The weekend is here and we’re headed to IKEA.  We’ve decided to get some new curtains, and a different cover for our sofa.  We’re there when they open and ahead of the crowds.  It takes a while to find what we need, but we make it out of the store by 11:30.

Back at the apartment we sort out a few things, then head out again for Solana Mall.  Judy needs a full length “puffer” jacket (down coat).  She spends time everyday outside with a 15-minute recess group.  They haven’t missed many days outside, yet, and we know the cold weather is coming.  We find some great jackets and they’re on sale for half-price at Uni-Qlo.  We follow up the shopping with a great pizza at Tube Station Pizza.  I’ve posted some pictures of the Solana Chinese New Year decorations below.

Even our apartment is beginning to decorate for the New Year.

Back home, the rest of the afternoon and evening is spent taking down the old curtains, and putting up the new ones.  If you’ve done it, you know it can take time getting it right.  When I get to bed around midnight, Judy is washing some recorders, getting ready for classes next week.  It’s been a long but fulfilling day.

More swimming for me today, and Judy has another “regular” day at school.  I posted a few pictures below of the pool area at the Marriott.  I’m still trying to nail down travel details for our future fun.  I meet a delivery lady from our local travel agent, who’s picking up payment and delivering receipts for airfare and hotel rooms for our trip to Amsterdam.  I still have a lot of planning to do on other segments of our travel.

It’s Friday, so it’s Bluche for the BISS group after school.  After a week of swimming laps and spending an exorbitant amount of online time on travel sites, I’m ready for some human interaction.  It’s a fun evening of listening to holiday visit stories, and discussion about Chinese New Years destinations.  These discussions are great for learning about good and bad places to visit.  I also get to hear a comparison between the Australian and British retirement systems.  I don’t understand all of it, but it’s a treat to hear about it from the people that are living it. 

Some views from the pool area at the Marriott. Our apartment is the gray building, far off in the distance, just over the top of the brown building in the center of the photo

Smog is the center of attention today.  I woke up at 1:00 am, and noticed how “foggy” everything was outside.  I checked the “CN Air Quality” app and it read “605.”  That’s the highest rating we’ve seen since we’ve been here.  We hadn’t seen anything over 500, and only then for an hour or two, before a front blew in and dropped it below 100 six hours later.  When I woke up later at 6:00 am, it was down around 550.  The pictures below were taken around 9:00 am from our apartment window.  The smog count was around 480.  I also posted some “before” pictures, taken when the smog reading was below 100.  There is lots of talk on CNN and the local CCTV about the smog.  It’s not going unnoticed.

The rest of our schedule is pretty much the same as the rest of the week.  Judy is working hard at school.  I’m eating, writing, planning travel, etc., etc, etc.  I brought home food from “Avocado Tree,” a Chipotle copy.  The burrito bowls were great, and I even brought home some chips and queso.

On the travel planning, I’ve confirmed our summer airfare.  We’re going to end up flying around the world.  We’re leaving here and flying to Warsaw/Amsterdam for a cruise.  After the cruise, it’s Amsterdam to DFW.  After a good visit in Texas, we’re flying back to Beijing for Year Two on our Asian teaching adventure.

We’ve really settled into a routine these days.  Judy heads off to school each day, where she’s busy finishing up end of semester reports, rehearsing “Annie” segments, and planning for the rest of the year.  My schedule involves breakfast, writing, checking in on family using Facetime, travel planning, lunch, swimming workout, search for a different dinner location, “West Wing” episode with Judy back at the apartment, and then sleep.

I found a new place to eat this evening.  As I was walking home from the Marriott, I came by Kro’s Nest, a pizza place I’d heard about, but hadn’t tried yet.  It’s a huge place with some unique decorations.  They advertise the “largest pizza in Beijing”.  I didn’t test the boast this trip.  The food was good, and cheap.  Judy will definitely need to try this place soon.

Today, I spend more time travel planning.  It’s time consuming because after every question I have for the travel agent, I have to wait for her to reply before I can make a decision, and many times it requires another question.  I’m making progress, but it’s taking a long time.

I decide to visit the Courtyard Marriott to check it out for the kids’ visit this summer.  It’s cheaper than the Marriott, and more accessible to our apartment (less traffic issues between the apt. and the hotel). I make the walk over to the Marriott for my swim.  Afterward, I talk to the sales dept. at the Marriott about the rooms and dates I need.  When I finish, I taxi over to the Courtyard Marriott.  I give them the same info, ask to visit a room, and then eat a burger to check out the restaurant (great excuse, huh).  The room is really nice, the food is good, and the price is way better than the Marriott, so I book it for summer.  Yea!  Something is marked off my list.

The taxi trip home is short & quick, and I celebrate the success of the day with some ice cream.  Judy gets home earlier than usual, and joins me in ice cream heaven, talking about her day.  Deb and Graham, the Australian friends who’ve shown us the ropes on food in Beijing, just got back from a job fair in Bangkok.  Deb got a job at a school in Cambodia, and is really excited.  Shannon, Judy’s friend who just got the job as the Elementary Principal for next year, keeps Judy informed about all the trials and tribulations involved in hiring new staff.  It’s tough to find the right people, and you know you’ll be working with them for at least two year, so you better get it right. 

“Two weeks” until we leave for Phuket, and another vacation.  That is our battle cry right now, at least for Judy.  I’m off for the next five weeks, so I’m going to try and get ahead on my school planning, and fully plan our personal trips in April and May, as well as the kids’ visit in June.  Then I need to solidify details on our July Scandinavian Cruise and followed by a return to the US.  I’m going to be spending way too much time on the computer.

