Getting Ready to Travel

No matter how short or long, traveling takes at least some prep. We fly out of Beijing at 6:30 p.m. tonight. We have to leave our house at 2 p.m. Normally we would drag our suitcases through the metro to get to the airport. It takes about an hour, and involves a couple changes, but really is not too bad and costs about $5 apiece. However, this time we are going to take a taxi.   I have had to come off all my   herbal supplements which are blood-thinners in preparation for my hip replacement on January 3 in Pennsylvania. I am in quite a bit of pain with no recourse to relieve it and walking is very hard, even with a cane and/or walker. I just could not face the metro ride. Instead it will cost about $30 in a taxi, and the amount of time is a bit more questionable because we are at the mercy of traffic rather than the very well scheduled metro. When we get to the airport, I will request a wheelchair and use it the rest of the trip. We arrive in LA at 3:30 p.m. It will still be Satu

Christmas around the World: Presents

I was touched when one of the students in our Friday night study group turned to another one of the members and said, “This is the first time anyone has given me a Christmas present.” That is incomprehensible to us in the West, but would be very true within this culture. It was a felt Santa head filled with fruity gummy candy thingeys. She brought one for each of us, which was really thoughtful of her. Rick had 3 English study Books which he was very anxious to give away. He had brought them with the thought of sharing them here. (I think he was also wanting to have an excuse to buy some more to bring back after break.) Last week he had brought them and given them to the 3 students. They were thrilled. We also had 3 Christmas story Chinese/English books to give….but forgot them at the apartment. We will give them in February. I am reminded how different cultures handle presents. Within Zambian culture, if someone admired a piece of clothing or jewelry, etc., as long as it was not

Christmas around the World: Santa Claus

The countries we have lived in, Christian, Muslim, and atheist, all do have an awareness of Christmas. However, the pervading presence is not Baby Jesus, but rather Santa Claus.   Even the Christian churches in Taiwan more often had a mural of Santa and his reindeers splashed across the front of the platform, rather than a nativity scene. Christmas parades always included more Santas than anything else. Here, there are few decorations, but in our apartment complex which is mainly for foreigners, Santa’s face is taped to all of our entry ways. The ones in English state, “Christmas” with “Merry” written in small letters underneath. There is a very nicely decorated tree in the reception area, which is appreciated. Probably the place that the use of Santa was the most jarring was in Senegal. This is a Muslim country, but one of the tribes is Catholic, and Christianity is tolerated. (We got all the Muslim holidays, and also all the Christian holidays. What’s not to like?) Near Chr

Active, But Not Christmas Activities

This is our second Christmas in Beijing. It is definitely much, much colder than last year. Has not been much over freezing for quite a few weeks. Uncomfortable to bike. It is also shaping up to be busier than last year.   Living in a country that does not celebrate Christmas has some down sides, like not the fun of decorations, etc. but one of the plusses, is that usually it is not hectic with Christmas activities. However, the last week has been an exception. 1.       1.   A few days ago we were invited to a Chinese opera presentation at an opera house downtown. It is Monday, and I cannot go because I monitor a new Celebrate Recovery meeting then, but Rick will go. Chinese opera is always very interesting. Look up some opportunities to listen to it, if you don’t know what I mean. 2.       2.  Last week all the English foreign teachers were called to an emergency lunch meeting the next day. The university is doing a trial writing lab and suddenly we are expected to staff it.

Christmas in Beijing

There are a few decorations up and around in the city. However, most of the time it is hard to tell if it is for Christmas, or, more likely, coming Chinese New Year.   The reception for our housing complex has lots of Santa faces and a very pretty Christmas tree. We decorate in our apartments with things accrued over many other people leaving things behind: some of it beautiful, and much of it a little questionable, but it is what we have. We will teach on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. There is no official recognition of the Day. We will explain the secular and religious aspects to our students under the heading: “Wester Culture”.   There are no real Christmas parties or gift exchanges, although we do deliver small presents to our direct supervisors at the college….just cause.   We will call our family and be homesick, but there is little that can be done. Presents will wait until we fly home early January. We probably will get together with ERRC team members for a   meal

New Friends in Beijing

In our Friday night group studying Luke, we just finished Luke 2: “And it came to pass”.   One of the study questions was who was the “angel” who first shared Jesus with you? For our three students, one was her mother and the other two were their grandparents. One student just wandered in to our study from a general English corner announcement. The only one to come. He is a Ph.D. student in computer programming. The second one is a student of Rick’s who for some reason he felt led to invite. She is a Ph.D. student in Chemistry. The newest arrival is the young lady who stopped and offered to help me buy my Kindle last week. She works; I don’t know doing what yet. The main impetus for them to devote an hour on Friday night is to improve their English, but they very eagerly share their spiritual hunger.   Next Friday rather than doing a study, we are going to the State approved Three Self Chinese church for a bilingual Christmas program. It is always very tastefully done and a real test

Understanding Essays from Major Areas of Study at PKU!!!!

