Hmmm, what to say about me. . .
CHINA. That about sums up the past five years of my life. After I graduated from The Ohio State University in 2006 with a degree in English Literature, I studied in Barcelona to obtain a TEFL degree. After one month of intense ESL training I ended up staying in Barcelona and teaching on and off for a couple months. That didn't pan out because of my lack of experience and non-EU passport.
Once back in the US, I narrowed my choice of places to teach to either Chile or China. I chose China because I was offered a job after one day of applying online. I ended up in a small city a couple hours west of Shanghai named Zhangjiagang. I kept my expectations low, expecting dirt roads and peasant farmers, but what I discovered was a modern, developing, surprisingly clean, bustling, and attractive little city.
From then on I simply fell in love with all things China: the food, the culture, the history, daily living, the friendliness of people, the beautiful and lovely women, the language, and teaching English to lively, dedicated students. Since then, I've lived in Hangzhou for a year and a half and now I’ve been living in Dalian and teaching at a university for almost 2 years.
Even after four years, the magic of China still impresses and enlightens me daily. Living here has also allowed my hobbies to flourish: writing poetry and a half finished novel, playing and writing songs on guitar, learning Chinese, traveling and recently more so than before, photography. And photography is a big reason why I made my last blog and why I want to continue blogging with this new one, because I want to share my photos with family and friends and whoever else stumbles upon my little area of the web.
So feel free to comment and hope you enjoy!
-Eric