Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Feb 6, 2012, 6:06 pm
On my first trip to China in 2005, I bought a large pack of chopsticks from the local supermarket. They weren’t fancy chopsticks. Just regular, undecorated, wooden ones that cost less than a dollar. I only bought them, because I felt like, being in China, I was obligated to own a set of chopsticks...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jan 31, 2012, 9:12 pm
One thing that has helped my wife’s homesickness for China is watching Chinese TV shows on her computer. She’s even started watching shows she normally didn’t care about, like the multitude of war-time dramas, because, hey, at least it’s in Chinese. One of the shows she’s been enjoying is ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jan 6, 2012, 3:31 pm
I have two self-published, China-related books on the market: one a short e-book “guide” published in April 2011, the other a paperback novel (and e-book) published in July 2011. Now that they’ve been out for a while, I wanted to publicly assess how they’ve been doing. Well… I haven’t be...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Dec 28, 2011, 11:29 pm
Spring Festival (a.k.a. Chinese New Year) is the biggest holiday in China. Christmas is the biggest holiday in the US. My wife just experienced her first American Christmas, and her #1 observation was: it’s a pretty quiet holiday comparatively. Spring Festival is a non-stop, week-long barrage of f...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Dec 13, 2011, 12:29 am
My family and I went to Disneyland over Thanksgiving weekend. As much as Sarah has been looking forward to finally seeing this place, my parents warned her that it would be very crowded during the holidays. “I’m Chinese, I can handle it!” she said. Yes, Disneyland was busy, but we both joked h...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Nov 23, 2011, 9:45 pm
I use proxies a lot at work, but not because I have anything to hide. A proxy is a website that lets you browse the Internet under a different IP address. Sometimes, I need to test region-specific code outside of our internal network. Other people might use a proxy to bypass measures their school ha...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Nov 17, 2011, 10:29 am
My wife had compiled a list of observations about life in Utah to send to her friends and family back home. That was about a month ago, actually. It took me a while to get around to translating her points into English so we could share them here:   1. It can still snow in April.   2. Noon is a...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Oct 30, 2011, 4:13 pm
For the last few weeks, I’d been checking Hulu constantly, waiting for the next episode of Free Agents to appear. When it never did, I finally looked up what was going on and was dismayed to see that the series had been canceled. After only four episodes, canceled! Yeah, it was having a hard time ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Oct 27, 2011, 9:12 pm
One of the biggest differences between China and the US is the public transportation, or lack thereof. It’s very hard for my wife to get around here when she doesn’t have a driver’s license, and our lame bus system is more trouble than it’s worth. But all that is about to change. Sarah now h...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Oct 3, 2011, 9:57 pm
... I started the K-1 fiancee visa process on July 9, 2010. She arrived in the US on April 13, 2011. We submitted her green card (or permanent resident permit) application on July 7, 2011. Three months later (today), the green card is finally here, and with no need of an interview! The wait is ov...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 26, 2011, 7:18 pm
Now that I have two books under my belt, it’s time to give up on writing for a while. I still have other stories I’d like to publish, but until sales of The Second Page and/or Yes China! pick up, it doesn’t feel worth the effort. In the meantime, I’m going to fulfill another lifelong dream o...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 20, 2011, 11:43 am
I was surprised when my wife said she wanted to give Panda Express another try and am continually surprised when she wants to eat there again and again. Granted, the only thing she likes is the “chow mein” (what an unfortunate butchering of the word “chao mian”), saying that everything else ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 16, 2011, 11:15 pm
Yep. Another immigration update. After the biometrics appointment, things went quiet again for several weeks. Randomly, we received a letter that said my Chinese wife’s application had been forwarded to the USCIS office in California to “speed things up.” Sure… A few weeks later, a priority ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 12, 2011, 3:19 pm
There weren’t a lot of things Sarah knew about Utah before she moved here, but Arches National Park was one of them, so… off we went. This marked the first time she’s ever been on a real hike, as “hiking” in China must be mentioned with quotation marks around it. Walking in sand and climbi...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 8, 2011, 3:10 pm
I’ve been home from China for a while now, and I’ve noticed a phenomenon when talking to certain people. It’s called the “I know more than you do” effect. And it’s not me doing it! Oddly enough, when I mention to others that I lived in China for two years, they proceed to tell me everyth...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 1, 2011, 11:23 am
