Tashi Delek! Before leaving New York, a colleague warned me that some scholars get "lost in the field". They leave for a stint of research and never return. Maybe they wind up as NGO workers or dharma bums or perennial travelers. While not my intention, I already feel far from the academic world of the classroom and conference hall, the weekly grind of paper writing and paper grading, daily stints at my favorite cafes in Cambridge, and hours roaming the stacks of Widener library. Here is an account of my adventures and tribulations during a year of language study and research, based in Xining ... full info