(P.S. I successfully purchased a new Kindle yesterday. It only took half an hour.) An interesting week of checking 120 essays (30 more to go on Friday). The assignment was to write a compare/contrast essay comparing the two sons in the “Prodigal Son” story. Or compare two issues from their major area of study. (The assignments mainly cover genre of English essays like Narrative, Descriptive, Cause/Effect, etc.) The “Prodigal Son” essays were good. One Chinese proverb that was used several times, confused me: “The prodigal son changes gold”. It is not unusual to struggle with translation of proverbs. Within the culture the proverb is immediately understood, but translating it to outsiders becomes challenging. Someone finally gave a translation that made more sense: “A prodigal who returns is more precious than gold.” But the really fun part of this assignment was reading the essays from those who chose topics from their majors. Remember, these are Ph.D. students in the

Buying a Kindle in Beijing

What a fiasco! I have a lovely old Kindle. It was a present from Lynn Richardson, a good friend and fellow English teacher in Panama. It had over 200 books downloaded on it when it came to me, and I have so thoroughly enjoyed reading the novels that Lynn left for me. You can imagine that it would have been impossible to carry this load of books to China with us. Well, I could tell the Kindle was soon going to quit. I was having to force reload it often. And on Thursday, the monitor finally went blank and I could not revive it. I was prepared. I knew it was coming. I had purposefully read almost all of the books Lynn left me. I even had staked out a Kindle dealer about a mile from our home. So on Saturday at noon, we went to the mall and found the dealer. I told him I would only buy a new Kindle if he could migrate my 300+ books that were being stored in my Amazon library to the new Kindle. I have 4 or so sites I check every day for free books, and download a few every week….to th

Thanksgiving in Beijing

Our Thanksgiving celebration involved biking 3 miles in very chilly, dark conditions to a beautiful banquet hall at a university close to our church. It was a full Thanksgiving banquet with turkey, chicken, beef, mashed potatoes, rice, Chinese vegetables, pumpkin soup, and pumpkin tartlets.   Very good.   There were about 200 people celebrating. I can bet that our Thanksgiving table partners were more international than yours! There were four of us from the US, then 2 from Nigeria, and one each from Togo, Ecuador, and Kenya. Fun times. We are blessed.

Bronchitis in Beijing

I have bronchitis. The pollution in Beijing has been very vicious lately and this started as a cold, and then progressed to where I can hear "tweeting" on every exhaled breath. Loud enough sometimes, that Rick could hear it too. I have had pneumonia 3 times in my life, and that "tweeting" was part of it. So I went to the dr. today. Always strange that one cannot go to the dr. by oneself. It is just complicated to know how to get to registration, cashier, waiting room, find the room when your appointment number is flashed on the screen. Talk chinglish with the dr., find the way to the window for a finger stick. Go down to the hospital basement for chest x-ray. Decide if you are going to get undressed and put your hair up in a rubber band for x-ray or not. Feed your hospital card into the ubiquitous machines to get the lab results. Find the doctor again who prescribes meds. Question dr. about what the meds are and remind her that I am allergic to sulfa and penicillin.

Mermaids and Jesus

We are having very deep and good discussions from the book of Luke on Friday nights with two students. This week one asked, “So the Holy Spirit is greater than Jesus, since the Spirit created Jesus in Mary’s womb?” So we backtracked and explained that Jesus was preexistent in Heaven reigning co-equal with the Father, further demonstrating Jesus love for us in humbling Himself.   How does one ever explain the Trinity? Particularly if you are starting almost from scratch. Reflection reminded me about a post I did about 18 months ago when we were first in China, teaching in Taian: I am not sure how to write this post without sounding like a heretic, but I don't think I am. As we were in the "US culture" class today (for 4 hours every Saturday), the students were responding to a newspaper article that talked about a lady with webbed fingers claiming to be a mermaid. The students had to give a review of the article and then ask a discussion question. The question they

What Is It Like to Bike to Church in China?

