Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Dec 6, 2009, 8:14 am
I just talked to someone who had taken the BEC exam, a business English test that rewards passing students with a certificate. The certificate is mostly used to label how well you know English, but it...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Dec 3, 2009, 5:30 am
Malatang shops may not be some of my favorite places to eat, but Da Niang Dumpling is. Da Niang is about as common in a big Chinese city as KFC, except that Da Niang is actually Chinese food. And, hey...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Dec 1, 2009, 4:05 am
In college, my Chinese teacher did a lot of activities where we were free to walk around the room, talking to other students (in Chinese) to find out information. I thought this was a great way to for...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Nov 29, 2009, 5:18 am
Notify the police if you see anything.
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Nov 26, 2009, 9:30 pm
This isn’t one of my favorite things to eat in China anymore, as I kind of overdosed last summer, but it’s one of the first types of restaurants foreigners pick up on. You don’t need...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Nov 25, 2009, 7:57 am
A new bakery opened in Changzhou, and it’s been consistently busy for the last two weeks. Every time I walk past the window, though, I lose all desire to go inside. Have you ever seen a more una...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Nov 22, 2009, 9:53 pm
Almost everything about English is difficult, and a list of five common problems could consist of nothing but grammar rules. I’ll forgo the really technical stuff, though, and focus mainly on th...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Nov 19, 2009, 8:43 pm
Hey, I wasn’t done complaining about the weather. Seriously, it’s bad. Every time I go to class, I think to myself, “There is no way I can tolerate this for another two months.”...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Nov 17, 2009, 10:43 pm
I usually tell people my favorite season is winter, but when winter finally comes, I complain about the cold and wish for a quick summer recovery. Then summer comes, and I start pining for winter. I r...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Nov 16, 2009, 7:18 am
I’ve been sitting on this list for a while, trying to pinpoint exactly what it is that’s been bothering me. Yeah, after 16 months of straight China, I’m in serious need of a break. N...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Nov 15, 2009, 7:35 am
My Spanish teacher from high school used to reach into his Disney vault every Friday and pick out a nice pelicula to subject us to. As a student, I loved these days, because I could play Bomberman on ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Nov 12, 2009, 9:21 pm
The downside to being a foreign teacher at a school in China (besides just about everything) is how nobody bothers to share important information with you until the last minute. Then they act surprise...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Nov 11, 2009, 6:09 am
I totally forgot it was Singles’ Day, which is easy to do, since virtually nothing is done to celebrate such a melancholy holiday. Somebody just looked at the date (11-11), noticed how many ones...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 23, 2009, 5:22 am
I need to rectify the bitterness from my previous tourism rant with something a little more positive. Granted, I may be jumping the gun on this post, but the majority of my traveling is over. I don...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 22, 2009, 8:07 am
As I get into this post, you’ll probably point out that other foreign countries are the same way, so let’s just get that out in the open right now and save everyone their breath. I know! I...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 21, 2009, 5:54 am
Arcades may be a dying fad back in the US, but they’re still popular hangouts for Chinese citizens, young and old. The arcade on Nanjing Road in Shanghai had some pretty crazy, new games, too, l...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 20, 2009, 7:59 am
Now that my brother is here, it is interesting to see how much importance others place on knowing which one of us is older. Often, the first question a new acquaintance will ask is, “Who is the ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 18, 2009, 10:31 am
I hate e-bikes. They’re the worst part of Chinese traffic and are a major contributor to its dangerousness. Every driver in China thinks they are above the law, but people on e-bikes seem to fol...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 17, 2009, 7:21 am
When Chinese students answer their teacher, they are expected to stand. I don’t really like this practice, because it punishes the kids for participating. I decided to give my classes a new rule...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 16, 2009, 9:41 am
Thinking about traveling in China? Well… don’t. Nah, just kidding. But if you’re like me and always aim to do things on the cheap, you’ll probably be more interested in booking...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 15, 2009, 3:46 am
... due to time and budget restrictions). Seeing the mountains of Guilin had been at the heart of my travel yearnings since 2006, so it’s about time I finally got to fulfill ... actually a r...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 14, 2009, 3:09 am
Of all the places we visited in China, we spent the least amount of time in Chengdu. The city was mostly included on our itinerary to act as a transfer point between Jiuzhaigou and Guilin. Chengdu is ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 13, 2009, 5:14 am
The beauty of Jiuzhaigou doesn’t stop at Jiuzhaigou Valley. There is another national park on the opposite side of the airport called Huanglong. Playing second fiddle to Jiuzhaigou, it’s h...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 4, 2009, 9:28 am
I was in Beijing in the summer of 2006 when the city was scrambling to improve its image in time for the Olympics, and I honestly didn’t think they would make it. The area surrounding Tiananmen ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Sep 1, 2009, 10:28 am
I am not impressed with my new school. They were very vague on a lot of details when I first signed up, and now I find myself living on a separate campus in a smelly apartment that lacks a useful kitc...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 26, 2009, 9:55 pm
China’s next big event, which is receiving enough attention here to possibly be the second coming in disguise, is the Shanghai 2010 World Expo. Last year, statues of a cartoony blue guy started ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 25, 2009, 10:53 am
Three weeks may have been a bit much, at least for a summer vacation in China. This is one hot, humid country. Every time I sat down at a computer, I couldn’t stand the heat long enough to even ...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 12, 2009, 8:37 pm
Every time I try to order plane tickets using Paypal, I get a call from the flight reservation company telling me Paypal is preventing them from receiving my money. So I open my Paypal account and see...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Aug 1, 2009, 2:48 am
A point I had made in my list of things I liked about China was the sightseeing, but I haven’t actually gone on a long, overnight trip outside of Jiangsu province for several months. My family i...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jul 30, 2009, 10:18 am
Oh, big surprise. A man who doesn’t like shopping for clothes. What are you going to tell us next? You don’t like wedgies, either? My problem with clothes shopping, however, isn’t th...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jul 29, 2009, 10:12 am
Yeah, Harry Potter is big here, too. No, I haven’t gone to the theater yet. What’s the point? It’ll be dubbed in Chinese with Chinese subtitles, and several scenes will be missing. S...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jul 26, 2009, 9:52 am
We were talking about expenses and how much the students spent on certain things every month. One of the girls said she spent very little on entertainment, because her husband was able to get free mov...
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Clark Nielsen posted an article on Clark Nielsen for the Win - Jul 22, 2009, 10:05 am
Typical of Chinese weather, it was a rainy, miserable, overcast day when there was finally something worth doing outside. Everyone knew it was going to be a bad day, and yet everyone still showed up a...
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