I arrived in Nantong on a cold afternoon of early April. After my limited experience with Shanghai, it was a big change. The Nantong buildings had more dirt and grime than the structures I saw in Shanghai. There was quite a bit of dust in the air. The shops were different also, most of them facing out toward the street with no doors to keep out the cold. They had the equivalent of garage doors, which would be shut at the end of business each night. Read more…

This was my very first visit to China, so naturally I was expecting a certain degree of culture shock. This was going to be a pretty big adjustment. My plans were open-ended, I didn't buy a return plane-ticket. My new Chinese love was a teacher, so she sounded very convincing when she told me how easy it is to get a job teaching English in Nantong. Time will tell, but I did have enough money saved up to survive long enough to see how the teaching thing works out. Read more…

Ok, so it was around February 2009, I had been single for about 2 years since my last girlfriend. Happily never married to any of the crazy American women I had known over the years. Another Valentine's Day had come and gone, I think I started to go through a mid-life crisis or something. I realized my life didn't have much meaning. I spent almost every Christmas and Valentine's Day my whole life alone. Read more…