Life's adventures....part 23rl

March 15

Well, the heat goes off in China today...doesn't matter the weather....someone says turn it off and there it goes...so we are no longer being heated....the weather is cool but not cold....so it will mean blankets probably for a few days.

Had a meeting with some of the one English and 3 Chinese committee and am not sure if I am well liked....I said how far are you willing to go to make these kids learn English?...a little unnerved....we do not have students moving but teachers moving to very spartan and poor rooms with no displays on the walls..but this is the student's home so we are coming into their territories...we want to turn that 180 degrees but I don't think that they are too receptive....so what's the point of reorganizing the English Department if nothing changes where it really matters...told them an English building or an English "Floor" where only English is spoken is a priority....well maybe not for the administration...

Saturday we pick up our golf clubs...hope everything goes well....there is about RMB 37,000 being exchanged...52 sets and probably more to come.....4 for sure and another 2 on the order....

Signed up for a trip to Tsingdao...a place where they make a lot of the beer for around here....flight there and back, hotel, and grub and all the stuff that goes with for about $450.

Not sure what I am doing for the May holiday....we have 7 days..may go to Heinan?...it is considered China's Hawaii....maybe sit on the beach, a golf game or two, who knows....Chinese Culture club has a trip planned too...not exactly sure where....Leaping Tiger Gorge......where do they come up with these nice touristy names.....supposed to be beautiful.....we travel all over the world and don't realize how beautiful our places are....just because it is somewhere else, it has to be more beautiful than ours....just like an expert is a man from another place....go figure..

We are going out to celebrate St Patricks day on Saturday....after our clubs get sorted...I think I may wear my tux with the green bow tie.....Am trying to get Don to go as well....if not ...well it may be one guy in Roughrider green bowtie at Durty Nellies or at Nashville.....we'll see...

Got some of my income tax receipts and will send a letter to David Anderson to see how and if I can fill them out when I get back because I think the stuff I need is still back in Canada...not sure if I brought it all...may fill it out anyway and then pay the penalty if I do it incorrectly...we'll see


Happy 91st Birthday Mom......I miss our nightly tea and politics meetings....keep your mind sharp as I will be back to test it again in July....

My attempt at a new moustache....darker..... has been cut short....nice way to say it....the chemicals cause a little skin irritation....and I did look so cute.....70's Hippy man....oh well, move on....I think the Fu Manchu is coming off soon.....can't see the Fu in it because it is so sparse and grey/white/ transparent..ok quit laughing.....

Well St Patricks day is over..we got all the clubs straightened out....but it was like a scene from the movies...we started out early in the morning...went for breakfast....two guys would stay behind with the money...Bob and I would go and get the clubs and check them over.... good ....went to the Silk Market...picked up the nephew and two sets of clubs minus the bag....1/2 hour later we were told we had to go to the Yashow Market to finalize the rest.....went there and were told only 1 club was needed...nephew John phones Uncle John.....then he took 40 minutes to get the club....a stalling tactic I think as I am not sure that they had all the sets....then we were given directions to send our van for the pickup..in the middle of nowhere...an empty vacant lot off the beaten trail....we travelled there and were told that uncle John would be here in 3 minutes.....18 minutes later..voila Uncle John with 25 sets of club in his van....and he just wanted to make the swap...from our van to his...Nothing doing...we checked each one...... and labelled them so that when we got back here, we would know whose was whose.....there were about 8 problems that we had to rectify to our satisfaction...uncle John had to make two more trips back to the "place" to pick up the rest of the clubs...he then forgot how many had gone into our van so had to recount....48 and he had the four remaining back at the Silk market where we originally started.....all the while our two guys with the cash were waiting in Beijing for the word to come or go or something...by 2:30 I was on my way with the clubs and Bob was on his way back to the market to pay off and get the clubs....Bob said as he was counting out the money, uncle John was nervous..the whole row of shops was listening.....and when he got to 33,000..John got a little giddy ..were Bob's words.....and started almost laughing when he got to the final total...but another adventure....

That night we went to Durty Nellies for the St Paddys party....Don jammmed out so I was the only tuxed guy ..but with green tie and handkerchief and cufflinks too....had a good time...a couple of dances and sang couple of happy birthday songs..and some green beer and no cocktails....still never made it to Nashvilles.....the crew stayed there until the end...got home about 2:30 for most of us...next day had a little sleep in...don't know why....

Then Steve and I got Eric to take us into Beijing to get some sets of clubs on their way...and ahv some dinner....and we did...got home at about 5:00 and got some work done from the school.......another lonely weekend in Beijing..??????

Talked to Jennifer....she is getting anxious to have a beer and her baby...not sure which she figures is most important......just kidding...but she is getting ready that's for sure.....am going to miss not being there but she is a trooper and I know the morphine will be sweeeeeeet......she says she will not be worried....and Doug is supposed to stay in the parking lot just to listen for the screams....hahahahaa.

