Freeing college students of the written word can create excitement and panic.
At a morning class last week at Tianjin Medical University, my students pointed out to me that I wasn't my usual happy self and asked me what was wrong.
To 27-year-old Zack from New York, the trip to China is like opening a pop-up book, after which China's rich culture became "alive" from the original rigid images of China, like Kung Pao Chicken and Kung Fu.
When I was living in Adelaide, I would often buy packets of dried "Long Life Noodles" from a little shop in Chinatown.
As I sit here in my office, overlooking the campus of Tianjin Medical University, I can see hundreds of students coming through the gates - each towing a suitcase, or lugging bags - as they get ready to start the new term.
When I heard days later about how angry the animal rights groups are, I felt they were just making an unnecessary fuss.
While today's young Chinese may struggle to point to their heroes, the idea of heroism is very much alive.
When people talk about Yao Ming now, their thoughts are of his latest injury and the uncertainty this has brought upon his career.
I have never been colder than here in Beijing. A perishing cold that creeps across your back and chills your arms and legs.
When I told my friends in Australia that it was the "Year of the Rabbit" for the Chinese, they were horrified.
China should strive to gain more cultural soft power by discussing its current culture rather than lingering over its traditional culture.
Marrying later is a very modern trend, not just in China but also in Europe, Japan and the United States.