We fly out of Beijing in the morning. The last few days have been some of the most exhausting and inspiring days of my life--from visiting the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, to gazing at Huangguoshu Waterfallto touring Famen Temple in Shanxi province to climbing the Great Wall. Kevin and I have experienced so much generosity and kindness during our visit, and I have had so many moments of pure awe over the last two weeks. Take a look. 

It's no secret that technology influences student life. From the ways in which we take in information, retain information, and synthesize information, technology provides a helping hand in each of these processes. I recently came across an awesome infographic from Presta Electronics that maps college students' relationship with technology. I encourage you to look it over. Some of the stats may surprise you, as well as some of the useful apps for education. 

I've hit the more-than-halfway mark for my trip to China this summer, and it's been really great so far! One thing that Dana Rogers (the Hive's photographer) and I got to do was visit Yiwen Chen, our Chinese Social Media Specialist, at her grandma's house in Wenzhou, about five hours south of Shanghai by bullet train.

Dana took some photos (many more to come), but you might want to take a look!

The past few days have been a whirlwind, meeting up with other UK students and faculty and participating (or, in my case, getting audio from) various seminars and group discussions on all sorts of topics relating to cultural exchange and Appalachian art & study in particular. When I return there will be a few podcasts from this event, so stay tuned!

Dear Friends,

As the 2011-12 academic year comes to a close let me thank you for all the incredible work, dedication and commitment you have exhibited throughout the year.  Without a doubt, our faculty and staff rival those at the most prestigious institutions in the country. 

Over the last year we have welcomed and educated a record-number of new students; we have successfully launched a new general education curriculum (UK Core) and a new residential college (Wired); we have made progress on shortening time-to-degree through our online and summer school initiative; we have greatly expanded our international efforts through faculty exchanges, short-courses, new education abroad programs, and our passport to the world initiative (Year of China); among many, many other successes. 

Our faculty and staff have been recognized by countless national organizations and agencies, as well as by the University community.  The following are just a handful of the many successes achieved this year:

For the past week I have been getting used to life in Spain.  For the month of May I am studying here with Francisco Salgado-Robles, a professor in the Spanish department. Last Sunday for the first time ever I took a plane out of the States and made the journey to Spain.  Right now I am living in Seville which is in southern Spain about an hour from the coast.  I have been here, in Seville, for a week now and I still get lost when I am going to my classes.  I am also doing service learning so I work at a Children’s Hospital.  

On a Southern China flight to Guiyang The Double with Richard Gere is on. The sound is too low and subtitles are in Chinese. A box lunch consisting of a small foil container with beef fried rice, a package of fermented cabbage, a roll, and yogurt, is passed to each passenger by two young flight attendants with perfect, matching hair buns.

(our hotel in Guiyang has spotty internet service so I’m posting this days later)

Many are quick to critique social media as being a giant time waste, something incredibly self-indulgent, and even slightly creepy. We have all heard these arguments before. An interesting counterargument posits that social media can be used to increase social capital and even be used for purposes of social good. The same two arguments also swirl around the sphere of videogames as well. I can't tell you how many times my parents told me to turn off my Nintendo and go outside. So what happens when you smash social media, gaming, and social good all into one? We're finding new, innovative sites almost everyday. 

I woke up this morning in the most populous city (proper) in the world expecting more noise. At 7:30 AM (7:30 PM, Kentucky time), Sunday morning, only tiny intermittent sounds of bicycle bells, a whoosh of a moped every few seconds, and sneezes from walkers along the street below. My husband, Kevin, and I are staying at a nice, simple, hotel at Shanghai University, on one of the many campuses.

At breakfast in the hotel, there was a choice of American breakfast or Chinese. We both chose the American--fried eggs, toast, and coffee. Tomorrow I’ll have the Chinese one, a hard-boiled egg, congee, (porridge), and another dish that I couldn’t make out from where we were sitting.

If you have read my bio, which I assume you all of course have done, I briefly mentioned my longing for any good reads and the lack of time that always prevents this need from being fulfilled during the semester. Through the glory of seasonal breaks, however, I was given a morsel of precious time that I willingly sacrificed for some recreational reading. Although I read this book some time ago, I felt it was due a revisit so that I may be able to share the brilliance I found it to be with all of you eager minds. The book is called "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." Please neglect its long title because it is totally worth a glance for those that are interested in entering the medical field or cellular research. So now that it's summer time, I encourage all of you to pick up this book and delve into this truly riveting story.