by Alison | May 20, 2026 | Blog, Chinese Language and Culture, Travels
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...
by Alison | Mar 4, 2026 | Blog, Travels
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...
by Alison | Feb 17, 2026 | Blog, Just Life, Travels
When I used to teach IELTS speaking or just regular spoken English classes, I liked to have a travel lesson, and one of the questions I often asked the students (usually as a warm-up or introduction) was: How do you like to travel? With family, with a friend, with...
by Alison | Jan 27, 2026 | Blog, Chinese Language and Culture, Travels
Last week was super cold, at least for this area of the world with no central heating. The cold had seeped into my apartment, and staying warm was a bit of a challenge. So I was thankful that some friends and I planned to go to some hot springs for the weekend. My...
by Alison | Jan 20, 2026 | Blog, Just Life, Travels
On our quest to hike all of the MacLehose trail (100 km total!), Jaye planned another hiking adventure. This time, we planned to do sections one and three. I was a little hesitant about the feasibility of this plan, especially when Jeff did some calculations and...