What a fucking year. More than any other I have felt the highest of highs and the lowest of lows these past 12 months. I knew leaving Hangzhou and moving to Xiamen would be difficult, and I accepted that. I accepted the lonely days and night in the beginning before
Go Check Out my Guest Post
So I wrote a guest post over at Linda Living in China blog. I had read another one of her guest posts, (about a girl learning Chinese by traveling by herself) and I realized that one of my best methods of learning Chinese was dating Chinese guys. I actually wrote
And the Winner is……….
……not me. So remember when I begged for you to vote for me in the Lotus Blossoms Award a few months ago. Well, the winner was announced and it was some other woman. (Ember Swift to be exact. She’s more than a blogger, but a rock star. How can I
Bloggers Unite! How Blogging Has Enhanced my Life in China
Last Saturday night found me surrounded by women from ages 20-mid-40’s. Mostly from America, mostly old China hands, mostly into Chinese guys (either married to or interested in), mostly African-American. We had come from different places in China, a few even traveling for 5 hours by high speed train to
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 New Novel is Born!
So remember a month ago when I said I was going to participate in NaNoWriMo? (National Novel Writing Month.) The goal is to write a novel, 50,000 words, in 30 days. That breaks down to 1667 words everyday, roughly 3 pages. Well, I not only succeeded but I kept writing
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
A Hick Loose in Shanghai: Unsavory Elements
My timing to visit my friends in Shanghai really couldn’t have been better. Not only did I get to join my friend in an orphanage opening, I also got to attend a book reading for the new book: Unsavory Elements: Stories of Foreigners Loose in China. It’s a series of short
Writer. Traveler. Tea Drinker. Year End Wrap Up and Most Popular Posts
Christmas is over, the semester is wrapping up, time for a year-end wrap up! Chris Guillebeau, over at the Art of Non-Confomrity advocates doing a yearly review to keep track of all the things you have accomplished in the past, and all the things you hope to accomplish in the upcoming
Life of a Student
So I have been in Kunming studying Chinese for two weeks. While I will write a longer review of the school later, I just wanted to give a two week update because this whole experience has been amazing. Turns out that while my current career is a teacher, the life