Category: Blog
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Things are (strangely) quiet this year
Looking back over the years it seems that, around this time of year, I usually write some sort of post titled “Things are getting quiet” in Beijing. The strange thing is, although I’m writing another one this year, things have been quiet for a while. If you haven’t seen the news as of late, China…
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Well, that was cold
Beijing hit -20C this past week in what was said to be the coldest day so far this winter. It doesn’t help that Beijing is notoriously a windy city and that, unlike cities like Winnipeg or other “cold” places, there is always a slight wind that robs you of your warmth. Sure, the barometer might…
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Looking forward to 2021
This post is a bit of a cheat because Beijing is 14 hours ahead of Winnipeg yet I’m writing this (and hopefully publishing) this after the clock has rolled over. Since my website is set to a different time zone, it’ll probably pop up as a December post. I’m okay with that, lol! 2020: The…
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An update on learning Chinese (End of December 2020)
With only a few days left in December I think it’s fair to say that I’ve failed in my goal to finish the HSK 5 books by the end of this month. It would be a stellar achievement to be able to flip through the books and say that I know the necessary characters, words…
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Is it Christmas already? Or, what’s Christmas like as an expat?
There is something a little strange being in a country that claims to be religiously non-denominational, yet people still seem to put up Christmas trees and pictures of Santa Claus and say “Merry Christmas”. I can’t help but wonder if the meaning of Christmas is changing much more than readily apparent in front of us.…