I shouldn't make promises, should I? Last blog was in September. Today is October 25th. Oops. I just get caught up living my life and forget to blog, although that is not true, because I write great blogs in my head that I never type. Right now I have grade nine students in my room and they are deeply engrossed in creating a painting inspired by Van Gogh's Irises, or (when finished) designing and creating a Sugar Skull in honour of the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead which begins on the night of Halloween, right at midnight, so technically on November 1st and goes until November 2nd. I love all the learning I get from teaching art. Besides just learning about technique, I am also constantly learning about artists, cultures, holidays, and traditions from all over the world. Above is the result of a Grade 5 project on Paul Klee's Castle painting. I use the Deep Space Sparkle web site all the time. I love this woman. I have no problem slapping down my credit card for her e-courses and lesson plans. I love them because they are exactly what I need right now. I am teaching at a school with California Curriculum (so does she) and I am TRYING to teach kids in Grades 4 - 9 who have almost no Art background, so her structured lessons that teach TECHNIQUE as well as allow me to teach about ARTISTS and ART MOVEMENTS and GENRES are invaluable. Once in a while, I throw in my own, such as my Pakistan Painted Trucks. I printed a street map from a city in Pakistan, the kids watercolor painted it. Then they designed their own painted truck, drew it and chose how to add the designs to it. Their class was studying Pakistan for International Day and it was my favorite of all the projects I did for that event.

Anyway, life in Beijing has been getting really REAL. We did our whirlwind tour to Calgary at the end of September to get our visas changed from tourist to residents. It was so nice to see friends and family but so exhausting. The jetlag was brutal and we wanted to pack so much in, but we were just dragging our butts all the time. Brody and I had to come back without Paul because he had a trip to India for CrossFit testing, and had to go straight there due to visa regulations before his return to China. So it was just me and Brody returning to China alone and worn out, and really NOT geared up for another three months of school before Christmas break. But we did alright. And Paul went to India, and came home, and PASSED his CrossFit exam and is now a CrossFit trainer too, so it was all worth it, though certainly not easy. I leaned on my new small circle here in Beijing quite a bit, as well as old friends who were encouraging, too.

The thing that challenges me most about living here is the LANGUAGE barrier. Every time we want to go anywhere, need to buy a light bulb, have something repaired, take a cab, order dinner, see a doctor, or leave the apartment, this is an issue. I did not expect this, for sure. I hear Shanghai is not this way, but I am surprised that for a capital city, Beijing has managed to stay...well...very CHINESE!! :) I sound like a stunned tourist, but I didn't expect it to be quite so challenging. It makes me VERY grateful that I did not ever opt to go to a 'smaller' outpost of say, only, 7 million. I can't imagine how lonely it would have been.

I conquered one small issue by recently purchasing a brand new tuk tuk. It is electric, red, and a little tin can, but it fits three plus groceries, and requires no licencing or other hoopla. We can take it around Shunyi successfully for meeting basic needs, which makes buying milk a hell of a lot easier.

The weather has turned in Beijing and the trees are starting to follow. The view out our window is now red, orange, and yellow, in addition to green. Most mornings are pretty chilly but we still get some lovely fall afternoons for playing in the park. The daylight is diminishing noticeably. These are things that I loved about living in Doha that I am missing a bit..the mild (nonexistant) winters and the balanced light situation throughout the year. But I am already researching warm getaways for Christmas that are really inexpensive, and it will be absolutely necessary EIGHT more weeks from now to get out and get some sun, sand, and surf. The next thing that is coming up that I hope to actually blog about is fullscale Halloween BIBA style. I can't wait to see how the Chinese and Korean students dress for the big day! I have to top myself each year. With a BURNING DESIRE to leave the wicked witch and Elphaba costumes in the closet with the other skeletons, I have a new plan for this year. In my head it will be fabulous. I made the mistake of forgetting about Halloween when I went to Qatar but I will not repeat that mistake again this year. I brought my costume from Canada and it is patiently waiting in the closet for the big reveal.