Month: August 2006

…I landed in Beijing to begin what I thought was one year of working in China as an English teacher!!  I ended up teaching for 2, going back to the States for more schooling, then back here in ’90, and have been here most of the time since then.  Interestingly enough, I haven’t made it…

Over the weekend I made a day trip to Qinhuangdao, a port-city about 3 hours east of Beijing.  I went over to do a cross-cultural communication training session for some recently-arrived Americans.  I took the express train out there, ate lunch, lectured, and was on the 4:00 bus back to Beijing. WhenI arrived in Qinhuangdao, …

Here’s another crackdown that I can fully support:  one on the use of Chinglish in signs.  Chinglish is the common term used locally to refer to poorly translated English that can be found on everything from street signs to menus. One fun area where Chinglish pops up is in the translation of movie titles.  I…

There’s a new culinary sensation sweeping the masses of Beijing lately—Donkey Burgers.   They are not burgers as you or I may conceive of them–a meat patty on a bun.  Rather, Beijing donkey burgers are BBQ donkey meat inside something that is very much like pocket bread.  There’s a small restaurant near where I work that…

This was an important week here in Beijing, as we hit the magical milestone of having only 2 more years until the opening of the 2008 Olympics.  There was much hoopla in this town to mark the occasion. The China Daily reported that 1 million residents got together to do morning exercises on the 8th. …

Well, it is finally going to happen.  The small "village" that is outside the gate of the school where our office is located is going to be torn down.  Since we moved our offices there in 1998, I have predicted every year, without fail (and with much certainty) that this will be the year the…