Hello everyone, and welcome to my new blog! Although you most likely already know me, let me introduce myself. I recently graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where I studied politics and Chinese and spent far too much time enjoying life on the Chesapeake. The story of why this blog exists dates back to last spring, when I was studying abroad in Shanghai. After being given two weeks off from school (and being too poor/cheap to travel outside of China), I headed off to explore Northern Yunnan Province. I found a place that was both incredibly complex and beautiful, and spent the rest of my time in China wishing I was still there.
About six months ago, the powers that be at Princeton in Asia (PiA) offered me an opportunity to go back. For the next year, I will be working as a PiA Fellow with the China Education Initiative in rural Yunnan Province. There is still a lot that I don’t know: where in Yunnan province I will be stationed, who exactly I will be stationed with, if I will in fact be able to find decent pasta sauce.
Here is what I am sure of: I will be working with schools, most likely secondary schools. I will be isolated (according to Leslie from PiA, one of our villages owns exactly one chicken). And I will most likely have one hell of a time. Seeing as my phone service will be limited, this blog will hopefully serve as my primary conduit to all of you. So keep up with me, post some replies, be your awesome selves. In return, I’ll try to update this as often as I can, upload some cool and pretty pictures, and keep you up to date on life on China’s Southwest frontier.
Cheers,
Sam
