Happy birthday Leroy

Today is the big 80th birthday party for my father-in-law, Leroy Thomas.  So happy birthday.  In China it is Monday so the party is already over here.  One of the students visited Hua Shan over the weekend.  I will need to do that before I return to the USA.  I may do that on a Friday.  The only class I have is a Chinese Language class and I could just miss it and take the train to Hua Shan.  Or I could do the Wednesday train to Hua Shan.  Either way it is a place I need to go to before I return to the states.  I may even go there twice.  Next weekend we will go see the Terra Cotta Warriors and then we will see the musical drama, "The Everlasting Regret," based on Bai Juyi's poem, "Song of Eternal Sorrow."  That should be an interesting day.  We will leave for the Terra Cotta Warriors at 1 pm and then see the show in the evening.  I also just checked the schedule and they have us going to the Wild Goose Pagoda on the 23rd, or they say the 23th, and that is the day of the big sports meet that everyone was so concerned about our students taking part in.  The sports meet is held on two days, Friday and Saturday.  So I am not sure how this is going to play out.  The Big Wild Goose Pagoda we could see at anytime and could pay the 1 yuan to take the 400 bus.  Rob Rogers told us they have a micro brewery there and they brew German beer and have brats.  So it sounds like we will make the trip there at some time anyway.  I also want to go to the International Horticultural Expo later this month.  Yesterday the weather was great.  Some people thought is was hot but I really enjoyed it.  Tee shirt weather and a nice evening to sit out and relax. 

I did get my QQ account opened this weekend. Now all I need to do is learn how to use it.  It should not be to difficult, I can just follow the instructions that pop up on my screen.  I guess I could load it on my netbook but I also do not want to do anything that might cause me problems communicating with JoAnne.  If I get my students QQ numbers I can always set this up back home and figure out somewhere to keep in touch.

I even have my QQ # 1721808630.  I will see what I can do at some other time.  Maybe when Ava is around to help me.  I do think it would be interesting to keep in touch with some of the students and staff here.  From what I understand this is like a facebook page and you can send messages, pictures, video, etc.  I thought if I could use this I could send my students a little information about Peoria, when I get back.  I could get on a bus that is almost empty and show them what life is like in our fair city.  I am going to have to video some of the traffic here and show people what it is like to drive and walk in Xian.  I like the idea that the traffic lights are only a suggestion of what to do.  It is amazing to see the amount of people that run red lights, run red lights and make u-turns,  or drive on the sidewalk.  Saturday we saw a city bus drive the wrong way down the divided street.  You look up and here comes the bus on your side of the road and we had no idea why. But you just go on about your business, because that is my life in Xian.