Baroque Music Concert
On Saturday, I had the chance to go to a Baroque style Christmas concert in Guangzhou, China. The concert was at a Protestant church on Shamian island (沙面岛, shamian dao), and this church will sometimes host free concerts. I have two friends in the group that performs...
Teaching Struggles
I love my job. I love being with students, and I love seeing them come to understand a difficult idea. I love seeing them share their thoughts and discuss important and meaningful questions (We discuss questions like what we can learn from nature and whether or not we...
3 Fun Western Places to Eat in Dongshankou, Guangzhou
Eating out with my friends is one of my hobbies. There’s something wonderful about sharing food with people and enjoying long conversations over lunch. I’m not very good at finding good places—I don’t mind going back to the same places again and again, but I have...
An Upper Intermediate Reading Passage that Helps Me to Understand Chinese Thinking
The university where I teach has a really cool program for the students and the foreign teachers. We have dozens of foreign teachers from all over the world since our university is a foreign language university, and our school also has students whose major is teaching...
Decorating for Christmas
I love Christmas time, but Christmas is not as big a holiday in China as it is in America. This used to really bother me. But I realized that I may not be able to go to a mall and enjoy the Christmas spirit (most places that have Christmas decorations tend to keep...
Hiking the MacLehose Trail (section 2) in Hong Kong
Guide: What should you take with you? How do you get to MacLehose Trail, section 2? What can you expect for the hiking part of the trail? What to do after the hike? Years ago, I remember someone told me that she loved going to Hong Kong because of all the hikes that...
Another Thanksgiving in China
Growing up, Thanksgiving was one of my favorite holidays. Usually my cousins would be in town, and I loved hanging out, playing together, talking and laughing. I loved the family time. Christmas was fun because I got to be with my family and exchanging gifts and focus...
Western Sichuan Day 6: Hiking 长坪沟 (Changping Gou) in 四姑娘山 (Si Guniang Shan)
Today we went on a hike in the mountains, and since I love hiking, and I love the mountains, I was pretty excited about our adventure for the day. Unfortunately, when we woke up, it was rainy and cloudy—not the best weather for either hiking or enjoying mountain...
5 Fun Chinese Snacks
I’m a slightly adventurous person, but not all the time. With fashion, I’m very unadventurous. If I could buy the same pants or shoes on repeat for years, I would. I know this because I did that with jeans for a while. I found a pair that I liked, and several years...
Western Sichuan Day 5
We didn’t have too much driving to do today, so we had a bit more time to relax. We also wanted to see a village that Brandon (who is our travel guru) had recommended in the area. Since we had some time to relax in the morning, Shirley, Jaye, Timothy, and I decided to...