“BISS ON THE ROAD” is in full steam at BISS this week for the secondary students. Judy hasn’t been meeting the 6^th grade classes, so she has a lot of prep time to get organized for the busy holiday season of performances that always arrive earlier than expected.

Today is the “Club Fair” day at BHSFIC. I spend the morning working around the apartment. I taxi over to my haircut appointment at 1:00 (it’s been about 5 weeks, and I was getting shaggy). After the haircut, I taxied to school, arriving about 3:15. The Club Fair started at 4:00, so I have plenty of time to get my bearings. I really don’t have much to do except attend and let the students see me. I’ve got my clarinet, and I sit at our table, but the students run the fair. The president of the Orchestra Club has created a power point running on a projector.

It’s an activity to recruit students for the various clubs at BHSFIC. The students set-up tables around the auditorium/multi-purpose room with signs, posters, projectors, and anything else they think will entice other students to be a part of their club. I’m in charge of the “Orchestra Club”, and the “Band Club” (they think it’s rock band club, I think it’s a guitar club). There is also a club for composers (“Cloud Nine”), and a club for musicians wanting a music theory approach (“Philharmonic Club”). I don’t know who the sponsor is for the “Philharmonic Club”. I was asked to be in charge of “Cloud Nine”, but told them I didn’t know when we could meet (I’m only on campus 2 days a week).

There is tons of activity in the room and the students are really excited about their groups. It’s also important to them to have several clubs they can add to their college “resume”.  Most of the staff believe there are too many clubs, and the students would be better served with more dedication and focus on fewer activities.

Sushi on a conveyer belt. Fast food area at the Capita Mall. You just sit down and wait for your favorite dish to cruise by.

MONDAY, 9/15/14

The weather today is gorgeous. It’s clear, and not too hot. I stop by the wet market for some fruits and vegetables. After lunch I went over to Metro for our weekly grocery run. Later in the afternoon I decided to scout out some bike shops. I’m beginning to get the urge to buy an E-bike. Several of the teachers at my school have bought them, and are enjoying them. I’m trying to balance my desire to own one against the realization that it’s about to turn cold and I won’t have much time to use it before winter arrives here.

I got on my bicycle and rode around the neighborhood, checking out the different shops and pricing. There are some interesting options. On most of them, the battery can be pulled out, carried to the room, and charged. Prices vary based on the size of the battery, etc. No driver’s license is required if the e-bike has pedals (just in case the battery dies). Right now I’m leaning away from making a purchase, but we’ll see where I am in week.

TUESDAY, 9/16/14

It’s another beautiful day for a bike ride. I get moving around 11:00 and head over to the table tennis club. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve played. As usual, I’m anxious about whether or not I’ll find someone to play with. Many of the players come with pre-arranged partners.

I walked in, found my usual hangout area, pulled out my stuff, and began to watch some of the groups playing. After 5 minutes, a lady came over, and we exchanged pleasantries, as best we could with the language issue. She asked if I wanted to play, and I pulled out my net, set it up, and we started. We played for about 20 minutes before she had to leave. I sat back down, and 10 minutes later, another lady came over to play. We volleyed for about 15 minutes, and then her husband walked over and replaced her. He was a much tougher challenge, but my game has improved. Last spring, he would have destroyed me, but I was able to hold my own today. Every player has different spins and speeds, but I’m better at reading the changes, and reacting quicker.

They eventually had to leave, but as they departed, a younger guy walked up. I offered to play and he accepted. This guy played at an entirely new level for me. He started slowly enough, but I caught flashes of speed and spin I had never faced before. After about 10 minutes, he started trying to coach me. He struggled with most of his explanations, but kept working at it, and I eventually began to make some adjustments. It’ll take me some time before I’m comfortable with the adjustments, but I’m going to work on his suggestions. I ended up playing for about 3 hours.

On my way home, I stopped off at the bike shop and replaced the rear inner tube. I purchased a new one 2 weeks ago, but it has been losing air. I asked about fixing it, and was told 100rmb. I asked about a new one, and the price was 30 rmb?

