Breakfast at Ron's

This morning I had breakfast at Ron's. Ron is an American who teaches English here at Erwai and lives in the apartment above me. He sang opera professionally until the front wheel of his car was literally driven into his throat in a car accident when he was in his forties, killing any possibility of continuing his singing career. It took three years for him to recover full control of his voice. He became a Wall Street broker, lived in a $2700/month apartment in New York, until "some guy in India" took over his job. He's 67 and retired and doesn't like China one bit. He invited Loic (French teacher), Karen (an American teaching American culture and Women's studies), Helen (another French teacher), and I to breakfast this morning. It was delicious - French toast with real maple syrup (from Quebec, no less!), Canadian bacon, fresh fruit compote, real coffee...the works! It was delightful! And Ron is so entertaining. We watched bits of some ballet program he had on DVD, listened to one of his favourite singers - Marlene Dietrich - and of course, also listened to some of his many stories. He's watched legends on stage and met famous figures and tells wonderful tales of his adventures. He's quite a character.

So I thought I'd give you guys some pictures of cute kids. Lots of girls for once. Apparently there's 117 males for every 100 females in China. The world average is 103 females for 100 males. Of course the disproportionate ratio is much less apparent in urban areas, such as Beijing.


Forbidden City during the May 1st Labour Day Holiday.

After we (Jessie took one too) took this picture, the guardian that was with the two girls asked to have a picture taken with us, which we happily agreed to. They're dressed up in traditional imperial clothes. Gotta love kitsch!
In front of a very famous wall - the 9-dragon wall - in the middle of the Forbidden City.

Lots of gates, lots of doors inside the Forbidden City.

It's very funny - they're doing renovations at the Forbidden City, and because everyone's disappointed they can't see the main building, they've painted the main building on the scaffolding - brilliant!

And let's end with a shot showing the reason for taking photos at all - being able to look at them afterwards!