China Culture Shock #5: Selfies with Monks

China Culture Shock #5: Selfies with Monks

Welcome to my latest series: China Culture Shock! Part of the reason I was interested in moving to China in the first place was to explore a culture completely different from my own. I wanted to experience “culture shock” and challenge myself. I’ve been living in China for almost two years now, and I’m still constantly experiencing things that […]

Women’s Day: A Cultural Conflict

Women’s Day: A Cultural Conflict

Last Thursday I received a text from Lynn: “(101) 7:55-8:35, (109) 9:40-10:20, (103) 10:30-11:10. The time for class has been changed tomorrow because of the celebrating activity.” “Celebrating activity?” I replied. “Will you meet us at the front gate of the school after class about 11:15 so that we can go to the buffet together.” […]

Christmas Food Poisoning

Christmas Food Poisoning

For some reason Chinese people believe that Christmas Eve is a big deal. Maybe they think it’s like New Years Eve or something, I’m not quite sure. Regardless, all of the English teachers wanted to celebrate with me on Christmas Eve. The school planned a giant banquet for all of the English teachers, and they […]

Ningbo Here I Come!

Ningbo Here I Come!

I FINALLY found out where I will be living next year: Ningbo, Zhejiang! While not on my original list, the more I learn about Ningbo, the more excited I am to live there next year. I’ll be working at Wuxiang Middle School, right on the outskirts of downtown. Ningbo is a medium to small sized […]