From Grits to Chopsticks

Even though our official school semester has ended, we are still very busy.  Since many of our students work at the annual South Asia Trade Expo, we like to visit with them and talk about the jobs/businesses: Thousands of exhibitors come from all over the world to display and sell their products.  This year, we […]

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Our university recently hosted a visit by Mr. George Papandreou, former prime minister of Greece (between 2009 and 2011): When he arrived on campus, our school quickly immersed him in activities, including Tai Chi: “football”: dancing: and painting: He was given ceremonial fish (for good luck) which we ate for lunch: It was interesting to […]

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When we first moved to China, these students were in Junior High School.  Now, they’re finishing college: As usual, there were a limited number of spectators:with a limited attention span… This year, the students hung tags around the venue with their post-graduation plans:and each student received a graduation ring: I’ve been teaching “Business English” to […]

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The Kunming military academy trained soldiers during the first half of the 20th century.  It now houses a military museum: In the center of the compound is a large parade ground: Inside, the displays take you through several decades of conflicts, with photos of past heroes: recruiting efforts: dispensary and dormitories: and old weapons: There […]

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On Mother’s Day, we visited the “City of Flower” on the Northeast side of town:It’s an indoor garden, with a huge flower peacock in the center:In addition to many types of flowers, there were succulents, waterfalls, many people taking selfies: and some very realistic artwork: The exit of the garden becomes a French street,which leads to […]

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When our children were small, we often enjoyed reading the Dr. Seuss book “Great Day for Up.”  It is still a good idea to look up – you never know what you might see.  Like these beautiful jacaranda trees lining the streets in our city,bright bougainvilleas,or large light fixtures designed to look like coconuts:Rooftops near […]

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May 1st was a holiday, so we took a trip to visit some friends in the city of Yuxi.  We rode the bus and subway to the new South Train Station (unusually vacant):and boarded a high-speed train for the 55 mile ride (avg speed = 103 mph):Our seats were $7 each:We passed thousands of greenhouses […]

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This week we took an afternoon off to visit Western Hills park on the southeast side of town (it’s been five years!).  Since we don’t own a car, we often need to figure out how to get to places using public transit.  In this case, we used more than the usual modes, starting with scanning/renting […]

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Here we go again with the random photos: In our part of China, it’s harvest time – time to harvest old rebar from a nearby village that is undergoing demolition: It’s a hard job, busting concrete and extracting the rebar.  Meanwhile, another dirty job is underway at the edge of our road, where two ladies […]

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The buildings at our new campus are large and impressive, but they have a problem:The brick veneer has been falling off:Not only does it make our new school look old, it poses an obvious safety risk for the thousands of students walking by every day:The problem was recently addressed:It may not be the best solution, […]

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