Freshly repaired. I continued toward the apartment. I stopped at a nearby “gym” looking for a pool. It’s a decent place, but not great. I think my best bet is the pool/gym here in the complex. It costs 3000rmb a year. It’s not as nice as the other spots, and certainly not as nice as the Marriott.  Since BISS has moved their gym contract to a different hotel, it’s much less convenient.  I can’t beat the UHN location. It’s less than 50 yards, door to door, from our apartment building.

We decided to visit a new area today. Last Tuesday (9/9/14) I ate dinner with several faculty from BHSFIC at the Veggie Table. It was on a street/alley in the Wudaoying Hutong. I noticed a lot of interesting shops and cafes, so we decided to fully check it out today. We taxied over around 10:00 am. It’s not far from the Lama Temple and Confucious Temple, where we’ve visited before.

We walked the street, visiting the shops and doing some leisurely sightseeing. There were several new items we hadn’t seen before. It’s so hard to buy something when we know that sooner or later it will become clutter and have to be disposed. Selling our in home in Arlington before we moved reminded us how much junk we own. We’re doing our best not to come home from China with a lot of excessive paraphernalia. Selectivity is our “word of the year”. Only buy it if it’s really special.

One café was “cat” based. There were cat symbols everywhere, and cats wandering in and out the doors and windows, including the 2^nd floor. Down the street was a companion “bed & breakfast” with the same type sign and decorations. There was a “vampire” shop also. It was closed, so we didn’t get a chance to visit. I’m not sure what that was about.

Cats everywhere!

I’m not sure what goes on in the “V”.

There were photographers and “models” at dozens of places up and down the street. I don’t know if it was something official, or just random, but it tough to move down the street in a few spots.

We had a relaxing lunch at the Veggie Table. Afterwards we headed home to catch up on schoolwork and prepare for the week.

After the “excitement” of last night, we are moving a little slow this morning.  Judy leaves around 9:30 to run some errands.  I’ve been seeing ads around town for the FORMULA E GRAND PRIX, here in Beijing.  Formula E cars are electric, thus the “E”, and this is a completely new racing circuit with 10 teams, each with 2 drivers.  There are 10 races scheduled throughout the world (Rome, London, Miami, etc.)  They race around the streets like the Formula 1 circuit, and Beijing is the “Debut” of the circuit.

 The race is today, and the cars are running around the National Stadium (Birdcage) and the Water Cube from the Beijing Olympics.  How can I miss this?  I take the train over to check if tickets are still available.  I’m not sure about the schedule, but something I’ve seen mentioned qualifying laps scheduled for noon.

When I get off the train and come up out of the station, there are a few ticket scalpers around.  I check out some prices and the quality of the ticket they’re trying to sell.  Several of the tickets look genuine.  I eventually buy a 488rmb ticket for 400rmb, and it actually gets me in.  Although the signs for the grandstands are not easy to find, I finally find my seat in the grandstand.  Qualifying races are running, so the stands aren’t too full.

The qualifying races finish at 1:00 pm, and there are autograph sessions and several VIP activities on the schedule.  Without a VIP pass, I’m not going anywhere, so I find some shade and a bench and get ready to kill 3 hours.  The actual race doesn’t begin until 4:00.

I get bored around 2:30 and start nosing around, finding the pit area.  I don’t have access to the pits, but the back of the pits is only blocked by low fences, so I have a fun watching the drivers and their teams relaxing before the race under the shade of the trees.  It’s a beautiful day, and the shaded areas are really comfortable.

One of the drivers for the Amlin team

One of the China Racing Team drivers

VIDEO LINK FOR THE RACE START

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3qgkk4gvtwjd5d2/14.9.13.Race%20beginning.MOV?dl=0

VIDEO LINK AS THE RACE CONTINUES

https://www.dropbox.com/s/m5e4c9k8sh6475h/14.9.13.Race%20continues.MOV?dl=0

VIDEO LINK OF THE CAR SWAP

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vb8tw9y7q1jajvc/14.9.13.Race.Car%20swap.MOV?dl=0

As the race activities ramp up to the start, I head back to the grandstand, find my seat, and get ready for racing.  The format for the race is a one-hour race with each driver changing cars somewhere around the midpoint of the race.  The batteries in the cars won’t last a whole hour, so the car swap in the pits is an important aspect of the race strategy.  The race is fun to watch.  The E cars have a much different sound than Formula 1, Indy, or NASCAR.  I’ve got a decent view of Turn #1.  Most of the non-racing team members are seated around me.  The race ends with the 1^st and 2^nd place cars crashing on the final turn as they jockeyed for position.  One of the cars flipped.

