This is me signing off folks! My new blogsite will be at the following location: http://elchinoamericanexpat.blogspot.com/ I have already posted an entry there to welcome you all. Please e-mail me at darbyji@gmail.com if you would like to be added to my new blog list. [View Full Entry]

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So yes, this is possibly my last entry to those of you avid readers of mine (if I have any). It was suggested to me that I continue writing, however I have previously decided that I am no longer a traveler and that this particular blog site may not be suitable for me. Don't worry I will let you know when I select a good blog site for me what my new page is. Also I have recently discovered that the writing on this page is too tiny and very difficult for me to read (as I write). 90/60. I heard [View Full Entry]

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I love the fact that my ipod is filled with songs of different languages, embrace the fact that I can speak other languages, love the idea that my children will be able to speak more languages from the beginning (unlike myself or my husband did when we were growing up). These are things that are a part of me. I have to deal with the fact that English is becoming a universal language but I can fight it in my own ways. I get fed up with Chinese people who randomly speak English to me after I've asked them something in [View Full Entry]

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"Mom, Can you tie my shoes?" You look down at your seven year old kid holding out his shoe to you. "Sure, sweetie, I'd be glad to." My conversation with student 1 (a mother of a 2 year old son) "How do you teach a child to do something? You know, they have to have interest in something before they do it." "Of course, they do, they're a child. So you just make everything into a game or a song and praise them when they do it." "I do that but after they master it their grandfather just takes them out [View Full Entry]

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My fiance told me a really interesting story last night of his grandfather. I asked him why his grandfather didn't seem to enjoy talking too much and he told me that his grandfather was an extremely smart man who really enjoyed to read, talk about politics and culture. He said that his father used to work for the government but during the cultural revolution he decided not to work (as his job during that time was to beat down and hurt all those who had cultural jobs). I told him that his family should be really proud of him for sticking [View Full Entry]

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I have set up photo albums for my Lao and Vietnamese travels at the following sites. Laos http://denison.facebook.com/album.phpaid=2024775&l=a4003&id=28502265 Vietnam 1 http://denison.facebook.com/album.phpaid=2025150&l=6565a&id=28502265 Vietnam 2 http://denison.facebook.com/album.phpaid=2025151&l=0d77b&id=28502265 Let me know if they work. [View Full Entry]

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Sometimes it's really tiring being me. I often have to fight with other people because I'm American or because I am so young or because I am a woman, who knows all the reasons people seem to pick on me. This time a Swiss man (Lawrence) and I had a fight because he insisted that America has no true American food (an extremely common argument). He had been to New York so he thought he knew everything about America (also common assumption) and what he found out was american food is just Starbucks, hamburgers and fast food like McDonalds. I did [View Full Entry]

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I just had a dream about Cam. I went to his Salon but his employees were all gone, there were only customers there waiting to get their hair done. I went into the Salon to look for Cam and they all told me where he was. All of the Salon employees were in a coffee shop cutting hair. On my way over to the coffee shop I ran into Leason and he could also speak English, I told him his English was really good and then kept on walking. When I got into the coffee shop I thought I saw Kast [View Full Entry]

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Today five of us woke up really early to go to Muang Sing to see the morning maret. I really enjoyed the food market as it was the most different from anything I've seen before. The vegetable market was selling some interesting things that included some sort of noodle jello, Lao popcorn, the biggest bunch of garlic I've ever seen, as well as some Lao vegetables and snacks (that I have no idea how to say in English). There were so many Lao people there with such energy! The majority of the people had on every day street clothes but there [View Full Entry]

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I seem to adjust to people I talk to. "Xishuangbanna is a great place" "What do you mean by great place?" I want to say whatever you think a great place is, that's what it is, but I just describe the kind of place he wants to hear to him. I picked that place simply because I know he will like it. I love watching people smile, love listening to people laugh and love when others are happy. I just talked with a bunch of Europeans (German, English and Belgium) about why they're here, what they're doing here, how did they [View Full Entry]

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