These past few days I have been reading a lot of student journals because I want to hand them back next week. My students write about a lot of things: their stresses and worries in the university, their families, dating, weekend activities, current events and what they want their lives to be like in the future. It is really interesting to read the writing of someone who has learned English as a second language because many times the grammar is completely correct but the phrasing sounds awkward or the vocabulary is antiquated. Other times the students use English in completely new and creative ways to describe something. This might simply be a translation from Chinese, but since I don't know Chinese, it sounds impressive to me. It is also entertaining because there is always a hodgepodge of British English and American English spellings, sayings and vocabulary contained in the same essay.

There's a few key phrases that I see over and over again and I can't help but wonder if they were overly emphasized while learning grammar or drilled into them culturally. Here are the popular words/phrases that seem to be chosen by default:

"Nothing is impossible"
"In a word . . ." (to make a conclusion)
"Harmonious"
"Resilient"
"It's a pity"
"Lovely"
"Delicious"
"Beautiful"
"Every coin has two sides" (to explain the advantages and disadvantages of something)
"Time flies"
"No pains no gains"

Here's a journal entry that I read today (nothing has been changed or edited):

"I can still clearly remember that there was a large bamboo grove near my former house in my childhood. Sometimes I watched the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watched them return gracefully to their upright or original position after the wind had died down.

At that moment the word "resilience" came to my mind all of a sudden. When used in reference to a person this word means his ability to instantly recover from shock, depression and any other situation that challenge the limits of a person's emotions. On some occasions, I often felt a mix of emotions that threatened my health. And even I felt emotionally drained, mentally exhausted and appeared some unpleasant physical symptoms. While watching the bamboo grove in the wind, I was always at peace.

The bamboo tree bent but didn't break. It seemed to tell me that I might try my best to make the situation get the best of me in that life was a mixture of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. Bad times or unhappy moments might bring us anguish or suffering. In my point of view, when we wish for a better tomorrow or a better situation, things may not be as bad as they seem to be. The anguish or suffering may be easier to deal with if the end result is worth doing.

In a word, it depends on us. When meeting up with difficulties and setbacks, we need to show the resilience, like the bamboo tree, bend, but never break."

A couple of weeks after the freshmen arrived there was a day when everyone could sign up for different clubs and get involved in extracurricular activities. Ken decided to form a club as well so he got some markers and poster board, began signing up members and thus Beer Club was born.


The club is not as frat-like as the name sounds (I too was skeptical at first). It is basically an excuse to get some of the older Chinese students together, have fun, speak English and learn more about university culture on American college campuses. The club meets biweekly at Ken's house. I didn't make it to the first meeting but I went last Sunday night and had a good time. A typical meeting consists of an introduction with a power point on a certain topic (ie how beer is made, different kinds of beer, common drinking games), sampling new kinds of beer and comparing it to Chinese Snow beer and plenty of time to socialize and talk with other members.


This past meeting Ken introduced Budweiser to everyone and explained the mechanics of Power Hour. In this drinking activity, participants have to drink a shot of beer every minute for sixty minutes. There is usually music that accompanies this game and a new song switches every minute to alert everyone that it's time for the next drink. I had never done a Power Hour before so I fit right in with the Chinese who were also new to the sport. There was no way I was going to drink that much beer so I hung in as best I could and did halfsies.


Overall I would say that the second meeting of Beer Club was a success. There was minimal spillage and breakage of bottles and as the night went on, nobody minded as much that we were snacking on peanuts that were actually quite raw instead of cooked. The Chinese students had a great time. Partying, mingling and socializing isn't as much of a part of the Chinese college experience as it is in the U.S. and it was obvious that the students enjoyed the chance to relax and let loose a little. With heavy class loads, high academic pressures, a lack of interest in college football or basketball and the nonexistence of bars or parties, Jiangsu Teachers University of Technology is a far cry from places like The Ohio State University in Columbus. Thank goodness for foreign teachers and organizations like Beer Club that can bridge this gap one minute and one shot of beer at a time.

