What was supposed to be a teaching day for me has turned into something completely different.\u00a0\u00a0 I decide to finish up all the laundry, now that the washing machine is working correctly.\u00a0 When that finishes, I walk over to Metro for my weekly grocery stop.\u00a0 Lillie gave me a list of cleaning supplies we\u2019re low on.\u00a0 I\u2019ve haven\u2019t made any of these purchases since we arrived in July.\u00a0 I sort of over-bought back then.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know what we needed, so I bought lots of everything.<\/p>\n
After Metro, it\u2019s time to swim.\u00a0 I\u2019ve figured out how to turn a swimming session into a whole afternoon.\u00a0 It\u2019s a half-hour walk.\u00a0 The swim itself is takes me \u00bd hour.\u00a0 Then I have to sit in the hot tub for while, contemplating life.\u00a0 After the hot tub, I sit at one of the tables on the pool deck, reading an English version of China Daily, or the iPad, or both.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually pretty interesting getting the world\u2019s news through the eyes of China.\u00a0 When I finish reading, I shower, and usually head home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Today though, I have a mission.\u00a0 Judy needs me to find some snacks (donuts or something) for the \u201cAnnie\u201d cast for Sunday\u2019s rehearsal.\u00a0 This is pretty tough work, finding snacks, but it\u2019s job I\u2019m well suited to.\u00a0 I looked earlier at Metro, but didn\u2019t find anything suitable (by my high standards).\u00a0 I\u2019ve decided to check out the South German Bakery for pastries.\u00a0 Samples will need to be taken.\u00a0 They really don\u2019t have what I need, but I did pick up a fresh loaf of German bread that should taste really good, heated, with some butter.<\/span><\/p>\n As I head home from the bakery, I call Judy to check in.\u00a0 She had been headed home, but a group of BISS faculty were headed to Bluche to celebrate Mark\u2019s (Brit) birthday.\u00a0 He\u2019s been at BISS for 11 years.\u00a0 Also, the new drama teacher has arrived and she\u2019s going to be at Bluche.\u00a0 When the taxi arrived at Bluche, the driver had been so erratic and angry, Judy was afraid to continue to the apartment.\u00a0 She decided to get out at Bluche and join the party.\u00a0 I guide my taxi over to Bluche, also.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to miss out on any fun.<\/span><\/p>\n The new drama teacher is in attendance.\u00a0 She has been teaching in New Zealand for 25 years, but she\u2019s Scottish.\u00a0 There are a lot accents flying around the table with the Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians, Brits, Scots, Americans, and Spaniards, all adding to the conversations.<\/span><\/p>\n The real fun of the evening is hearing Shannon talk about the Jackie Chan experience from Tuesday.\u00a0 As it turns out, the producer (he\u2019s a big-time name in China) has a pre-schooler at BISS, thus the invitation for BISS students.\u00a0 Shannon ends up serving as the \u201cwrangler\u201d for the 35 primary age student participants.\u00a0 She is ideal for this role.\u00a0 No one could have handled it better.\u00a0 She gets the chance to work with both the producer and Jackie Chan very closely as they set-up and shoot the footage.\u00a0 Shannon has some great pictures of the whole process, and is obviously right in the middle of it all, talking, and planning with Jackie Chan himself.\u00a0\u00a0 She showed us the pictures on her computer, but had to sign a release stating she wouldn\u2019t send them out, or I would have some posted here.<\/span><\/p>\n Shannon was so impressed with how well Jackie Chan worked with everyone, herself, and the especially the students.\u00a0 He was genuine, warm, helpful, and personable.\u00a0 Sometimes that isn\u2019t the case with a \u201cstar\u201d, but he was right in the middle of everything, including the kids.\u00a0 One of the kids knocked over some paint (the students were all painting, as part of the scene).\u00a0 Mr. Chan was the first one to get to the mess and start cleaning it up.\u00a0 The really funny part of the day is that the students didn\u2019t really know anything at all about Jackie Chan, so to them, he was just another guy, who kept getting in their way.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What was supposed to be a teaching day for me has turned into something completely different.\u00a0\u00a0 I decide to finish up all the laundry, now that the washing machine is working correctly.\u00a0 When that finishes, I walk over to Metro … Continue reading