I head out early for school. It’s an hour commute via train, and the sessions start at 9:00. I haven’t been on a train during rush hour since we arrived back in Beijing, and I received a full dose of “crowded” today. I don’t know how the short people handle it. I’m tall enough to look over the top of most of the passengers. We’re really jammed together, and on several of the trains, the air-conditioning isn’t up to the crowd. When I finally get to school, my shirt is mostly sweat-soaked (and I was looking so good when I left the apartment.

It’s fun to see everyone again, as well as meet the newcomers. The new US teachers are from California, Connecticut, Florida, and Georgia. There’s also a new teacher coming from Bolivia. The morning session consists of introductions, followed by some serious discussions about how the students did on their tests last spring. Apparently the math, science, and economics scores were really high. There was disappointment that no one scored a 5 on the AP English Test, but there were lots of 4’s. It was a struggle for the top Martin students to get 5’s on the English AP, so I’m thinking the students did pretty well.

The discussion shifts to how to better teach “critical thinking” skills. The Chinese faculty members all agree this is an area where generally Chinese students are weak. They learn facts and figures really well, but struggle when attempting to apply the information to an abstract issue. How to address the problem keeps us talking the rest of the morning.

I joined a group for lunch that was traveling to the nearby Xidan area for lunch. There are 8 in the group and we take the bus. This is my first time on a bus in Beijing. The cost is the equivalent of 7 cents. I haven’t deciphered the routes that I could use yet. It not as “English friendly” as the trains.

After lunch, we have a short session and dismiss around 2:00. I head over to my dental appointment near our apartment. I set it for 4:00 knowing I had meetings scheduled until 3:00. Since we dismissed early, I just went on to the office to see if they’ll take me early. I arrived around 3:10. I chipped a tooth on our cruise this summer, and wanted a dentist’s opinion about my options. I walked out at 3:45 with a new cap that looks and feels great. The cost was $90 without insurance. I’m back home preparing for the next day by 4:10.