School is finally over with!! I just finished my last essay today, and summer vacation has officially started! I can finally get some sleep at night, too. (even though its 3am and I'm up writing this blog)

Last weekend a friend of mine invited me over to a BBQ party. It was pretty chill. We played volleyball, went swimming, and pigged out on tons of food. She lives in such a rich stylish condo area, and has such a nice place. Anyways, it was a lot of fun!

Well, just relaxing until I go to Beijing next week!

Every Summer when school ends I move to China. I rent an apartment in Beijing, nearby Chaoyang park. I've traveled to many cities in China. I've been to Beijing, Tianjin, Zhangjiakou, Datong, Taiyuan, Pingyao, Jinan, Zaozhuang, Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai, Shanghai, Nanjing, Zhouzhuang, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Guilin, Yangshuo, Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, and the Shangri-La . My favorite places so far are Beijing, Qingdao, and all of Yunnan province. In the future I want to travel to Chengdu, Lhasa, Urumqi, Dunhuang, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Taipei, Jilin, Shenyang, Changchun, Harbin, Chongqing, Nanning, Changsha, Dalian, Nanchang, and Wuhan. While in China, I don't work or study. Its just vacation.

I am almost done with school, and will be going to China next week. Can't wait, should be a lot of fun. I'll be there for 3 months. This will be my fourth time in China. Its kinda a summer ritual for me lately.

If anyone has ideas or suggestions on what I should do, or if you want to hang out let me know. I'm an open, kind, smart, funny guy! Hehe!

I'm writing this blog because a few people have asked why I have chosen to study Chinese. I grew up in a small town in New Hampshire where the population is almost 100% white. I don't even remember seeing a Chinese person when I was younger, except maybe in a Chinese restaurant.

I got interested in learning Chinese because I wanted to learn a second language. I wanted to learn Chinese because I find the culture very interesting. Also, I was a fan of the old kung fu movies they show on TV in America. I always thought Chinese was impossible to learn unless you were born in China, so I decided to learn French, then Spanish. I was at a book store looking in the language section for some Spanish books, and came across a basic Chinese book. It didn't look all that hard, so I decided to pursue this new language. I eventually bought CDs, books, and computer programs. After 6 months I met a Taiwanese woman, and hired her to be my tutor. I studied with her 2 days a week, 2 hours a day. I few times it got frustrating, expecially with Taiwanese dialect accent, but I didn't quit (probably cause I was paying $10/ hour). After that, I took some college classes and travel to China every summer for 3 months for the last 3 years. Now I have been studying Chinese for almost 5 years. It never seems to get easier, but I am fortunate because I enjoy learning it.

There is such a freedom in knowing a second language. When I travel around China, I rarely use English. I enjoy knowing I can travel around on my own without many problems in translation. I love Chinese culture, food, history, people, architecture, and the language. It is beautiful when both spoken and written. I think Chinese people are dulled to the fact that they have an amazing culture because they see it everyday. As I am western-born in a community without any touch of Chinese influence, I am able to see and appreciate everything about China's great culture.

So this is my first blog. I'm going to try and keep it up to date, so wish me luck, leave me comments, and bug me to update!

My life is actually kinda boring so if anyone has ideas, then throw them at me! I'm always open for constructive criticism. That means I'll only cry for an hour after you tell me my blog sucks.

Anyways, I really love the smiles on this site. So creative and fun!