TUESDAY, 5/6/14

I’ve hit on an idea for my 11^th grade music classes. I’m going to create an accompaniment for “Happy” on Garageband. We’ll divide the classes into rhythm, bass, melody groups, and teach each group their part, using the accompaniment as a support tool. I think the segments are short enough, and easy enough that even the non-musicians in the group can have fun. Ideally we can sing it as a group at the end of the year.

Of course, this requires that I revisit my rhythmic and melodic dictation skills. Then I have to spend the time to create the Garageband tracks. Creativity has never been my strongest asset. Eventually, I’ll need to put it all into Finale so I can have something written out to teach from. This is beginning to sound like a lot of work.

Judy comes in early after school today. She has lots of computer work to do, and decided to work at home instead of school. She’s beginning to work on the PYP curriculum. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? IB is changing how the source materials and class planning procedures are organized. Judy’s next project (besides teaching 10 grade levels) is to redo all her materials. She had been swearing she wasn’t going to do this, but she couldn’t just “not do it.”

WEDNESDAY, 5/7/14

Today was a new one for me. Judy needed some video clips downloaded from the internet to take to school. I went straight from the bed to the computer, found the clips, and got them downloaded to her computer before she left. When she walked out, I returned to my chair and the computer, and didn’t move again until she came home after school. No shower, no lunch, etc. I got engrossed in writing out “Happy”. It took forever, but I figured out a lot of new things on “Garageband” and “Finale”. This should make it much easier to the next time I have a project like this.

Judy heads back to BISS, staring ahead at a full week of school. My job today is to take her passport, with the new residence permit (for 2014-2015) and get her a new temporary residence permit. I walk over to the police station, and the registration process proceeds without incident. Next, I hike to the subway station and travel to Sanlitun for lunch. After listening to Judy talk about the Moka Café yesterday, I decide that’s my lunch destination for today. I enjoy a really good steak and avocado wrap.

After lunch, I walk to a nearby China Unicomm office. I purchased local service and a simm card for our iPad in August and it ran out on May 1. It’s time to figure out how to renew or update it. The clerk was able to help me figure out how to pay additional monies for the service @ 80rmb per month (about $13.50 monthly). I buy enough ahead to last through July of 2015. I figure whatever decision we make about returning, we’ll at least be around in July.

As I leave the Unicomm office, I pass by a crepe shop. I’m in need of a small caffeine boost, so I sit outside on the terrace and have a crepe and some coffee for a “pick me up). It’s never boring watching the unique characters walking around the streets of Beijing. After the snack, I head out to the train and the Marriott for a swimming session. After swimming, it’s back to the train, and a visit to the grocery store for some milk for breakfast tomorrow. It has been a full day of walking and train riding, but I got quite a bit accomplished.

FRIDAY, 5/2/14

Judy slept better last night. Our plan for the day is to rest and relax, and let Judy recover as much as possible. We pretty much met the criteria. I did make it over for a swim session. Later, in the early evening, we walked over to the mall, and found a new place to eat, Cloud Nine. It had lots of exotic foods (stewed pig intestines, etc.), but we were able to find a green bean dish, a potato dish, and a sweet & sour chicken option. They were all good.

SATURDAY, 5/3/14

Judy is feeling feisty today, so we decide to explore a little. We’ve heard about an area called “798 Arts District.” It’s supposed to have lots of shops and cafes. We grabbed a taxi and started giving directions to where we thought it was. When we arrived in the area, nothing looked like what we were expecting. After driving around the neighborhood, and frustrating the taxi driver (he had no idea what we were doing or what we were looking for), we give up. We have him drop us in a nearby neighborhood we recognized. We looked at several lunch options, eventually settling on the “Irish Volunteer Pub.” We had a pizza and some fried dumplings. It was a very ecletic place, declaring itself “a hockey bar.” We enjoyed the meal, and watching out the windows at all the unique individuals walking and driving by.

Back at the apartment, it’s back to the grindstone, working on our computers, preparing for the week ahead. When we get bored, we watch a few “Lost” episodes.

SUNDAY, 5/4/14

Judy has a big day of “girls” activities planned. A group of five BISS faculty are headed to Lily Nails for nails, massages, and lots of discussion about life in Beijing. Then they’re headed to the Moka Café, a small restaurant to finish off the day.

