Judy has no classes today. BISS just has professional development all day. She’s not in a hurry to leave for school, but if she doesn’t go early, getting a taxi may be a problem. Friday is an “early” day for me. I leave around 8:15. The trains are not overly crowded.
After classes, I get a chance to talk to the teachers about their airport pickup experiences. Steve (from Miami) was picking up a friend coming in for a visit. He went to the wrong terminal, and after an hour of exchanging phone calls, figured it out, caught a bus to the correct terminal, and found her. She was a little freaked out. She had some anxiety about making the trip, and Steve not being there when she arrived heightened the problem. He finally got her settled down and she was sleeping when he left the apartment this morning.
Josie (from El Paso/London) was in charge of picking up the new English teacher, Rhena, from Ohio. Rhena is replacing Lori, who didn’t return to Beijing after Spring Festival break. They found each other without issue and BHSFIC had provided a driver to get them into town. He dropped them off at the main campus where Rhena was supposed to spend the night. Apparently no one had made plans for bedding for the dorm room for the night, or arranged for her to get to school the next day, or had any plans for meals. Thankfully Josie had an extra room at her apartment for the night. I can’t imagine coming into town, and being dropped off at a strange site, with no instructions for what was going to happen next. Thankfully Josie was with her and handled it all. Rhena told Josie, if she hadn’t been there, she probably would have headed back to the airport and then back to the US. BHSFIC has got to figure out how to better handle incoming teachers from the US. Now Rhena gets to find an apartment, and learn all the tricks for utilities, etc.
When I get home, it’s nap time. When I wake up, I begin packing for Hong Kong. Judy calls, and we meet at Bluche for social time with the faculty at BISS. We don’t stay long with packing hanging over our heads. We only have to pack for four days, so it’s not too much of an issue, and the flight isn’t that early tomorrow. Time for a vacation!