The last 5 days I’ve harbored a little secret. I was in China illegally. You see, my current permit expired on June 30th, so on June 28th, a friday, me, my boss and 3 other foreigners trundled off to the
My Tea Collection
I’m proud of my tea collection because it has taken me quite a bit of work. You’d think that living in China I’d be set. After all, China tea is world famous. And if I liked green tea that would
Goodbye Season
The end of June is always a little bittersweet. Sweet because I have 2 months of doing nothing, bitter because it is time to say goodbye. Foreigners are a very transient group in China and every year a large handful
Party Time!
It’s no secret that I love my birthday. I’ve written about it almost every year on my blog. Having a summertime birthday kinda sucks as a kid (you never get to bring cupcakes into class, your friends are already gone
One Little Character Makes All the Difference
I went out to dinner the other night with my Chinese friend who can’t speak English. I ordered a few of my favorite dishes and told him to choose some as well. But I had to be careful with him
Left Alone in a Buddhist Temple
Three giant Buddhas, more than 10 feet tall, are staring down at me. Their half-closed eyes look like a smirk. “Laowai,” they seem to say looking at me and my friend Hannah standing in front of their alter, hands clasped
Somethings you Can Count on
There are a few things you can count on being a teacher. During mid-autumn festival you get a lot of mooncakes (basically small little fruit cakes) and during Dragon Boat Festival, which took place yesterday, you get zongzi. Zongzi is
"What Are Your Travel Plans this Summer, Becky?"
With only a week left of classes, I’m getting the same question over and over again. “Where will you travel to this summer?” During the summer I always spend at least a month traveling all over China, and my students
Laowai, Idiot Drivers, Numbers and Hitler
There’s been a lot of funny/interesting/ridiculous videos going around on the web I thought I would share. Sorry for those in the PRC, these videos are all from youtube, so set your VPN’s to on. The first one is done
The Teacher Becomes the Student
This semester I’ve taught English speaking to every single sophomore class. I’ve never taught an entire grade the same subject at the same time before and I kinda like it. Usually each class hangs out mostly with themselves, as they