by Alison | Sep 29, 2024 | Blog
I started working in my current position in the Faculty of English Language and Culture at my university last fall. Every semester, I have between 100 and 200 hundred new students. Over just three semesters, that’s already a lot of new students, and learning all of...
by Alison | Sep 15, 2024 | Blog, Chinese Language and Culture, Just Life
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...
by Alison | Sep 5, 2024 | Blog, Chinese Language and Culture
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...
by Alison | Aug 31, 2024 | Blog, Just Life
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...
by Alison | Aug 23, 2024 | Blog, Just Life
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...
by Alison | Aug 17, 2024 | Blog, Just Life
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....
