Blogs from Hangzhou , China, Asia - page 4

Wow how these weeks do fly... Last week, I moved out of my apartment. My 6 months there created some pretty awesome memories, but the circumstances being what they were made it time to go - and I am at peace with that. Since then, I have been staying with Taryn in her new apartment, and will continue to do so until August 1 when I can finally settle into my own place. I'm a bit sad that Taryn didn't arrive in Hangzhou one month sooner. I am excited to be moving in with Juliet and Mitch, but I think that Taryn and I have made awesome roommates. She stayed at my place for just over a week as she transitioned to this apartment, and is now returning that favor to me. Both times, we've gotten ... read more

June has been a busy, busy month in general! Certainly, things have really picked up at work now that I'm receiving more and more responsibility... but socially, things have been exploding as well. Recently, I've felt that I had kind of run out of things to report on in my blog-sphere. But, a friend pointed out that it's not that I'm running out of things to say, it's just that things don't seem so new to me anymore. So, I do have things to talk about, even if it doesn't seem all that interesting to me :) And maybe it's not interesting to you, either. But, here's a bit of a peek into some genuine ex-pat life in China. This month, a lot of my foreign friends have had significant events taking place. We've had birthdays, ... read more

After our very eventful night, we got up around 7 to walk around the lake. Word on the street was that a family of black swans (Natalie Portman?!?) had moved in and Abby and I were out to spot them. It was rainy and gross but we ventured out. We turned a corner and an angry Chinese woman started yelling at us...not knowing what to do we turned around and walked around the other direction. Almost immediately we found the swans and crept up near them to take some pics. Mission accomplished. We headed back in for breakfast, which surprise to no one, was pork filled. We managed to dodge most of it and grab some eggs, but I'm sure at some point pork was involved. Our first stop for the day was a Green Tea ... read more

There is an element of Chinese culture that I have been anxious to try, and that is Chinese traditional medicine. The trouble with wanting to try something like this is that it means that one is HOPING to have a medical problem that requires attention… A number of years ago, I pretty well swore off pain medication for most ailments. I’m one of those oogly-boogly types that understands pain (and other discomforts for that matter) to be your body’s way of communicating with you. By popping pain pills, I feel that I am simply muting the public service announcement and doing nothing about the information on the screen. Well, not using pain medication, on the other hand, means that one really needs some way to handle pain and discomfort because otherwise one is just… uncomfortable and ... read more

I finished my paper today =) Perri Rae Davis05/22/13Business and Culture Along the Silk Roads 2013 Prefix:I took a journey half way across the world in hopes of building my awareness and to discover all of the possibilities in changing our world. With my classmates, teachers, and new friends, I explored a new culture and gained a different view on the opportunities that are presented in front of me. Through exploring new foods, religions, and cultural customs, I have been exposed to new ways of thinking and views of the way our world works, and why and how our relationships are built. I did my best to explain my experiences in words that mirror the amount of change that has happened inside of me. My paper is a summery of events that has happened over the ... read more