It has been just an average weekend in Changzhou. Friday night the boys went out to eat at a new Japanese restaurant a ways away in the north of the city. They were hoping to try an all-you-can-eat sushi special. I went to work in the city and then headed to McDonalds afterward for some chicken nuggets, fries, cold Coke and a chocolate sundae. As usual, because there are not many foreigners in Changzhou, I was stared at a lot and many people tried to talk with me. A lot of students from the university approached me to say hi as well - many whom I had never seen before and didn't know. They were all very curious as to where Sean was and what I was doing.

Craving more tastes of America I headed to the only Starbucks in the city which is horribly overpriced but undeniably delicious. For example, on campus I can get a whole meal for 5 RMB and my meal at McDonalds cost 25 RMB. On campus I can buy a bubble milk tea (similar to a chai tea) for 2 RMB and a coffee at Starbucks cost 32 RMB. Starbucks and McDonalds are two of the more common expat watering holes and it is always interesting to see who you will meet. One of the coolest things about traveling is meeting other people who are like-minded and other travelers are almost always willing to strike up a conversation with fellow foreigners.

Last time I was in Starbucks I chatted with a twenty-something Turk who was in Changzhou for business. This time I met three Germans also in the city on business, a student from Chicago and another from Venezuela. I was planning on listening to music and writing some letters, but as soon as I ordered my coffee and finished chatting with the Germans, the two students came right over and sat down at my table. They introduced themselves as Karl (19 from Chicago) and Else (17 from Venezuela). They are here for one year through an exchange program and actually live with Chinese families and attend one of the local high schools.

Although both of them seemed very intelligent and well-traveled they had a lot to say about the current culture shocks they were experiencing and some of their frustrations about studying abroad in a city like Changzhou. They said that their daily routines were brutal and demanding - just like the average life of any Chinese high school student. School started at 7:00 am and went until 5:15. Most students stayed at the school to continue studying until 7 or 9pm at night. Then they went home and went to bed. This was not the study abroad experience that Karl and Else had hoped for, although they are both learning Chinese at an incredible rate. Karl also lamented on the fact that since he is black, he gets stared at even more than a white foreigner. He said recently that he has been asked about 10 times a day if he is Barack Obama (since Obama is coming to visit this week).

We talked about language for a little bit too. Both Karl and Else are interested in law school and then something to do with politics and international relations. They are well on their way considering they are both under twenty years of age, have studied abroad in several countries and can speak multiple languages. Karl can speak English, Spanish, Korean, Japanese and Chinese. Else can speak Spanish, English, Portuguese, French and Chinese.

After talking for awhile more, our coffees were gone and Starbucks was closing. We exchanged numbers and then headed our separate ways in different taxis. It is always nice to meet other foreigners and hear about how different their lives are even though we live in the same city. I rode home thinking how impressive it was that those students were so young but already knew several languages and vowed to study to try and study Chinese more diligently on Saturday. We'll see if that actually happens =)

Don’t get me wrong, I am having fun living and working in China but sometimes the smells get to me especially because the quality of the air is pretty bad already. This post isn’t meant to be mean or insensitive so don’t take it the wrong way – it is just a way to vent about a small frustration that comes with residing in Changzhou.

The smells we commonly detect each day are or resemble the following:

"Top Ten Most Common Smells in Changzhou, China"

10. Fish
9. Wet dog
8. Organic Chem. lab
7. Exhaust
6. B.O.
5. Smoke (from cigarettes and fireworks)
4. Unknown meats and veggies being cooked/grilled/boiled in strange sauces/spices
3. Sewage
2. Model glue
1. Burning rubber

"Top Ten Smells not found in Changzhou, China"

10. Lysol
9. Clean air
8. Glade plug-ins
7. New car smell
6. Coffee
5. Dryer sheets
4. Mouthwash and toothpaste
3. Anything being baked
2. Flowers
1. Perfume, cologne, deodorant, or body spray

I think I changed the comments section so anyone can post - you don't have to have a Google account. Let me know if you are still having problems. Thanks =)

Last Sunday we were invited to a Chinese professor's house. Her English name is Shelly and she teaches Chinese literature at the university. She wants to learn English and was also very interested in our lives and American culture in general. One of my students, Eunice, is her English tutor and she went along with us to help translate. Shelly lives nearby, only three stops away on the #28 bus and we arrived at her apartment in no time at all. She lives on the top floor of a nice complex in a fancy apartment complete with a rooftop garden. Her husband was away on business, she informed us and also said that she feels lonely a lot of the time by herself.