Well, I better go as my computer I find out is on its last legs....needs a new battery and a plug for the power cord...I need to download some files but I don't know which and how...and it doesn't matter which order either....so I will get some experts to help me out...

Don and Eve and I and some CIS people will be flying out on Saturday morning and flying back on Sunday evening and will start another week...woooohoooo..I might even have some pictures.....

Byeeeeeee

Beijing in the spring

A good title....except it is darn cold...not the -25 or so but we had a wind and some sub zeo temps.....just like home..lots of complaints..the wimps...

Some little adventures..

We have two new staff here...both from University of Calgary and just got another from St Thomas University in Nova Scotia or NB...not sure which....don't know half of them from some of these places...one of them went to the silk Market with me and it took about 40 minutes for us to finally get a cab...the buggers don't line up...they just get in front...survival of the fittest....sometimes they sit in the front seat when the customer is paying off the cabbie from the back seat....anyway this Friday we initiated them at a place called the Goose and Duck...a good time had by all...the band and the entertainment was good...Bob and I got lost on the way home....actually it was I who gave the cabbie the wrong turn... Bob was asleep in the back and I just napped a bit...well we drove all over hell's half acre...called Tongzhou for about 1/2 an hour and 80 rmb worth....finally pulled in to "home" at 4:00...the others got in at 4:30 but they had gone to another bar...next week is St Patricks and Don and I think we will wear our tuxes..i have a new green bow tie and handkerchief...

I am going on a weekend excursion with the Chinese Culture Club on the weekend of the 25th to a place where some of the beer is made...a flight there and back and a astay at a reasonably good hotel...should be good ...Don and Eve too...

Have finally decided to stay an extra year...if I hadn't already indicated that....Alzheimer's you know.... will have to phone mom and break it to her gently....so say The Guess Who... have been given the option of staying with the 11s as they go to 12 or to go with the 11s next year...think I will let the 11s from this year get a respite from me....they need it...also, all my ties will be new again next year and not old hat.....

Had a meeting with the big guys.....called the leadership committee..and got put on a Rand D..Research and Development committee..consisting of me and 3 others from the Chinese side....interesting meeting....some Chinese translation to English and vice versa as the principal did not speak English...all of the others were bilingual..anyway, in the meeting, there were about 5 times that their Cell phones went off and they answered them!!!!!! ....... during the meeting......bizarre....I know there will be a request for 2 things......in the R and D committee because all understand English...1...no Cell Phones...if this meetings isn't important enough to turn off the phones then to hell with it and ..2....English only please....no sidebars in Chinese...
I don't have to be on this committee....we are to give direction on how to better achieve the objectives of creating more English opportunties......we, just last month had a meeting of the English teachers, and gave "them" a copy of about 20 recommendations...I asked in the meeting two questions....how far are you prepared to go ....and...we have already done what you asked so...... will this document be used as the basis for the necessary changes....

We get the 51 sets of golf clubs next week...Bob has ordered a truck to carry them out here where we will sort and store them in our apartments.....should be an interesting morning....we figure about RMB 37,000 will be needed to pay for the sets...then each of us will be responsible to ship them home...should be an interesting time at the post office...

Bought a cd player so now I can at least listen to my music without tying up the computer...an the speakers we have are quite good...also bought another headset c/w microphone for my skype account....thought the other was the problem with a lack of sound ...but that is not the case....

One of the Rolexes...my very expensive ones.....keeps time well..well, time that it used to be.....oh well, it looks good.....

Merle has picked up a cough and can't shake it....she is having the doctor look at it to see if it isn't something from here...I wonder if it couldn't be the pollution that she brought back

Will try to get some football tickets...soccer so that we can watch a game....my Chinese friend is looking to where to buy them....in August, Barcelona, Spain is coming over to play and then the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots will play here....... and then in October, an exhibtion game of NBA basketball will be played here...not much chance for tickets.....as well in August, Momma Mia is playing here....maybe I should come back early..we actually have to be back here on the 20th of August as they have revamped the school year to accomodate the Olympics...

Interesting thing yesterday..the whole expressway was void of all cars.....I was wondering why ...then all of a sudden about 30-40 buses go by.....I don't know who....my suspision was that it could have been members of the legislative assembly...for no apparent reason they just shut down the highway.....

Just a passing thought..it is now taking me longer to shave and even though I still shave the same number of times....but I don't spend anytime at the barber....I think I am losing time in the trade off

Went to the massage (the tough guys) today...it is a hurtin kind of love....I feel good AFTER it is all done...Angie and I walked to Tuanli for it...it was a good day to be outside.....they are building a new school and hospital near us....we think it is another international school...they brought in a whole bunch of fill...days of hauling....and now are excavating the area....go figure....also they are building the walls around it first...????

Today was a great day...listening to all of my old discs in LOUD stereo.....I am listening to Connie Kaldor right now.....Sky with Nothing to Get in the Way....a longing for home....phoned Mom and told her I was staying......she was ok about it ...she said as long as I was happy....she will miss me planting her garden and moving trees from front to back to front to back, etc...