The “Birdcage” as I was leaving.

Check out the length of the security line for people trying to enter the Olympic Park Area. This had nothing to do with the race. It was just bag-scanning for anyone sight-seeing in the area.

There are lots of activities today.  Judy has a program at school with her choir.  They, of course, had a great performance.  I’ve posted a few pictures from the rehearsal earlier in the week, and the performance today.

Performance pix

I had regular morning classes at BHSFIC.  I had lunch at school, then returned to my classroom to clean up some of the loops on the “Loopy” app.  Back at the apartment later, I reviewed the presentation several times, cutting down the time, and making sure I was familiar with all the technical aspects of using the iPad, with our portable speaker.  There’s nothing worse than watching a performer suffer through “technical difficulties,” punching buttons, and plugging and re-plugging cords.

Around 5:30, Dom and I traveled over to Homeplate BBQ in Sanlitun, where we met Judy, Shannon, and Lara.  Afterwards, we walked 200 yards to “The Bookworm” for the evening’s “fun.”  I checked all my settings, and everything seemed to be working.  The program was called “Bokaupu”, roughly translated as random things.  They weren’t kidding.

The first thing on the program involved audience members shouting out numbers that translated into notes on the piano (C-1, D-2, etc.).  Then the organizer improvised a tune from the selected intervals on piano, and was joined by an oboist, and a performer on French Horn.  Other performers included a pianist, singer, tap dancer, beat boxer, several magicians, and a guy who manipulated a crystal ball while the pianist and others improvised music in the background, as well as my kazoo performance.  Several of the performances were good, but we really enjoyed the crystal ball guy.  As to why I’m doing this……refer back to the blog entry “Me and my big comb”, 9/9/14 for the answer.

The organizer & Master of Ceremonies

Here are a couple of links to videos:

 KAZOO PERFORMANCE –

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hgadszi3j54oht0/Bokaopu.Kazoo.MOV?dl=0CRYSTAL BALL

CRYSTAL BALL PERFORMANCE –

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l4un7zlg1l5eryv/Bokaopu.Crystal%20Ball.MOV?dl=0

Thursday’s are early for me this year, so I head for the train at 6:30 am.  Arriving at school, I have to chase down someone to open my classroom.  They hadn’t given me keys yet, so it takes time before I’m able to set-up for class.  Classes go well.  We’re working on rhythmic reading, and I have their attention right now, especially when I single out individuals for counting.

After class, I begin to work on ideas for my kazoo performance tomorrow night.  I have the rest of the day to kill before Orchestra Club at 4:00.  It’s not going to be good enough to just play a few snippets, so I’m trying to figure out how to get an accompaniment I can play with.

I decide to use “Stars & Stripes Forever”.  I’ve taught it, and worked on it enough times that I have most of the parts memorized.  I start working with an iPad app called “Loopy” to develop some 16 measure percussion and bass loops to accompany the kazoo.  It takes a while for me to figure it out, but I begin to make progress on verbalizing a snare drum and bass drum part, and then singing a bass/tuba line to go along with it.  I have to figure out what key works best for me on kazoo, and then make sure the bass and the chord changes work in a range I can hum it in.  The whole act will only be entertaining if I can get into some extreme low and high ranges in parts of the song.

Along with “Stars & Stripes”, I decide to use a simple “Blues” progression I can improvise on top of.  I setup a second “session” on the Loopy App, and start recording the loops, trying to make sure they’re in tune with each other.  This is way too much work and serves me right for agreeing to do it.

After lunch, I record some loops for Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana”, in case the others don’t seem to work.  I’m beginning to get quicker at the recording process.  I don’t sound any better, but it’s happening faster.  Later in the afternoon, I finish up an arrangement of “The Pink Panther” for the Orchestra Club.  I get all the parts edited, printed, and copies ready for the students.

At the rehearsal, we work through our performance piece for the Club Fair next week.  It’s beginning to sound decent (for such an odd/eclectic instrumentation).  Then I passed out Pink Panther, and we began to talk about swing style, etc.  They’re really good students, and a few of them are truly great musicians.  It’s a shame I can’t offer them more.  They are so busy getting ready for all their tests and college entrance exams, they have little time for music.

