I went on a business trip to Weifang, Shandong Province, the Kite Capital of the World! "Weifang! It's Way Fun" is not the official slogan, but I think it's kind of catchy. CTLC has been asked to supply 25 teachers to Weifang No. 1 Middle School this summer for an English camp. My task? To check out the campus and facilities and make sure they are up to our standards. I appreciate the difference between our two beautiful cultures; but, foreign teachers do not want to live in the standard Chinese teacher housing. Standard Chinese teacher housing is: 2 teachers [View Full Entry]

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I love the Great Wall. It truly is one of the most impressive sights I've ever seen. For anyone who hasn't seen the Wall in person: not only is it massive, but it's also built way up in the mountains. Well, they may technically be really-big-hill. It doesn't matter. I just know that every time I go to the Wall, I think to myself, "Why in the world did they need to build a wall way up here???" Since I have been to the Great Wall more times than anyone who isn't a tour guide, I decided Rachel and I [View Full Entry]

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We woke up to slightly colder weather and much greyer skies. The original plan was to go to the Great Wall, but for various reasons we decided we weren't up for a long bus ride and hike to the Wall, so we headed to Lama Temple, the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square instead. I looked at the map of Beijing hanging in the hotel lobby and I said, "See Rachel, we can walk to the Lama Temple. It isn't that far, only a centimeter or so on the map." So, we bundled up in our big coats, scarves, and gloves, [View Full Entry]

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Our flight to Beijing was in the morning, but by the time we arrive and got settled into our hotel, it was mid-afternoon. Before I start talking about what we did, I'd just like to say that we stayed at the 7 Days Inn, a new hotel chain in China, and it was fabulous. If anyone wants a hotel that is both affordable and nice, this is the hotel for you. The hotel was located right near the Beijing Drum Tower and the remaining hutongs - very convenient. After settling in, we decided to walk around and explore the neighborhood. [View Full Entry]

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Rachel's here! Rachel's here! I've spent a total of three years in China now, and this is the first time anyone has ever come visit me. I've been dancing around in anticipation for weeks! And now she's here! Rachel arrived in Hong Kong on the 15th and after a wonderful trip on various forms of public transportation (take the bus from the airport to the train stations, take the train to the border, walk across the border, and finally take a taxi from the border to home), she arrived in my wonderfully quaint little apartment and said, "This is cute. [View Full Entry]

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I'm so sad that I didn't have my camera when the following occurred. The whole scene was so China! Sometimes even those of us who LOVE Chinese food give in to momentary desires for french fries and the following unfolded as Sen and I were sitting in the window seats at McDonald's, eating lunch and people-watching... On the rode, lying on its side, was a bike. Just a normal bike, nothing fancy, definitely well-used. On the back of the bike was a 3-foot high, skinny, dark blue barrel. Standing next to the bike, looking down at the ground in stunned disbelief, [View Full Entry]

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One of the things I love about China is the plethora of fake and copy-cat brands and products. While there is a small corner of my brain that is offended at the flagrant copywrite and trademark abuse, most of my brain is amused by how flagrant it is and delights in the "Name this fake" game. It isn't just clothing and other products that are copied, but also restaurants - there's a chain of Chinese fast-food restaurants that uses a red and white sign with a face of an old Chinese man who looks remarkably like Colonel Sanders. And please don't [View Full Entry]

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Goodbye Year of the Dog! Hello Year of the Pig! And not just any ol' pig - this is the Year of the Golden Pig. Coming around once every 60 years, the Year of the Golden Pig is the most auspicious year for having children. Supposedly children born during this year will be very lucky and successful in life. (Conveniently, the year of the dog, which was last year, was an auspicious year to get married.) So let's see...take the Year of the Golden Pig and add that to China's one-child policy and you get...every woman in China wanting to have [View Full Entry]

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I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day, and no, not because of some horrible Valentine's breakup that left me bitter or because of depressing memories of being alone and single on that day. I just don't like the idea that someone should be more romantic on one day of the year than on any other. Is it romantic when a guy gives you flowers and chocolates on February 14th? No - it's Valentine's Day! It's been all over the TV, newspaper, radio, and billboards for weeks! You'd have to be dead not to remember! (I'm not totally cold-hearted. Sen [View Full Entry]

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This past week saw some freak warm weather in Shenzhen. The tempuratures reached the high 70's (25-26 in Celcius). According to the local weather bureau, Shenzhen's weather this year has been too hot to be considered a "true winter," which is defined as at least five consecutive days below 50 degrees (10 in Celcius). The winters in Shenzhen are generally much more pleasant than those in Iowa, but out of the four winters I've spent here, this is without a doubt the mildest. I'm definately not complaining! The weather was so beautiful and the skies were so clear that I couldn't [View Full Entry]

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