The Tourist Will Illuminate My Intention

Right now the computer we are using puts a lot of web pages into Chinese characters. For the most part you can tell what you're supposed to do, especially with websites your familiar with, but every once in a while you need a translation. This reminded me of a really stupid game that was popular about five years ago, which involved translating a block of text into a foreign language, then

Language Barriers

One thing I can say about Wuhan: it's not the sort of place that immediately charms you. Not the scenery, not the people-- no, not even the food, which is the city's biggest selling point. Wuhan is known as "real China," and if that's the case I can't say I really understand the people who have come here to teach for a few months and now, years later, are getting married, settling down, and

Fireworks exploding in the distance

The second-to-last day of the Chinese New Year's celebrations, year of the pig. We kept hearing gunfire all day, then at night we realized it was fireworks going off-- all over the city. This was literally in our front yard, I was sort of worried one might come through our window. ALl day today you could hear them going to, but couldn't see them for the smog.

Fireworks exploding in the distance

Broke Into the New Apartment

This is the good bathroom

As I write this it is 12:30 pm Pacific Standard Time and 4:30 pm Beijing Standard Time (it doesn't matter that I'm not in Beijing because the Chinese Communist Party, being the efficient folks that they are, decided to do away with time zones altogether and have everyone share one clock. I'm sure this is all well and good here in the west, but I can't imagine what it