Tag: Culture

Red Envelopes & Money Giving Parties

Money can be a taboo topic, especially when with friends or family. In China, however, it is not taboo to get excited about giving and getting money. This is why red envelopes are a fun tradition around the holidays! And by holidays, I mean any and all holidays. Taobao, the Chinese equivalent of AliExpress, owned…

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Fall Activities at Salisbury Farm: RI 2019

October is one of the best times to be in New England. People all over the country and even from abroad come to see the spectacular foliage. Being new to Rhode Island and still somewhat new to the USA, I have been looking forward to this for a long time. Naturally, all the typical fall…

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Rainbow Bagels: They Look like a Unicorn, Taste Like 💩

The bagel was sugary yet flavorless, the beautiful twirls of colors wasted on what tasted far from the rainbow I expected. I had to scrape the cream cheese onto a regular piece of bread to get the grossly bland flavor out of my mouth…

10 Most Bizarrely Awesome Food-Themed Earrings

Food and fashion have always been in the spotlight of our society, playing an important role in our self-expression and identity. It is no wonder that food-themed fashion has made its way into our lives and onto many Pintrest boards. In the past, a pizza-print t-shirt may have been intended as a gag gift but…

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Dragon Boat Festival in Shanghai, China

The Dragon Boat Festival is a popular Chinese tradition involving dragon-themed boats racing down the river. There are different types of boats that hold various amounts of rowers. Every team always one drummer who’s job it is to keep a steady rhythm for his team to row to. Unless you plan weeks in advance, you…

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Restaurant Manners in China

A typical Chinese restaurant offers a wide variety of food including tofu in all shapes and forms, at least four different styles of pork, dumplings, rice, noodles, veggies, fish and chicken. When you order a dish, you’ll notice immediately that the portion is huge – that’s because you’re supposed to share everything. At a typical…

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Wasting Plastic: China & Recycling

China is ahead of the Western world in many ways but is still trying to catch up in others. Wasting plastic in combination with not recycling may be the most baffling thing about the country that is so desperately trying to improve it’s pollution situation. While China has taken many effective steps to reduce pollution, it…

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Why are there Daily Fireworks in China?

At least once a day I jump out of my skin, sometimes spilling coffee or tea, because of sudden machine-gun-sounding fireworks. These fireworks have nothing to do with holidays and don’t happen at night, so you can barely even see the pretty colors. So why would Chinese people waste their money on day-time fireworks? Many…

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How to Get Cash Anywhere in China: No ATM Necessary!

China is the land of smartphones and genius apps that will make your life easier. People of all ages and financial backgrounds have internet phones, since Samsung/iPhone quality alternative cost less than $150 (and the most primitive smartphones can cost as little as $15). Everyone who has a smartphone also has WeChat, an app that acts…

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Getting (& Giving) Red Envelopes

Red Envelopes come in two forms: traditional paper with intricate designs and the increasingly popular digital alternative! People love Red Envelopes because they contain money. Amounts can vary from worthless 50 cent coins given to children to significant amounts of money for newlyweds. It doesn’t even have to be Chinese New Year to get (or…

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Colder on the Inside – Winter in Southern China

Winter mornings are always unpleasant. Unraveling those warm covers always fills me with dread. It takes me a few minutes to prepare for the plunge into the freezing air. I run to the bathroom to take a warm shower and brush my teeth, hopping up and down on my tows to keep my feet off…

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Drinking Hot Water in China

Hot water is healthy to drink and it’s all the rage in China. Even vending machines have it! Water isn’t only thing that’s hot either…

Introducing the Huaqiao Foreign Friends Association

The Huaqiao Foreign Friends Association aims to help foreigners feel at home and bring us together with locals to expose them to the English language. Learn more about the association and it’s goals.

The Politics Behind the Chinese Exhibition in Prague 2014

Looking at the two mighty soldier statues evoked respect and admiration for Chinese culture and history. It is clear why Zeman hopes to gain economic insight and profit from cooperating with China. But adopting some great ideas can lead to also adopting less desirable ones — and if Czech respect for human rights ends up traded for money, then more people will begin looking at both statue and flesh-and-blood soldiers in fear instead of awe…

Asking Strangers Controversial Questions

I came to Cleveland with a very ambitious project in mind. I wanted to write a compelling article about abortion. I could already picture myself talking to pregnant girls who were considering abortion, or those who had already had one. I thought I’d just as one student and they’d give me several contacts willing to…

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Are We There Yet? Prague – Ohio Delay

No one from our group of twelve had problems at any airport security checkpoints or got even close to being sent back to Prague on our long journey to Cleveland through London and Chicago. This was especially surprising seeing our diverse nationalities, religions, frustrating visa requirements or the confusing nature of our university trip that required a tourist visa rather than a student one. Many of us were sweating bullets over the possibility of having problems with our transit visa in London and about the intimidating officers at the U.S. passport control. Ironically enough, those were only parts of the entire journey that actually went through as planned.