I figured I would dedicate a post to talking about my temporary home, Tsinghua University. Not to sound arrogant, but in China Tsinghua is a big deal. Most of you reading probably have some experience with the US college admissions process. The Chinese equivalent is far more stressful and dehumanizing. Chinese students are accepted into colleges [...]

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Well, here we go. I am now in Beijing. I arrived two days ago on a flight that left something to be desired, to say the least. Among the highlights were: 1) watching the JFK Airport security guys desperately try to wrangle the two hundred Air China passengers into something resembling a line for boarding, [...]

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I’m have three days left in Maryland and am getting swamped with things that need to get done. Most urgently, I am driving about two hours today to pick up my computer which was just de-virused by an incredibly helpful St. Mary’s College tech guy. Fun times. I’ve also started to get my stuff ready [...]

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I have been dreading the visa application process for weeks now, and today was the day of days. After about an hour of stumbling around D.C. I found my way to the Chinese embassy/consulate and prepared for battle. I arranged every paper, taped my passport photo perfectly on the application’s picture, combed my hair in [...]

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As of today, I have thirteen days left in the USA. When I tell people that I am moving to Asia, I usually face the question, “are you nervous?” I say that I am. The truth is that I’m not really intimidated by the prospect of living in rural China, and I don’t really feel [...]

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Northwest Yunnan is home to Lijiang, Zhongdian, and Tiger Leaping Gorge, and has the most developed tourist economy of anywhere in the province. Chinese tourists looking to “get in touch” with their country’s history fly out to northern Yunnan from Shanghai and Guangzhou and spend their vacations with packaged tour groups. It’s actually really funny [...]

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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 [...]

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Hi everyone, my name is Sam. I haven’t posted here before so I will introduce myself a bit. I am originally from Washington County in western Maryland, and graduated from St. Mary’s three weeks ago! While I was on the river, I studied political science and Chinese, and spent a semester abroad in Shanghai. I [...]

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