A quickie, but nonetheless entertaining... I was asked to judge an English speaking competition at a local Petroleum company, I agreed, however I was not overly enthusiastic about it. After agreeing to it, I was told that usually people get paid for this type of thing. Finding out that my English status was being exploited I was less than thrilled to oblige. I get picked up by a vehicle around 1pm on Thursday, I was escorted by Daphne, from the foreign affairs department, and another teacher from another University campus joined us. We pull up to the building where I see a sign that says, "China Lubricant Blending Factory." I smother my giggles and avert my gaze from the guards shamelessly staring in the windows. We get out of our vehicle and are escorted to some ... read more

The morning comes all too quickly, but with a lot to be done, I don’t dilly-dally. I’m out the door and heading to the bus stop before my body even recognizes the day has begun. The Terracotta warriors were interesting, not a lot to see though. The statues are housed in three separate buildings. I tear through the buildings with effortless speed, only interrupted by requests for pictures. We are at what most consider to be the premier archeological site of China, and they want a picture with the white girl… I wrap up that adventure in record time and head back to the bus stop. I catch a painfully slow minibus back to the train/bus station and look for my next bus to take me to Hua Shan. I luckily stumble upon the bus to ... read more

This weekend I had the privilege to celebrate some sort of national holiday with China, all I did to participate was take Monday off school. Originally, I tried to get a plane ticket to leave town but was too slow on the draw and didn’t make it happen—however, I’m all set for NEXT weekend in which we have a three weekend again, due to a track meet here at the school. Therefore, I devoted my time this weekend to getting a lot of schoolwork done, as well as going into the city with two of my students, Carol and Shen Shaolin. But before my stint into the city with my students—another student made me aware of another America living in the city. Intrigued, I accepted his phone number when my student offered it. He and I ... read more

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 river way passing through the park and rocks with poetry etched into them. The most popular activity is to sit and drink tea and play cards or maj jong (which I saw many people doing). ... read more

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. I have been driven by the campus and it looks rather nice. Along the way Zu Yong attempts to speak with me, which takes enough of our concentration that we slow considerably on the sidewalk. ... read more