After a slow start to the morning, we taxi over to BISS. Judy needs help taking apart 10 sets of really heavy bongos (no elementary kid could use them). After the bongos, we hung large photos of BISS musicals in the hallway. They had to be taken down in May so the hallway could be painted during the summer break. She took pictures before they came down, so we\u2019re replicating how they were hanging. She needed me for my height and my willingness to climb up on a shaky chair to staple border on the bulletin boards and hang the framed photos.<\/p>\n
The rest of our day was spent at the apartment fiddling around with chores, and watching Season 3 of \u201cMajor Crimes\u201d. This is a nice way to kill an afternoon and evening.<\/p>\n
As we start into a new school year, and having completed 300 blogs, it seemed like a good time to review our travel adventures this past year. One of our goals when we came to Beijing was to take advantage of some travel opportunities.\u00a0\u00a0 Here a list of how we did:<\/p>\n
Sept. – Seoul, Korea and the DMZ, 4 days<\/p>\n
Oct. \u2013 Yangtze River Cruise, Chongching and Yicheng, 4 days<\/p>\n
Oct. \u2013 Shanghai (Judy), 2 days<\/p>\n
Dec. \u2013 Sanya, Hainan, China (\u201cChinese Hawaii\u201d), 5 days<\/p>\n
Dec. \u2013 US, Xmas Holidays, 14 days<\/p>\n
Feb. \u2013 Phuket, Thailand, 9 days<\/p>\n
April \u2013 Hong Kong, 5 days<\/p>\n
April \u2013 US Trip (Gordon), 8 days<\/p>\n
June \u2013 Courtney, Brad, and Glenda arrive and we tour Beijing, 5 days<\/p>\n
June \u2013 Xi\u2019an for Terra Cotta Warriors, 2 days (Courtney also)<\/p>\n
June \u2013 Tokyo and Kyoto, 6 days<\/p>\n
July \u2013 Amsterdam (via Warsaw), 4 days<\/p>\n
July \u2013 Scandanavian Cruise, 12 days, departs & returns to Amsterdam<\/p>\n
Berlin, Germany; Tallinn, Estonia; St. Petersburg, Russia;<\/p>\n
Moscow, Russia; Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland;<\/p>\n
Copenhagen, Denmark<\/p>\n
July \u2013 DFW & Baton Rouge, family visit, 10 days<\/p>\n
As best I can figure it, we spent 85 days out of Beijing, flew in or out of 19 different airports, and rode on 22 tour buses or cars with guides. I think we got our money\u2019s worth this first year. Now I\u2019m beginning to plan for year #2. We\u2019re looking forward to the new sights, sounds, and smells we\u2019ll be experiencing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After a slow start to the morning, we taxi over to BISS. Judy needs help taking apart 10 sets of really heavy bongos (no elementary kid could use them). After the bongos, we hung large photos of BISS musicals in … Continue reading