Nihao!

For this year, I am a China doll. Not just because I'm a doll, a dame, a broad living abroad for a year in Nanjing, but because I know that this year I am especially fragile. I am especially breakable. A whole year in a country where I don't know the language, the customs, the city, or a single living soul. I will be standing in front of over fifty students at a time, teaching them the English language and American culture. In essence, China is making me feel a bit vulnerable and innocent.

I think it's no coincidence that I have moved from New Jersey (NJ) in America to Nanjing (also abbreviated NJ) in China. This place is bound to feel like home. I am in Nanjing on the Grinnell Corps fellowship, a teaching program through my alma matter (Grinnell College.) I will be teaching at the high school affiliated with Nanjing University, which is also where I'm living, teaching Junior Is and IIs, and Senior Is. Luckily, I have a charming fellow fellow, Sophie, who actually has the porcelain skin of a china doll but, more importantly, has the sweetest disposition and is the best possible person with whom to embark on this journey.

This blog will chronicle my life in Nanjing. I will not hold back on the embarrassing stories sure to come and will certainly post pictures of this gorgeous city. But for now, China Doll signing off!