Dec 12
Life gets stranger by the day. Been very busy lately. Getting ready for exams, reporting poor performance by some students, was sick for two days with a sore throat, planning a trip to Shanghai over Christmas, trying on my new suit for final alterations, and now I am in a band. Never been in a band before.


So lets start at the top... Exams are only four weeks away. Need to finalize the actual topics for the next four weeks, prepare the lessons, then create three exams. That time of year.

I have the best students I have ever had. That is saying a lot considering St. Andrew’s, Upper Canada College and Woburn Collegiate had some great students. Not only from an academic stand point, but a social one too. There is a great feeling when I am with them. Not the distant Teacher - Student felling in Canada. BUT, I also have some of the worst. Some students don’t want to be in school. They are far more overt in their rebellion then I have seen before. The come to class, sleep, talk, text message, and avoid anything to do with learning. No pens, No paper, No books.

On the last test, I got proof they want to fail. On a multiple choice test, two of them got 11 percent. I use a test generator program called “Hot Potato”. A true false question is a multiple choice with only two choices. A and B. They selected either C or D for all four true false questions.

Had a sore throat for two days. Difficult to talk. The first sickness of any kind since I got here. It was something going around.

Planning a trip to Shanghai for four days over Christmas. I have six days off. We fly out on Boxing Day at 9 AM. It is a 90 minute flight. Staying at a four star hotel in downtown. Return by train on Friday evening. It is a 24 hour train ride. Cost for two of us: Hotel is 776 ¥ for two nights, flight is 630 ¥ each, or 1260 ¥. Train should cost 450 ¥ for both. That is 2500 ¥ for two people and four days in a world class city, plus food and entertainment. That works out to about 300 Canadian dollars. I will take lots of pictures and post a few.

Tried on my new suit yesterday. It is a very nice material, dark blue pin stripe. Double breasted. Need a few small changes. The tailor will make the gray single breasted next, and an extra pair of pants. Did I mention it is only 125 Canadian? Sorry ....

The Band! We have a name. It is “HELLO”. A lot of people say hello to foreigners when we walk down the street. It is rather neat.

We have three professors. Justus, our leader, has been a professional. He has three albums of original work. He is originally from Nigeria, but spent most of his life in New York. He plays acoustic guitar, most lead vocals, and electric solo duelling guitars on LA Bamba with Roger. Justus teaches English.

Roger is of Chinese decent, but was born and raised in Canada. He speaks NO Chinese and he can't sing either. Roger is an excellent lead guitarist, and has been in a number of bands. Roger teaches English to the same students I teach.

King is a young Chinese girl, and a student here at Jimei University. She plays drums. She has an electric drum kit, and it sounds very good, not like the tinny sound they had when they first came out. Aaron plays bass guitar. He is coming along well too.

As for me? I play acoustic guitar, lead on ‘Dust in the Wind”, and harmony on most songs. ME ... Singing ... in a band ... fact is stranger than Fiction.

Play list so far is “Say You, Say Me”, “La Bamba”, “Johnny Be Good”, “Dust in the Wind”, “House of the Rising Sun”, “Hey Jude” and three Christmas songs. We do a version of “Jingle Bells” half traditional and half Reggae, “Little Drummer Boy” and “Silent Night”. Looking to add one or two fast sogs before next week.

Our first performance is on December 20. Lots of practice so little time to post. I will get back to you soon.