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And then it was Christmas…

It’s Christmas night, and there I sat… in my apartment, by myself, watching The Muppets Christmas Carol. I had worked all day (teaching about Christmas to Chinese kids), went to a grand dinner with a Chinese friend (more on that later), and had a nice long Skype conversation with my family back home (who was […]

My Job in China, Explained

Well, I can definitely answer the question “What’s your job going to be like?” better now than I was able to a few months ago. Honestly, it’s not all it was cracked up to be. Don’t get me wrong, it got me to China and I’m surviving just fine. It’s just… that it’s still a […]

Chinese Food 101: Basic Cooking Utensils

The honorable and upright man keeps well away from both the slaughterhouse and the kitchen. And he allows no knives on his table. – Confucius Disregarding Confucius’ advice on keeping well away from the kitchen, I decided to chronicle my cooking adventures here in China with an ongoing series of blog posts on Chinese food. […]

The “Not-So-Hot” Tianjin Hot Springs

It’s supposed to be fun to go to hot springs in the wintertime here. It’s supposed to be relaxing. It’s supposed to rejuvenate you for the coming cold months. But that’s simply not the case when a giant foreigner goes. Oh, it was hot alright… but it was nothing close to relaxing or rejuvenating at […]

Tianjin at Night

I fell in love with Tianjin all over again on my way back from Beijing. I was coming in to the train station late that night and once I stepped foot above ground, I saw these beautiful sights! The banks of the Hai He River apparently come to life after dark with these amazing lights […]

Memory of Decay

Feel free to skip this post – I might get a wee bit vulnerable… You were forewarned: This week has been especially lonely and self-reflective. Maybe it’s the start of the holiday season. Or maybe it’s the lack of foreigner interaction? If I can speak candidly, life overseas is not all fun stories and awkward […]

Chinese Caption Contest #442

I think it says, “Look! … up in the sky! … it’s a bird! No. … a plane! No. … It’s Supertrainattendants!” What do YOU think it says?

Lake Wobegon meets Tianjin’s International Library

So, there’s this “international” library here in Tianjin. It’s on the second floor of the upscale Sheraton Hotel’s apartment side. You go up this tiny spiral staircase in the Spa area, through a glass door, turn left, and you’ve reached book bliss. I’d say there are about 20 shelves of various genres of books in […]

10 Stories From China, Three Years Ago

This weekend in Beijing, I get to see my adopted Chinese family who took me under their wings when I was in Wuhan three years ago… I’m a tad bit excited! Any ideas on what I can bring them? (Here’s an old post with some pictures: My Chinese Family) My anticipation for seeing them got […]