A few of my students wanted to invite me out over the weekend. Originally I *thought we were going to journey somewhere to see the Pear Blossoms, but either I was confused or they changed their minds. We ended up taking a cab about 10 minutes away to a nice park. The name of it I think involves a B, I, G, and U-maybe an O in there somewhere, but it is the place to go on weekends to relax and kick back. It's very large with lots of walking trails and benches to sit and relax. There is a nice [View Full Entry]

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My first two weeks of teaching have been a blast. The first week was filled with meet n’ greets, which take little to no planning, so that week was a breeze. The questions they wanted to ask me were of the most hilarious nature—my favorites were of course, “Do you have a boyfriend and will you be taking a Chinese boyfriend?” They all want to know what Alaska is like but moreover they want to know how they measure up to American college students. I’ve been invited to many of my student’s homes in various villages and provinces all over China. [View Full Entry]

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I hung out with Zu Yong again (you may remember him from such adventures as “My Special Adventure” where I was drawn by a classroom full of Chinese students), I met him at the campus gates and he waved his arm (as if to say, ‘hey, follow me’) so I did. After walking a few blocks it occurred to me that I should know where we were heading, he told me we were going to meet one of his friends at the Music Conservatory. There is another University nearby which is strictly for the arts: Music, painting, singing, digital arts, etc. [View Full Entry]

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On Monday night the Foreign Affairs office invited me out to dinner. I thought I made it clear to the director that I didn’t eat meat—and I thought it got through to him because he even made the joke about women needing to stay ‘slim and trim’ and abstain from meat. My response: “yeah, um, something like that.” We ate at the hotel on campus (the University has its own hotel for visiting scholars or family members) it was very nice looking, although I was already dreading the dinner which I was certain would involve copious amounts of meat. They take [View Full Entry]

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The other night Hua and I were eating our favorite street food when a gentleman approached our table. He asked Hua if I would come by an art studio so he and his friend could draw me. Taken aback I first said that I was busy and couldn’t. Then he came back and asked for another day, mildly impressed with his tenacity and intrigued with the offer I said yes. I told him and his friend to meet me at the University gates, 9am on Saturday morning. Saturday I get up early (all of a sudden 9am seemed like a [View Full Entry]

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So Hua and I venture outside the University walls a few times a week to experience real Sichuan cuisine, which is said to be the best food in China. A place we have gone twice now (and will continue to go a few times a week the rest of my time here) is a place that I cannot pronounce but it's a heck of a lot of fun! The guy has a little cart on the street and a bucket of broth. You take wooden, woven ladle and fill it up with goodies! There is tofu, bean curd, mushrooms (4 varieties?!) [View Full Entry]

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Walking around campus produces a lot of stares--the kind that don't break when you make eye contact. They aren’t necessarily bad stares or creepy stares—not like Central America, just curious looks. Last night Hua and I were taking a walk (something you do after all your meals) and we went over to the track to check it out. After about 2 1/2 laps a student caught up with us and was very very excited to meet us. He told he had seen us a previous evening and tried to catch up with us but lost us. He wanted to just chat [View Full Entry]

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1. The sterilizer in my kitchen. It looks like a mini-fridge, matter of fact thats what I thought it was and I moved it out to my porch to make more space...upon talking to my friend I realized it was not a second refridgerator. So now after I wash my dishes, I sterilize them. It still baffles me. 2. My washing machine beeps to the tune of 'Jingle Bells' when I turn it on and when the cycle is complete. 3. My heater (what I thought was my air conditioner) was working fine, I cranked that baby up. Then it stopped [View Full Entry]

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I was told last night, after arriving, that I would be picked up this morning and taken to downtown Chengdu for a blood test. No problem I thought. Sure enough, 8am on the dot Ricky, my Chinese translator, called and I met him at the door. From there we got in the reserved car (cars are mostly hired here) and we zip downtown. By "zip" I mean it took and hour and a half to make it there because of traffic. And the Chinese drivers are ridiculous! I cannot even begin to explain how many traffic rules we broke in our [View Full Entry]

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The flight from LA was one of the more comfortable flights I've taken. Luckily many people aren't heading this direction so I had a row to myself to do as I pleased. Upon take off I was playing with the inflight entertainment and got a sneak preview of our estimated route, which flew us right over Alaska. Little tough to do since I was having a tinge of homesickness. With 12 hours ahead of me I settled in and opted to watch some movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and a fat Russell Crow. By hour 6 I had exhausted the supplied movies [View Full Entry]

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