The travels of Justin

Last month I was answering questions about TRU and Canadian universities to Chinese parents. I’m sure China isn’t the only country that seems obsessed with ranking, but it’s a country where I have experience to talk about. Constantly my friends and people I meet are asking me about what is the “best” university in Canada. [...]

I’m helping out at an education expo in Beijing this weekend. I couldn’t believe that I was greeted outside the expo centre by scalpers selling tickets. “我有” (I have), is my reply, but one guy keep trying assuming that I am brushing him off instinctually. Once he realizes that I’m actually speaking Chinese with a [...]

I left Dalian a few days ago to meet a train traveling from Beijing to Nanchang. I learned that — for reasons beyond my understanding — it is impossible to buy a train ticket for a Beijing train from anywhere outside the capital. A friend who happend to be visiting Beijing purchased the ticket for [...]

I spent my weekend in 北京 (Beijing) and, as always, I return home exhausted from so much walking around with a giant rucksack. I visited Beihei Park, Lotus Lane, some hutongs, the Temple of Heaven before returning home this afternoon. I guess it’s a good time to share some big news, but not without first [...]

The temperature dropped below zero celcius today and Ryan and I agreed that in some small way it was beginning to feel a bit like home. Maybe in Canada we’ll see people get their knickers in a knot when the stereotype of Canadians as able to handle sub-zero temperature, but we’re actually reinforcing them. People [...]

Welcome fellow TRU students and faculty who’ve found my site through TRU World’s “What’s New” page. Feel free to poke around, comment and ask questions, and enjoy some photos from other parts of the globe. If you ever get bored of reading election coverage, visit anytime and I’ll do my best to bore you with [...]