this is my Hello

Hello, and welcome to The Ekscursionist!

Those of you who know my name will know why I have picked this particular moniker. Those of you who don't know my name might miss out a bit, but only a very little bit, and I can make up for your disappointment by offering you a pile of kittens. Disappointment assuaged? Very good, then let's move on.

This is a blog about me going to China and teaching there. Specifically, going to Harbin Institute of Technology and teaching English to its students. Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) is a fairly well-known tech school, part of the C9 League. Harbin the city is the 10th-largest city in China, clocking in (censusing in?) at ~10 million people. I will have company.

Many places internationally are characterized by their weather. London: fog, Washington state: rain, South Africa: vuvuzelas, etc. Harbin, thus, is also known for its temperature, which is, as any meteorologist worth their salt can tell you, Cold. It sponsers an annual Snow and Ice Festival (from Jan. 5 to whenever the sculptures melt), and is nicknamed the Ice City. (Harbin's other claims to fame are its beer, its annual furniture festival, and the fact that it is north of Vladivostok (everybody I talk to seems to know where Vladivostok is, and so it has become my official meter of how far north Harbin is. ("It's up in Manchuria." "Oh?" "North of North Korea." "Um." "North of Vladivostok." "Oh, yeah!")).)

So! the purpose of this lovely, interesting, well-designed, and particularly humble blog is simple: talk about how it is to live and teach in Harbin. I've been to China before and have lived in Beijing; been learning putonghua for going on seven years, so I should be fine with getting around. I'm excited in advance to see how Harbin will be. (No, really, you have no idea. I test my Big Harbin Coat every chance I get. I am knitting preparatory scarves. I have been dreaming in Chinese.)

I think that's pretty much all the information you need. I'll be making posts, oh, once a week? Perhaps more often if I can manage, but I'm not sure of my schedule just yet, and figure once-a-week to be a good number to aim for. There will also be pictures! Everybody likes pictures. I like pictures, anyway.

One last note, for the curious: The banner picture is not, in fact, a picture of anywhere in Harbin. It is actually one I took in Wu Zhen, a canalled, historical city in which a lot of the old crafts and skills have been preserved. Indigo-dying, baijiu-making, etc. It fit the winter theme nicely, though. It will be switched out once I take a suitably-cold picture of Harbin.


So there you have it! Welcome to The Ekscursionist, and I hope you enjoy my posts!