SATURDAY, 5/30/15

We spent a lot of time today thinking through our packing schedule over the next 3 weeks. We also have to decide when people can come by that are taking some of the items from the apartment that we’re not shipping back to the US. We’re planning on carrying two suitcases each when we leave Beijing, but settling on what to take and what to ship is tough. We have to pack for a week in Cambodia/Thailand, but also what we’ll need on our cruise, including several extra days in Barcelona and Athens.

We finished off the evening with food from Avocado Tree, a Chipotle rip-off. The food is great! The tastes are so much like what we would get in the US. For the longest time, they weren’t on any of the local delivery websites, but they’re back on now. I bet we have it several more times before we finally pull out of town.

SUNDAY, 5/31/15

We made a day of it today! Started off with a trip out to 798 Arts District. We’ve been several times before, but with pretty weather and still yearning for a few small items to take home, it was the perfect time for a visit. We wandered through several shops and galleries before settling into our favorite. We’ve been admiring a series of small statues for over a year. While we were debating about a purchase, one of the workers told us the artist had been in on Thursday, leaving 10 different designs in a smaller (cheaper) size. That was it. We found a couple we thought fit well together and made the purchase. There are so many things we’d like to bring home, but there’s no room in the condo for everything we want.

We walked across the street to a small café, for some snacks, drinks, and people-watching. I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed when I take time to sit and watch. There are so many unusual characters around here, and I’m not just talking about the Chinese. The westerners in the crowd have some crazies as well.

We headed back to the apartment to rest before going back out for a real dinner. I’ve been trying to get Judy to Eatalia since I ate there a few weeks ago with the crew from BHSFIC. We had a nice dinner with some good Italian food. Afterwards, we walked around the area for a little while, checking out nearby Houhai Lake. I was also looking for a shop that might have phone cards for Judy’s phone. It’s short on money (I thought I had us fixed up a few months back, but must have miscalculated). I finally found one that had China Unicom, our company. It’s quite a scene, me trying to get a shop keeper to understand what I need, when I speak little to no Chinese, and their English is non-existent. With Judy’s phone charged, we headed home, ready to prepare for the last full week of students at BISS.

I decided to create a little of my own excitement today.  One of the Beijing sites we haven’t visited yet is the “Marco Polo Bridge” or the Luguo Bridge.  It was built in the 1100’s, and rebuilt in the 1600’s by various emperors.  It was one of the main entrances to Beijing.  It’s also the place where the Japanese entered Beijing when they began their war on China in 1937.  For the Chinese, it’s remembered more for the Japanese incursion than for anything to do with Marco Polo and the Silk Road.  There is a museum on site about the Japanese Occupation and many statues portraying the Chinese struggle during that time and before.

The bridge is way on the opposite side of Beijing from where we live.  I took the train over, and it’s quite a ride.  It took me one and a half hours, from the time I walked out my door, until I arrived at the bridge.  I rode the Line 10 subway counterclock-wise for 21 stops, before changing over to the new Line 14 train.  Then it was another 4 stops.  After coming up to ground-level, I took a car for a 5-minute ride to the bridge.

It’s best known for the many lion heads on the posts (over 400) all the way across the bridge.  Each lion has a different pose or feature.  Some of the posts have more than one lion.   I enjoyed a short visit walking around, checking out the bridge and the “lions”.  After 30 minutes, I was ready to go, and began looking for ride.  Oops!  It took me forever (20 minutes) to find a taxi.  I started to have him take me back to the train, but then changed the destination to BHSFIC.  He dropped me off just in time to have lunch with everyone, and catch up on what’s happening at the school.

After lunch, I met Fisher, the Chinese staff member who serves as a liason for all the foreign teachers to the banks and government entities.  He took me over to the nearby Bank of Beijing, where I cleared out my bank account, and transferred it to our bank in the US.  I had to have my passport, a letter from the school describing my job and my monthly salary, a tax statement (I got this a few weeks back), all the necessary account #’s for our US bank, and my Chinese bank ATM card.  It took one and a half hours to complete the process. 

This will probably be my one and only time to try this.  There was a commission charge of $20 at the bank here in Beijing, and there was another $30 of charges on the US end of things.  I think it’s cheaper to pull the money out through the ATM when we’re back in Texas.

Today was another “lazy” day for me. I did some computer work, and departure planning. I also made it over to the pool for a swim session. But beyond that, I fiddled around with stuff in the apartment, and practiced my TT serve at the table in the UHN rec area. I’ve been checking out YouTube videos on table tennis serving, and I’m trying to improve the variety of serves I hit. It’s harder than I thought.

Judy is beginning to finish up most of her collaboration with the other “specials” teachers on grades. Art, PE, Music, and Theater teachers had to get together and discuss each student in grade 6-8, arriving at a composite grade. It’s a time-consuming process and no one seem real sure why each teacher can’t just give the students’ the grade they earned in each class? Maybe it will be more clear later (NOT)!

