and realize how “out of shape” I am.  It’s been a while since I stood for that long (except on the subway), and used that much energy.

Several of the faculty members are “unwinding” together after school, so I join them.  We end up eating at a restaurant with a rooftop patio.  It’s a gorgeous evening (I began wishing I had a jacket as it got dark).  There are some really dedicated teachers in the group.  This is going to be an interesting year in so many ways.  I commute home on the subway, with all my junk, arriving about 8:30.  I was in bed, and asleep by 9:15.  I need my rest!  I have class tomorrow!  I’m teaching two whole days in a row!

Not too much happening today.  Judy gets off to school ok.  I catch up on the blog writing from the past few days.  We’re out of fruits & vegetables, so a visit to the “wet market” is required.  I get a ton of stuff, and drag it all home.  I found roasted peanuts, and ate half of them before I got to the apartment.  The problem with buying all the fresh foods is they have to be prepared.  I spend the rest of the morning washing the fruits and prepping the corn for cooking.  The reward is how great it all tastes!

This was my haul at the “wet market” today. It cost around $14. I think I ate half of it before dinner. (the peanuts anyway).

The afternoon is spent cleaning up the powerpoint and music for my first class tomorrow.  It’s gonna be great, if I have a projector and some speakers.  I have my fingers crossed, hoping it all works out.

I set up a tour for the weekend.  We’re going to go the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, and the Olympic area.  The weather has cooled off enough to make sightseeing fun.  It was so hot for several weeks, it wasn’t worth it to leave the apartment.  Now the temperature is bouncing between 65 and 80.  The humidity is high, but we need something to complain about.

I had a very productive day here in the apartment.  I began to settle on a direction for my classes this week.  Whew!  I’ve been waiting for some inspiration, and it is finally coming.  It may be related to the Thursday class deadline, but I don’t care.  I’ll take “inspiration” any way I can get it.

Judy successfully paid some money on our electric card.  She had no problems, and we’re set-up for at least another month.  As best I can tell, we spent about $100 in August on electricity.

She was able to get the iPod Touch set up with English (we couldn’t figure it out last night) with the help of the IT dept.  She had time to get synced with her computer, and her classes were much smoother today.  She was able to quickly get the music playing without moving from one program to another on the computer.

“China Way Moving” met with Judy at school at the end of the day.  They let us know that our main shipment would arrive in Tinjing, on the coast, on Friday, Sept. 9.  Then it is held there in storage while it clears customs for 21 days.  We should have our “stuff” sometime after Oct. 1.  It left our apartment in Ft. Worth on July 19.  We’ve been living out of our suitcases (check the blog on July 25 for pix) for almost two months.  It’s not quite camping, but there are things we’ve been waiting for.

Judy had a payday last Friday.  I asked her when she got paid, and she had no idea?  Friday night, several of the “old-timers” were talking about getting paid, so I tried to find out.  The “Bank of China” has online banking, but you can’t access it through a Mac computer.  No problem, we can use computers at her school.  Oops, they all are Mac, also.  Oh well, everyone at my school has been talking about picking up their school PC.  I find out that as a part-time faculty, I don’t receive a school computer.  Stymied!

I was able to use her “debit” card and find out the balance on the account, and she did get paid.  Since so much of what we do here is cash transactions, the debit card works fine, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to transfer monies around?  My school uses Bank of Beijing, so we’ll have a 2^nd bank to deal with.  In some of the early meetings at Judy’s school, she was told BISS would get an account at another bank that was easier to use for moving money out of the country.  Most of the BISS faculty is paying bills in their home country, as well as Beijing, so accessing their money is a major issue.  Three different banks, and I can’t read any of their websites.  Sounds like a challenge to me!

I spend Monday working on a powerpoint for my classes this week.  As with most things “computer”, I can figure it out, but it takes time.  Judy has used the program a lot, so I save up my questions, and get her solutions when she gets home.

I opted out of attending the Monday morning flag-raising at BHSFIC.  I had no classes, but was curious and wanted to observe.  It was just too much time wasted for the reward.  As it turned out, they didn’t have the ceremony.  Not sure what happened, but I’ll hear about it on Thursday, when I have classes.

Judy’s days are becoming a more settled, as she gets everything in place.  I went to the Apple Store today to get an iPod Touch for her classes.  When she’s running a power point and music off the same computer, it takes too long to move from one program to another.  Elementary kids won’t sit still long enough.  She has to get their attention and hold it, and they don’t have the needed patience while she moves in and out of iTunes.  Also, every email or calendar reminder pops up on the screen.  She’s never been too keen on the student body knowing when her next haircut was scheduled.

I rewarded myself with lunch while I was out, and found another Mexican food restaurant, “Q Mex”.  Check out the chili relleno below.  It was good, and they also served tostado chips and salsa.  I stayed a long time!

Wandered into Q Mex by mistake. Thought I was going into a pizza place. I just had to suffer through this chili relleno.

As we start September, it’s surreal to realize where we are.  One year ago, there is no way we would have imagined ourselves teaching around the world.  It was such a pipe dream, and now it’s reality.  Teaching is teaching, but everywhere has it’s own challenges.  We’re looking forward to the future.

Today is “Opening Ceremonies” at the BHSF Main Campus.  It’s a BIG DEAL.  We’re supposed to be on the campus at 7:30am.  The one-hour commute means early departure.  Thankfully, the subway isn’t crowded, and we get to sit for much of the trip.

As we approach the campus, students are coming from everywhere.  The street is congested and students are bailing out of their cars, and running toward the school gates.  At the gate, students are allowed in, but parents are held out.  Judy and I get in using my faculty ID.  The ceremony is outside, on the field.  A large stage is set up, and several thousand plastic stools are lined up for students and parents.  Thankfully, the faculty gets chairs.  After the students get in place, parents are admitted, and fill up the remaining stools at the back.

Teamwork Sculpture

Middle schoolers getting organized

All the students are wearing their uniforms, and it’s a pretty interesting sight when everyone is seated in their rows, feet together, hands on knees, and backs straight.  There are over 2500 students, including the main campus, the international campus, and the middle school campus.  The students have had some preliminary training and we are treated to two different groups demonstrating their marching and self-defense skills.  I can’t begin to give this a proper description.  Hopefully I can figure out how to post some video.

Flag-Raising

Ceremony starting up

We are treated to speeches and introductions, most of them too long, especially when our mandarin is so inadequate.  There is a flag-raising ceremony, and a rock version of the School Song we’re treated to.  This is everything I hoped for, and more.

At the conclusion, we walk back to the subway, and ride to Xidan (pronounced she-don) station.  There’s supposed to be food and shopping.  We find both.  We end up eating twice before we leave.  We passed on the bullfrog and duckblood, but enjoyed some very spicy vegetable dishes in “The Spicy Spirit.”  They have their own version of jalapenos here.  We’ll be better off when we learn to recognize them before we eat them.

Starved! Can you tell?

Our destination, some shopping and food

Orange tea

One pea at a time

Spicy vegetable!!!!! I mean spicy!

Spices for sale.

We are worn out when we decide to head home, and opt for a taxi over the subway.  We’re on the opposite side of Beijing from our apartment, so I’m a little worried about the length of the trip.  Judy practices her “taxi talk”, and it works!  We’re home 40 minutes later.  She again proves her value!