MONDAY, 1\/6\/14<\/b><\/p>\n
We\u2019re back to our normal \u201cBeijing\u201d life.\u00a0 Judy is headed to school.\u00a0 During the holidays, Judy\u2019s friend Shannon was announced as the new Elementary Principal, effective August 2014.\u00a0 Kyra, the principal who hired Judy, has accepted a position as a K-12 principal at a school in Indonesia.\u00a0 It\u2019s another example of life in an international school, people move on.\u00a0 Judy\u2019s ready to catch up on all the BISS gossip, but school is too busy, and Shannon is in Sydney at a job fair.\u00a0 It\u2019s after 8:00 before Judy gets home.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a surprise.\u00a0 Like I said earlier.\u00a0 We\u2019re back to our normal \u201cBeijing\u201d life.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve decided to join the Marriott Health Club.\u00a0 BISS has a corporate membership for all their teachers, so I figure I\u2019ll enroll at the same place, and Judy and I can go together sometimes.\u00a0 Since Xmas is over, I\u2019ll have much less need to head to the markets for shopping.\u00a0 Maybe I can actually find time to improve my own health situation?<\/span><\/p>\n The Marriott is about a 1\u00be mile walk.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to try and walk it every day, weather permitting.\u00a0 I make the walk, pay the membership fee for 6 months, and head into the pool for a swim.\u00a0 Day one isn\u2019t too bad.\u00a0 I\u2019ll start slow and build up my distance, or at least that\u2019s my plan.\u00a0 I walk back home, and once I hit the door, jet lag and exercise combine and force me to take a nap.\u00a0 I wake up long enough later to go to bed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n TUESDAY, 1\/7\/14<\/b><\/p>\n Judy gets off to school smoothly.\u00a0 She has a good day, and gets home early (by her standards), around 5:30.\u00a0 She\u2019s tired, and heads off to bed early.\u00a0 It probably has something to do with jet lag.\u00a0 I woke up around 2:00 am and couldn\u2019t get back to sleep, so it\u2019s a long morning.\u00a0 I eventually head out to the Marriott and get in my exercise.\u00a0 Afterwards, on a whim (and hunger-motivated), I walk over the South German Bakery for some bread to take home.\u00a0 I don\u2019t need it, but I sure did want it.\u00a0 Back home, I continue work on our summer travel planning.\u00a0 Lot\u2019s of ideas and possibilities exist, so I\u2019m mostly doing exploratory work.<\/span><\/p>\n WEDNESDAY, 1\/8\/14<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019m still not sleeping through the night, waking up at 3:00 am today.\u00a0 More exercise is on tap.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got to develop some type of regular schedule.\u00a0 I make the walk over, experimenting with a new route that saves \u00bc mile.\u00a0 After the workout, I go looking for some Home Plate BBQ.\u00a0 They\u2019ve moved to a new site, but their old site was supposed to reopen sometime soon.\u00a0 When I arrive, it\u2019s locked tight with no sign of any future opening.\u00a0 Next door is the \u201cAvocado Tree\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s a \u201cChipotle\u201d rip-off, and the food is good.\u00a0 I enjoy a great burrito, grab a take-out menu, and get info on delivery.<\/span><\/p>\n Back home, I work on class prep for my final two classes this semester.\u00a0 I\u2019m also working out how to get connected to Celebrity Cruises.\u00a0 If I use regular internet, the Celebrity website doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0 If I use the VPN, the website is confused because it thinks I\u2019m in California, but my info says I\u2019m in China.\u00a0 I finally get a connection to a Beijing travel agency that schedules for Celebrity Cruises.\u00a0 I may have solved the problem, but only time will tell.<\/span><\/p>\n Judy is scheduled to get home early today.\u00a0 We\u2019re supposed to go the police station and register our return from the US.\u00a0 It requires passports, a copy of our apartment lease, and a tax certificate proving our apartment owner is paying tax.\u00a0 Judy is late arriving.\u00a0 Shannon is back in town, full of stories about the job fair in Sydney.\u00a0 We finally make it to the police station, in a secluded neighborhood.\u00a0 When we finish, it requires a long walk to get back to a place where taxis are running.\u00a0 We finally grab a taxi, and get home, ready to eat a little dinner and hit the sack.\u00a0 It\u2019s been a long day since 3:00 am.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MONDAY, 1\/6\/14 We\u2019re back to our normal \u201cBeijing\u201d life.\u00a0 Judy is headed to school.\u00a0 During the holidays, Judy\u2019s friend Shannon was announced as the new Elementary Principal, effective August 2014.\u00a0 Kyra, the principal who hired Judy, has accepted a position … Continue reading