The Ending

I am writing this post on October 8th, my Fulbright grant ends on October 23rd, and I leave China on November 14th! So safe to say, many a change will be happening this month. I want to use half of this post to tell you about some of the awesome things that I have been…

July & August- the countdown begins

Time to give the readers what they need! Another update on my life and work here in Shanghai! All I can say, is that the past two months have been wild. My research is chugging along at a great pace, I feel pretty settled with my life here, and the weather has just been making…

A much overdue update

I have been very bad at updating this blog, I admit it. The consequence of my laziness is that I now have even more ground to cover, therefore dooming myself from the start. To avoid this becoming a boring round up post, I think that I am going to break it into three sections: research…

How to be your own boss

It has officially been three weeks since I picked up and moved from Beijing to Shanghai! I plan on using this post to first talk about progress with my research; including the trials, tribulations, and joys! After that, I will talk about my life here in Shanghai (and address the strong rivalry between Beijing and…

Chapter 2: Shanghai

First off, I owe the readers of this blog a huge apology because I have not written a blog post in forever. My life got pretty crazy for a minute there as I scrambled through the second semester of my language program. I think this week’s blog post will mostly be a reflective, grateful post…

Vietnam: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Hey friends and family! Sorry for the lag between this and my last post. We had a week off between the two mini semesters (the IUP larger semester is broken up into two semesters), and my friend, Joyce, and I went to Vietnam. Now we are back in Beijing, a week into the second semester,…

Moving into 23

Time for another life update! First I am going to rant a bit about nationalism in the States and in China. Second, I am going to talk about my birthday (aka it was nice but sad!). Finally, I am going to talk about some fun things I have done over the past couple of weeks!…

Finding my place in Beijing (figuratively and literally)

I have so much to share in this post, that I will break it up into three sections! First, I will give you all some background as to the housing debacle that defined my first three weeks in Beijing! Second, I will describe the progress of the academic year, and how I am adjusting to…

New home, new school

This is my first post from China! I arrived in Beijing on the night of the 17th, and with my friend Hannah (who I met on my last study abroad experience!) stayed in ~very~ sketchy Airbnb while we looked for an apartment! I am not ashamed to say, the first couple of days were not…