From Grits to Chopsticks

After a 3+ month sabbatical from mountain biking, I finally had the chance to get out and ride this morning.  My student / biker buddy showed up at 8:35 and had us to the edge of the mountain within 15 minutes.  It’s really great to have something so interesting this close to our home.  The white dome […]

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According to the McKinsey Global Institute, over 350 million people will be moving from the countryside to the cities in China over the next 20 years (http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/publications/china_urban_summary_of_findings.asp).   Just try to imagine the entire population of the US relocating to apartment buildings in such a short time! We see the evidence of this unbelievable process right […]

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Since our school is located near the western edge of town, I get to walk toward the mountains on my way to classes each morning.  Most of my 20 minute walk is along one of the bike lanes built adjacent to a new highway: Other than a formal trip in October to Western Hills Park, we haven’t yet had the chance to explore […]

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Since we moved into our apartment, we’ve been wanting to repaint the walls in our guest room and study (bright pink and dirty green respectively).  We’ve always been kind of do-it-yourself house painters, but this time, we decided to hire a locally recommended painter to do the honors.  After paying for some decent quality paint, the […]

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After two busy months in China, Mark was finally able to carve out some time to get his haircut.  As with almost everything we do, it’s always good to have a student along to translate and be sure you get things done the way you want.  This particular hair salon is located in the village […]

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Every Monday and Tuesday, I meet and eat with a group of students from my International Trade classes. In order to spend time with as many students as possible, we typically get together in groups of three or four. I really enjoy getting to know them better and to hear their personal perspectives on things […]

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While I’ve seen some beautiful dogs here, I’ve also seen some others… Most local dogs are small, tough survivors. It’s amazing to see them cross busy streets… Here is a low budget approach to “dog sitting”:             Yes, the owner actually does perch this dog on the fire hydrant box for safe keeping while she works. […]

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One big difference you’ll see in our city is the number of 3-wheelers and the various loads that they carry. Here’s a sampling:

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Now that we’re finally settling into our apartment, we were able to hold our first English Corners today. The student response was so overwhelming that we had to limit attendance to 15 at each session (afternoon and evening). Here are some photos of the kids in the afternoon and evening groups giving us ideas of […]

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Here are some pictures of the differences you’ll find in our part of the world. They are in no particular order: 1. The container next to every toilet. Guess what this is for? Thankfully, our apartment has western toilets. Most businesses and homes have a squat pot. Here is an unusually clean one at a […]

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