I first learned about mate (an Argentinian tea; pronounced mah-tay) from a video that my colleague found to show to our middle school students when I was teaching at the middle school. The video showed tea and tea customs from around the world. I love tea, and I love...
I love traveling. If you’ve read many of my blog posts, you probably know that. But with traveling comes my arch nemesis: jet lag. Now, I should clarify that this post is not going to give you a lot of tips about how to deal with jet lag. There are lots of resources...
I got my flight to America out of Hong Kong, so Kendra and I decided to spend the day in Hong Kong on my way. After lunch at a Hong Kong-style restaurant (which is a mix of Western and Chinese food), we headed to the Hong Kong Science Museum. Some quick facts before I...
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, I went to Shaoguan （韶关）, a city in the north of Guangdong province to visit a couple of schools. My university has a cooperation with a couple of schools in the Ruyuan （乳源） area, and I am considering the possibility of going there...
This last weekend was Dragon Boat Festival, and by this time of the semester, I’m usually ready for a little trip. Several years ago, my roommate and another friend went to Qingdao, and last year, a few friends went to Qingyuan (a town near Guangzhou). I didn’t have...
I love hiking, and I’m thankful that Guangzhou has so many places to go hiking. When I need some time alone in nature, I usually go to Baiyun mountain (白云山) because it’s right beside my house. It only takes about 10 minutes to walk to the gate, and I have a delightful...
Last month, at my book club, a friend from Hungary mentioned that there was a nice Georgian (the country in Eastern Europe/Western Asia) restaurant nearby. This month, our friend who is unofficially in charge of choosing the restaurant chose this Georgian restaurant...
I may have mentioned before that I really enjoy hot pot. China has many different flavors of hot pot. Different areas often have their own specialties. Sichuan and Chongqing hot pots are both spicy but with different degrees of spiciness and with different...
The weather in my city was pretty good in March and even now in April this year. So it’s perfect for getting out and seeing the parks and gardens in Guangzhou. April is getting a bit warm to be out too much, but it’s still bearable. One of the parks that my roommate,...
My roommate has now spent three months (altogether) living in Vietnam with her friend’s family, and while she enjoys some of the food, her biggest struggle during that time was the food. For that reason, I had low expectations about the food as I prepared to go visit...