Monthly Archives: September 2011

In an effort to keep these thoughts organized, I am simply just going to make a list of some of the cultural oddities that I have noticed lately… Fifth Tone: Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into … Continue reading →

For the first of what is to surely be many occasions, I slept in my sleeping bag while still under layers of comforters.  Gansu is cold already.  Throughout the weekend and into today the temperatures have been in the 40’s.  … Continue reading →

After twenty-four hours of travel I was more than ready to move into my flat, where I will live for two years.  Can you guess what the first order of business was as soon as I moved in?  Yeah, I … Continue reading →

On arrival to Chengdu University, I was skeptical on how the next two months would play out.  Our training group was located well outside the city; making it difficult and time-consuming to commute into Sichuan University for class, and meeting … Continue reading →