No, I didn’t forget and wear a skirt this morning. I faithfully put on pants, knee brace, socks, etc. that I have put on every day for the past 2 months. After all it was the 30’s and rather cold. These kinds of temperatures make biking interesting. I put on a heavy winter coat. Mine is a black peacoat, quarter length. If it were longer, I think it would get in the way of biking. I was told before I came here this time that I needed to be sure that I had clothes that were dressy enough. Something like an army/navy camouflage coat would be an embarrassment to them as they expect professors not to be camping chic as it would have been acceptable at some points in their past.   I wrap a scarf around my neck and head, and tie it in the back because winds might otherwise untwist it while I bike. I also need to be sure that I can turn my head and see behind me while I bike without my scarf and hair getting in my way. I put on my gloves, which are those light weight $1 black stretchy kn

Good Friday Study

Such a good Friday night study of Luke. One student. I am so glad we have  just been waiting for leading and playing it slow and quiet. This gentlemen is very close to becoming a believer. Deep gratification. I also am the leader for a Celebrate Recovery group starting November 19. Celebrate Recovery is a program that deals with our "hurts, habits, and hang-ups", or other addiction issues. Many churches have groups built around the principles of the Beatitudes. We have been involved with a training group since last semester. It is now time to start leading. I am looking forward to this. It is not hard to prep. The materials are very clear. Emotionally it is draining, though. It is scheduled for Monday's after I have taught from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  I am thankful for energy.  Originally it was scheduled for Saturday morning. I was willing, but not happy about it. Saturday includes other things, like going out with Rick, cooking, laundry, etc. So I was very happy when we cou

Finding the Dentist in Beijing

(I need help troubleshooting the blog post, ….again.   About a week ago the VPN in China had problems for a few days. VPN is how we get access to Facebook, Google, youtube, etc., that otherwise would be blocked for us. It is in very common use. After the VPN seemingly straightened out, my blog has had almost no views. Most days I get 20-50 views. The past week there has been 0-10 views most days. Please let me know you are receiving the posts, and if you know anything about blogspot and VPN and internet and can help me, please help me troubleshoot.   Thank you.) Even when you are working in your mother tongue (and are literate and can read the signs), one is often lost when you are trying to register and pay for services during a medical appointment. Try doing that in a foreign language!   I was told that I needed to get any dental work done before I had hip/knee surgery done in January. (I guess they want to be sure that there is no infection in one’s body close to joint re

Seeing the Leaves of Fall in China

Yesterday we went on a field trip with the foreign experts from Beida (Peking University). It was to Fragrant Hills. This is a park about 40 minutes from our home, so still within the confines of greater Beijing. It has a few ancient temples, a memorial to Sun Yat Sen, (the father of Modern China), and many, many trees with turning leaves. This is a completely Chinese thing to do at this time of year. They have a deep connection with nature. It is almost obligatory to go see the red leaves in the fall. Someone said it is enforced through their literature which has heroes and characters drawing inspiration from the changing seasons. ….and everyone else was feeling the need today. Our large van with about 15 people in it could only get within 20 minutes of the entry to the park. There were literally thousands of people going to see the leaves. There were large groups of middle school and elementary students on school trips with their teachers to see the leaves. Not to mention all the o

English Essays.....LOL

I am in the midst of checking essays. Love this. It truly is priceless. The topic is "What do you look for in a marriage partner?" The point is to get them to write and correct English. It does not matter what topics I assign, so I might as well assign something useful to reflect on. It brings to mind some essays from last year that I posted on FB: "The meaning of life is just like frog floating in the air. When wind coming, it disappears." Frog? Also one of my friends here was warning us about encouraging the use of the thesaurus to find synonyms that might not fit. She had a student write, "When I first saw her, I felt it in my aorta." An older man wrote: "Childhood, formed by one after another of the amusing things, is a tune that haunts around my heart, and is an erudite book full of life philosophy, trivial but memorable." Further in the essay, the same man describes falling off his bike: "So it rushed out, and I fell d

"Blessed Are the Meek" , book continuation

The Healing Power of the Beatitudes Eight Steps to Wholeness Chapter 3 Mt. 5:5 Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. OK. “Meek” This sounds a little better. A little less painful. Maybe,… but it is certainly not descriptive of how most of us are,….or even want to be. Who wants to be meek? Milquetoast? Doormat? Roadkill? Well, of course on one very profound level, this is not at all what “meek” means. But on another it does mean that kind of humility. But it is humility from strength, from choice, from sacrifice. Not finished yet The meek person realizes the meaning of PBPWMGINFWMY: please be patient with me, God is not finished with me yet. Romans 4:17New International Version (NIV) 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”[ a ] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed— the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not [bold print mine] The meek person realizes it

