With classes over and a few weeks remaining before I leave for the summer, I’ve wanted to see my friends one last time. I’ll be changing jobs, and moving to a new part of china so it’s time to start saying goodbye to everyone here. I’ve dubbed my month of
"Chinawood." Exploring Ancient China through Movie Sets
In college I moved to Los Angeles and spent my last semester working in a movie studio. Being an intern my job was sometimes to run around delivering things, and as a result I ended up waling around almost all the major movie studios. While I never got to sneak
The Food of Thailand
Fresh, fresh, fresh! That’s the only word I can use to describe Thai food. If you’ve ever eaten at a (good) Thai restaurant I think you’ll know what I’m talking about. But of course, in the native land the cuisine always tastes better. Simple pad thai cooked on the street
The Temples of Thailand
So I spent a lot of time looking at ancient cities and temples of Thailand. You’d think I’d get sick of it, living in China (where I’ve seen enough temples to last a lifetime), but I still like it. And in Thailand they are so different. The only word that
My Epic Quest
Did you see the new tab at the top of the page? The Epic Quest tab? I just added it a few days ago. So what’s an Epic Quest? It’s turning your life into a video game. Each new thing you’ve always wanted to do, each quest, is worth 20%.
Lin’an Hot Springs
A friend recently asked me if I wanted to join her (and her son, her sister, her nephew and mom) for a day out in the Lin’an hot spring. My first thought was what hot springs? I’ve lived here for almost 5 years and I had never heard of the
Living an Unconventional Life
I’m not a total weirdo, but for most of my life, I’ve always done things a little different. I’m blond, blue-eyed, 5’5″ and visually I’m your average American (I’m statistically average as just about everything about me, height, weight, shoe size is ‘average.’) But I’ve always done things a little
A WTF China Moment
I had an important document I had to print, but all the print shops near my school are closed and shuttered. So I had to go to downtown Lin’an and find one. I didn’t know of an exact location, so I just got off the bus and started walking. I
Winter Holiday
For the past 3 weeks it’s been winter holiday. Time for my yearly conundrum: what to do for spring festival?China during Spring Festival (aka Chinese New Years) is hell. Known as humans largest migration all 1.3 billion Chinese people take trains, planes and automobiles to get back home. All hotels
"Do You Miss Home?" Christmas in China
As it’s the winter holiday, and Christmas, a lot of my students and friends are asking me if I’m going home. When I say no, they ask me “Do you miss home?” And honestly, it’s kinda a tough question to answer. A tough question for most travelers to answer. I