THE HEAT IS ON!\u00a0 For those of you who are regular readers, you know we\u2019ve been told the heat in Beijing would be turned on sometime in November by the government.\u00a0 The water in the shower seemed warmer yesterday, but today we\u2019re sure.\u00a0 The radiators in the apartment are warm.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been lucky!\u00a0 It hasn\u2019t been extremely cold, and our windows have max sun time during the day, so we\u2019ve been very comfortable.\u00a0 In fact, most days I have to open a window to cool it down.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an early day for me.\u00a0 Parent\/Teacher Conference Day is at BHSFIC today.\u00a0 I have to be across Beijing by 8:00 am.\u00a0 I\u2019m expecting big rush-hour train crowds, but it really wasn\u2019t bad at all.\u00a0 I make it to the campus fairly easily.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFree Interviews\u201d for 11<\/span>th<\/sup> graders take place from 8:30 to 10:30.\u00a0 This is the time for me to sit in my room, and wait for parents to walk by who might want to speak to me.\u00a0 There\u2019s a big meeting at 10:30 for parents and students (teachers don\u2019t need to attend).\u00a0 After lunch, scheduled interviews take place.\u00a0 These are interviews teachers have requested for parents to attend.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have any scheduled interviews, and no one drops in during \u201cFree Interviews\u201d.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t expecting anyone.\u00a0 The parents are much more concerned about the AP classes their kids are taking since these will determine US college admissions (the reason they\u2019re attending BHSFIC).<\/span><\/p>\n I spend most of my time on Facetime.\u00a0 I can \u201chard-wire\u201d into the school\u2019s stronger internet, so I take advantage and check in with family.\u00a0 I actually run out of time before I can reach everyone (Sorry Kathyrn and Courtney).\u00a0 I take time to visit with a few of the faculty members, and make sure the administration knows I was on campus, then I head to the train and home.<\/span><\/p>\n I managed to finally completely break our door lock last night (push-button finally broke and disappeared inside the locking unit).\u00a0 We\u2019d had earlier issues with the lock, but now there is no way to open the door without setting off the alarm.\u00a0 I contacted the leasing agent last night (she\u2019s in Nepal on vacation), and by the time I get home, it\u2019s been changed out.\u00a0 Of course, I didn\u2019t have the passcode yet, so I get to kill some time reading the iPad outside the apartment until the landlord arrives, and shows me how to set the new passcode.\u00a0 It\u2019s great!\u00a0 The door had been an irritation since we arrived.\u00a0 This new one is really smooth!!!<\/p>\n Judy gets home, and I train her on the new lock (not as easy to you might expect).\u00a0 Then we get down to the business of hearing about her strategy for \u201cClue\u201d.\u00a0 She\u2019s gonna nail the guy, if she can just get to school early enough.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE HEAT IS ON!\u00a0 For those of you who are regular readers, you know we\u2019ve been told the heat in Beijing would be turned on sometime in November by the government.\u00a0 The water in the shower seemed warmer yesterday, but … Continue reading