Adult Playgrounds/Role of Grandparents

About a block from our house is an adult playground. We are in a housing development owned by Peking University. It is a group of about 10 large apartment buildings built for the 2008 Chinese Olympic games. I think they are very nice apartments….but after years of living in third world countries maybe I am not the best person to assess this. I can say, that it is one of the nicest apartments we have lived in. If I walk or get on my bike and go about a block to the exit gate, I find an adult playground. I didn’t look closely at it for quite a few months. It looks like a kids’ playground and that is what I always thought it was, but then I examined it more closely. There are 8-10 pieces of equipment. Everyone is for adults. They are quite attractive and innovative, involving arms, legs, balance, speed, etc. What a wonderful idea! Chinese are very health conscious and this is another example of their way to keep active. I see many people there. Mainly it is older people and they oft

Wearing a Skirt to Church

I made the mistake of wearing a skirt to church this morning. How can dressing nicely in a skirt be a mistake for church? Well, I thought it was moderately warmer, in the 40’s rather than 30’s this morning. I put on a long skirt, with my left knee brace that I wear all the time now. Then I added a pair of spandex knee length shorts and knee high boots. That only left my right knee bare technically. My left knee, which is bone-on-bone, and my right hip vie for which one is going to bother me the most. I have surgery schedule for my knee for Jan. 5 in PA, but I am withholding the final decision because I need to be sure I have enough recovery time for the 5 weeks I have in the US.   If I am just careful, life is doable.   However, biking is cold, and my arthritis is bad. I was in quite a bit of pain by the time I had gone the 2 miles to church. I brought my cane, but it was still hard to walk the block when I got to the hotel where our church is held. I told Rick if he saw me putting o

What Color Are the Cars?

It is really strange that I did not notice the color of the cars in China until a few months ago. I certainly did notice as soon as we arrived one and half years ago how different the ambiance here was compared to what I had expected. We have lived in Asia before (1988-1995). The cities we were used to were brilliant to the point of being glaring. There was a plethora of lights: blinking, neon, garish. The ancient buildings had clashing colors and sweeping eaves, with lots of symbols embedded in the arches. Signs hung from every available surface with stylized characters advertising everything imaginable.(That dangerously blew down in every typhoon, and then were replaced waiting for the next big wind.) This is not what I see where I live now. There are big square sky scrapers for miles after mile. All street signs are sedate statements of street names and directions, in characters and pinyin.   There are signs painted directly on stores, but not hanging from the eves and the sig

To Meet or Not to Meet? That Is the Question.

We are trying to have English study meetings again on Friday nights. Last week was the first one. I cannot explain thoroughly, but you need to know that any activity along these lines are being monitored closely.   Members of local worship meetings are being persecuted with loss of jobs and being asked to sign papers of renunciation of beliefs. Physical doors of buildings are even being closed. So we need to be careful, not for us so much as those who would choose to attend. Anyway, when I posted on our old Wechat site about our study of Luke for last week, we got a lot of new Wechat friends inviting themselves on that site. I am not too excited about this. I have no idea who these people are, nor where they are getting our site info. I DO want to let previous attenders know that we will be meeting again, but we have no intentions of large group situations. Last week one new man/student came. That was all, but we had a very nice discussion, and he says he will come back this week

What If I Were a Maid in Another Culture

(Maybe we have solved the problem with "following" the blog and also notifying for new postings. Please let me know if following and notifying is working. Thanks.) I was thinking about the things in my apartment the housekeepers might find strange. I also reflected on some things I might find strange if I were a maid in another culture. (Some listed in no particular order or culture, but gleaned from years of living in South America, Africa, and Asia.) I bet the thought that you ALWAYS   must take off your shoes upon entering a house would seem needless to me, but I could understand that it would make my job easier. Finding used toilet paper in a wastebasket beside the toilet would seem so far beyond normal as to be outrageously gross and needless. I would question the closing of doors and windows in cold season. Don’t they know the heating systems have carbon monoxide that will kill you? I would compare the size and stuff in U.S. kitchens and be underwhelmed, and wonder

