Today’s classes have a new dynamic. 11th grade students from the Beijing #4 HS main campus International Program are coming over to check out the classes at our school. The two programs are combining next year at our campus and the school will double in size. We’ve heard the main campus students aren’t happy about the move, and the administration hopes this will alleviate some of the concerns they (and their parents) have.
Instead of the regular class sizes of 22 & 25 students, today I have 40 & 41. The room is really crowded. The visiting students come in with lots of confidence, and those who spoke to me have solid English skills.
At lunch today, Amy Song was back for a visit. Amy was the school clerk in charge of dealing with all the passport/visa, rental issues the foreign teachers faced when I first arrived in China. She was our main contact when dealing with any “China” issues. After Xmas this year, she didn’t come back, and none of the foreign teachers were sure what happened. When I saw her, she told me she had been in Ft. Worth the last month (somewhere near Keller Central HS). I still don’t know why she was there, but it was fun to talk to her about the DFW area and what she had done.
Back at the apartment later, I closed out the week, filing all this week’s materials away and entering attendance and grades. Judy texted to let me know we’d be going out for dinner. Dom and I catch a taxi and meet Shannon and Lara (kindergarten) at Homeplate BBQ. We spent almost three hours eating and discussing (solving) all the problems of the world.
This is Steve’s e-bike, still decked out for winter riding. Josie had a yellow version of the same bike, but it was stolen a couple of weeks ago.
