March and Prior Boston

Well I am back in Beijing

Forgot all that I have said so I may be repeating......

First off, I have decided to stay for one more year at the Canadian International School here....and even have applied for the Vice-Principalship and would be in charge of the High school end....would be another challenge....would mean not teaching as much...being in charge of some discipline...teacher supervisor....we'll see...

As you probably know, Vietnam was another interesting few days...Reg and I really enjoyed ourselves....

Have been faithful to the training for the Boston marathon....many days are tough.....to get up but I do ...and if any of you know me it is hard for me to get up before 6:00 and I have been doing that for 2 months now....so that tells you how important this is..am going to arrive home on April 16 and will head east for the marathon the next day...I want to go see Fred Savoy who was the friend who suffered the heart attack....he was such a good guy too....also may see Denis....he said he is interested in coming over here for a holiday for 2 weeks....working on the Visa now and some needles....also may go to see Don and Eve from Halifax for a couple of days.....lots to things to do.....Jennifer and Kenzie will be coming on Friday and staying until Monday...the day of the race...have been receiving some emails form the "official """ of the 112th running of the Boston Marathon ...notice the twelve...hmmm
We will be going to a ball game and Jay wants a Harvard shirt ....so she can say she was a Harvard candidate or something like that...awesome time I am sure...I was running today with a guy who has run the race and has a timer that does everything except change your shorts....but it will tell you when probably....he even found my number in the race 17261....and he has given me some tips about the race and tells me to enjoy it.....like I wouldn't after the lactic acid builds up to massive proportions....just kidding.....pollution has been bad...I wear a mask and it is grey now...I think I may be charged with Air Doping" instead of Blood doping....am I ready ... you BET__....we all wonder how they are going to get the pollution down for the Olympics.....speaking of which I have been trying to get some more tickets to some less popular events here...crossing my fingers..am returning back in July to get ready for them and have some FUN prior to the start of the games....am I ready....

Had my toenails done again...see the pictures....Detroit Red Wings and Peter Bauck wanted the New York Rangers...cost me 25 rmb per toe...about $3...Peter you owe me a beer....Reg and his wife Noreen were with me and we have really enjoyed the pampering ...have been going to the same masseuse for a while #68 and she really works deep.... I think it help me recover from the running I do....she is small but man does she have strong hands...

Went to Shanghai last weekend for International Baccalaureate (IB) program.....I was taking the Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) part of the program....most of the focus is on actual subjects BUT the greatest number by far of people who fail at the IB program fail because they do not do all of the CAS program...so essentially this part is the gatekeeper for all students...another responsibility...ran there a couple of times.....same pollution...another first...dead butchered pig slung over the back of a motorized scooter...I guess off to the market..took three days of learning and will take a lot more work for the program to get it up and running....along with lots of other stuff going on..going to the airport our taxi driver was zooming and then going at a snail pace and then zooming and backing off,,,,thought something might be wrong with the car...checked int the rear view mirror and noticed that he was sleeping and driving (as Mark used to say) using the FORCE...asked the lady sitting in the front who was with us from the school if he was in fact sleeping and she calmly said yes and turned back around.....What the Hell is that...so I started yelling or at least talking loudly and singing...that would sure as heck wake him up... the other lady though I was being impolite and rude to a Chinese person...she didn't realize that he had been sleeping.....when we finally got a=out at the airport....and was told, I think she realized what I had been doing..but had I not done that we may have been left on the Shanghai expressway.....Crazy...Second time to Shanghai...interesting place ...took some photos from the radio tower there....very large stucture...like our CN Tower....city lightw were fantastic...

May go to Harbin for the IIHF hockey tournament for women.....will take about 1000RMB to get there and back by train and we are not sure how much for the tickets there.....they have not even posted the cost ...and this is only 1 month away...not much organization...that is the weekend that we were to have our Basketball tournament and I had committed to get the scorekeepers and timers so I will see if I can get them organized....as soon as we are back, going to the Celine Dion concert here....a packed program....

Bought two new sets of glasses today....for about $250...and I am looking cool.... right...Reg got a couple pairs as well....we went on the bus today and had a good and inexpensive trip there and back...

Have purchased another set of clubs....Taylor Mades....they buggered up and gave me a right hand putter...still haven't improved my game....shot 13 on the 18th hole last weekend...I have joined the Beijing Golfers Club...basically they arrange a tournament every weekend until November...was in the Polar Classic 2 weekends ago...got a nice jacket...maybe as a award for shooting 115...geez...thought the clubs would take stokes off not add them on...going again this Sunday with 3 husbands of teachers who are here now...

Have been having trouble sleeping lately...maybe the sun coming up early has something to do with it...tried a couple of Lorazepam and they worked..not much of a druggie but every now and then..need some cheap drug....

Have been starting to pack (almost ready)and have too much stuff to take home for my suitcases.....am bring Janet back a set of golf clubs and carrying a lot of other stuff in the bag so I can get more stuff home....then there is my suitcase which can't carry a lot and then my two carry ons...the way back will be lighter but wow....what a load going home ...again....lost my wallet so canceled most of my cards...then it turned up....was found in the theatre in the school....so a little inconvenience and now have to wait for some cards...tough....

Reg and I were to go to our massage but our regular masseuses weren't available so we came back....we have decided to try to book some time for them...damn because my shoulder has been sore and I was hoping that I could get it worked on...oh well tough tar paper....

Some nice shots of Shanghai....the tower looks good at night....some of the surrounding area is lit up as well...floating billboards on the river...15 storey high advertising billboards.....cabbies know a good thing....to get there from our hotel was about 14 rmb...but to take you back to your hotel was 50 and the girls would have none of that...

Ok folks...guess that is all for now....I will finish this off...probably the next one will be my exploits in Canada and the US.....over and out from a grey from pollution Beijing...wish I could tell you the whole story