December is for Creationism

I wrote this on the first day of December. I wanted to publish it as is, rather than editing it due to the delay in posting. Sorry about that, by the way; my VPN has been on the fritz lately. Enjoy!

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Don’t let this title alarm you. I’m not looking to have an evolution discussion, especially not here on my Chinablog (and besides, Bill Nye the Science Guy said it best). Instead, I want to talk about my own version of creationism…

My Own Hyperbole and a Half

This week, in my writing classes, I did a lesson on hyperbole. I discussed with my students the cultural trend in American English to be hyperbolic. They didn’t know the word, but when I wrote “hyperbole” on the board, they were familiar with it (I’m perpetually grateful at the level of my students English; the average PCV doesn’t teach students at this advanced of an ability).

I had them think about the way I speak when I teach class. I asked them how often I use exaggerated adjectives and adverbs. I watched them all grin, because I do it often. Some of them even started muttering certain words I use the most, like “awesome” and “magnificent”.

At this point, the teacher in me is pleased. My students are understanding what I am saying, and are on board for where ever I want to go next. It is times like these that I love being a teacher.

BlogThings 2012

I have some exciting news from the blog front! In an effort to improve the quality and content of my blog—as well as keep myself super busy as I keep writing my summer series—I have begun an endeavour with some of my friends they’re calling BlogThings 2012.

Teacher Day!

Monday was Teacher's Day here in China. It was also my first day teaching!


My sentiments about my first day teaching were similar to last year's. This semester, Monday is the busiest day of the week for me. I teach all morning, starting at eight a.m. I awoke at 6:15, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to seize the day. Instead, I received a pleasant surprise: my water was off. Apparently that's still going to be a thing.

No complaints, though. It's all part of the process... including the following day, Tuesday, when I was so sick I could barely get out of bed. Who has two thumbs and had to cancel classes on the first week? This guy, unfortunately.

The Great Firewall...

Earlier this year, I linked to a TED talk by the wonderful Abigail Washburn. I just hid it behind the text, because it wasn't vital to the story, but some great background information about her and her experiences.

This time, however, I've found a fascinating TED talk that I want to share with everyone. Embedded below (or found here) is Jing Zhao speaking about one of the most ubiquitous (and misunderstood) aspects of contemporary Chinese culture: internet censorship.

Nom. Nom.

En Route Reflections

As frustrated as I was during PST about not having the ability to post my blogs, this exercise of posting them months later has been quite delightful. I have enjoyed being able to look back and review/reflect on what I was going through. Even if the post was nothing more than a snapshot of the instant when my fingers were on the keys, it has been interesting to compare my thoughts and feelings from then to now. The following is one of those snapshots—digitally scribbled as I transitioned to the toughest job I'll ever love. 

And, as a blogistic note (you see what I did there??), the backlog of blogs is nearly finished. I'm ashamed to admit that I did not write a lot during my first semester of teaching. In the coming weeks, expect those blogs, then the most recent blogs about my travel and vacations. Hopefully, I'll be posting in real-time before the semester is over. 

I HAVE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE

I officially have a VPN on my laptop.

And it's working. I'm currently using it.

My dear friend Matt set it up for me. He's the greatest.


I am currently in Chengdu. Tomorrow begins IST, the final portion of Peace Corps training. It will last for two weeks. Tonight, to celebrate my arrival (and surviving the twenty-two hour train ride on a hard seat), I went and got my favourite Chengdu meal.

I wish I could say it is something unique to Chengdu, or even Sichuan for that matter, but it's not. There is a Uyghur restaurant not too far from where I'm staying. I go there and order dingding chaomian and naan. Dingding chaomian are special noodles, chopped up and cooked up with stir-fried meat, potatoes, peppers, onions, tomatoes in a spicy meat stock. I eat it in Lanzhou sometimes as well, but this restaurant in Chengdu is the tastiest. The coup de grâce of this meal is the Dr. Pepper I bought from the international foods store down the street (a luxury I'm not privy to in Lanzhou). 




So, there you have it... My first blog with a VPN. From here, the question remains: what would be the best way for me to go about publishing all of my old blogs I have written?

Extra Information...

So, blogger is behind the firewall. I wrote the previous blog post when I landed in Chengdu.

Also!  I had a conversation with my friend, which he recorded for a podcast.


More later, I hope.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog.

I want to keep a blog as a place for people to keep up to date (within whatever connectivity constraints I have) and share my experiences.

I leave for Chicago Wednesday morning (29 June), and will take part in my Pre-Service Orientation. The following day, I fly from Chicago O'Hare on United Airlines flight 851 at 12:15 in the afternoon. I have a direct (FOURTEEN HOUR) flight to Beijing. After a four hour layover in Beijing, I fly to Chengdu on Air China, where I will be for my first months of training.

They tell me training is a very intense experience. Hopefully I will find a tad bit of time to update and let everyone know I'm alive--although I imagine posts during training could end up just stories about learning Mandarin.

That's all for now; I have to finish packing. Please follow my blog; please comment; most of all, please enjoy.