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<\/a>On the train over the Beijing’s “Music Street”.<\/p><\/div>\n
We establish where we\u2019re going and decide to take the train.\u00a0 You don\u2019t want to miss your destination, when no one speaks English where you\u2019re going.\u00a0 The trains aren\u2019t too bad today.\u00a0 We find the street, and it is definitely full of music stores.\u00a0 We walk past store after store, filled with woodwinds, brass, percussion, strings, guitars, pianos, and traditional Chinese instruments.\u00a0 I end up getting a lesson on a Chinese traditional flute from the guy whose name is on the flute.\u00a0 I struggle a little with my hand position.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to take some work.<\/span><\/p>\n Interested in a sweet potato? There are some cooking in the pot on the left.<\/p><\/div>\n Interested in an Erhu?<\/p><\/div>\n This is a Zheng, a Chinese zither.<\/p><\/div>\n A Yang-Qin, or Chinese Dulcimer<\/p><\/div>\n Performers were out, up and down the street.<\/p><\/div>\n A couple of Erhu performers\/teachers, out on the street.<\/p><\/div>\n My Chinese flute lesson, with the teacher whose name happens to be inscribed on all the instruments in the shop.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n We find a store with the instruments Judy needs, and spend some time counting, and making sure we have the correct paperwork to get reimbursed.\u00a0 It\u2019s tougher to get reimbursed here than it is in AISD.\u00a0 We taxi home, and get some serious nap-time in after lunch.<\/span><\/p>\n Tonight, there is a bowling tournament sponsored by WAB (Western Academy of Beijing).\u00a0 Six different international schools are participating.\u00a0 BISS has two men\u2019s teams and two women\u2019s teams involved, six members on each team, representing secondary and elementary.\u00a0 I\u2019m on the elementary men\u2019s team.\u00a0 We have shirts, and everything. The secondary men\u2019s team from BISS has won 10 of the last 14 years.<\/span><\/p>\n This is the back of my bowling team shirt. BARBARIANS RULE!<\/p><\/div>\n We bowl 4 games.\u00a0 I start really slow, rolling an 84 (yeah, an 84), including several gutter balls.\u00a0 But I start to figure it out a little and my back loosens up.\u00a0 Next game, I bowl a 123.\u00a0 I bowl a 149 on our third game, and we end up using the third game totals for our top team score to turn in.\u00a0 WE WIN!!!!\u00a0\u00a0 WE\u201dRE BAD!\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what we won, outside of bragging rights, but that\u2019s all I need.<\/span><\/p>\n Judy didn\u2019t attend the bowling event, opting out for dinner with some of her school friends.\u00a0 They enjoy a meal in a Malaysian restaurant in our nearby mall.\u00a0 Shannon, from Australia, also lives in UHN, so she comes by our apartment after the meal.\u00a0 She and Judy are still solving the world\u2019s problem when I get home.\u00a0 She\u2019s a lot of fun, and so full of Australian twists on the English language.\u00a0 It\u2019s all I can do to keep from secretly recording her while she\u2019s talking.<\/span><\/p>\n Shannon\u2019s a great teacher, so dedicated and concerned about every student she comes in contact with.\u00a0 When Judy was tracking BISS last spring through the website, she kept talking about one teacher who was involved in everything.\u00a0 The teacher did the elementary choir, was always posting pictures and student work, and seemed to be at the center of most of the activities in the elementary school.\u00a0 It was Shannon. There\u2019s nothing like an enthusiastic young teacher to reinvigorate you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We\u2019ve decided today is the day to find Beijing\u2019s \u201cMusic Street\u201d.\u00a0 We\u2019 been hearing about it since we arrived.\u00a0 Apparently there is a street where several blocks are nothing but music stores with every kind of music instrument for sale.\u00a0 … Continue reading <\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>