Yes China! An English Teacher's Love-Hate Relationship with a Foreign Country

Yes China! is a story about... wait for it... wait for it... tacos. You thought I was going to say China, didn’t you? Well, there might be something about China in here, but this is not your ordinary travelogue. Sure, I did the whole “traveling on a budget” thing and came face-to-face with some of the most horrifically poo and maggot-filled restrooms in existence, but the real reason I was in China was to teach. More specifically, I was there to pretend like I knew how to teach. Because I didn’t.So how does someone who had no interest in China and no experience in teaching end up spending a total of two years there? It was a spontaneous decision to go in the first place, but through the series of cultural mishaps that followed, the embarrassing dates, teaching successes and failures, cross-country adventures, personal revelations, and moments of thinking, “What the hell am I doing?!” I fell in love.Yes China! offers a unique look into the Chinese classroom as I butt heads with everyone from elementary and adult students to their school administrators. It is as much about life in modern China—the food, the language, the customs—as it is about how the experience helped me grow up and move past my social insecurities, conflicting Mormon upbringing, and self-defeating mindset. And, seriously, there really is a section about tacos in here, too.