I’ve attached a copy of a magazine article about Judy that appeared in the May issue of “City Weekend, Parents and Kids”.  It’s one of several magazines published in Beijing aimed at expats.

LINK TO JUDY’S ARTICLE:    Judy.magazine

TUESDAY, 5/26/15

Today seemed like a vacation after all the activity from yesterday.  I did make a trip to the wet market for eggs, fruits, and vegetables.  I did a swim session, followed by lunch.  I intended to get in some productive TT practice after lunch, but a nap got in the way.

Around 3:30, I left the apartment, headed to the Butterfly TT shop.  They needed to make an adjustment on the rubber they put on my paddle last week.  After the adjustment I went back to the subway and made my way to Swagart, an Indian restaurant near Tim’s TX BBQ.  Our regular Wednesday night foodie trip was moved up a night to include Josie’s son Jordan, whose been visiting for a week.  He’s a senior at UTEP in the Art Dept.  He’s leaving tomorrow to visit friends in Japan.

We had a fun night eating and discussing retirement options, medical insurance, Social Security, etc.  Jordan seemed a little bored, understandably.  After dinner, it was back to the apartment for me to get caught up on Judy’s “day at the office”.

WEDNESDAY, 5/27/15

I wish I could report a productive day for myself today, but I can’t.  Our ayi showed up around 9:00 (I was beginning to wonder if she was coming.)  After she arrived, I worked a little more on our departure plans, then headed over to the pool for a swim session.  After swimming, I fixed lunch, and when the ayi left, I dozed off.  I didn’t intend to sleep long, but for whatever reason, today was one of the times when I slept really hard.  When I woke up, it took a while to get my bearings (where was I, what time of day was it?)  I ended up wasting the afternoon browsing a really slow internet. 

One of the problems I’m researching is how to move money from China to the US as we leave.  It’s time consuming to go to the bank and try to make a wire transfer, and the paperwork required is massive.  I don’t think we want to carry it out, with all the travel we have planned between Beijing and Texas.  I managed to find an ATM near our condo in Ft. Worth when we were home for Courtney’s graduation where I can withdraw money from our Chinese bank, but I hate having to pay the bank fees.  I think I’ll try a wire transfer (this will be a first for us from Beijing) and see how it goes, since I know the ATM procedure.

SATURDAY, 6/6/15

Today’s plan is to begin the sorting of clothes. We need to make the final decision on what is actually going into our suitcases, and what will be shipped. It’s certainly easier for me than for Judy. Cambodia and Thailand involve mostly summer touring clothes and beachwear. The cruise complicates things because of the need to have a few nicer clothes for dinnertime and the evening shows.

We do get a nice break in the evening. Alexis, one of Judy’s closest friends at BISS and her husband Scott are celebrating 15 years of being together. They dated long distance for 6 years (New York/Chicago, China/Chicago, Spain/Washington DC, then DC/China, and several other variations) before marrying. She’s been at BISS for 5 years, and he’s a screen-writer and novelist (as well as a “trailing spouse” like me).

They had a party at their apartment for several of the BISS faculty. As with so many of these get-togethers, I’m amazed at the variety of countries and cultures represented.

SUNDAY, 6/7/15

There was still some more packing planning and moving stuff around, separating the suitcase stuff from the shipping stuff. Judy had an appointment with several of her friends for a visit to Lily Nails. I decided to head over to the TT park for a workout. We got into another doubles match, and I played with several different partners. Someone went over to a nearby store and brought back some ice cream bars. I keep thinking back to what I thought two years ago I would be doing in Beijing. It wasn’t sitting around eating ice cream and playing table tennis with the locals. If I could speak a little Chinese, I’d be a real member of the group, but language is still a struggle between us.

Back at the apartment later, Judy and I scrambled to get ready to meet James and Erica for dinner. James is Canadian, and Erica is from Korea. They’re summer plans included Singapore, Bali, and eventually East Timor, before they travel to their homes for visits before returning in August to Beijing.

What a great evening with James & Erica at TRB!

They took us to “Temple Restaurant Beijing”, or TRB. They had a driver arranged who picked us up, and delivered us to the restaurant. We traveled down several back alleys and eventually arrived at a dead-end where the restaurant had been remodeled out of a courtyard hutong. It was gorgeous, with an art gallery and some interesting art objects in the outer courtyard. Inside, the restaurant was the nicest we’ve visited in our time here in Beijing. The service was impeccable! The food was great, with several courses, and more “samples” brought out from the kitchen than you can imagine. We ordered some desserts to share, but they kept bringing us samples of some of the specialties and then there was a dessert “wagon” with several other items for us to sample. As we left, they handed each of us a small box containing a mug with TRB emblazoned on it. A gift for eating at the restaurant? I’ve never had that before. I wish we’d found this restaurant earlier in our stay here. It’s an experience not to be missed.