Usually by December I’m teaching class in my winter coat and hat (no heat in the classroom) but this year we’ve been especially lucky. It’s been a long and beeaoootiful fall. Cold nights, but clear, sunny, warm days. My school is a forestry school and has a beautiful campus with
Another Brief Moment in Class
My speaking class is not a class I’m putting a lot of effort into. This year it was only half a semester, there is no grading required and in general it’s a class I have resented because I had to work extra hours for no extra pay. But the kids
Wang Leehoms Done it Again
My favorite Chinese pop star rocked the online world when he announced he has a new girlfriend. You see, despite being 37-years-old Wang Leehom has been very hush-hush about his love life. He’s had some ex-girlfriends but they’re never really out and about flaunting it publicly and he doesn’t talk
The Epic Saga of a Foreigner Buying on Taobao
There is this magical, mystical website in China called Taobao. It is one of the world’s largest e-commerce websites. Imagine Amazon and ebay put together. You do all your shopping on one website but you buy from individual merchants, and it is one of the most used, most loved websites
You Win This Round, Color!
I’ve already extolled the benefits of having a Chinese best friend (as opposed to having a Chinese boyfriend) and one of the benefits is Color and I having crazy conversations. One of these conversations happened almost two years ago when I stayed with him in Hong Kong. My Ex and
Classroom Confessions
There’s a foreign teacher who used to work here that had a bunny. He moved to another city in China, and try as he might, he found no viable way to bring the bunny with him. He really loved the bunny but aside from spending hundreds of dollars renting a
Celebrating the Red Sox win in China
I ran across this hilarious video (thanks to reddit/r/china) from a Red Sox fan who went out to celebrate the Red Sox World Series win in Shanghai. While back in America it ended late at night, it was just about noon here in China. And Donnie (his real name) takes
A Brief Moment in Class
Because I’m chicken-with-the-head-cut-off crazy busy these days I don’t have time to write my long-winded blog posts. (And maybe that’s a good thing.) So I’ll just share brief moments, something funny or interesting, that happens to me in my daily life. The first brief moment happened in the classroom. I’m
Things are About to get a Little Crazier Round Here
This semester I have been busier than ever before. It’s not due to class, (I had more one year ago and about twice as many students) and it’s not due to learning Chinese (though that’s still kicking my ass). It’s also not due to hanging out with my friends as
Life in the Advanced Class
Oy, sorry little neglected blog. Between teaching (and prepping class) learning chinese and dealing with all the demands on my time, my blog has been slightly lonely. That’s what happens when you fall asleep at 9pm. (Yes, that happened to me twice this week. I didn’t even mean to! I