All posts filed under: Blog

About Santa Clauses, Purple Christmas Trees & Shopping in Town

Published by Sula H.

Yep. It’s Christmas season. Even in China. How I know? Because you can see it in the streets. Well, not every street, of course, but certain places do show. Like this one, where we went shopping today. Now, I’m not going to start a debate here whether the stuff they sell is pretty, or worth buying or anything. As we all know, tastes differ – widely at times. So, I’ll let you make your own decision as to whether you like what you see, or not. Here. Maybe this will make your decision process a little easier: Anyways, going shopping into town, we got to see lots of Christmas stuff, and some pretty impressive decoration, too. Like the giant Christmas tree which was so purple that it hurt my eyes; or this castle that was so magnificent that we had to have our picture taken with it: Still not in Christmas mood yet? Well, that’s not my fault then. Showing you all these Christmas pics, I’ve done all I could to get you there, haven’t …

Happy Thanksgiving!

Published by Sula H.

Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday where I grew up, and neither is it a holiday here in China. But living in an American community, I get to celebrate whatever is most important to my American colleagues, and Thanksgiving certainly is one of the most important holidays to most people around me. I don’t mind though. Being thankful always is good, and I have many reasons to be thankful. Most of all, I’m thankful for the love and support of my family and friends, their encouragement, when life far away from home gets tough. Thanks to everyone who is helping me be the person I was meant to be! I’m grateful to have you in my life, and thankful for whatever memories and experiences we share! Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Why I Love My Job

Published by Sula H.

There are many reasons for why I love my job. One of them is that working with freshman students reminds me a lot of working with first graders. In high school, Chinese students – generally speaking – have to work and study so hard that literally they hardly have time to live, enjoy life, spend time with friends, develop socially. So, when they come to university, in many ways they are like little children, just discovering the world. Many a times, therefore, I’ve had it happen to me that I’d run into one of my students outside of class, and their excitement about seeing me overpowers any reservations – they wave at me with great enthusiasm, give me a big hug – just like a first grader would do – and tell me how excited they are to see me! Or they keep telling me about how they love their English teacher (that’s me!), and how beautiful they think she is (that’s me again – though basically every foreigner is beautiful/handsome in their eyes). Or …

Fall Frolic

Published by Sula H.

It wasn’t super early at the time, but I was still in bed the other day, when I received a message on my phone by my friend, telling me that she’d found a place on campus where there were plenty of leaves falling off the trees, lying on the ground, and no one around to rake them away – yet. Well, I answered, by the time I’d get there, everything was sure to be gone – remember the tree hitters? But then I decided to give it a shot anyways. I asked some of my photography friends to join, and we went over there, and were in for a nice surprise. There was the long, empty road, covered with leaves, and it was the perfect setting for this … And this … And here is even more  … Saying Thanks And I’m thankful today that I’m done with classes, and that it’s a new day, of a new week, with lots of new chances.

Saturday Feature: Bake Sale

Published by Sula H.

Bake sales are great! They happen about twice a year, and it’s the one chance you get to indulge in western style baked treats. Our bake sale offers the full range of deliciousness: cookies, cupcakes, bagels with cream cheese, granola, and full size cakes. And this time they offered apple cider, coffee, and other hot drinks. There always is a silent auction for all the cakes, and the profits of the bake sales go to support orphans in our area. So, not only do you get to have yummy treats, but your treats also get to help children in need. What better way is there to indulge oneself?

Fun with Chinglish: Delighted Message

Published by Sula H.

I’ve got some great news. In fact, the news is so exciting that even the message is quite delighted about it! Note: When posting anything in the Fun with Chinglish section, I don’t mean to show disrespect towards anything or anyone in any way. I’m simply sharing the fun we get to have with all those great signs & documents!

Why I Love Midterm Exams

Published by Sula H.

Seeing my post the other day, you must think now that midterm exams for me are a thoroughly nasty thing. But to be honest, I also find enough reasons that actually make me like midterm exams – the most important one being that they usually give me an extra day or two off work. Now, who doesn’t like that, right? So, I’m guessing weighing the good and the bad of exams, it comes to a tie, which means that I haven’t spent an altogether awful week so far. And I’m really thankful that my house is warm and cozy now! Yay for heaters that work!