Qing Wendy

                China is known for big things:    a big wall, a big population: a big history.    But, in the face of all that bigness, is a small walled town that will charm and delight you.    It’s Pingyao.    Thanks to Trip.com we were able to book train and hotel tickets and head off for a 4-day adventure back in time to the Ming and Qing Dynasty.      Think Florence-like walkways surrounded by an ancient wall.    Maybe you have seen    “Raise the Red Lantern”?    It was filmed here.                    In its heyday it was the major banking center for the country.    Many of the small museums that dot the town are related to money: how to keep track of it, how to keep it safe, how to transport it without it being stolen by brigands.    There are a number of books with amazing photos of Pingyao, but I am going to share with you a few of my iPhone 6 snapshots.    You will note lanterns galore! I have been reading a terrific book, “Wish Lanterns” about the lives of

 Dave and I have one mutual class.  He teaches them conversation and I teach them writing.  It has been an endless fascination for them to see us both teaching them different things.  It also has been fun for Dave and me to compare how the students are doing with these two very different skills. On December 13, Dave and I went with two of our students – Daisy and Ursula -- to see Downton Abbey.   They saw that it was opening at a downtown cinema, and immediately thought of us, their mutual English teachers. Daisy Daisy was one of the bright stars of our class – talented and capable.   She comes from Chongqing, in her words “a city encompassed by two rivers, which is humid and marvelous.”   This fact was actually a source of frustration for her.   Early in the term she competed in a speech competition.   She asked me to read through her speech and offer comments; she also sought help from David.   She didn’t win.   The reason why: the judges pointed to her backwards so

I want to share some tips with those of you who are thinking of teaching in China.   Let me preface this by saying that my experience has been overall extremely positive.   I would do it again in a heartbeat.   That said, there are some challenges to working in another culture.   The head of the School of Foreign studies, a middle-aged man whose English name is Tony, told us our first day at Jiaotong that there were just 3 things we needed to know while working at the university.   First: don’t say anything bad to the students about the Chinese Communist Party.   Second: don’t try to convert the students to any kind of religion.   Third: don’t miss class.   That would be considered a “teaching accident” and would be a bad thing.   Beyond that, we have had very little guidance from the faculty about what they would like us to do or not to do.   We have had to find our way.  Here are some tips. Right away, I found out that there is a student list for each class.   It is not a

Emperor Jingdi's tomb South Gate to the tomb Xi’an is one big pile of graves, pottery dumps and other detritus of civilizations gone by.  Every time you visit a new site, you get another mini history lesson about peasants who rise up, challenge those in authority, create a dynasty that eventually crumbles from within or without. Today’s history lesson is going to be about Emperor Wendi (of course I’d write about him), and his son Emperor Jingdi.     They were both emperors of the Western Han Dynasty.   Jingdi ruled from 157 to 141 BC.   Although it was a short reign, it was so important, it is the name that is given to most of the ethnic Chinese to date – Han. Pigs buried 1000 years ago A recreation of what the scenes would have looked liked when buried The Han dynasty was a time of openness.   Wen and Jing subscribed to the political doctrine of “wuwei” or noninterference in the lives of their subjects. They reduced taxes, allowed farmers to liv

My minors just handed in papers where they were asked to write a paper defining either Strength or Education.   You never know what you’ll get.    I asked them not to come to me with a dictionary’s definition of strength or education.   They needed to come up with their own thesis.   We reviewed that a thesis for a definition paper should look like this:    “Topic + is + Definition.   Topic + can be found in + 2-4 examples.”   Lemon wrote a fairly short, to-the-point essay, stating:   “Strength means the power that supports a people to deal with issues or overcome difficulties.   Strength can be solid, such as a firm will or a strong body to overcome hardness.   It can also be as liquid like a warm heart to show loving care for everyone without any prejudice.” He then proceeded to provide two very different examples of strength: “On the one hand, strength can be hard, which means bravery and firmness.   Strength is the hardness to face the tough issues of life or to s