We sat down to tea and looked through some of her pictures in her photo album. Then she gave us some gifts which created an awkward situation as we had not brought anything for her, but Eunice assured me that it was fine. After tea we walked along the river and visited a market nearby. Shelly and Eunice pointed out some of the more interesting Chinese vegetables and we asked about some of the produce that was unrecognizable to us.


After the market we headed to lunch at a place called Kung Fu Beef. This type of lunch is called "hot pot" and it is a special kind of experience similar to fondue. My students always talk about how much fun it is to eat hot pot together with a group of friends. A hot pot meal consists of a large pot in the middle of the table heated by a gas flame underneath the table. The pot is filled with broth and then you can order many different kinds of meat, tofu and vegetables to be cooked in the pot. Then everyone digs in with chopsticks and dips their food in mixtures of sauces available on the side. The whole affair is quite warm because of the proximity to the constantly boiling pot of broth and fortunately we were seated next to an air conditioner.


We had a great time and started with a hot pot of beef intestine and mushrooms. Slowly we added in giant croutons, lettuce, potatoes, carrots, turnips, tofu, beef strips, sprouts, tree ears (a type of fungus that grows on trees) and wax gourd. Eunice and Shelly let us know when each type of food was ready to be eaten as they all required different cooking times in the pot. The meal was finished with a small dessert that tasted like an elephant ear in the shape of a long donut. It was delicious. We walked home way too full but satisfied with our first hot pot experience.

It's been raining for days, I don't have to teach today and I am currently not motivated enough to try and study some Chinese so I thought I'd take a second and briefly introduce the other English teachers that are here. Sean and I feel really lucky that all of the other guys here are really cool, fun and easy to get along with.

Ken hails from the great state of Iowa but went to school in Tulsa where he studied economics and Spanish. He's studied abroad in Spain when he was an undergraduate and can speak Spanish (he's also getting pretty good at Chinese). He was here teaching English last year as well and has been a big help and a great resource for us. Ken is always entertaining to be around and his most recent exploit has been to start a beer club on campus in which the culture of beer is discussed and new types are sampled bi-weekly. His blog is listed as "Ken's blog" if you want to read more about what he has to say.


Daniel has also been here for a year already and is from Washington D.C. He went to school in Madison, Wisconsin where he studied creative writing. Daniel has done a lot of traveling in his life and has lived in Australia and Belgium with his family. He is always up for planning a new trip or adventure somewhere and trying out new bars and restaurants in the city (our most recent experiment was a Brazilian restaurant where they constantly brought different grilled meats to the table - delicious). I have heard Ken call Daniel a "renaissance man" because he knows a lot about a lot of things especially history, literature, current movies and books and pop culture. If you want to read more about his experience check out "Please don't run over me."


Peter is from North Carolina and went to school there as well. I think he studied philosophy or religion and German, but I am not sure. He can speak German and he speaks Chinese well. Peter has been teaching at a different school in China through CIEE for the past six months but decided to switch to this school for the rest of his contract. We are glad he switched because he's really fun to hang out with and is quite the dancer. The students are fascinated with his blond hair and I always have students who want to talk about how he looks like a "pop star" or how he is the identical twin of Michael Schofield from the show Prison Break (when he had shaved his head). If you want to read Peter's blog it is called "The world is polygonal."

Jordan is new to living in China and teaching English just like Sean and I. He was in our orientation with CIEE and came to this school with us. Jordan is from Lake Tahoe in California and is finishing up his masters degree in psychology. He decided to come to China because he wanted to do something different. He is into art and has studied a type of Chinese martial arts before he came here. He used to be my neighbor in the neighborhood of the villas but has since moved to the hotel for some better accommodations. Jordan is really easy-going and the students adore him (especially the girls).

So that's the group of English teachers at Jiangsu Teachers University of Technology. It is really nice to have a group of Americans to hang out with and travel together. Everyone is curious, adventurous, intelligent and funny which makes for a fun time when we get together.

*Ken, Daniel, Peter and Jordan - sorry if I didn't get your details right, I tried my best!