Based on my blog so far, you might think that my friends are nameless beings who do fun things with me. Let me present to you the first in a two part series titled "Meet the People That I Annoy Regularly". Part One will cover American fellows, while Part Two will cover Chinese fellows. Who knows, maybe if the masses demand more, I'll write a Part Three and so on. Without further ado, meet my friends!
Here we go!
Gareth is in my teaching group along with two other Chinese fellows. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2010 but many may think he looks like he graduated a few years ago. His interests include Chinese language and culture, playing the guitar, and long walks on the beach.
Hi, Gareth.
After being born in Australia, he grew up in Hong Kong for about ten years. He then moved to Chicago for high school and then matriculated at Michigan. We have a lot in common. For example, we both grew up overseas, we both like playing sports, and neither of us is interested in using Chinese public bathrooms. I expect that as I continue writing my blog, I'll be talking more and more about him in the coming two years since he's the other American fellow in my group. We'll be having a pretty similar experience in Dazhai so be sure to check out his blog here (there's also a link on the left side of every page).
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Christine is a tiger. RAWR!
Always ready for her closeup.
She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2008 (so maybe she's a bulldog, whatever) and has spent some time in the workforce like me. Not only has she worked for Jimmy Carter and squeezed his butt, but was (is?) also qualified to diagnose war veterans with PTSD and various other medical conditions. She's truly a renaissance man. Our shared ability to look ridiculous in photos leads me to believe we were separated at birth or that we are at least long lost relatives. Her birthday is September 24 so she is a Libra according to all magazines and horoscope sources. I'm sure that when Christine and I hang out, we offend those within two city blocks with our awful cackles, great taste in jokes, and generally hilarious behavior. She is teaching in Shaojie, a town 40 minutes away from Yunxian (which is 2 hours from me).To get a better taste of Christine, check out her great blog here (see link on the left of every page as well).
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Alex (a.k.a. Casey): Alex (a.k.a. Casey) got his nickname from a classic Grateful Dead song. Some Deadheads gave him the name when they heard his last name was. See if you can guess his last name! Great! I still can't decide if I call him Alex or Casey, so please accept either, kind reader. Alex graduated from Hamilton in 2010 and is quite tall and his dad is British. If you ever meet him, this will help you understand him quite a bit more.
So serious. All the time.
He originally hails from Pennsylvania and I assume he likes Yuengling a lot, though I haven't confirmed this suspicion. Casey and I lived together with another Chinese fellow for four weeks during our Summer Training Program (STP) so we've become good friends. We share a similar sense of humor which I like to call "groaning humor", whence after hearing the joke, the listener groans and wishes they never heard the joke at all. His favorite joke is the "Seabiscuit and his brother" joke. I suggest you look it up and never tell it to anybody because your listeners may stab you in the eye with a fork. He is well known throughout CEI for his excellent Gchatting skills. Casey is teaching in a town called Maolan, about 40 minutes away from Yunxian. I don't think he has a blog, but Casey, if you do, let me know and I'll post a link!
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Sarah is not a CEI fellow, but was an intern this summer for all but the final week of STP. She currently attends Brandeis University in beautiful Waltham, Mass. and will graduate this upcoming December. She hails from Beijing where, except for her time in college, she has lived her entire life.
Sarah and me at her request. And yes, I have a mustache. And yes, this is the best picture I could find of us together.
When growing up, she could only speak English to her (American) mom and Chinese to her (half-Chinese) dad. As you might imagine, she is half fluent in both languages. Just kidding, her Chinese is awesome and so is her English. We already sorely miss her and hope that she visits us in Yunnan often and for long periods of time. And we hope she overnights us a KFC Doubledown at least twice a month so we don't forget what America tastes like.
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Lucas graduated from Colgate University in 2010. More interesting (to me), however, is that he attended Gilman! Although I don't know anybody from Gilman these days, I had a great time telling him how my cousins went there and my friend's dad was the headmaster back in the day.
Lucas, a Real American Hero.
Lucas defies the Gilman stereotype by being a smart and kind jock, not a stupid and mean one. He can grow an awesome mustache and it could get him all the Yunnan-ese babes. Unfortunately, ladies, this man's not on the market. Lucas is teaching in Maolan with Casey, so we'll be sure to see a lot of each other over the next two years.
Gareth is in my teaching group along with two other Chinese fellows. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2010 but many may think he looks like he graduated a few years ago. His interests include Chinese language and culture, playing the guitar, and long walks on the beach.
Hi, Gareth.
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Christine is a tiger. RAWR!
Always ready for her closeup.She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2008 (so maybe she's a bulldog, whatever) and has spent some time in the workforce like me. Not only has she worked for Jimmy Carter and squeezed his butt, but was (is?) also qualified to diagnose war veterans with PTSD and various other medical conditions. She's truly a renaissance man. Our shared ability to look ridiculous in photos leads me to believe we were separated at birth or that we are at least long lost relatives. Her birthday is September 24 so she is a Libra according to all magazines and horoscope sources. I'm sure that when Christine and I hang out, we offend those within two city blocks with our awful cackles, great taste in jokes, and generally hilarious behavior. She is teaching in Shaojie, a town 40 minutes away from Yunxian (which is 2 hours from me).To get a better taste of Christine, check out her great blog here (see link on the left of every page as well).
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Alex (a.k.a. Casey): Alex (a.k.a. Casey) got his nickname from a classic Grateful Dead song. Some Deadheads gave him the name when they heard his last name was. See if you can guess his last name! Great! I still can't decide if I call him Alex or Casey, so please accept either, kind reader. Alex graduated from Hamilton in 2010 and is quite tall and his dad is British. If you ever meet him, this will help you understand him quite a bit more.
So serious. All the time.He originally hails from Pennsylvania and I assume he likes Yuengling a lot, though I haven't confirmed this suspicion. Casey and I lived together with another Chinese fellow for four weeks during our Summer Training Program (STP) so we've become good friends. We share a similar sense of humor which I like to call "groaning humor", whence after hearing the joke, the listener groans and wishes they never heard the joke at all. His favorite joke is the "Seabiscuit and his brother" joke. I suggest you look it up and never tell it to anybody because your listeners may stab you in the eye with a fork. He is well known throughout CEI for his excellent Gchatting skills. Casey is teaching in a town called Maolan, about 40 minutes away from Yunxian. I don't think he has a blog, but Casey, if you do, let me know and I'll post a link!
----------
Sarah is not a CEI fellow, but was an intern this summer for all but the final week of STP. She currently attends Brandeis University in beautiful Waltham, Mass. and will graduate this upcoming December. She hails from Beijing where, except for her time in college, she has lived her entire life.
Sarah and me at her request. And yes, I have a mustache. And yes, this is the best picture I could find of us together.When growing up, she could only speak English to her (American) mom and Chinese to her (half-Chinese) dad. As you might imagine, she is half fluent in both languages. Just kidding, her Chinese is awesome and so is her English. We already sorely miss her and hope that she visits us in Yunnan often and for long periods of time. And we hope she overnights us a KFC Doubledown at least twice a month so we don't forget what America tastes like.
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Lucas graduated from Colgate University in 2010. More interesting (to me), however, is that he attended Gilman! Although I don't know anybody from Gilman these days, I had a great time telling him how my cousins went there and my friend's dad was the headmaster back in the day.
Lucas, a Real American Hero.
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