Hi Guys,

I've just added some new pics. The first is from my weekend trip with my schools to Sun Moon Lake and Puli. The second ones are from my Halloween decorated classrooms and from a story telling event that my school held at KFC. I'll write longer about those tomorrow.

 

Gym is getting so much better, but my posture is still my stumbling block. Time will come because I can see some improvements and I can feel them too!

 

Cheers,

LeTouriste

Hi guys,

I've been going to the gym for one month now. I totally see the changes on my body and my shape. The most incredible effect is on my posture because I did not know that I was standing crookedly. Now, I stand straight. My coach always pushes me to do more. This is good, but it is terribly embarrassing when my arms fail or when my brain feels the pain and decides to stop everything. I "crashed" after doing only 2 push ups in front of everyone at the gym. I failed to push more than 10 pounds on the bar bell! I have to remind myself that things will get better with time.

 

Tomorrow, I am leaving with a group of teachers for Nantou. It is a school-organized outting. This will be interesting althought it does not appear to be a touristic outting. There will be treks in the woods, yatch tours of a lake and visits of distilleries. Sadly, all the big temples and sights in the area will be forgotten. Maybe not, that's why I have to go and check it out myself.

 

On Tuesday, I'll post pictures of my Halloween classrooms. Both are scary and most of the decorations were made by the kids themselves. They are quite proud of their feat.

 

Cheers,

LeTouriste

November 24 - I'll go see Jose Carreras!

One of the last two great tenors.

LeTouriste

Hi Guys,

 

On Thursday, a close friend of mine underwent a surgery to remove some fibromas. An operation similar to the one my mother had, but in a different location. Her ordeal seemed to have been worse because she was conscious during the operation. That must be a horrible feeling to know that and hear people cutting you open, except that it is happening on the other side of a green curtain in front of your face. Both my mom and my friend are courageous and strong, so they went through it bravely. Kudos to both. My friend is now recuperating in the care of her family. I wish her the best and the quickest recovery. Take care. The fact that she was doing well today was my good news.

 

The bad news is that my cousin's fiancee had a miscarriage last week. I got the news today, I am sad to hear this because they had just started announcing the news to their extended families and friends. I had dreamt of them this morning. I dreamt that I returned to Canada this summer for their wedding. I would have seen their kid too. Now, it is still possible that I return to Canada this summer for the wedding, but there won't be any kid around. I'll just have to make a day trip to Vancouver to see D and J who just got their second adorable daughter of October 3rd. Cheers to both, they are such a wonderful and beautiful family.

 

That's it for now,

LeTouriste

Wow!

 I can't believe I managed to place all my pictures on the net within two weeks of coming back from a trip.

This is a first and it will not be forgotten.

Enjoy browsing through all my pics. Eventually, I'll add the story that goes with them, but give me some time.

 

I renew my ARC today, so I had my blood test done. I am heavier and taller than last year??? Heavier probably because of the gym

and the somewhat bigger muscle mass that I am developing and the fact. My blood pressure is still high... only when I go to the hospital.

I check my pressure at home and I am fine.

 

Parents day tomorrow again. I hope the kids are as good as the other class was today.

 

Cheers,

LeTouriste

I have three more sets of pictures to add

Shanghai (120MB), Mt Huangshan (640 MB) and Guilin (940 MB)

It might take me a while to label and/or sort out which pictures I want to publish.

Take care,

LeTouriste

Hey guys,

I just returned from China.

I had a wonderful time with some great friends there.

Sadly, I had to come back to the reality of work.

Work just booked all my Saturdays from now until Christmas!

 

Today was tough because I got a bug in my stomache. I don't know if it comes from me, the kids or the food, but I was glad to go home at 4pm. Unfortunately, another teacher was sicker than I was. Since she wanted to go to the hospital, I had to agree to take her night classes.

They were very tough to teach. I felt my tummy shaking and churning at every twist that I took. Now, I just want to sleep, but I have more work to prepare.

 

Talk to you later,

LeTouriste