Last night, Chris and I had our third Chinese lesson with a lovely girl named Katherine and her friend, whose name I forget but it might be Alice so I’ll call her Alice.
Right now, I’m looking at the notebook where she wrote down all these useful words and expressions like “can this be cheaper?” and [...]
Archive for October, 2008
Learning the Doodles
Posted in China, tagged China, Chinese language, learning on October 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Pandas Like to Sing Happy Birthday
Posted in China, Music, tagged anyang, China, Music on October 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
For some reason, about 50 times a day, when I’m in my own apartment, I hear the beginning of the Happy Birthday song played over some mysterious loudspeaker system run by some mysterious person. It must be one of the schools nearby. I live in a university village, but there’s also a primary school and [...]
Bars on My Windows
Posted in China, Musings, tagged anyang, China, living, pollution on October 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I live in a place with bars on the windows. In this terrible, ugly concrete building with exposed, rusty, smelly pipes. The ongoing battle is staving off the stench of the burping pipes- stale, dirty water. Opening the windows helps. It’s warm in Anyang, even at the end of October the temperature still climbs to [...]
Memo From God
Posted in China, tagged China, Communist Party, God on October 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
“I am God. Today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember I do not need your help. If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFGTD (Something For God To Do) Box. All situations will be [...]
Man Has Heart Attack at Sight of Daughter’s Tattoos
Posted in China, tagged China, humor, news, tattoo on October 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
reads a blurb from Thursday’s China Daily:
” A man was so angered he fell ill after his freshman daughter had her arm and foot tattooed in Guangzhou, capital of Gunagdong province, early last week.
“The conservative dad suffered a heart attack when he learned Xiao Lan had two scorpions tattooed when he arrived in Guangshou from his [...]
Blueberry and Mango
Posted in China, Musings, tagged China, chips, food, pizza on October 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The honeymoon is over, China. It lasted quite a while- over two weeks of new sights, new sounds, new smells. Two weeks of gorging myself on rice and steamed vegetables and instant coffee and peach juice before trudging down the gray dust-coat, crowded street to buy the fresh vegetables lost its exciting flair. I’ve been [...]
Volleyball China Style
Posted in Adventures, China, tagged China, volleyball on October 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Well, China did it again. It took away our Internet for a few days, but with the assistance of a kind and clever Chinese teacher who lives above us, we have it back! Ho ho!
Anyhoot. On Monday, Chris and I were conned into playing volleyball with some other… people. We’re not sure who they [...]
Chinese Spicy Goodness
Posted in China, Musings, Travel, tagged China, cuisine, dining, food, spicy on October 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I’m happy that I can honestly answer my students “yes” when they ask me (multiple times) if I like Chinese food. It’s delicious and not at all like the shit American Chinese food you get at places like King Buffet. They must dummy it down for our bland taste buds. Turkey, stuffing, corn, apple pie… [...]
I Am Super Teacher!
Posted in China, Musings, tagged China, College, ESL, teaching, University on October 8, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Due to a flaw in the Chinese education system, students are taught to read and write English at a young age, but no time is spent on speaking the language. Enter the Foreign Teachers Brigade of Anyang Normal University! Their are five of us, besides Chris and myself there is a girl from The Philippines, [...]
No, I Don’t Mind Walking Down the Hall with an Open Cup of Urine
Posted in Adventures, China, Musings, Travel, tagged China, Foreign Expert Certificate, hospital, Visa on October 6, 2008 | 1 Comment »
“5:17 AM. 72 degrees. Time to get your asses out of bed so you can get your Foreign Expert Certificates!” the loud, robot-woman voice announced. 5:17. What a terrible time to be alive. Chris, myself, and one of the other new foreign teachers had a 2+ hour drive to the capital of the Henan province, [...]
