http://blog.clarknielsen.com web developer, former teacher in china, frequent gamer, always writer Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:55:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It only takes a few weeks of being back in your hometown to feel like everything you've done prior—all that time spent fighting for the attention of hungry Chinese students—never happened. Or it did happen, but everything you thought you learned from the experience... well... never happened. Or it did ... http://blog.clarknielsen.com/2010/03/teaching-in-retrospect/ Trauma Center: New Blood (Wii) If there's any franchise that just couldn't be done properly outside the Wii, this is it. Performing surgery with the Wii remote is a perfect fit and can be a rewarding yet nerve-racking experience. Especially if you've got shaky hands. I'm always accidentally dropping a piece ... http://blog.clarknielsen.com/2010/03/mini-game-reviews-volume-3/ The following video doesn't highlight the most chaotic moments of crossing a Chinese street. This is just a normal day in Changzhou, after all. But count how many close calls you see. It'll be fun! http://blog.clarknielsen.com/2010/03/crossing-the-street-in-china/ My old college roommate and I had become infected with a disease, but this isn't necessarily bad news. The "disease" allowed us to see ghosts, and the ghosts that hung around our apartment were smokin' hot! There was a boy ghost, though, who didn't like that we could see his ... http://blog.clarknielsen.com/2010/03/i-dream-of-plastic-axes/ There are four tones in Chinese, they're numbered from one to four, and Chinese speakers often refer to them as "first tone, second tone, etc." To review, the first tone is flat (mā), the second rises (má), the third dips (mǎ), and the fourth falls (mà). Okay... that's swell and all, ... http://blog.clarknielsen.com/2010/03/how-to-remember-chinese-tone-order/ I know, I know, this comes pretty quickly off the heels of the last set of reviews, but... I've been playing a lot of games lately. Gimme a break! Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360) My opinion of this first-person shooter would probably change drastically if I had an Xbox Live account, since ... http://blog.clarknielsen.com/2010/03/mini-game-reviews-volume-2/ One weekend, a friend and I decided to visit Xuzhou, a city in northern Jiangsu province. Xuzhou is significantly bigger than Changzhou, though it has very little going for it. They do have a small terracotta warrior museum, but the city itself just felt very sleepy and boring. While there, we ... http://blog.clarknielsen.com/2010/03/the-best-amusement-park-in-xuzhou/ ... and I'm ready to go back. Nah, just kidding. There are certainly things I miss about China (my girlfriend being first and foremost), but I really wasn't getting much enjoyment out of teaching, and there are so many things about China that drive me crazy and would have continued ... http://blog.clarknielsen.com/2010/02/one-month-after-china/