Category: cultural incidents

The man with the big camera

We rarely get a picture of our entire team together. First of all, there’s a lot of us. Second of all, when we’re all together, there’s usually not anyone else around to take our picture. Thirdly, it’s just… Read More

Be careful who your friends are

We arrived at the countryside late Friday afternoon and were set free to explore until dinnertime. Kami and I headed out, excited to have dirt instead of concrete below our feet. On the way we encountered Seth and… Read More

There’s a first time for everything (part two)

Read the first part of the tale here and don’t forget to vote for your favorite flag–you have two more days to vote! We clambered quickly (quickly, but not gracefully, remember our voluminous shopping bags) out of the taxi… Read More

There’s a first time for everything (part one)

Almost six full years in China and I have never missed a train. Run wildly through a train station? Yes. Sprint down a train platform to the last possible car carrying a twenty pound frozen turkey? Yes {that was… Read More

Communication

I’ve lived in China for six years. I’m almost finished with an entire master’s degree about communicating across cultures. I should be pretty good at cross-cultural communication by now, right? If anything, the only thing this experience and… Read More

Workin’ on my walk

As many of you correctly guessed, I will be channeling my inner Heidi Klum this coming Wednesday. After six years of innerly (and let’s be honest, sometimes a bit outwardly) mocking the modeling, I will now be a… Read More

Guesses anyone?

I’m about to test your knowledge of Chinese performances. Next week, at the Christmas “party” for the department, I’m going to be participating in a particular type of act. While this type of act is quite common at Chinese performances,… Read More

Nightmare before Christmas

With this title, I’m not referring to ghosts of Christmas past or life altering experiences. I’m simply referring to the nightmarish headache that is attempting to send a package from the Chinese post office. I know I’ve said… Read More

Waterfalls and Washing

I do not share the above picture because of it’s quality or beauty. In fact, I don’t even really like the photo. The lighting was horrible, the time of day not ideal, and I was incredibly rushed in… Read More

On the border

Tuesday morning, we rolled into Yanji (a town near the border of North Korea and China) at 4:30 AM. It was early, but it certainly wasn’t bright. We took a taxi down sleeping streets to the one open… Read More