Final questions from "Blessed are those who mourn"

I think I have fixed the email connection. Please check and see if you are alerted when I blog.  Also, please become a "follower", which helps demonstrate that the blog is being viewed. The final questions from our chapter on mourning in our book: The Healing Power of the Beatitudes Eight Steps to Wholeness Chapter 2 Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4 Questions: 1.       1.   Emotional pain is usually harder to face than physical pain. Have you found this to be true? How much does our culture and societal expectations and taboos play into this statement? 2.        2.  Probably the biggest addiction area in our culture is money, and the power and prestige that go with it. Is money evil? Why does it engender so much evil? Is love of money an accepted societal addiction? How is money related to power and prestige? Lists some ways to hold money, power, prestige in perspective and not let it become an addictio

An English Tutoring Center

(I have been told that maybe there is no alert to your email since I changed the title of our blogpost to asiabeatitudes.blogspot.com. If this is true, I would like to know. I am not sure how to solve it , but I need to know if it is a problem. We continue to need "views" as we are now at least in a conversation with a possible helper in publishing our book.) We went to visit an English teaching tutoring center this morning. We had been put in touch with Fey through Michael Sapp, a friend from Senegal 15 years ago who lives here in Beijing!! Fey was looking for teachers. Upon reflection we realized that our visas probably precluded us being able to accept money for situations like this. However, we wanted to see if we could trade teaching for the use of a room to have our Friday night BOOK study. (We have found a possible coffee shop that might work for our study, but it is rather public.) However, as we talked with Fey we realized that it would be a matter of endangering

Every Chinese Child's Dream

I just biked the mile over to get some copying done at the University. As I have mentioned it is Golden Week, and everyone is on vacation. It is always very chaotic at the gates to get into the campus, but today was particularly crowded. There were about 50+ people being blocked from entering. The guards at the gate usually just check the ID that we hang around our necks and motion the students on in. However, most of these were families: mom’s and dad’s with an elementary age child, single mom’s or single dad’s with a child, sometimes an elementary age child with a younger sibling in a stroller (I am sure the few, very few, two children families that I saw are a result of the relaxing of the one child policy within the last few years).   As I biked to the copy store, children were being posed in front of doors with the Peking University (PKU) logo on it. Posed, so that they looked like they were holding the logo in their hands. Parents pointing out locations, and talking together, e

Golden Week

Golden Week There are two legal Golden Weeks in China. One happens in January or February for Chinese New Year. The other week is around October 1, and is National Day, in other words, the founding of China.   It gives people a whole week of vacation, partially so they can make the long trip to their homes. (This is a HUGE country, and even with very good public transport, getting “home” can easily take many, many days.) It does not really hit right for university students. School started for us only 2 weeks ago. Why would you go home after only arriving 2 weeks ago? It also is complicated by Moon Festival a week or so before October 1. (For me, it meant that my Monday classes had one class and then 2 weeks off. …..but I gave them assignments anyway and had them email me their essays. )   There are certainly fewer people on the streets. I don’t see shops closed like they are for Chinese New Year, but there are some which open late, etc.    I am checking the 150 essays which have be

"Will a foreigner get shot on the street in China?"https://www.quora.com/

Will a foreigner get shot on the street in China? Clive Green , lives in China (2007-present) Updated Aug 15 Yes, I am afraid there is a very high chance indeed of getting shot — especially if you are a western foreigner. Perhaps somewhat unusually, the shooter will actually ask your permission, and even ask their own children to stand next to you before they shoot you! Also, gangs of TV reporters sometimes roam the streets, looking for interesting foreigners to shoot. (Scroll down if you feel upset …) https://www.quora.com/ I am quoting off a Quora posting for today! You do understand that it is a joke, a play on the words “shoot”.   A photo is shot. I laughed because it is absolutely true. At times permission is asked. Other times you just become aware that the person ahead of you in a line is taking you as part of a selfie. At one point a group of us as foreigners were waiting together at the subway and a lady came by, stood there, and took a few minute

Moon Festival Celebration

Today is Mid-Autumn or Moon Festival. It is the second most important Chinese holiday, second only to Chinese New Year. The harvest moon is full and family is to gather at a round table and enjoy each other as they eat.  It comes at a strange time to have a vacation when school has only been in session for a week. (I had students email me my 150 essays to grade while I "rest".) It is one of the most very ancient festivals.  We have received our share of Moon Festival greetings and of course Moon Cakes. “While there have always been different variations of moon cakes across Asia, including some savory ones, the classic sweet pastry most closely associated with the festival has been made the same way for centuries: salty egg yolks stuffed in paste made from lotus seeds or beans.”   http://time.com/4492595/mid-autumn-festival-lanterns-moon-mooncake/   Mmm….yuck. Really, some of them are palatable. We enjoyed a lovely buffet with our fellow team mates, as close to family as

How Do We Deal with Noise Pollution?

