Welcome

Welcome to my blog.  I'm setting this up so that anyone interested can follow my experiences and likely misadventures in the coming months.  I leave for China at the beginning of February.  Continental has a reasonably-priced flight from Newark over the polar ice cap to Beijing.  I'll spend a few days there sightseeing then to Kaifeng to move into my apartment and begin teaching on Feb. 16 when the semester begins.  Thus I will spend my sabbatical.

Thanks to the administration of The University of Akron and Wayne College for approving my application for leave, to all my colleagues who are happy to see me go (!), to history adjuncts who have stepped up to carry the course load in my absence, and my wife and family for their support.  Also thanks to Wooster native and College of Wooster graduate Edward Burger.  Ted lives in Beijing and has offered invaluable advice.  We met when he returned to Wooster to visit his family and screen his fine film on Ch'an Buddhist monks (http://www.amongstclouds.com/home.html).  Finally, thanks to Jackie and all the people at Henan University who have been so helpful.  I look forward to meeting all of them and to sharing my time in China!