One of the main reasons for going to Chengdu was to see the giant pandas up close and personal. So we made it a priority and on the second day of our trip we went to the Chengdu Research Base for the Giant Panda. This is where almost all of
World’s Largest Stone Buddha
There are so many famous giant stone statues in the world. The Sphinx in Egypt is one, the carved building front in Petra is another. We hear about all these wonders and marvels as they are featured in movies, documentaries and on the cover of National Geographic. But there is
Chengdu: Mission Accomplished
I had a few humble goals for this month-long trip and as of today, I have accomplished almost all of them! And it hasn’t even been a week yet! Here’s a quick run down with photographic proof that I have achieved these goals: Goal #1: Seeing Giant Pandas. Yep. And
One-Child Policy
When I first came here, I assumed that all of my students would have no siblings. After all the government one-child policy began in 1979 and most of my students were born in the mid-80’s. So I was surprised when my students started talking about their brother and sisters. ‘You
And we're off!
This website will be pretty quiet for the next month as we are packing up and heading out while we are on holiday break from school. We’re traveling old school style which means that we won’t have a laptop so I don’t expect I’ll be able to do much updating
The Chinese Concept of Guanxi and our New Apartment
A week ago, as I was picking up a package at the international office I was told there was “good news.†“We want to move you to a nicer apartment!†The thing is we already have the nicest apartment so I was immediately suspicious. “We’ll talk about it later,†I
It's Time for More Chinglish Packaging!!
We see lots of funny examples of Chinglish but we keep forgetting to take pictures of it, so this post will be a little shorter than I’d like, but it’s still funny nonetheless. We saw this sign outside Grandmother’s Kitchen in Hangzhou. It is an upscale small chain restaurant that
Outside the West Gate
The first day we arrived at the university we now we live we woke up early and took a walk out the Big West Gate. This is what we saw: It was a big shock that first day because it seemed so dirty and so foreign. Later, we were told
The Best Teachers
I don’t want to brag or anything, but we just found out that the students voted Ryan and I as the top 2 foreign teachers. Okay, I lied. I do want to brag. Yes, those of you who know me too well might be wondering why I mentioned Ryan at
KTV'ing
I knew this day would come. I tried to avoid it as long as possible, but like going to the bathroom on a squat toilet it could not be avoided while living in China: I went to a KTV. KTV? I hear you ask. What is KTV? I’ll give you