Two and Half Hour Lunch Breaks

EF is renewing my Visa and I am going to be able to travel in China during the month of June! I am getting so excited. Plans are still a little fuzzy, but right now I am hoping to take a train to Shanghai and spend a few days there, train trip to Chendu to visit the Panda Reservation and them meet up with Joyce and Cindy in Joyce's family's hometown in the South. Then, I'll come back to make a few last good-byes in Beijing and fly home to Oregon. Colleen's China Chronicle will be hitting the open road soon! I'm really excited!

Today, I had to go to the police office to get a new registration to renew my visa. My nice landlady sent me the address of the police station... the last time I was there I went there was in late June... so I took a taxi there. The taxi driver didn't have a clue about where he was going. He stopped and asked a grandma about how to get there and she and her grandson got in the taxi and directed him there! Gotta love Beijing! I first accidentally walked into the traffic ticket place and an older gentleman came up to me and said, "Ah, they got you, too!" Oddly, I didn't comprehend his English until I found a sign that said "Traffic" in English. I showed the man my residence registration and he pointed me to the correct building. I got to the building and found out I had just missed the residence people. They were out for their two and a half hour lunch break! Chinese siesta time, I guess!

Today at work was busy and fun. I am subbing a lot of James's classes this weekend because he is off to run the Great Wall Marathon. I taught an open door ceremony class for a class I used to teach but James officially took over as the only teacher right before the remodel. It was awesome to reconnect with the students and tell them and their parents good-bye. I even got some cute pictures.