I work on some class planning (maybe I’ll one sometime soon), before I head over to the Marriott for a swim session. After swimming, I decide it’s time for my own massage, so I walk over to Drangonfly and enjoy a one-hour session. It’s going to be a tough transition back to the US when this all ends. The generally cheap cost-of-living in Beijing, combined with cheap massages, and an Ayi who cleans our apartment (including laundry and ironing three days a week) sure has us spoiled.

HOLIDAY! IT’S MAY DAY, or LABOR DAY here in China. Our ayi, Lilly tried to go home for the weekend, and couldn’t get a train ticket. Deb, our Australian faculty friend at BISS put together a “girls” trip for several of the faculty. She had everything in place, except she couldn’t get plane tickets, and had to cancel the trip. Lots of people are traveling today. I’m curious what Beijing will be like this weekend.

Judy had such a bad night with her cough, she got up this morning and started talking about going to the doctor. She called the clinic and got an 8:30 am appointment. We arrived right on time. Judy completed the paperwork and was quickly taken to a room. Minutes later, she walked through, headed for an x-ray. When we walked out of the clinic at 9:30 am, after paying $8.00 for everything, she had seen a doctor, had bloodwork and a chest x-ray, and received 3 prescriptions. She’s got no excuse for not getting well now.

We walk up “embassy street”, arriving at the “Lady’s Market”. We’re just exploring. I’ve been here, but Judy hasn’t. It’s not open yet, so we find a little café, and have a strawberry smoothie while we wait. A German gentleman joins us and we have an interesting chat, hearing about his postings working with the German embassy. Like many of our experiences, it’s interesting to hear his view of the world, and Beijing. We talk about Dirk and the Mavericks (Mavs just lost game 5 to the Spurs). He talks about getting up at 3:00 am to watch Bayern Munchen get beat by Real Madrid in the big soccer match yesterday.

We eventually walk through the Lady’s Market, and end up in the Flower Market, one floor above. We’re in need of plants for our fountain, and also find some nice flowers to add color to the apartment. Judy heads home to begin work on the fountain, and I walk further up the street for a swimming session. I’m doing everything I can to avoid missing a day in the pool. Back home later, we enjoy the evening with some “Lost” episodes. We’re into Season 5, so we are working hard to not get “lost” in the story.

Judy had another fitful night of sleeping with the coughing. She has been using Nyquil, and it helps, but there are still some rough moments. She’s been drinking a lot of hot water with lemon and honey. She gets through the day, but ready to relax when she gets home. There is no school tomorrow or Friday due to the national Labor Day holiday. It’ll be a real chance to recover.

One of the Chinese teachers at BISS brought Judy a Chinese cough remedy.

I spent yesterday and today getting “closely” acquainted with “Garageband”. Now that I have the “interpreted” version of the school song, I wanted to get it into a form that would be more permanent, with an accompaniment. When we learn this with the music classes, I want them to have a finished product they can sing along with. I had to write/record the melodic line, and then a bass line. The most difficult part was the percussion accompaniment. It took half of today just to figure out how to create a snare roll, and then write/record the whole piece. I know there will be adjustments later, but at least I have solid base to work from.

Today is a big day for the Elementary School at BISS. 5^th grade is the top level of the PYP (Primary Years Program). At the end of the 5^th grade year, the students take part in the “Exhibition”. It’s the culmination of their elementary school experience. Each student has a stationary exhibit of their work on display, and then the group does a performance using different media, to demonstrate some of what they’ve learned. This year’s main topics were “Peace & Conflict”, and the specific concepts studied were ownership, injustice, inequality, and prejudice.

I went up to BISS for one of the three performances during the day. Other grade levels attended the performances, as well as Grade 5 students from two other International Schools. There was also an evening performance for the parents. The topics studied were not “soft” topics, and it was interesting how the students handled their individual projects, as well as the group performance. Judy provided a song about peace, rehearsing them and teaching them the deaf hand signs to accompany it. It made for a very nice moment at the end of the show. She had spent a lot of time helping them learn their finale, as well as selecting and editing accompaniment music for their performance.

I was impressed with the whole “Exhibition” presentation, and it was well received by the student audiences. Judy had a sub for her regular classes so she could be available for all the daytime performances. She spent a lot of time preparing the sub plans for 7 classes. She also had to attend the evening performance. When she finally got home, around 8:30, she was beat. The only bad coughing fit she experienced that got out of control was during the performance I attended. And to top it off, as she tried to exit the backstage area to deal with the cough, she kicked some of the sound system cords loose. “When it rains, it pours.”