We had another good day at BISS with the beginners today. I go in later since class doesn’t start until 11:35. As I head out the door, there are lots of UHN workers cleaning the fountain area. They must be getting ready to drain it for the winter.

After they’ve drained and cleaned it up.

I’ve posted a few pix of UHN early in the morning. Judy is out and walking around 5:00 am most mornings. It’s staying dark later each day. It won’t be long before it’ll be pitch dark as she makes her way around the complex.

Beginning Band class went well at BISS today. Students are maintaining their enthusiasm and we’re making slow progress. They’re not allowed to take the instruments home (administrative decision) so there isn’t much practicing outside of class taking place. Judy is opening the room and allowing students to come in during lunch to practice if they want, and she’s had good participation.

I may have created a problem for myself today? Several of the teachers at BHSFIC celebrated a birthday party for one of the new teachers, LaShawna, at “The Veggie Table”, a vegan restaurant. I met them at the restaurant. It’s really close to a train station, so the trip was easy. The food was interesting. I had a “Southwestern Bean Burger”. It was very good.

My Bean Burger

Vegan pastes to spread on bread. Left to right, Hummus, cole slaw, ???, olive, beet

As the dinner finished up, and we were saying our congratulations to LaShawna for her birthday, I pulled a comb out of my bag, a 100rmb bill out of my pocket, and played “Happy Birthday” on my improvised kazoo. As I finished, several people from nearby tables started watching. Eventually, a Chinese man came over, and started enquiring about how I was creating the sound. As we talked, he invited me to perform at a small activity he was having Friday night. I succumbed to pressure from my “friends” at the table and agreed to go.   As the details of the event became clear, I began to regret the decision.

The event was going to be held at “The Bookworm”, a well-known bookstore/performance venue/café in the Sanlitun area. ULP!!! What have I done? Friday night at the Bookworm, and I’m performing on Kazoo? There’s a 100rmb cover charge for the 7:30 pm performance. Oh no! Me and my big mouth (comb)!

Judy came home yesterday, not feeling well. As it turned out, she spent most of the weekend lying in bed, reading, trying to rest and get ready for students next week. She has some kind of a cold, and didn’t feel good all weekend. It ran over into Monday. Luckily, Monday was a holiday (Mid-Autumn Moon Festival), so she didn’t miss any school. The sad thing was the weather was the best we’ve seen since we’ve been back in Beijing. Pollution was the lowest we’ve ever seen it. The skies were crystal clear, and the heat seems to have broken a little.

I did get to Metro on Saturday for some groceries, and visited the wet market Sunday for fruits and vegetables. Monday, Judy went to the dentist. She’s had pain in one of her teeth. The dentist decided an old filling needed some adjusting, and also did a cleaning. She felt much better when the dentist finished. I think she’s ready for the short week ahead of us.

I leave for school at a more leisurely time today. Out the door at 8:15 and I arrived at BHSFIC at 9:15. My commute time hasn’t varied more than 5 minutes any day. Classes go well, and I manage to keep the students engaged.

Lunch is special today due to the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. We have some of my personal favorites, as well as orange and apple juice (usually it’s hot water to drink). There are also Moon Cakes to select from for dessert. “Moon Cakes” are everywhere in Beijing, and they’ve been advertising them for a month. There are many types of cakes with many different fillings. It’s a little bit like “fruitcake”, some people love it, and others, not so much. I haven’t really developed a taste for them. Maybe I’ve just had the wrong kind. I have sampled some Starbucks Moon Cakes that were pretty tasty, however.

After lunch I head home. Back at the apartment, I have every intention to go to Metro and get groceries, but it just doesn’t happen. I managed to sit on the couch, and dozed off. When I woke up, the grocery shopping was no longer at the top of my list. I was able to rationalize that it could wait till tomorrow.

Judy gets home early today (4:00 pm). She’s not feeling well. She heads straight to bed. Fortunately for her, today was a professional development day at BISS (no students). She did have to endure several faculty meetings, but survived. After 39 years in the profession, these types of meetings begin to lose their lustre.