Author Archives: scottatirrell

*Originally posted 11/1/2020 How many times in life do we kick ourselves? The first few days I was in China, I kept a journal. I even brought several blank notepads realizing there would be value in documenting my experiences. But then, the wonders of the country pulled me away, and I stopped after perhaps halfContinue reading “My life in China, Part 10- Six months to life”

*Please note, this is a repost from October 2020. My wife’s aunt and grandmother are both healing and doing well. How to even approach the topic of Healthcare in China? It’s a pretty broad issue and one that the US hasn’t gotten right either, which is important to note right at the beginning of thisContinue reading “My life in China, Part 9- Healthcare in China”

During my time in China, people took me out to eat a lot, especially in the first few months. As I sat facing the door as the guest of honor in banquet after banquet of Lazy Susan parades, I was overwhelmed by the abundance and variety of Chinese cuisine. It was a bit of aContinue reading “My life in China, Part 8- Fish eyeballs and baijiu”

So, there I am in the classroom waiting for my test subjects in my first teaching experiment. They slowly filter in, all very intrigued by this young foreigner at the podium nervously slurping tea like some sort of connoisseur. God, I must have looked a fool. I didn’t even know what kind of tea IContinue reading “My life in China, Part 7- Teaching and Tea”

*Picture above is Dàbáilóu after it got its new red facade. When I was there, the building was white. Well, for the most part, the worst is over. After the first few days of torture, the world that I hoped and dreamed about for the last few months comes to fruition. I can move fromContinue reading “My life in China, Part 6- Path to teaching”

I know. I’ve been delaying this next part of my story. I’ve hinted, but I keep avoiding the point. It was a bit of a traumatic experience, so talking about it is difficult because of the ordeal and, more importantly, because it doesn’t make me look incredibly bright. I’ve tried to offer plenty of excuses,Continue reading “My life in China, Part 5- The first 4 days”

I will continue with my adventure after leaving the airport in Beijing shortly, but I just wanted to take a moment and give some context to the place I will call home for the remainder of this multi-part story. Baoding city in Hebei Province is no Beijing or Shanghai. I doubt many outside of ChinaContinue reading “My life in China, Part 4- A bit about Baoding”

So, the journey continues (check out Part 1 and Part 2). I am landing in Beijing, watching fireworks going off all around. After months of planning and various bumps in the road, I am finally in China! It is hard to get across the excitement at this point. I am setting off on a hugeContinue reading “My life in China, Part 3- Arrival”

So as I detailed in my last post, they canceled my flight, forcing me to reschedule the departure on my great adventure to the next day. It is leaving early, and after the day’s events, it is already well into the night, but I still have a mission. Somehow I need to let Hebei UniversityContinue reading “My life in China, Part 2- Frantic calls”

Way back in the winter of 2004 and 2005, I probably made the most significant decision of my life. I decided to move to China. I would spend the next two years living in the Middle Kingdom, teaching CEO’s, college and high school students, and even kindergartners. I got married, was absorbed into a ChineseContinue reading “My life in China, Part 1- Getting there”