Fancy word for taking a break. I started this space at Dancing Girl's suggestion, in the summer over a year ago. It petered out because I don't put private things up here, so it gets to be a rather boring chronicle of daily life. I suppose if a major event come along, like another graduation, I can post pics here. Otherwise I'll use emails to communicate.

Actually went pretty well.
I had the Project Management students today. I talked about what project managers do, including the sort of things textbooks usually dont' tell you. They were pretty articulate and asked good questions. I think they'll be a fun group.

The English class this morning started off dull, but I got them talking freely at last.  One guy decided we should talk about sex. "Ok, it's your topic, talk about it."  heh. He started off ok, but wanted to say something , couldn't seem to describe it, started waving his hands in the air  maybe 20-30 cm apart. He whispered something to one of the girls, who translated " He means a condom" then she held her hands up with her fingers 2-4 cm apart. It was hysterical.

Korean restaurant tonight, ate too much.  Time to crash now.

Later

Still have hay fever.  It's better but I still can't hear right.

Back to classes. The computer rooms are too hot. Everyone gets drowsy.  Today I had classes in the teaching building though, so it was cooler. I had an English class for the Sports Management majors. They're fun. Good sense of humor, talkative, outgoing. Several of them have been successful atheletes. One was a China National Soccer team player. So they're more laid back than many students.

One of the students in my other class turned out to be a friend from last year. She is Vietnamese, and we sat and talked for a long time after class. We used Chinese, which seemed a bit odd. It was fun to chat with her in a language native to neither of us. I was a bit surprised at how much I could say. Perhaps because she speaks slowly and clearly, I could understand her easily. We had a good time, even though we didn't talk about anything important.

I showed National Treasure for the movie this week and remembered to wear my ring. It startles the students to realize that Masons are real. We're not the shadowy organization you see in NT or da Vinci Code though. One reason that I like National Treasure is that the Mason's are in a good light. The scene where Ben (Nickolas Cage) realizes that the FBI agent is also a Master Mason is great. After his long hunt for the Templar's treasure,  he realizes that the man talking to him is Brother to the men who stored the treasure years ago.

It's been a fun time. Another teacher and I were in the hallway before class, he said something about the music stored on my phone so I pulled it out. Considering his age I tried an old song. He started singing the words. When the students started out of the elevator their two foreign teachers were singing "King of the Road" - very off key. It was a popular song in the South when we were kids.....
Now we really have reputations. Not as singers though....lunatics more likely.

Ah, well. Enough for tonight. Bed calls. See y'all later.

National Day is kind of like the 4th of July for the US. Time off, celebrations, etc.

The last week was kind of a drag for me. I've got hay fever, from allergies to grass apparently. So I'm sleepy all the time, get headaches from sinus blockage, sneeze, all the dreary symptoms. Got claritin and ibuprofen (or the chinese brands of the same) and feel a little better now.

Classes went alright, schedules slightly mixed up. The air conditioning was off in the computer rooms Friday, so it was really hot in there. Most students stayed awake anyway. So did I.

Went to a party with J. last Friday night. It was a US style cocktail party, people standing around talking to each other. I met some interesting people. Entrepreneurs and such.

I've been riding the bike all over. Went all the way to IKEA to look around. The thing about the coffee is true! Decent coffee for RMB 6 !    So I basically rode all the way across the city on a bike for a cheap cup of coffee. And  back.

Went to YA temple west of Beijing.  It was an interesting trip. Up the hill, look in the temple, farther up the hill, look in that temple, *farther* up the hill, eh, we're far enough aren't we? :)    Actually we made it to the highest temple, there was a little pond there with a frog in it. How did he get way up there?  The kid scoops him ups, says 'hey look' and holds him up to me. He jumps loose and 'spat' against my white shirt. >>>>>    Anyway, it was fun.

So I've mostly spent the holiday riding the bike and walking up hills. At least my legs get a workout. Maybe I can rent one of the kayaks at the Hou hai and paddle around there. That used to be a great workout for me. Hate to turn it over though. I flipped my kayak in Newport Beach harbor once. My greatest fear while underwater was not to open my mouth and let any of that really dirty harbor water in!!  Since I didn't come down with any strange diseases it must have worked.

That's such a good idea that I think I'll try it today. Hou hai is only a short trip on the bike, I've been there lots of times already. (hence knowing about the kayaks). 

It's a nice cool day outside, maybe a bike ride and kayak excursion would be nice.

See y'all later