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Just a few short (ish) observations on contact solution, food, standardization, counting to 10….

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Quick quiz: Does time go up or down?

I generally think of time moving, well, clockwise. Or maybe forward. But not down.

But in China, the way you say “next” is basically to say “the lower one.” Next week = the down week. Last week = the up week. It’s like they are walking down some great mountain of antiquity. (more…)

First, let’s talk about how I was attacked from above by parachuting wine advertisers while I was cutting class to promote Virgin soda…

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Ni hao from Chengdu, the quite pretty tree-lined capital of Sichuan. I’m studying Mandarin starting on Monday at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. There’s a lot to learn, but I should be fluent in a few days 🙂

Since I have a tendency to drone on and on in emails, I’ll share some initial impressions Chinese style — in numbered outline form:

(1) It’s really smoggy here. You can never see (more…)