When you think of ancient China, cobbled narrow street, hanging red lanterns and kung-fu masters walking down the street appreciating a ray of sunlight or an opening bud, you probably think of a city a lot like Xitang (well, minus the kung-fu masters that is). Xitang is not very far
Star Wars Day has Come a Little Early
This semester is my busiest semester since arriving to China. My contract stipulates that I should only be teaching 16 hours, yet this semester I find myself teaching 20. Teaching extra hours, above and beyond your contract is basically a teaching no-no. In China there are many disreputable schools that
The Hangzhou Light and Water Show
Last summer in Xian, (home of the famous Terra Cotta Warriors) we went to a fountain billed as “The Largest Fountain in Asia!” This fountain was pretty intense. It went down an entire city block, with tiers of leveled fountain areas ending in a giant pool of water at the
Book of the Week
It was rainy, cold and I only had about 45 minutes before I had to face a roomful of kids when I got an e-mail saying that my first book, Sword of the Ramurai, was picked as the New Hampshire book of the week! How exciting! It’s a very short
Diamonds? No Thanks. Salt? Yes Please!
Message to salt manufacturers: If you want to make a quick buck, get to China as fast as you can! The salt industry is having a huge surge this week as demand is far outweighing supply. It’s been reported that in some places, cities nearby to me, people have waited
The Most Average Person
You may have already heard that National Geographic put together information from every single person on the planet, all seven billion of us, to come up with the world’s most average person. That person is, drum roll please, a 28-year-old Chinese man. They then combined 190,000 pictures of 28-year old
Jumping on the Bandwagon
Ok, I know, I’m totally jumping on the meme bandwagon (and lightyears behind everyone else) but i just had to share this. I’m not one to post the latest cat video, or auto-tune (although have you seen this short film by Emory students?) but I couldn’t pass this one up.
What Story is Inside You?
I just got the bad news that my Friend Joyce McNeill passed away. I first met Jo several years ago, when I was invited to join a writers group for children’s book writers. There were only 5 of us, and for a couple of years we would meet every week,
There and Back Again: A Travelers Tale
It has been a week since we’ve been back, and it has taken me that long to recover enough to write a small blog post. Our whirlwind three-week trip back to the US was equal parts fun and exhausting. Aside from the first couple hours at the Chicago airport, where