Learned something #new today! The bullet #train 🚄 in #China 🇨🇳has seats A, B, C, D, and F. I asked why no E? ❓
According to my #student the trains are copying the #flight system. It used to be there were six letters . . . So A & F were #window seat, B & E were #middle seats, and C & D were #aisle seats. Now if there is no middle seat, they skip that letter. 😜 The things I learn!
The #bike faze in #Beijing is a little crazy right now. Never thought you could overdo bicycles, but #Peking might have just managed it. There is NO sidewalk – Everywhere you are banging your knees! 😡
My students have been taking graduate pictures. 📷 🎓 They keep talking about how ‘old they are’ now – they’re like 19-24. 😱 Horrible I know. . . I’m 27! They’re aging me folks! If they’re ‘old’ – I’m one step out of the grave 👻
Had my annual #physical for the #Chinese residence permit & #Visa! 😷
Managed it alone without a #translator – quite a feat! Look at my bold self go 😜
For #China 🇨🇳 you need: Blood Analysis, Urinary Analysis, X-Rays, Ultrasound, ECG/EKG, and Blood Pressure.
The X-Rays 📷 are competely #Topless with other people (men included) waiting in the room 😱 for their turn – no protection. 😓 The ECG requires baring it all in front of a major, street level window with no curtain and a ferris wheel🎡 right outside❗ Goodbye dignity, hello #crosscultural oversharing! 😂
Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s time ⌚to make the official blog 🖋announcement📣 – I’m moving again! I’ll be staying here in China🗺, but after 3 years in central Henan I’m going North. Way north. As in Arctic Circle ❄ level north!
We will be moving to a city called Changchun in the province of Jilin. For those of you living in China, it’s up by Harbin – land of the ice sculptures. For those of you who have no idea what those words even mean – it’s up in the arm of China that is surrounded by Mongolia (great! Horses 🐴!), Siberia (Brrrrrr💂), and North Korea (0_0)❌❗.
See the blue circle in the map up there? That’s Changchun. I’m moving clear up to the land of Winter Olympics⛷🏂⛸, Forests with wild Bears 🐻 and Tigers, and Deer Antler soup. 😵 Craziness I tell you!
No, actually it looks like it will be really nice. 😀 The university 🏫 is called NorthEast Normal (NENU) and I will be working with the joint program with Rutgers University 🏫. I will be teaching Economics 💹 and International Business 📈 this semester. Economics and maybe some other classes next semester. The hours are a bit more than at my current university, but the pay is better, the students are of a higher academic quality (1st tier univ. instead of 4th tier univ.), I get most of the same benefits🚪, and it’s a new adventure 📷 awaiting me!
I was delighted to find out that one of my students and good friends 👭(Simon and his girlfriend Alice) live about 15 minutes away from my school. They are moving home and already invited me to BBQ. Such a relief to have someone in the area! I have two students👩👩 from Mongolia that I am hoping to get a chance to visit, and the train goes from Changchun directly to Moscow💂! 🚉 Course it takes a week one way, but still – I think I can get up to see Russia. Not taking time to see North Korea ❌ – I’m sure it’s lovely, but not my cup of tea. Still, that’s a lot of new open doors 🚪 waiting to be checked out! 😀
I’ll keep you up to date on the details as I go. My schedule 🕔 this week is insane. Tomorrow I leave at 7:30 for the city (one hour) to get a Physical 😷done (surprise! wasn’t expecting this – just found out this afternoon). Then on from there a 3 hour trip to Beijing 🚝 (+ 1.5 hour subway ride to my stop) for some government paperwork on Wednesday. Then back to school 🏫so I can give Final Exams on Thursday. Friday, back to the city to pick up my physical 🏥results. Back to school 🏫to grade and get signatures. Then on Saturday, entering grades into the computer. Sunday off to Changchun ✈to get all my paperwork complete. Monday back to school 🏫to pack and get ready. It’s a wild ride, but I am so excited to welcome the new year!
The name was ‘Betterfiles’ but I think it was supposed to be ‘Betterflies’ 😜
Tastes #Divine! Small restaurant in the new CityOn Mall in #Zhengzhou called “Strawberry Forever” — all the deserts are strawberry! 🍓
Zhengzhou is really growing recently – the #Mall is HUGE and has #Forever21 #Zara #sephora and more. So nice and lovely!
This is why #Chinese is so confusing for the #waijiao (foreigners) – the same character can mean cloudy, moon, feminine, a last name, or genitalia 😂
I ❤ #China! Driving down the street, ran across this gorgeous old #gate. So beautiful!
This sight will always remind me of my life here in #China. One of the #values important to the Chinese is making sure everyone has access to a #job so they can survive. So instead of using big machines to sweep the highways and streets, they pay the older people a small amount to do the job. It’s not ideal, but it’s enough to live on. They are very proud of the parts they clean. And the street sweepers are able to use empty plots of land by the roads to grow Food and Vegetables.
So every day in my small village (Ok, 600,000 people- but That’s a Farming village here. . . .) you see the elderly driving by on these tuk-tuks with brooms they made by hand. Really sweet picture in my memory bank!
“She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city” ~ Roman Payne
Language Translation
Deceptively Blonde 