Next big purchase will be a good camera I think...but what defines good..if any of you have a recommendation, I am entertaining suggestions.....

Got all my marking done and now have to get ready for this week on Monday..I have a couple of periods to plan....it is good.

Time to go to bed...for today....ttfn

Odds and Ends

HOtel in Bangkok overlooking the city...pretty polluted too
Our motorbike and owner in the background ...for about $10 per day


How about these wheels on ice

Chinese Acrobats...I think
Read the sign...in the middle of nowhere...
This is how they transfer the boat passengers....

@@@%&^!#&*(&*%

The computer just said there was aproblem and had to shut down and I couldn't save about 1/2 hour of work....now how in the hell will I remember all that I had in the last blog....Jesus this is maddening......oh well here goes....

Winter finally arrived here ...we actually had a lot of snow and it lasted for a couple of days and there were some windy days and it was cold and the people were complaining about it being cold...typical winter for me...actually not that bad...I hear that in some places it has been quite a good winter and in others it has been a lot of snow and cold....this has been minl for Beijing...

Unless something drastic happens, I will be staying here for another year....anyone coming over for a visit...they have upped the wages by $2000 and included a signing bonus $500 ( sounds like a hockey player)....well I guess I am...reasons.... some personal....others the Olympics plays in the mix as well....although they have said that the accomodations will be a little scarce here so we will still be allowed but there will be some restrictions

School started back here after an extended vacation...my schedule changed as I lost 2 English classes and gained and Environmental elective....good time wise..but with some downsides...I will be subbing in for anyon who gets sick or needs to go to conferences or anything like that...and the Environmental thing is a world wide program that has been a moving target ffrom the start

It started while we were on Spring Festival so we have missed about 4 weeks of a 10 week program so now we are scrambling to catch up....I started out with 104 kids and 12 teachers and then that got changed to 70 and 10 and then today it was 45 kids and 10 teachers and 1 isn't even here and they are all supposed to rotate in and out...a bit of a scheduling problem there. And all this time I have been trying to prepare handouts and the like to the teachers and students...I went in and saw Andy Truang ( the guy i will be playing ball with and the big director here) and told him my sense of frustration in a nice way ....he said that "this will become a top priority"...we are scheduled for a team picture next Wednesday....this is a 2 year program and the kids may get to travel to another country to make presentations or to take part in a summer camp...maybe they will need a supervisor....kind of miss some of my former students in other classes....but they mixed them all up again so I would have to learn all the name over again

There is some money around here...several kids went over to Canada for a about 10 days during the break and saw Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal and homestayed in Saint John New Brunswick....another went to Europe (Germany and Italy)...interesting stuff..

I noticed there are some pickup hockey teams here in Beijing...I my bring my stuff over just to see what goes on ...will chekc out the site before I make that commitment though....alsoo some squash leagues and they aren't that expensive......what is....

Bought a new winter coat..they were going for a good price...about $40 and a leather Jacket...Honda.....of course.....for about the same price....I would probably never even consider that in Canada...but here ....the price is right....put in an order for 6 more golf sets...Pings maily but I did order a set of Taylor Mades....I wil then have a set of Pings, Callaways and Taylor Mades....and they don't seem to hit the ball straighter...although Bob says he can help me out....

Speaking of which...I think Bob is staying and that we will probably be roommates again...we seemed to do allright this year....but we will wait and see....he put in for several sets of clubs for his friends....they semed to think that they were darn good clubs and they are good golfers....the total was 52 sets....any takers????...also think that 2 of the teachers are hoping to transfer out to the Beijing school (CIS) and another two are staying here....so that means about 8 new positions here...

I asked Eric ( the taxi driver) where we could get some fireworks so that we could celebrate the last day of the Spring Festival....Steve and I spent about RMB200 for about 20 minutes of display...We set them off on Sunday and did not kill anyone although one of the pods tipped over and we shot a missile at the guard house and also set off a car alarm...Steve was the technician as I couldn't keep a cigarette going to light the darn things....you know smoking has its benefits...Bob said that it would probably cost $300 just to get a license to light off what we did here...it was kind of fun....we still have a couple left and they are stored under my sink...

Went out to a Korean hotpot tonight for supper...they bring coals to you table and you cook your food there...they bring the chopped up meat and vegetables and you go from there...about $10 for the meal and probably close to 2 beer

The Chinese Culture Club has another couple of trips planned around China this spring and early summer and I think I will take at least one...as I said before, I would like to get over to the Himalayas to see Mt. Eversest or to get to the Yanggtze River so I will be on the lookout for that...

Don't have any photos this time but will try to get soome for next time oh what the heck let see if I can find a couple to put in here in no apparent order...here goes

Dad - your blogs are so funny to read...I check every day to see what has happened to you now...
J.