Notes from the Counseling Center, and beyond, March 23, 2010

“It feels like winter all over again.” The taxi driver muttered when I slipped in the backseat. The overnight drizzle took out the edge of floating particles from the air. The breeze feels rinsed out, chilly and soothing. Getting a taxi at 8:40 AM had been a struggle. There are plenty of cabs racing in the streets in the early morning hours but hardly any one of them would stop to take on passengers, because the night-shift drivers are rushing to the depot to turn the car over to their day-shift colleagues. It is the same deal in the late afternoon (5:30 – 7:00 PM), when the day shift drivers return the favor to the night shift, an odd arrangement from both business and service points of view.
I had scheduled a 10:00 AM counseling session with a American young man teaching English to second graders at a local primary school. Heading out to the Counseling Center in the city from my apartment in Jiangning (a suburb of Nanjing) at 8:00 would give me plenty of time, or so I thought. With the taxi hunt and traffic jams, I barely made it to the Center in time.

Tension in the Chinese Higher Education

As higher education becomes more widely available to the population, its functions are expanding to serve the diverse needs of the Chinese economy and society. Market forces are driving the schools to foster innovation and entrepreneurship needed by a global economy led by the private sector and multinational corporations. However, the systems and mechanisms that operate the universities are sometimes incompatible with this purpose. Instead of fostering traits that drive innovation and entrepreneurship, such as independent thinking and risk-taking, the prevalent educational practices are tied to the philosophy of shaping the students’

English language blogs dedicated to life in Nanjing

The city is certainly worth covering. Here are a few random photos I shot over the last several months.

江心洲 (Jiang-Xin-Zhou, Island in the middle of the river). This is an island that can be reached by ferry.

牛首山（Niu-shou-shan, bull’s head mountain）There used to be a Zen temple in the mountain, where the Niu-Tou Section (牛头宗) of Zen Buddhism was established. It is great for hiking.

Notes from the Counseling Center – May 12, 2010

It is a sunny day in Nanjing. The temperature is about 20 degrees Celsius. The air quality is poor, as usual.
A couple in their early 30s came to the center for consultation about the man’s hypochondria. The man has worried about various potential heath issues for several months. He has gone through several examinations, i