Even though I covered a lot of ground in China, there were still a few places I wanted to see that I never quite got to. My family and I were originally planning to visit Datong to see the Hanging Temple as part of our 2009 vacation, but that sidetrip got cut out at the last minute in favor of Jiuzh...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 28, 2011, 1:42 pm
I had posted pictures of Jiuzhaigou Valley before and even said pictures don’t do the place justice, but it doesn’t seem fair to leave it at that. Fortunately, my brother took a ton of footage during our 2009 China vacation and put together a video for each of the major cities/areas we visited. ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 24, 2011, 10:18 pm
I’m pretty good about eating any Chinese food my wife makes, and she’s pretty good about eating any American food that I make (or take her out to eat). When it comes time for a leftover lunch, though, it’s clear that we still have our biases. We both laughed when we looked at the table and saw...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 22, 2011, 4:06 pm
When you do a lot of traveling somewhere, it’s easy to forget everywhere you’ve been. I haven’t thought about Longqing Gorge for years. I went there in 2005 during my trip to Beijing, and, like every other time I go to a mountain in China, it rained. Seriously, China must have it out for me. S...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 17, 2011, 8:58 pm
As I was searching through my old pictures, looking for something to go with my Honk if You’re Horney article, I came across several pictures that reminded me of something I really didn’t talk about before. Well, in my 2009 post about e-bikes in China, I mentioned driving an e-bike myself, and i...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 15, 2011, 11:29 am
I promise, this will be the last time I pimp my book on the blog. Any future updates will take place on its Facebook page. Also, the discount code I posted earlier has expired, but I wanted to highlight a bundle I am offering on the official Yes China! website. For $20, you can get a paperback copy ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 14, 2011, 1:51 am
Anyone who has been to China knows about the incessant honking, which is why it’s such a relief to be back home where honking is kept to a minimum. But some of that honking followed my wife from China. Whenever she goes out by herself, one or two guys will honk at her as they drive past. The firs...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 10, 2011, 4:17 pm
Just a quick update on the immigration process: USCIS received our “adjustment of status” application and scheduled a time for us to come in to get Sarah’s biometrics. That was yesterday. It was a twenty-minute appointment, and all they did was take a couple of fingerprints and photos. Now it...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 8, 2011, 10:54 am
Mark (of Mark’s China Blog) was kind enough to give me a sneak peek at his photo book of China called Expressing the Orient, a self-published collection of pictures that covers everything from the Silk Road ruins of Jiaohe to the skyline of Shanghai. In fact, that kind of contrast is what makes th...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 5, 2011, 12:38 pm
One of my friends who stayed in Changzhou a year longer than I did finally came home this week. Naturally, it got me reminiscing about my own return from China. I think I mentioned this before, but the “culture shock” people talk about when going to China (or anywhere, really) isn’t as bad as ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 2, 2011, 10:41 am
Waiting for Amazon to finally list the paperback version of Yes China! has been agonizing. It seriously didn’t take this long with the last book I published. I’ve been holding off any marketing attempts until it’s officially for sale, but I wanted to at least let everyone know that the book is...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jul 30, 2011, 11:07 pm
Your retro picture of the week (or day or month or whatever, this really isn’t a recurring feature, I just happened to look through my old photos today) takes place inside a Chinese supermarket: This was one of the first photos I took when I went to China with ILP in 2005. I remember thinking how...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jul 26, 2011, 8:51 pm
I know you’ve all been twiddling your thumbs, waiting to hear more about the release of Yes China. Well, I’ll let you in on a secret. The e-book version is already available on Amazon. It hasn’t sold anything yet, but I’m also waiting to really push it until the paperback is ready. That won...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jul 24, 2011, 11:49 am
A friend brought up an interesting point regarding my last post. Why do I keep calling this Chinese woman (who I happen to now be married to) by the English name, Sarah? The name “Sarah” has no legality. It’s more like a nickname. She still has to write her Chinese name on any forms or applica...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jul 19, 2011, 1:47 pm
It’s customary for a married woman in China to continue to use her maiden name. Now that Sarah and I are married, she won’t be changing her name to mine. This wasn’t something we had to fight about, though. I actually wanted her to keep her last name from the very beginning. The Chinese tradit...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jul 14, 2011, 10:46 am
It’s frustrating to spend years of your life writing something, proofreading it, perfecting it, only for it to go nowhere. That’s how I felt with The Second Page, until one day it dawned on me that I could just release it as an e-book. So I did. But it didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel real....
