Writer. Traveler. Tea Drinker.

We have now officially been here for six-month and it feels equal part much longer and much shorter. In a short half a year period I have taught my first semester of school ever, traveled hundreds of miles all over China and managed to feel comfortable in a culture which is completely different from my [...]

Last week, I broke a tooth. Not just a tiny bit, but the entire back half of my back bottom tooth. I’m all for going “native” when it comes to food, clothes and other things but dentists? Get me a western trained English speaker fast. I found a Westernized clinic in Hangzhou recommended by some [...]

I have been constantly blogging now for about 9 months, 6 of which were from China. I’ve started blogs before and by the 6-month mark most were dead. It was a mix of things, lack of willpower, interest, stamina. Clearly something has changed in me as I am just as eager to write blog posts [...]

These are some funny English signs that we saw on our trip that didn’t really fit into any category so I’m putting them all together here for your comedy pleasure.

You might notice a new little orange circle on the upper right-hand corner of the screen. That is an RSS feed. I consider myself fairly technically savvy yet RSS feeds are something I never looked much into. Turns out it’s pretty important to have. It took me an incredibly frustrating afternoon to figure it out, [...]

Hi Y’all, Ni Hao. I want to start off by saying I really, really like this town. You’re all so friendly, the scenery is gorgeous and those little potato things that are a local dish are absolutely delicious. That being said, there is something I would like to discuss. It has to do with fireworks. [...]

You have the South Beach Diet, the Mediterranean Diet and even the French-Women-Don’t-Get-Fat Diet. I’d like to introduce the new diet that I think will be all the rage…the Chinese Diet.* This is an easy 6-step process that if you follow to the letter I will guarRONtee** results. After all, I’m not only the president, [...]

Some day I hope to know enough Chinese to be able to read these crazy bathroom signs and understand what they really mean to say. But until then I’ll just enjoy the English translation.

One of the most amazing features of Yangshuo, China is the karst peaks that encircle the city. The sight of these rising crooked limestone peaks is something to behold in person, and the best place to really get a look at the peaks is along the Li River. The Li River runs alongside the city [...]

Ever since the start of our trip, something was wrong with our bags. We were using our trusty backpacks which we originally got over 10 years ago for our first round-the-world backpacking trips. But now they were awkward and uncomfortable. What was going on? I started to look at all the other travelers and realized [...]