On any sidewalk in North America, a blonde, 5’6″, middle-aged woman, and a 6′ 2″ man with a grey moustache, attract very little attention from passersby. We not only blend in – we’re mostly invisible. But in Changsha, where few foreigners visit, my teaching partner Walter and I became minor celebrities. The first time we were …
One week into our China trip, Aaron and Mia, two of our grad student guides, decided it was time for Walter and me to get to know the non-academic side of Changsha. On Saturday morning, they arrived at our hotel at 10 o’clock, brimming with plans: a trip to Taiping Street, one of the city’s …
I have a new name. It is Yang Mila. I guess it’s not quite accurate to call it new. When I took Mandarin lessons more than a year ago, my teacher translated my English name and helped me to pronounce it. But before I came to China, I’d found very few opportunities to introduce myself …
“Walter! Walter! Hello! Hello!” My teaching partner and I scan the crowd waiting to meet passengers at the Changsha Airport. Two women and a man are waving enthusiastically in our direction from behind the barrier. To say that we’re glad to see our colleagues from the National University of Defense Technology is an understatement: Including …
Recently, I returned from a month-long teaching experience in Changsha, China. The professors in my class were participants in the University of Alberta’s Teaching in English program, a Faculty of Extension citation designed for higher education instructors to enhance their ability to teach their subjects in English. My seat mate on the 11 hour flight …
"I see joy in this classroom"Changsha, China Changsha, China Celebration time! We’ve worked hard during the last four weeks, and now it’s time to honor our accomplishments.Tonight, our Changsha university is hosting a dinner for all of us – instructor-students, student-instructors, and grad student guides – at an awe-inspiring hotel complex. The architecture is traditional …
To talk of many thingsChangsha, China Changsha, China “The time has come,” the Walrus said, “to talk of many things, Of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings, And why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings.” – Lewis Carroll * * * The last course in the Teaching …
Sages and guidesChangsha, China Changsha, China In 976 A.D., Zhang Shi, and Zhu Xi, two leaders of ancient Chinese learning, embarked on a journey up Yuelu Mountain together. When they arrived at the top, they built a platform which they named “Hexi,” which translates as “the splendor of sunrise.” The platform became the foundation …
BIg bang!Changsha, China Changsha, China One evening when I’m having dinner with the grad students, Mia and Claudia are badgering Aaron to think through his buddies for possible boyfriend candidates (they are speaking Chinese, but Claudia often remembers to explain to me their general topics of conversation, if not all the details.) “Aaron is asking …
Hallowe'en TreatsChangsha, China Changsha, China “You celebrate Hallowe’en in Changsha?” I asked Claudia last weekend, my attention attracted by an advertisement at the bottom of an escalator in a downtown mall. “Yes!” she said, scanning the ad’s QR code with her phone, and peering at the results. “And there are going to be some activities. …
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