Perhaps you have noticed that many of the Chinese friends have English sounding names. They also have their Mandarin names too, of course. Many of them have names similar to our own, like David or Amanda but some of the people that I meet have very different English names, like Lemon or Big. Often it... Continue Reading →

Well, considering my last post was on Christmas, it might be good for me to explain that there are holidays here. There are several festivals that we do not celebrate in the USA. Most of them are based on the moon cycles. We do not usually see the moon due to all the lights and... Continue Reading →

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas! Did you all get together with friends and family to celebrate these holidays? Thanksgiving caught me by surprise. It is not celebrated here. My husband spent the day in the office and taught a class that evening. Because he had just returned from a trip, I spent the day getting... Continue Reading →

A big part of my new job is to build relationships with many people. In the past 4 months I have met so many new people! Going around to each city and meeting the teachers face to face really helps to build those positive relationships. I suppose I could have just been "friends" with them... Continue Reading →

Have no fear; I have not forgotten about all of you! I know that you want to hear about all that I have been doing. I have been traveling a lot (8 cities total and two of them twice) and getting to know all of the Friends of China people in China - there are... Continue Reading →

So as part of my new work, I regularly take trips up north. As a way of keeping everybody safe, I won't be posting many identifying pictures or naming places. But I know you all are interested in what I am doing, so I will tell you a little at least. I have made two... Continue Reading →

Public transportation is not used widely in small cities in the United States. Of course, I had used it back in college in Chicago at least for a little while until I got my own car. Moving to Hong Kong, I knew that I would not own or drive a car. This is a good... Continue Reading →

There are so many new things around me. I guess I knew that this would be the case. But now that I am here, how do I figure these things out? At first I thought I would just try new fruits and vegetables out on my own. But some things I am just not sure... Continue Reading →

I have been learning so much lately. I am sure you can guess some of what I am learning: how to cook with only 2 burners and how to grocery shop here in Asia. But some of my best learning is coming from an awareness of how I feel and what is going on around... Continue Reading →

There are some things we just do every day automatically without thinking about them.  Brushing teeth every morning and again at night is an example. Can you think about these automatic things? Some times without thinking I would drive straight to work even though I might have wanted to go to the store. Being automatic... Continue Reading →