Friday, September 18, 2009

China Cup JV Baseball Tournament

Well, I've been busy coaching. That's my excuse for not blogging. Can't keep blaming the firewall (though it IS still a hassle). Anyway, here I sit in the coaches' lounge during a beautiful sunny DAY 2 of the big tourney. Our opponent last night was defeated by swine flu, and didn't even make the trip from Beijing. But after that 1-0 start, we hit a rocky patch this morning, losing a close game, 25-0. In our defense, the sun was in our eyes. Also, the opponent, from SAS' other campus across the river, has no varsity team, so we were basically playing their varsity guys. The umpire was a crack whore. And did I mention the sun was in our eyes?

ANyway, game 2 is soon. Let's hope we score. Pray for us now, will ya?

Monday, September 7, 2009

Swimming pool, tall buildings and breakfast 4 dinner

Fun times at our house. Friday nights are now "Breakfast and a Movie Night." This replaces "Pizza and a Movie Night" now that Desi is off dairy and wheat. Last week, the boys started without us, as we were at a mixer with HS parents. So Sarah and I caught only the end of "A Bug's Life." (it's just as well--I get scared by the bad guy bug). And even though we switched from pizza to breakfast for Desi's sake, it's the little guy who has embraced the new regime with the most "viggah" (RIP, Teddy). Every morning at breakfast, Emmy asks "What day is it?" and you can see the disappointment when the answer is anything other than Friday. Today, Sarah said "It's Tuesday." E said "I want Fivesday." Could be the influence of Chinese, in which Friday is basically day 5.

Beautiful weekend, lots of swimming. I coached the first JV game of the year on Sat. morning....afternoon (one LONG inning at the end), and the boys did alright. We identified some things to work on in practice this week. Then the big tournament is next week already! Short season this year.

Last week, school sent the 10th grade teachers like me downtown for a training on using the new Mac laptops we have, and which the kids get today. We were told to go out and get some video and some pictures. As it was a nearly cloudless day, I convinced my group to go up into the tallest building in the world. It's the Shanghai World Financial Center, seen in the background of this archival photo. The one with the bottle-opener shape:



It was awesome. If I can get it to work. I'll post a short video I filmed up there. We got to walk along the top of the opening--the 100th floor! Crazy high, crazy view. Only in China...

back to work now.