Today is a full day for me.\u00a0 I have a regular school day finishing with Orchestra Club around 5:30.\u00a0 The faculty has a social activity planned at a Spanish restaurant in Sanlitun Village at 7:00 pm.\u00a0 Since I don\u2019t see them very often, I decide to participate.\u00a0 It requires a little different train route coming from BHSFIC, and coming out of the new station, I\u2019m amazed at the sites.\u00a0 It seems that every train station is in a world of it\u2019s own with huge shopping malls and other interesting buildings.\u00a0 I grab one of the motorized rickshaws after negotiating the fare, for the trip down the street to Sanlitun.\u00a0 The driver is crazy.\u00a0 He\u2019ll take on trucks or any other vehicle as he makes his way down the street, honking, swerving, and yelling as he goes.<\/p>\n
Arriving early at the restaurant, I get seated and order appetizers for the table.\u00a0 It\u2019s half-price night, on everything.\u00a0 A small group is attending this evening.\u00a0 None of the Chinese teachers are coming because they have early classes.\u00a0 The teachers from the US I visit with the most are busy picking up people from the airport, and never arrive.\u00a0 Our group ends up with five total.\u00a0 Louise organized the activity. \u00a0Dr. Prettyman (from Utah) is the academic prinicipal, but mostly in charge of accreditation.\u00a0 \u201cBig Frank\u201d, as the kids call him, is in charge of activities.\u00a0 The final member of the group is David, the theater teacher.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t seen him since school started.\u00a0 He teaches on Tuesday, and I teach on Thursday and Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n David taught one year at Amarillo College.\u00a0 Says he enjoyed Amarillo and the Panhandle.\u00a0 He taught 20 years at Milton Academy, a prestigious prep school in Boston.\u00a0 He\u2019s been in Beijing since 2007 and has a Chinese wife.\u00a0 He is involved in numerous theater productions in the city.\u00a0 He is also beginning to make inroads into the film industry as an actor.\u00a0 One of his films is due out in April.\u00a0 He told us tonight he\u2019s scheduled to start shooting a movie with Jackie Chan in a few weeks.\u00a0 I\u2019m anxious to see his movie when it hits the theaters in China next month.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today is a full day for me.\u00a0 I have a regular school day finishing with Orchestra Club around 5:30.\u00a0 The faculty has a social activity planned at a Spanish restaurant in Sanlitun Village at 7:00 pm.\u00a0 Since I don\u2019t see … Continue reading