I'm starting a new (hopefully) regular feature on this blog — weekly reading assignments. I will highlight a few of the interesting articles or posts about China that I've run across in the course of the week. I guess you could call me a compulsive educator. Oh well. There are worse things to be called! […]
Popcorn with Chinese Characteristics
I well remember the first time I encountered a street-side popcorn vendor in China. It was way back in September of1984, during my first year as an English teacher in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. I had travelled by train north from Zhengzhou to the small town of Xinxiang to visit a friend who was teaching there, […]
Noel and Joann’s Excellent Adventure
I'm not entirely sure what I'm getting into, but in March Noel Piper and I will be making a trek across China — Shanghai, Wuhan, Chongqing, Chengdu, and smaller cities in the mountains southwest of Chengdu — tracing the footsteps of Esther Nelson, a Swedish immigrant from Minnesota who worked in China from the late […]
“Live the Language” – a Great Beijing Video
Sitting in Minnesota, watching this short video of Beijing kind of makes me homesick! It was produced by Education First, a global study-abroad program. Click on the link and enjoy a tour of my adopted hometown. EF – Live The Language – Beijing from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo. (HT: Yourenotfromaroundhere.com) Videos of other cities […]
Where’s the Cockpit?
Last week, after a long flight from Beijing, via Seattle, I found myself in a hotel room near the Los Angeles International Airport. I was there to attend a conference. When I got to my room, I spent several minutes hunting in vain for "the cockpit," the console (so ubiquitous in Chinese hotel rooms) which […]
Insider, Outsider, and a Dying Toddler
You may have heard the news this week about a toddler in southern China who was run over by a small van (twice) and left unattended in the road while at least 18 people walked by without offering any assistance. The entire incident, from the girl first being run over to the arrival of a […]
