What my students know about Barack Obama

1. He’s black. 2. His half-brother lives in Shenzhen. (This was major news in the national press here) 3. He just won the presidential election in America. 4. He beat Hillary Clinton. Almost no one at the school has heard of John McCain, but there are quite a few students here who are still bummed [...]

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Military training

YANGZHOU – Sometimes, it really pays to work for a technical college. Take this morning, for example. If I had been a regular American citizen passing through Yangzhou on holiday, perhaps on my way to Slim West Lake or maybe a bit of shopping on Wenchang Road, I might have been a bit confused (and [...]

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Things that just wouldn’t happen at home

The list, of course, is growing. I’ve already mentioned that college professors sleep in bunk beds here, and that every now and then they might have to miss a class or two to “learn the knowledge of the Communist Party of China.” But I haven’t told you about the singing. Singing is a really big [...]

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A very Chinese excuse note

I got a few colorful excuses in Thailand from students who missed my class. The school-sponsored “Buddhism camp,” which included an overnight stay at a temple, was probably my favorite. It was definitely not the only time I heard that up to half of my class was “at the temple” for the day, or preparing [...]

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Yangzhou Tech

I’m here. I am now a proud (and soon to be legal) resident of the People’s Republic of China. I just finished my first week of teaching at Yangzhou Polytechnic Institute, and I have successfully located a bank, a grocery store, and multiple pizza places. The search for the bar that is rumored to be [...]

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