From Grits to Chopsticks

One of my former students invited me to attend his wedding in a nearby city: I enjoyed going to their photo session where they danced down the sidewalk (click Dancing Daniel to watch): They treated me very graciously (like one of the family), placing me between the father and grandfather at lunch: Like most Chinese weddings, […]

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Even though we live in a very densely populated city, we can still find some wild things on the edges of town.  While climbing the mountain last week, we saw some beautiful butterflies, a praying mantis,water buffalo sharing the trail, a goat, donkey, and chickens in front of an old farmhouse, and some mythical wild things on this […]

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This semester, there is a very large English Corner at the school – over 100 students: In past English Corners, we liked to sit in circles and give students the opportunity to practice their spoken English, but this can be difficult with 25 students in a single circle: One way to get everyone involved is […]

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During the Mid-Autumn festival, most of the local construction projects halted, delivering a wonderful improvement in air quality. Susan posed in front of the clear, moonlit sky with a mooncake:The zoom lens on our Canon point-and-shoot camera did a good job of capturing the harvest moon: Some friends of ours in a town to the […]

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At the end of the national holiday, I joined with some friends to ride our bikes down to Dianchi Lake:The weather was clear, providing a good view of the western mountains behind the lake:Although I brought a typical American exercise snack (granola bar), we stopped to eat a traditional Chinese snack (noodles):On the way home, […]

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On Sunday afternoon, we joined the throngs of others at a local park as they celebrated China’s national day:This park is in the middle of a large city, but they have done a good job of providing a green environment: It can be a bit crowded, even for the wildlife:National day was a bit more […]

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This time of year in China features quite a few special days.  September 5th was “Spirit Day,” a day when some people believe that ghosts of their relatives emerge from hell and visit the living.  People remember this holiday by burning paper items to send to their departed relatives:Most of the sidewalks are covered with ashes:People come with large bags of […]

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Our new apartment is on the 16th floor, giving us a high level view of local activities: The front porch overlooks a peaceful courtyard: but it is surrounded by hundreds of other apartments, making it less appealing as a place to sit outside and relax: Our small back porch (a.k.a. “laundry room”) provides a good […]

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As freshmen begin their college career, all of the men and women are required to participate in two weeks of military training.  They dress in camo and spend many hours marching and shouting slogans.  At the end of their training, they parade in front of a reviewing stand: and demonstrate their fighting skills (click Takedown to […]

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During the month of August, we had the opportunity to travel to America to take care of State-side needs, shop, have medical appointments, and visit family and friends.  We were especially thankful to have our entire family together for the first time in two years, enjoying a few days at Myrtle Beach, SC.  Here we […]

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