Travel planning today makes my head spin.  So many different destinations and dates, I couldn’t stay focused on one activity, wasting lots of time, bouncing from one trip to another.  I finally take the time to type up a “Travel To Do” list, organized by trip.  It takes longer than I thought, but I finally have a “hit list” I can begin to work through.

Needing a break, I walk over to Metro for some grocery shopping.  I picked up the items I needed, but I succumbed to temptation and picked up enough ice cream for Judy and I to last several days.  I was a baaaaad boy!  After getting home and unpacking, I decide to balance out my ice cream purchase with some exercise, so I walk over to the Marriott, swim, and walk back.  I hope I’m not so sore I can’t walk tomorrow.  My knees are creaking pretty good when try to get up from my chair tonight.

Our activities today are hardly worth writing about.  Judy is scrambling to finish posting grades.  The system is very complicated, and since she is teaching every level from Pre-K to grade 8, she has a lot of students needing grades posted.  She started working on her laptop at 6:00 am, stopping only for short breaks until around 6:00 pm.   At that point, she began watching video of several “Annie” presentations, working on choreography for segment she has to teach students during lunch tomorrow.

I spend most of my time researching activities and tour possibilities for the summer visit of Courtney, Brad, & Glenda.  I also spend time making plans for our own travel.  It looks like a Scandinavian cruise is on the docket for July, followed by a trip to the US before a return to Beijing around Aug. 1.

The pictures below were taken at Metro when I visited last week.  Everywhere you go, people are decorating for the Spring Festival/Chinese New Year.  I believe “red” seems to be the color of choice.  It’s going to be the Year of the Horse, so many horse sculptures/pictures are everywhere.

We have a weekend ahead of us with a new experience.  We’re going to attend a performance of “Swan Lake”, by the Kiev Ballet, at the National Center of the Performing Arts (NCPA).  But there are things to do before then.

Judy has a haircut scheduled, and I walk over to the Marriott for my exercise session.  We get home about the same time, and each do a little schoolwork.  We leave the apartment and taxi to a Marriott near the NCPA for dinner.  We have a coupon for a free buffet for two.  The food is great.  Every time we eat at a different restaurant in Asia, we see something new, either in the preparation of the foods, or an entirely new dish we haven’t seen before.  At this one, each table has a small portable hotpot.  Items to cook are at one of the buffet stations.  People throughout the restaurant are cooking their own fish, beef, vegetables, etc.  I manage to over-indulge myself on desserts.  I hope I can stay awake thru the ballet. 

We taxi over to the NCPA and work our way to the entrance.  The security is pretty heavy, with scanners, bag x-rays, and electronic wands.  It’s almost like the airport.  It’s a gorgeous building, inside and outside.  We have great seats and the ballet is wonderful.  The sets are elaborate, and the dancers are great.  This is my first ballet.  Judy has seen several Nutcracker presentations through the years in Arlington.  I’m trying to take in all the visual and musical moments. 

I wish I could take credit for this picture. It’s a beautiful building.

The orchestra overall did a great job.  They pulled a little in a few spots.  I enjoyed watching the conductor trying to isolate the problem and pull the group back together. 

It’s like a ghost town at BHSFIC today.  With all the 10^th graders already dismissed, any faculty not teaching an 11^th grade class are getting money out of the bank (no small task if it’s more than pocket change) or they’re home packing.  Most of the students are in class, but they’re not exactly eager for learning today.

I get home, ready to start my own “Spring Festival” break.  Judy calls to let me know she’ll meet me at Bluche for the regular Friday BISS after-school “wind-down”.  It’s fun seeing everyone again and hearing stories of their holiday break.  Our trip to Texas seems boring listening to the exotic destinations that others visited.

There’s a lot of talk about new jobs, and who’s going where next year.  Several of the older teachers are moving to new jobs at BISS.  Others are discussing their new jobs in Bali, or Prague, or Hong Kong.  It’s still weird to hear about all these international placements.

Today is my first day back at school.  It’s a weird week, since the students completed finals last week.  Attendance is really good, considering nothing they do this week will affect their GPA.  The 10^th graders meet right after lunch as a group to receive their report cards and last minute instructions for their trip to the US.  All 80 of them are leaving Saturday for schools in the US.  They’ve been assigned one of six schools.  They’ll be living in homes and attending classes for 4 weeks, before returning to Beijing and starting the next semester in February.

The faculty is pretty excited.  Many of the US teachers will be accompanying a student group to the US.  For those not accompanying students, they’re taking their first trips home to visit family and friends.  They’re counting down the hours until departure.

The 11^th graders traveled to the US last year.  This year during the break, they’re making a 3-day trip to Singapore to take the SAT.  It’s about 1000 miles, one way.  They’re traveling as a group, and a few of the faculty are accompanying them.

I received a report back from several people that the talent show went well while I was in Texas.  The orchestra played well, and the guitar group was a big hit, playing a Green Day tune.  Since 10^th graders make up a large part of the orchestra, and they’ve been dismissed from school to prepare for their flight to the US, we don’t meet after school today.  The guitar club is beginning work on a new song.  My job is to put together the drum track on Garageband for them to work with.  For the orchestra, I bought ensemble music at Pender’s in Denton while I was home.  I’m going to select a couple of tunes for the group to play, and work on the arrangements during my month-long break.