Today, one of my students came up to the front of the classroom before class started and just wanted to chat. We ended up talking for almost the entirety of the twenty-minute break between the classes, and I really enjoyed the conversation. Part way into the...
Everyone has different ways of learning languages. One of my favorite ways to learn Chinese is to read books. Several years ago, someone gave me a Chinese book, and I started reading it, but I had a hard time getting into it and every time I picked it up, it had been...
A couple of friends and I were eating at a restaurant near campus. These lunch dates have become regular during the summer, and I’ve really enjoyed talking and laughing with this couple and their son. Today we were at a noodle shop that has a style of hand-pulled...
50 km Biking Adventure When I heard that my electricity was going to be off on Thursday morning, I knew that I wanted to be out of my apartment. My friend, Jaye, invited me over to their place to hang out this week, and I eagerly suggested Thursday. Jaye had heard...
As a non-Chinese person living in China, I get a lot of stares. Over the years I’ve lived here, I’ve noticed a shift and people don’t stare as much as they used to, and that could be because I now live in a large city; expats and foreign students are pretty common....
I want to make my stories more available for anyone to read. For that reason, I’m going to start releasing one story a week on my website. I’ll release the story in English, but I’ll also release it in Chinese! These Chinese translations have never been released...
Behind the Scenes of "Watching Change" One of the stories that I wrote is about an old woman who tries to pay for her groceries at the wet market in cash. In this story, I wanted to capture a small piece of China as it’s changing so fast. I love reading about China,...
If there’s one thing I have learned from the process of self-publishing a book, it’s that marketing is essential. Unfortunately, I’m terrible at marketing! Therefore, my book has not been doing well. I have a job, so I’m not desperate for money (although I am hoping...
Sometimes when I’m talking with my friends, colleagues, or students, the subject of my book comes up. A few of these people don’t speak much English, and they say that they would like to read the book when it gets translated to Chinese. I figured if that was going to...