So before I go traveling I have about a month of doing nothing. The first few weeks flew by, with lunch and dinner appointments, friends birthdays (In Shanghai and elsewhere), and hangouts with students and friends. But now everyone has
Winter Holiday
For the past 3 weeks it’s been winter holiday. Time for my yearly conundrum: what to do for spring festival?China during Spring Festival (aka Chinese New Years) is hell. Known as humans largest migration all 1.3 billion Chinese people take
The Last Class
Three and a half years ago I met class 105 and 106. (In China the classes stay the same, with the same students taking all their classes together, for 4 years.) Both freshman classes, new to university life, I was
Learning English by Using Chinese
My little hairdresser was looking at my Chinese textbook the other day, and noticed that I had written pinyin (or the alphabet version of the words pronunciation) under the Chinese characters so I could pronounce them. “You know, I used
The Class that Took a Lifetime to Prepare (Literally)
Sorry, I’ll admit this is a long post about my favorite students and class that maybe no one will find interesting except for a few foreign teachers who have done something similar. I know it’s going to be a bit
The Years Most Popular Posts (and my Fav)
It’s the time of the year when bloggers do the wrap-up posts and I might as well join the gang. As a teacher I tend to think of things not so much in years, but in semesters. I’d say my
Chinese Scrapping, or Gua Sha (aka, massage from hell)
I wrote awhile ago that I had recently rediscovered the joys of a good massage. You don’t go for the comfort factor, most massages in China are the pressure-point style ones and must be endured, but I find that afterwards
"Do You Miss Home?" Christmas in China
As it’s the winter holiday, and Christmas, a lot of my students and friends are asking me if I’m going home. When I say no, they ask me “Do you miss home?” And honestly, it’s kinda a tough question to
A Chinese Christmas Joke
Last night my little hairdresser told me a funny joke. But to understand it you have to know a little about China. You see, in China, some old people scam people by falling down, and when someone helps them up
Merry Apple Christmas Eve
There’s not much Christmas traditions here in China. Restaurants leave up Christmas trees and decorations all year long, and it’s not strange to hear a Christmas song any time of the year in rotation with Justin Beiber and that annoying