When American’s want to parody what Chinese sounds like we (offensively) say “Ching chong wing wong.” When we want to parody Swedish we say “Smorgish, borgish, upsadasee.” (a la Swedish Chef.) When we want to parody Italian we say “Now dat’s a spicy-a meatball.” (Sorry Italian people, you can blame
True Expressions
At the beginning of the semester I asked my writing students to keep a weekly journal. Well, I’ve just spent the past week reading the journals. It was a lot of work (about 900 pages) but I loved reading them. I got to know some of the students much better
Dinner with my Students
At the end of class on friday four students stayed behind to talk to me. It is not uncommon for students to hang out for a few minutes, but it is uncommon on a friday afternoon when usually they run out the door. After they told me they took part
A Nice E-mail
I think all teachers appreciate finding out that their students are “getting it.” I recently got an e-mail from a students that showed indeed something that I am teaching them is getting through. Yay! The Chinese school system is focused on memorization as a teaching style, not creativity. So I
Baby it's Cold Outside!
Remember when I was complaining how hot it was this summer? I knew at some point I’d be cold and dreaming of those stifling hot days… I just didn’t know it would be so soon. Southern China has had an unusually cold weather plunging the temperatures to freezing and creating
Home Sweet Home
I’ve showed some photos from around the campus but I haven’t shared any from our little patch of paradise. So here it is in all it’s glory: our little apartment. On the initial ride from Shanghai to the school our friend Zhu told us that we had the nicest apartment.
Halloween in China
Experiencing my first big “American” holiday out of the country has been interesting to say the least. Halloween is not celebrated in China, but they know enough that it is an American holiday, and a good excuse to have some fun. I was invited to a ‘Halloween Party’ by the
Back to Class
So, the 8-day National Day/Mid-Autumn Festival is over and now it is back to the grind for us. We don’t have another day off until the end of the semester, so we have 3 solid months of work ahead. I don’t mind, after all it is what we came here
Chinglish: Chinese Packaging Edition
When you live in another country, one that you can’t speak or read the language, you notice everything that is in English. I find myself reading people’s English t-shirts, or reading small signs on a bus that happen to be translated such as no smoking. It’s like I’ve become hyper
Teaching Writing
One of the many classes I’m teaching is writing. What is great about writing with non-native English speakers is they don’t know the tired cliches and common word usage we are all so familiar with. Instead, they put together words in new and exciting ways which aren’t exactly correct, yet