From Grits to Chopsticks

For those of you who are still waiting to be released from the grip of winter, come to China!  Spring is here:Even with our busy schedule, we try to stop and smell the flowers (even the scary ones):There are big duck decoys floating at the park,“bubble angels” watching over financial marketing schemes,and children training for heavy construction jobs:There […]

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After an extended visit in the States, it always feels like we’re starting over when we come back to China.  It especially felt that way when we walked into our apartment at 2:00AM, only to find that the electricity had been turned off.  Our freezer was full of spoiled food:The next day, we found out […]

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After some major downsizing in Georgia, we rented a 22′ truck, hired some big, strong guys to load it, and drove it to our new place in SC.  It was a cold moving day with snow showers: We were thankful that everything fit into the truck, and the next day we headed east: Our new […]

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After spending time with our kids over the Christmas break, we returned to our house in Georgia and began the difficult task of sorting through 30+ years of stuff which had been stored in our basement during our past five years in China.  Our goal has been to dramatically downsize, sell our house, and put […]

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In 2014, Stephen and Jessica hosted the family for a pre-Christmas holiday in Miami.  It was great to enjoy the warm weather together at the Seaquarium, zoo, Everglades, beach, and Keys.   Afterwards, we drove up to Pennsylvania to spend more time with the grandchildren (and their parents): As we get older, the contrast helps us appreciate why some people choose to […]

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Over the past four years, we’ve seen a huge change in recognition of Christmas.  Initially, we had a hard time finding Christmas decorations, but now, some major stores have plenty of inventory:Some hotels and stores are now emblazoned with Merry Christmas (in English):And we even saw a mechanical Santa encouraging people to buy stuff:Although some things are changing, we still live in a […]

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We’re just finishing up classes for the Senior students at our university.  Here is a photo of students from my International Business and Law classes:To stimulate participation in my class, I give students “small money” when they ask or answer a question.  They can use these “dollars” to bid for items in an auction at the end […]

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Spread across Yunnan Province are 26 different minority people groups, each with their own culture and language.  To give visitors more understanding of these unique minorities, Kunming has provided a “minority village” on the south side of town.  Each group was invited to design their own miniature community and showcase what they consider to be important. The small villages show specific […]

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A couple of months ago, we traveled north of town on a Sunday afternoon and took a walk at the Black Dragon Pool park.  The pool is a deep spring of clear water filled with hungry koi:The park is actually quite beautiful, laced with trails and landscaping.  This couple was splitting bamboo and building new […]

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It’s what we do – eat lunch with students and friends.  The restaurants in our part of China are inexpensive and the food is interesting, providing a great opportunity to connect with people.  We often take students to this restaurant because it has quiet tables upstairs:These students chose some spicy stuff, especially the chicken in the […]

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