Blogs from Danyang, Jiangsu, China, Asia

With some trial software I put together this panorama view from right outside of our fifth story apartment (that's 80 stairs up and 80 stairs down) here at the school campus. Not much of a view, but many days and nights have been spent just looking out over our school campus, listening to the dull roar of the students as they take their ten minute breaks, the rattling and pounding of the cafeteria right below us, along with the occasional barbecue on the balcony and more than a few glasses of wine, just taking it all in. One night while barbecuing some steaks a freak storm drove in and within a minute or two began pounding us with hail the size of nickels, we had to open the window for fear it would break the glass. ... read more

A few weeks ago for a class lesson on the importance of taking notes, I put together a Powerpoint presentation of the Seven Most Popular Theme Parks in the World. Needless to say, my students paid extra attention, especially when the "Disney-esque" theme park in Beijing was mentioned. Not only did I have some updated shots of Minnie and Mickey (they look JUST like Disney's Minnie and Micket...hmmmmm), I also had to explain the theme parks slogan: Disney is too far away, come here!...naturally a conversation about copyright and infringement followed but it's just standard business practice over here and the kids know it. And just today I read that the real Walt Disney has agreed to begin construction on their largest theme park yet - in Shanghai. The initial resort, with a mix of shopping ... read more

Still Humming About Tibet Hey! everyday the power of the internet and blogs continues to amaze me. After my blogs on Tibet I received comments and messages from people all over the world expressing their gratitude (you are welcome, Becky), and their outrage (most were Chinese and not well-informed). Anyway, thank you everyone for your heartfelt messages and if I did not comment on your comment, rest assured it's not because I've been too busy, it's because my ethics, morality, and good old sense of right and wrong will not be compromised, and the Delete key is soooo close. :) So, Jenny and I got back from our seven-week summer vacation a few weeks back and we managed to unpack, enjoy one nice homecoming meal on our little patio barbecue grill and before we could say ... read more

Before moving to China in January, 2009, a year of researching taught me there are two issues not to be broached over here in the Middle Kingdom. All of the foreigners on all the message boards and websites call them The Big T’s; Tienanmen Square is one, and Tibet the other. For weeks after my arrival I danced around these issues when they came up. I remained polite and servile, wanting to be the good tourist, an Ambassador from the USA. But after a while I became more comfortable with my new home and noticed my hosts continued talking about both of the Big T’s as if they are both just topics of conversation like the weather, or the education system, or the joys of hot dumplings and milk tea. Both topics have come up many ... read more

Went out for a nice meal this evening for our once a week date night :), and although at 6:00pm, it was a balmy 94 degrees here in DanYang, the #1 bus offered us a nice breeze and for 1 yuan apiece, you just can't beat the scenery, the smells, the immersion deep into everyday life here in central China. We love taking the bus these days basically because a cab gouges us for 6 yuan (about .60) but the bus takes us to the same place, albeit with a little xtra diesel fuel for flavor, and costs only 1 yuan (about .10) We could always take the three-wheeled rickshaw for 5 yuan (.50) but we just hate seeing these middle-to-graveyard-old men (none of younger than 60 years old) sweating and grunting to pedal our lazy ... read more