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3-Day Beijing Tour Posted by sasha on Jan 8, 2013
I’ve been living here in China’s capital city for over three years now. In that time, I’ve played tour guide on numerous occasions, whether it be for friends visiting, couch surfers, or whoever else ends up hanging out with me and wanting to explore this amazing city. Even after three years, there are still some…
Geography in Chinese Posted by sasha on Jan 4, 2013
For some it comes easy, but for many people geography is a difficult subject in school. It’s even more complicated when you try it in another language. As an English teacher in China, I find that my students are often confused when it comes to talking about geography in English. Of course, I face the…
Top 10 of 2012 Posted by sasha on Dec 31, 2012
Tempus fugit (time flies in Latin) – one of the only things I remember from my language classes in high school. That ancient phrase still holds true today. This year has flown by; 2012 is just about finished. Despite all the hype around the Mayan calendar, we’re still here. Having spent a few weeks in…
Chinese Pinyin Posted by sasha on Dec 28, 2012
Chinese is a difficult language to learn, to put it bluntly. With no alphabet, Chinese instead uses characters (汉字 – hàn zì) – thousands upon thousands of them. As such, learning how to read and write Chinese fluently takes a long time and a ton of practice. However, for most of us who are trying…
Beijing Santa Con 5 Posted by sasha on Dec 25, 2012
It’s Christmas day, and my gift to you, our fantastic readers, is my highlight video from this month’s annual Santa Con event in Beijing. In its 5th year, this day long pub crawl of gift giving, caroling, drinking, and dancing Santas made its way through the Beijing subway system, the traditional hutong alleyways, and the…
Chinese Christmas Vocabulary Posted by sasha on Dec 23, 2012
The holiday season is upon us yet again, and while most people don’t associate China with Christmas, the holiday is becoming more and more popular in the Middle Kingdom. For the past month, the Christmas spirit has been alive and well here in Beijing – in subway stations, shopping centers, restaurants, and bars all across the…
10 Common Chinese Expressions Posted by sasha on Dec 19, 2012
When learning a language in a country where it’s actually spoken, you’ll start to pick up on certain expressions before long. On the subway, in the shops, at a restaurant, and everywhere in between, you constantly hear people speaking the language. At first, this can be overwhelming and confusing. My first few weeks in China…