Welcome!
(a note for first-time readers)

This blog chronicles my year spent teaching English at the Tibetan College of Shijiazhuang, Hebei, People's Republic of China. That's pretty self-explanatory, right? Well, just in case it's not, I'll go into a bit more detail... My senior year of college was winding to a close and I'd neglected to do anything in the way of preparing for admissions to a graduate program. Oops! I needed something to do with myself because I most certainly would've gone crazy living at home with my family. During my Contemporary Chinese Society class, we had a brief presentation about Drake's CCEP.And that's how I got tricked into going to China...er, that's how I learned about a Chinese Cultural Exchange Program. I could teach for a year in China, I would be reimbursed for my round-trip airfare, and I'd receive a monthly salary. It seemed to be a better alternative than living in my parent's house, so I signed up. So if you're remotely interested in reading further about my year of hijinks, exploits, and occasional fabulous (mis)adventures, I suggest you start at the beginning of the blog, which dates back to August of 2006.

Welcome Back!
(a note for returning visitors)

Well, it's been fun, and the blog is 97% finished . I'm finally settled back into life in the US. I have two jobs, each interesting in their own right. I found the pounds I lost in China. I'm earning more than $350 USD a month, although it doesn't seem to go nearly as far as my salary did in China. I could continue the blog by dishing out all the latest work gossip and relaying all the ridiculous things my coworkers do... But since all my colleagues are now English-speakers, I run a much higher risk of them finding out. Alas, the writing of my blog is 'fini.' The pictures are a different story. My battered white iBook, replete with daisy and unicorn stickers, is stuck in the repair shop. So, as soon as my new hard drive is installed, I shall add a multitude of photos to further embellish my already fantabulous posts. For now, just click on the My Photos link for your viewing pleasure. With all the writing taken care of, and the photos well on their way, it seems that I'm out of things to do...

And with that, I bid you goodnight.

Final Thoughts:
An Interview With the Author
aka I have nothing to do at work, so I'm interviewing myself

Interviewer: We're all dying to know, was it worth it?!
HDubs: Absolutely. While there were a few rough times, and numerous frustrations with Chinese bureaucracy, my year in China was completely worthwhile. After all, I gained experiences that most people will never have. And the fried rice is delish.

I: Interesting! They say hindsight is 20/20; would you have done anything differently?
HDubs: Well I really love hindsight, especially because my current vision is something like 20/40...More to the point, I would've brought toilet paper. Showing up to a TP-less apartment in the Shizz after 24+ hours of traveling was a real dilemma. Also, I wouldn't have brought those extra 10 pairs of shoes. Aaaand I should've done a better job teaching in the early mornings...and the afternoons.

I:Wow! Now, what I've really been wondering is what was your best experience in China?
HDubs: Leaving it. I was lucky enough to go on vacation outside of the country a few times, and the travel that ensued was always amazing. Seriously though? Breaking out of my little American bubble was priceless. There's nothing like traveling abroad to give you a wider perspective of your home country. The food was good too.

I: Such excellent insight! How about your worst experience in China?
HDubs: The train stations. I would gladly never ever return to a Chinese train station ever again. Unless I really wanted to be pushed, shoved, ogled and glared at, all at once.

I: Hmm, sounds daunting! On the brighter side, what was your favorite thing in China?
HDubs: My supportive co-workers... Just kidding! The food was amazing. My students were great and I learned so much about China from them that I never could have learned otherwise. I also really liked my 4 hour work days... and the fried rice.

I: Sounds great! What phenomena did you dislike?
HDubs: Well, dislike is a real understatement here, so I'll stick with 'abhor.' By and large, the Chinese people have no respect for the concept of a 'line,' or as some would say, a 'queue.' I've been cut in front of more times than I've had a Chinese taxi driver give me a puzzled look, and that's a lot! Seriously, the Chinese only stand in line for the ATM. Other than that, there are always, ALWAYS, people cutting in front of each other or even blatantly shoving each other out of the way. Getting to the front of the line at McDonald's was always a hard-won accomplishment.

I: Well, that must've been a bit frustrating.
HDubs: Shut up. Frustrating doesn't even begin to cover it.

I: All righty! If you could change anything about China, what would it be?
HDubs: Nothing. Kidding again!! While I really like staring directly at the sun, their air pollution is a bit excessive. And then there's the spitting. Well, it's really more than spitting. It's more like they attempt to hock their diaphragm out, rather than the gumball-sized wad of yellow phlegm that they actually produce.

I: Yum! The 2008 Olympics Games will be held in Beijing, will you return for them?
HDubs: Negatory. I do not plan on returning to China anytime in the next 5 years. Moreover, I'd much rather pull all of my hair out by the roots than be in China, especially Beijing, during the Olympics. However, I can hardly contain my glee in anticipation for watching the world news coverage of the Games. It will be quite interesting to see the world's reaction when faced with traveling and living in China... and of course all the insanity that ensues.

I: Well it looks like we're almost out of time, any last words?
HDubs: No. Wait... Thanks for reading :)

I'm baaaack!

For those of you who didn't know, I safely made it back to Kansas. Woohoo!! I've been dividing my time between eating, sleeping, and avoiding things like working on my blog and studying. However, I did manage to pull it together (albeit for a short time) and bear through the GRE's. I've also managed to find those 7ish pounds I lost in China. I've spent the last couple weeks getting used to my new jobs and living at home (eeek!). While it's taken nearly a month, my "Journey Home" post is finally up so that you can all read about the horror of my return trip, from the comfort of your ergonomic computer chairs. I've made a vow to myself, which can always be recanted, to finish up the blog by mid-September. I'll be adding a couple more posts and a lot more pictures...so stay tuned.