Judy had her first auditions today for BISS Idol.  She had three kindergarten students perform piano pieces.  All three students came in, very well prepared, and performed confidently.  She was impressed with their talent, and level of preparation.  Auditions should be interesting as the week moves on, and she hears some of the older students.

My day is spent with school work and a swim session.  The weather here is a contrast to what I’m hearing about in Texas.  North Texas is having a period of high temps, followed by abrupt drops to extremely low temps and ice.  In Beijing, we’ve had several weeks of below freezing nights, followed by daytime temps slightly above freezing.  For a month previous to that, we had slightly colder weather, where the temp seldom got above freezing.  The wind doesn’t blow much so walking outdoors is manageable.  Now we’re seeing temps at night right around freezing, and highs in the middle 40’s.  Next week, the temps are supposed to rise to the 50’s.  We haven’t had any of the extreme temperature rise and fall we’re used to experiencing in DFW.  I’m almost afraid to say it, but I think the severe cold part of the winter may be over. 

I was prepared for much colder weather.  The people at BISS that kept telling us how bad it was going to be are a little disappointed that we haven’t suffered more.  It’s fun to tell them how much worse it is in Texas.