(Part 1 here) You stand and you stare… And then the sounds come rushing in. People laugh, people talk, people pose for photographs (“qiézi”, “eggplant” is the Chinese version of “cheese”). There are horns in the distance, and five hundred feet climbing rough-cut stone steps. Vendors yell, children yell, everybody yells above the noise. Then, a … Continue reading Zhangjiajie（张家界）/National Day Part 2: Chinese Tourism
I’m going to be playing around with some different ideas for my blog, so let me know what you think. Dan and I just returned from 5 days in Zhangjiajie (for National Day). It was a spectacular trip, and there’s a lot to talk about. So I’m going to try breaking it into more digestible parts. … Continue reading Zhangjiajie/National Day, Part 1: Spectacular Beauty
This will be short–our departure time for Zhangjiajie got moved up and I don’t have much time. Life in Jishou has been good. Teaching has been better and better, though challenges seem to keep popping up. It’s not an easy task to make a lesson that gives students the feeling of learning, but also lets them do 80% … Continue reading
An anecdote, a call to action, and a poem that I like. This week, the freshman arrived on campus (much to the excitement of Dan, my fellow PiAer, who has only gotten to teach one lesson so far). They were welcomed with open arms by upperclassmen, who volunteer in surprising numbers to help the freshmen move … Continue reading Army Training Week
Here I stand, my first day of school from the other side of the teacher’s desk. The weather says 93°F and “feels like” 104 °F (34°C and 40°C). 40 pairs of eyes seem to work together to halt any hint of cooling breeze. Multicolored chalk dust hangs in the air. And there I am, remembering every teacher I’ve ever had … Continue reading First Day of School
Well, I’m here. I know where I am when I wake up, the hourly cycle of re-remembering that I’m in China has ceased. Now I just need to figure out where “here” is. But I’ll get back to that in a few weeks, or maybe sometime next year. For now, a simple story from my arrival. The following … Continue reading PACIFIC NORTHWEST ⇒ 吉首市 (JÍSHǑU CITY), PART 2: ARRIVAL (OR, THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS)
I meant to write this before I left, as sort of a statement of intent for the trip, and for the blog. But right now these are my biggest ideas (nearly all appropriated), and they have taken a while to put down. Their sources have been hard to pin down, put in order, and articulate, and … Continue reading Pacific Northwest ⇒ 吉首市 (Jíshǒu City), Part 1: Departure
360 by bike 