From Grits to Chopsticks

“Children’s Day” is fast approaching here in China (June 1st), so local primary schools have been working hard to prepare programs for parents and dignitaries.  The school directly across the street recently organized a marching band.  The first practice was interesting to watch, but the constant repetition of their single song began to wear on us!Click here to […]

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Since our apartment is on the edge of the city, we don’t have to walk far to find beautifully landscaped parks:But when put into context, we quickly realize that we’re not in the countryside:Last year, Bill Gates published this chart on his blog:We can certainly relate to this.  Throughout the day, thousands of cement mixing […]

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Over the past year, we’ve enjoyed spending time with a young couple who operate a small tutoring school in our apartment building.  This week, they invited us over to make “shuijiao,” traditional Chinese dumplings.  As with many kinds of Chinese food, there are numerous steps which need expert guidance. Preparing the fillings requires a lot of […]

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In addition to thoughtful calls from our children in the States, we enjoyed a special Mother’s Day treat: Timothy and Caitlyn came for a visit!  It was so good to spend time together walking, talking, and sharing meals:Earlier in the week, Susan invited some students over to teach them how to bake muffins: They also brought some Mother’s […]

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When Johnny Nash released his only #1 hit song in 1972, he might’ve been anticipating air quality issues in China 40 years later.  A good spring shower can scrub out some of the airborne particulates, allowing us to see clearly after “the rain is gone.” We also had unusually clear skies yesterday.  It was Labor Day (May 1st), slowing down the flow of […]

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Last week, we received a wedding invitation from one of my former students whom we hadn’t seen in several years.  She explained that, following college graduation, she had joined the congregation of Trinity Church, one of the two large churches in town.Here is a photo of the physical invitation:The wedding ceremony was unusual in that it was so similar to a […]

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As previously mentioned, on Sunday afternoons, we try to take a break from our busy lives and walk around town, visit a park, or climb a mountain.  Even though we’ve been living in China for five years, we still enjoy seeing local sights.  We often walk by ornately decorated doors: A fish restaurant recently opened […]

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The air was unusually clear when we flew to Chengdu recently, allowing us to take the following picture of our part of town:Our apartment is on the western edge of town (beneath the red arrow). We recently shared our excitement about the pending completion of a new road entering our apartment complex from the south:It is finally […]

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Last week, Susan taught about Easter at our school English Corner:The students enjoyed decorating Easter Eggs: Susan also planned an egg hunt for the students (although there aren’t too many places to hide eggs in a classroom):Each egg contained some goodies and an Easter topic for them to discuss in English:There were 18 eggs to find, and […]

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Across China, many cities have been working to move college campuses to outlying areas.  Our city is no exception, with the largest area of development on the subway line southeast of town:Last week, a student and I walked around the University of Science and Technology:Modeled after Yale University, the place is very impressive, including the 12-story library.  I’ve heard […]

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