Our goals today are to finish as many home and school tasks as possible, so we can do some sightseeing tomorrow.\u00a0 First stop, IKEA, and we\u2019re heading out early trying to beat the crowd.\u00a0 Success!!! \u00a0We get a bunch of stuff we need (rugs, dishes, couch pillows, picture frames).\u00a0 The crowds haven\u2019t arrived yet.\u00a0 The bonus of the day is the IKEA special \u2013 ice cream cone, $.18 each (ice cream included).\u00a0 YUM!!! \u00a0I wanted to buy several, but resisted the urge.<\/p>\n
Home, and the unpacking starts.\u00a0 Rugs hit the floors, new dishes stripped of sales labels and washed, and pictures are carefully added to the frames.\u00a0 Now, the tough job of hanging the pictures.<\/p>\n
We head out later to get Judy\u2019s phone upgraded to 3G.\u00a0 The usual language difficulties occur, but my gesturing has really improved.\u00a0 Sept. 1 will be interesting if our phones really starting working with 3G.\u00a0 That\u2019s when the contract starts up.<\/p>\n
We shop a little in the Capital Mall on the way home.\u00a0 Judy gets some shoes and a blueberry slush.\u00a0 Back at the house, she goes to work on her computer.\u00a0 I start shopping the internet for an interesting place to visit the week we\u2019re off in October (National Holiday, Oct. 1 to Oct. 7).\u00a0 We\u2019ve heard recommendations for Thailand, Korea, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Yangtze River Cruise.\u00a0 I\u2019m really intrigued by the river cruise, so my search narrows.\u00a0 The website is a Chinese Travel Agency that is highly recommended by our Australian friends.\u00a0 It\u2019s in English, but it\u2019s put together a little differently than I\u2019m used to.\u00a0 If you\u2019re interested, check out: \u00a0Chinatours.net.<\/p>\n
I get us booked to fly from Beijing to Chongqing on Oct. 1.\u00a0 We\u2019ll catch a river cruiser, the M\/V President Prime.\u00a0 We\u2019ll take the cruise to Yichang, and fly back to Beijing on Friday.\u00a0 This should be a good starter for our Asian travels.<\/p>\n
One adjustment I\u2019ll be making while teaching at a Chinese school, holiday makeup days are Sundays.\u00a0 We have makeup days scheduled for Sundays, Sept. 22 & 29.\u00a0 They\u2019re not sure if the days to be made up will be the days that I teach or not.\u00a0 Guess I\u2019ll find out later.\u00a0 Judy\u2019s school doesn\u2019t use Sundays.<\/p>\n
Another interesting thing I\u2019ve noticed are the morning assemblies, many of the local businesses have.\u00a0 It\u2019s basically a small pep rally for the employees.\u00a0 Several of the real estate companies with offices outside our apartment complex, organize their employees in lines on the sidewalks outside their offices.\u00a0 Someone stands in front of the group, \u201cfiring them up\u201d.\u00a0 They sing some type of company songs, each group trying to be louder than the group next door.\u00a0 Ive even seen some of the restaurants doing the same thing with their employees before they open.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our goals today are to finish as many home and school tasks as possible, so we can do some sightseeing tomorrow.\u00a0 First stop, IKEA, and we\u2019re heading out early trying to beat the crowd.\u00a0 Success!!! \u00a0We get a bunch of … Continue reading