You hear about air pollution in China, and yes, it is pretty awful. However, those of us living in certain overseas country feel the noise pollution more acutely.  I am lying on my couch on a Sunday morning at 8 a.m. Rick is still asleep. Suddenly from the apartment next to me a Jack  Hammer kind of noise erupts. It has to be immediately on the other side of our living room/bedroom wall. It sounds like it is in the same room with me. Now there are hammering and sawing noises. VERY LOUD.  This is not at all the first time that this apartment has been victimized by these sounds. Two different team mates have lived in the apartment for the past year and these noises have disrupted countless team meetings here. (They also attest to the fact that it goes on early morning and late nights as well.) This is a year's worth of noise. What takes a year to renovate? These apartments are only one bedroom and very small. The building is not being torn down and rebuilt. It is just a tiny apartmen

Change of Blogpost Title to "Asiabeatitudes"

For reasons related to national local activities, it seems wise to change the title of our blog to "Asiabeatitudes". I am worried that I will loose contacts this way, but I think it is necessary. Help me pass the word, please, and plead for help for many who are being persecuted.

Talk to Daddy for Us

We need your help. Many of you know that we had a study with friends last year. It was the book of John. This had become the highlight of our week. Well, this is a new year and things are moving rather quickly here. Houses of worship have been closed recently, etc. Today we talked on social media with one of the leaders of the closed venue who has always helped us find a location for our study. His comment was that at least he was free.  We have had no success at all in finding a location, and he has no suggestions. At this point we are just waiting for Daddy to take care of this, because we are completely stalemated. Please take it before the throne so that we know what to do next. Thank you for being careful in how you comment.

Economic Predominance

We teach oral and written English at Beijing University (or PKU). This is the premier university in China, and maybe most of Asia. (Think Harvard, Yale, Oxford, etc.) I often feel that we are here under false pretenses. Yes, we have doctorates and have taught for 40 years, but our degrees are in special education and human behavior, not teaching English. Our life has been spent in very humble, (and fulfilling,) circumstances. We are not ambitious people. We sometimes look around and wonder how we ended up here. When we off-handedly mention to our friends in China that we teach at PKU, they are very, VERY impressed. We are not quite sure what to do with that because it is not how we have been lead in our journey up to this point. I am reflecting on these things having just read an interesting article about the growing pre-eminence of China in the economic world: " What's happening with China's economy? " https://www.quora.com/  I am going to include an infograph

Making a Promotional Video in Beijing

What an interesting experience! On Thursday, we received a phone call from the executive director of the Peking University housing complex where we live. He asked us to participate in a promotional video for housing at PKU.   We readily agreed and signed a contract. Afterwards we questioned a bit, because we could not read the contract, but decided it must be legitimate. Thus, we spent most of this afternoon being videoed. First they came and put on our make-up. The lady spent a long time on my eyebrows and hair. She did nothing to my eyes or add blush. I assume differing cultural emphasis. We then went down to the reception area and pretended to check-in to our apartment, again, ….and again. Just like you see when you make movies of making movies. Then there was a segment where 10 people crowded with the cameras and the lights into our small apartment and they took pictures of us reading and playing a Chinese chess game, that we had to fake understanding.   We progressed

Finding Cardstock in Beijing

The goal for today was to replenish our supply of card stock. We need this in order for the students to make name tags that stand in front of their seats in class so that we don’t have trouble identifying our 150+ students that we only meet once a week. It is a wonderful system and works very well. However, one has to find the cardstock. We knew this was a problem and had ferreted out some here in June before we left for the States so that we knew we would not need to bring some back. It is fine to buy in the US and bring back, but it takes up weight and space and is also the wrong size for printing purposes in China which uses A4 metric size paper, (like the rest of the world) rather than 8.5 x 11 inches.   We are preparing for classes which start next week and don’t have quite enough to meet our needs.   It should be simple, right? We started the journey by going to the 5 story one block huge clearing house for everything computer. We try not to go there. In order to bike, one mu