Bei Fang Hotel Shijiazhuang

... tv's, an audi, and a BMW. This is not in any way typical, but I wasnt complaining.

One night we made dumplings together and another night we went out for beijing duck. It's very very good.

It must have been pretty comical to watch a 6'5'' white kid get led around the city by a little chinese girl, but Becky was a grade guide. (She recently graduated highschool and will attend university in Beijing.)

... he looks much older than me he's only 31. I ask him how much he makes for each 1,200 km trip, he says about 500 yuan. He says he can make the trip 20 times a month. He's got two sons, a wife, a nephew, both of his parents to support. Where he comes from he has to save money for his sons' wedding and the construction of their new home when they get married. It cost 60,000 yuan to find a wife and 100,000 to 150,000 to build a new house. He admits he'll ...

Update on a few things we've been up to lately..

We lay out in the park when we have time- try to tune out
all the "hellos" so we don't go crazy.

Went to a lunch with Jack (boss at Ai Hua)- he’s trying to
start up a new foreign language school so he had to meet with some official
people of the city- I was the only foreigner-they were extremely friendly-
asked me a lot of questions and said I could count on them for anything I ...

... house. The live in a storage unit where they sell children's books. We made dumplings and Willie got drunk with the grandpa. Kara and I bought some fun books- I want to give em to the kids I tutor as going away gifts because a lot of em are in Chinese and English. I think Young Young would really like one for her son too. Day of Fun in the Sun with Sunny and Jassi's families *I teach these two little girls and their moms always ask me do things with them but because ...

... which lies to the west, provide charming natural scenery. Mt. Cangyan Scenic Area and Zhangshiyan Scenic Area also attract visitors from all over China and the world. As the economic, political, cultural and scientific center of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang is becoming more and more ...

... interviewing a girl named Kate who was friends with Maria (another girl I mock-interviewed) every day a week before her college entrance exam. I just found out this weekend she got in :) So happy for her. I knew she was really nervous. I've continued to meet with Tina (9 yrs old) once a week. She's a really fast learner. Also started meeting with a 9 yr old boy, Peter once a week. His parents are a little much for me to ...

... these types of things, she brought it up and i felt comfortable discussing these topics with her. I'm pretty sure she felt comfortable with me right off the bat cuz on the way to the restaurant she kept trying to hold me hand- really awkward for me- thought girls here only did that with their best friends- i had just met this lady 5 min prior! tried keeping an open mind to some of the things she said/did- though i think its gonna take more ...

... Jake. He has been our knight in shining armor here. He has shown us around, taken us to restaurants, helped us talk to cab drivers, and has given us an insight on this city that I would have never known. He was born in this city and know it very well. Let's see...what have we done? We have gone to a karaoke bar, eaten at a hot pot restaurant (kinda like a spicy fondu place), eaten at an out door chinese bbq place, gone to an amusement park/ botanical garden, walked around a ...

... so many people hung out outside the station- it was apparently the place to be. after we found him we went to dinner- pointed to things because we forgot to bring our phrasebooks. thats when i discovered the smell that makes me want to hurl- it's the liquid they put with the noodles. smells terrible. felt bad wasting all that food but i was gonna make myself sick if i ate it. it was nice catching up with josh and hearing about his experience so far ...

... Oracle bones? Divination from ox intestines? It also made me wonder about all those critics of educational research (especially in the current administration) who hold up the medical research model as the paragon of scientific methods. Do they know that there is a lively debate within the medical community about research methodology and - god forbid - some medical researchers are using (gasp!) qualitative methods? Naw - why sully your ...