Our Apartment in Suzhou SIP (video/photos)

As I mentioned a couple weeks back, we’re moving to a new apartment at the end of the month. As it is fully furnished (I’ve yet to rent an apartment here that isn’t – though some call into question the definition of “fully”), yesterday we had to head over to the new place and meet …

June 8, 2008
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Quality of Life vs. Standard of Living

An e-mail to a friend this morning got me thinking about what it’s like to live in China. By “live”, I don’t mean in the common temporary sense, as a short-term contract teacher or business person might, but rather as someone who has no firm plans on the if and when of their eventual departure. …

June 4, 2008
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Must see: Hacking Democracy

Just got finished watching Hacking Democracy, a documentary exposing the vulnerabilities and errors rampant in electronic voting machines. For all its attempts to be shocking (a la Michael Moore), the film is a bit more subdued in its point – but all the better for it. Hacking Democracy tells the story of essentially one lady, …

May 28, 2008
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Redesigning The Duck

Back in 2004 when I decided to come to China I immediately hit the blogs to get a “feel” for what life for expats was like there. There were three blogs that immediately became my favourites, and have largely remained so in the nearly four years since. Mask of China Sinosplice The Peking Duck That …

May 21, 2008
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Movin’ on up … to the first floor

Well, it’s official. Mags, Addie and I are all moving to a new apartment at the end of June. We’ve been talking about moving for quite a while now, and with our lease up next month, it was time to either piss or get off the pot… alright, there was no pots, and I wouldn’t …

May 21, 2008
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Moment of Silence today

Just a quick notice to say to everyone that today officially starts a 3-day mourning period, and will include a 3-minute moment of silence across the nation at 2:28pm this afternoon. Whether you are a reader in or out of China, please join me in observing this moment of silence and taking the time to …

May 19, 2008
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How us Suzhou Expats can help quake victims

My friend Rebecca just let me know that Suzhou Bookworm, which also has an affiliated location in Chengdu, is collecting donations to assist those affected by Monday’s horrible earthquake in Sichuan. If any fellow Suzhou expats have means to help, please read the following for details. The Bookworm’s sister branch in Chengdu has become a …

May 14, 2008
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Am I the only one that didn’t feel it?

So, as everyone is now well aware, China was hit by a major (7.8) earthquake at 2:30 this afternoon. Current reports cite nearly 9,000 dead, and its effects were felt as far north as Beijing, in the south east in Taipei, and directly east of me in Shanghai. I had no idea. At the time …

May 13, 2008
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That’s Uncle The Humanaught to you!

So as of some yet undisclosed time today I officially became an uncle! My sister gave birth to a whopping 9 lbs. 9 1/2 oz bouncing baby boy named Gabriel. I’ve yet to receive all the details, but was too excited to wait and post about it – I’m going to assume he’s got the …

May 9, 2008
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Suzhou Bookworm’s East & West Music Fest

I swear, this town gets a little bit more livable every day. I mean, we’ve got an Irish Pub that serves Guinness on tap, we’ve got one, two, three places that I can get a taco, we’ve a cafe/bookshop/lending library loaded to the rafters with English-language books, we’ve got an English-language movie cinema playing Iron …

May 8, 2008
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