See that picture of the wad of cash spread around? It’s not a stock photo or something I found on Flickr. Nope, it’s a picture that I took in my room of my money. That’s right, the end of the semester perks have just been paid! When you teach English
I Just Finished my First Chinese Novel!
I wanted to brag for minute and tell everyone that I just finished my first novel in Chinese. Okay, I admit, I’m using the term “novel” quite lightly. It’s not War and Peace or anything, rather a slim 46 page tome called I Really Want to Find Her. (It’s about
Pale and Proud
The sun is shining, the birds are singing and there are little white fluffy clouds sailing slowly across the blue sky. And yet, outside, there are umbrellas as far as the eye can see. You see, in China umbrellas are not just for rainy days, they are for the sunny
In Search of a Hamburger in China
I have been searching high and low for the past three months for a hamburger. Nothing special mind you, just a plain unsweetened bun with a ground beef patty in the middle. I’m even willing to skip the lettuce and tomato (thought it would be nice) and settle only for
Dragon Boat Festival
When I first signed my contract I was intrigued by this part. “The party employed is entitled to the following holidays and festivals in China: New Years Day, Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, May Day, National Day and Dragon Boat Day.” Well, I’ve lived through all of them except one, the
It's Chinglish Time Again!
Here are a few more Chinglish gems that I’ve run into during my daily life.
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream!
When you hear the metallic, slightly creepy jingle of a child’s song playing on the breeze every kid in America knows what to do. Grab some money and follow that sweet sound to the ice cream man. Here in China they have the same thing but instead of running towards
2-Year-Old Newborns
When I asked my students how old they were I got a lot of different answers: 20, 21, 22. I found that odd. These kids are all in the same grade, sophomores in college, how could they be such different ages. And a lot of them at 21? That seemed
Want to Stay in China for Free?!
Just a quick update to tell you all of a pretty cool opportunity I’ve recently read about. It’s called TourBoarding and it is a program that could get you a free place to stay in China for a couple hours of English lessons. What you do is sign up and then
Pineapples in China
One of my favorite snacks is a piece of pineapple on a stick. I don’t remember if I noticed it when we first got here in September (then again, I stayed away from any un-peelable fruit back in the beginning) but now I am addicted. Seriously, every night I go