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jul 11, 2011, 12:28 am
For our honeymoon, we spent a few days in Vegas but took one of those days to drive out to the Grand Canyon Skywalk. And boy oh boy, was it ever a disappointment. The Skywalk is a glass bridge that extends out above the canyon and is supposed to give you a real sense of just how deep the hole is. In...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jul 7, 2011, 10:29 am
A K-1 visa visitor has three months to get married, or else it’s back home for you. Unfortunately, getting married isn’t the last step. This is the US government. Of course there’s more busywork! Once you’re married (and before the three months of your visa have expired), you have to submit ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jul 4, 2011, 6:49 pm
In China, a couple will generally take care of the legal paperwork of a marriage days or even weeks before the actual ceremony. Then the ceremony is more of a banquet with lots of eating, drinking, and smoking. The bride changes dresses 2-3 times during the banquet, the couple makes sure to toast ev...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jun 18, 2011, 10:28 pm
In preparation for the wedding (which is a good excuse not to have been updating the blog lately, right?), we’ve been on the lookout for White Rabbit candy. White Rabbit is a Chinese treat that’s chewy like a Tootsie Roll but has more of a milky taste. Each piece is wrapped in edible rice paper ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - May 25, 2011, 5:28 pm
I do a lot of reading online, and the disregard for readability that’s out there is killing me. While some designers intentionally make bad websites (yellow text on blue backgrounds, anyone?), the default settings can be just as tiring. Without touching anything, your site is probably going to end...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - May 14, 2011, 1:01 pm
After so many months of eating out in China, I had kind of forgotten about all of the little differences between Chinese and American restaurants. It wasn’t until I started eating out in the US with someone from China (my fiancee) that it all came back to me. What really stands out to her is how ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - May 6, 2011, 11:29 pm
This is a picture from our family Easter party. Yes, I am a little late in sharing it. I’ve gotten incredibly bad about updating the blog in a timely manner. Case in point: my fiancee’s been here for almost a month now, and I’ve only said three things about her. To be fair, I don’t want her ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - May 2, 2011, 10:31 pm
Just to keep people up to date on the process of immigrating to the US from China, the first step we had to take now that Sarah is finally here was to apply for a social security number. We were advised to wait at least two weeks before doing so in order for Sarah’s arrival to appear in “the dat...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Apr 25, 2011, 10:41 am
My fiancee from China has been in the US for little over a week now, and it’s been a real eye-opening experience for her. Here are some of her initial impressions: 1. The streets are much less crowded. 2. The air is cleaner. 3. Panda Express sucks. 4. All of the drinks served to you are too co...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Apr 17, 2011, 12:10 am
Oh, jeez. Those guys look like they are going to rob the place. So my girlfriend from China is finally here (more on that later once I have permission to talk about her), and, of course, one of the first items of business was to stock up on familiar Chinese food. Walmart proved to be a bust in this...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Apr 13, 2011, 5:19 pm
As many of you know, I am writing a book detailing the time I spent living and teaching in China. I’ve been pretty mum about it since the last sample chapter I posted, so here’s an update. The final draft is done. I’ve gotten some great feedback from people, cleaned up the tone of the book, cu...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Apr 10, 2011, 4:44 pm
I didn’t really start drinking alcohol of any kind until I went to China, and the alcohol laws there are much more relaxed. From what I understand, the drinking age is 18, and there is no buying age limit. Even if there was, though, I’d image that, like most other “laws” in China, it wouldn�...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Apr 2, 2011, 1:11 pm
As I’m going through my old China photos, I came across the few pictures I had taken of Zipengshan in Hefei. Zipengshan was like my little treasure during that 2005 trip. I had no idea what I was getting into when I went out there. I just told my supervisor I really wanted to see a farm, so she wr...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Mar 22, 2011, 10:41 am
When lunch time rolls around, my co-workers will often head out for Chinese food in the form of Chinese Gourmet (pictured above) or Panda Express. Sometimes, without thinking, they invite me, then quickly realize their mistake, “Oh, crap. Clark’s had authentic Chinese food. He doesn’t want to ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Mar 20, 2011, 4:49 pm
The first Chinese school I taught at in Hefei had English sayings plastered all over the inside and outside walls. As I’ve been looking through my old photos (’cause I’m bored), I came across this particular favorite: SARS, I’ll overcome you! As a bonus, I’ll let you in on a little secre...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Mar 14, 2011, 10:18 pm
Search Engine Optimization hasn’t been my strong suit, but the more I look into it, the more I realize how sloppily my websites have been getting indexed. Just for fun, do a Google search for the following: site:yourdomain.com This will limit the search to whatever you replace “yourdomain” ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Mar 10, 2011, 10:18 pm
A long, long time ago, I wrote a book called The Second Page. It was a fantasy adventure about a guy who goes on a crazy journey to find his sister, makes lots of strange friends along the way, and battles it out with plenty of monsters. In 2005/2006, I had tried to get it published, but not a singl...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Mar 1, 2011, 9:01 pm
We submitted our K-1 visa application in July 2010. Now it’s March 2011, and the wait is finally over. My fiancee went to Guangzhou for her visa interview last week. While there, she had to get a medical exam on Friday, turn the results and some other paperwork into the consulate on Monday, then a...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Feb 27, 2011, 3:32 pm
I stayed in some dumpy places in China and, in my naivety, looked forward to the days when my living arrangements would improve back in the US. Of course, you can find dumpy apartments in the US, too, especially when you’re first starting out and aren’t sure what your budget is. Case in point: t...
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