Dental fear and a general update on things

I've been blogging for about six months now. My goal was to write approximately once or twice a week (about anything really), and I've done that pretty much. Except lately I haven't (but I'll try, I haven't changed my goal).

I have been contemplating my future quite a bit, but there's nothing definite yet to tell. And I've been visiting dentist, and it's taken a lot of my energy.

I've avoided going for years, and there's a lot of dental work to be done. So far it's been going okay, and I advice all dental phobics to make an appointment. Easier said than done, I know. :) There are financial reasons for not going beside the fear, and my dental fear isn't really as severe as it could be, but I've had some bad experiences in the past, and admittedly I've never taken good enough care of my teeth - but that's changed, for good.

For me at least the first step was the hardest, so I guess I would suggest dental phobics to search for information on the web, and start planning the visit, bribe yourself if you have to. The best advice I have is to change your dentist if he/she is unempathetic, and makes you feel bad. There are good ones out there.

Another Betsy in Asia

Betsy writes for magazines, mainly about fashion I gather, but she loves photoblogging too, so if you want to look at wonderful pictures from Asia, go to Betsy goes to China .

She is actually located in Singapore these days, but travels a lot for her work around in Asia. She also has a fashion blog .

Teaching English in Jinan

I've never been to China, But Betsy Quicksall has. You can read about her experiences from Intro to Chinese. She was teaching English in Jinan, Shandong for about a year:

"I think I am finally warming up to the idea of what it means to be a teacher. In other words, for the first 5 weeks, I was hesitant to correct the students. I was quite happy to teach, but I delicately tried to avoid pointing out their mistakes. With many students, it feels like trying to coax a shy kitten to come over to you. You don't want to make any sudden movements and scare it back into the corner. You have to be encouraging. Today, I was more critical (constructively) and it paid off.
My fear is that some students are thinking: Who is this young, rich, American kid and what are her qualifications anyway?"

And she visited other places as well:

"We spent one day in a tropical city called Jinhong before setting off on our final trek. Jinhong is home to dozens of ethnic minorities. It felt as though we had left China. There was Dai script on street signs and storefronts, the people looked completely different, and although rice, meat and vegetables were the main staples, the flavors were refreshingly different---chicken stir fried with coconut milk or sticky rice served in a pineapple."

There's not a lot about Chinese language, but there are lots of nice photos. In this case it would be preferable to read the story from start to finish though, but with some effort, you can do that of course, if you wish.