What are bloggers for?

A recent comment changed the nature and tone of the (very limited) conversation on this blog; it seems our community is widening. While we mentioned in our first post way back in March 06 that this blog is intended “to keep all our friends and relatives up to date about our time applying for and serving in the Peace Corps,” we welcome readers who find themselves here for different reasons.

We did want to take a few minutes to reestablish the tone for posts and comments here. This space is still reserved for updating our friends and relatives on our Peace Corps China experience; other topics will be limited to the comments area.

Our posts and comments, while intended to be informational to those uninitiated in the PC/TEFL world, are certainly open to comment and critique from PCVs, RPCVs, VSOs, and other TEFLs in China or elsewhere. We simply ask that these responses be offered in a manner that would be helpful and informative to our main audience: our stateside friends and relatives.

What is helpful to our readers? Engagement with our ideas and experiences, serious dialogue, and arguments that positively state one’s own experiences and position. What would best be left to a personal email, or left unsaid? Sarcasm, arguments ad hominem, rebukes, and exhortations.

We do apologize for providing personal email addresses only at this late date; until now all our readers had this avenue open to them. Feel free to contact us at mrnickinchina@gmail.com, or alisoninchina@gmail.com. Also, we apologize in advance for being far slower in responding to comments than to emails.

Thanks,

Nick and Alison