2metersplus

Just a quick update. I hope everyone has enjoyed my periodic updates, infrequent as they may be. I have 4 weeks of teaching left here in China. For anyone considering a trip to teach in China. I say go for it. There will be many good days, and a few rough ones. The experience will open your eyes to the world outside your country. There are many great people here, and you learn to relax and adapt to surprises. Well either you learn to deal with surprises or your go crazy. My plan is a flight to California to visit friends, a return to my home state of Michigan, and then graduate school. Just hoping I get an acceptance letter soon! There will be one or 2 more updates, before this is over.... read more

Yes, I know I don't write frequently enough. And I leave some stories unfinished. It is a combination of lazy, procrastination, and actually teaching, the reason I am here in the first place. I will cover the most recent events first and if energy permits I will try to fill in the blanks. October Holiday! In China there is a national holiday the first week of October each year. In idea of a holiday is a little different. Typically it is mix of days off work, and days of work rescheduled. In my case that means I was free from work after completing my classes on September 29th. Classes for the 30th will be made up this Saturday the 9th. Some other local colleges will also have class on Sunday and might have had additional classes ... read more

So my last entry was in May. Since then I have not found much to write about. I finished my first year of teaching, which included grading a bunch of exams. That wrapped up about July 7th. For the next month I just relaxed in my apartment and studied for the GMAT (which I completed yesterday). Then August 9th it was time for my big summer trip. I will be posting this in a couple installments, I have a bunch to share, but not enough motivation to write it all in one sitting. If I spread this out over a few entries it will keep everyone entertained a little while longer. So the plan is go from Changchun, in the Northwest of China. To Wuyi County, it is not considered a city, because the population of ... read more

It was last Sunday, the last day of the Spring Festival. Just before I left China, in late January, I kept hearing about fireworks for Spring Festival. I thought it would be great to stay and watch, but my return flight was already scheduled. Lucky for me! I made it back for the last day of the festival. The video does not do justice for the pandemonium. For readers who have been in a war zone, I imagine the sounds are similar. There were periods where I felt a little in fear, but for the most part it was entertaining. Throughout the day I heard firecrackers echoing off the 11 story apartment buildings nearby, but for the most part the afternoon was calm. At sunset I set off to meet a few friends for dinner. As ... read more

I am back safely in my apartment. It was quite a trip Executive Summary 7512 miles 51 hours 2 planes 3 trains 3 buses 2 cars 1 hotel The tripped went smoothly for a least the first half. It was a short drive to South Bend, Indiana then a shorter flight to Chicago. After a 3 hour lay over we took off for a flight to Beijing, China. While boarding the plane I realized I was not on the aisle seat, but lucky for me this was a flight to China with more than half Chinese people. At 6 feet 8 inches tall and 240 pounds I might have been the big guy next to you on the plane. Lucky for me you were the two kind Chinese people sitting next to me. One on the ... read more

Here are the pictures from Day 2 in Harbin the first place is a city park on an island. The second is a natural preserve/zoo for tigers. Sun Island Snow Art Park With so much snow and so many freezing days, someone came up with the idea to make the snow into something warm and cozy. Cozy as in cement that is painted white. Not cozy compared to a warm fire in the fireplace, but compared to the -18 temperature it is nice. So they start by making huge blocks of snow on the frozen river around the island. Then they move these blocks by truck into stacks and carve them into some awesome sculptures. Check out the pictures. Tiger Park Load all the tourists into small buses, where half of the windows are covered with ... read more

"It is cold in Changchun in the winter, be sure to bring enough warm clothes." This statement is very clear to me now. It might sound crazy, but a understanding the word "Cold" is key to understanding this statement. I just woke up. It is 6:22 AM here. All night I was sleeping in a warm bed under a heavy blanket, in a small room with an electric heater. I expect most of the rest of my day will include an ongoing battle against cold. For those of you in US states with snow on the ground.....very few of your will actually understand this, because you have way too many things around to prevent cold. Cold means, getting out of bed and stepping onto a warm wooden floor. Why is the wood floor warm you might ... read more