First post, two weeks deep

Hello everybody. My apologies for the delay in setting this up. For reasons that are too frustrating and inane to recount, I didn't get a stable internet connection until about two days ago. If I had my act together, I would have diligently written down my initial thoughts upon arrival ("wow, everything is in Chinese!" "Wow, everyone smokes everywhere - even in elevators!" "Wow, Cantonese people are short!" "Wow, Chinese fashion is like reading a newspaper with a migraine!"). Sadly, you'll just have to dive right in, without the all the wonderment of encountering any place for the first time. By now I've been living and working here for nearly two weeks - hardly a veteran, I know - so please accept my apologies if I casually throw something out there without explaining it. That is not to say that I know everything about where I am, etc., but that the part of this blog that was to be about discovery will start in medias res, so to speak.

That leads me to the purpose of this blog, titled "Separate Incidents": firstly, I require a forum to write my thoughts, lest this whole experience be lost. I've also been told that expat English teachers' writing skills sometimes erode after a year or two of speaking simply, so I'm trying to stave off that brand of scurvy with a lime of eloquent blogging.

I've also recently taken up photography (Nikon D40 with a 18-55mm kit lens and a 55-200mm telephoto w/ VR, if you're interested) and want to have a place to show off pictures, get some input, and generally give the hobby a sense of purpose. Yes, I have a need to display whatever I shoot - as the good book said, you don't light a candle and put it under a bucket (or bushel). As I've only been taking photos (with effort) for a few months, I can't really say what type of photography you're going to see here; there will probably be landscape/cityscape shots, some portraiture, LOTS of food photos, and maybe some artsy fartsy pieces that won't make me look like a total hack.

Lastly and most importantly, Separate Incidents is to be a window into my daily life here in sunny Zhuhai for family, friends, colleagues, and anyone who wants to read it. Phone calls to/from China are expensive; emails are fleeting; letters are slow; and I need you folks to feed my latent narcissism. Anyone who wishes to reach out can do so either in the comments section of the most recent post, or can email me at the usual place.

Separate Incidents is nothing more than a collection of observations, photos, and, of course, the occasional rant about the Boston Celtics or the Red Sox. Hopefully we all learn something from this.