About Me

Ke Xu

Welcome

to my blog. I come from China. My first language is Mandarin Chinese. I came to the United States in 1992 and I have been here for more than 16 years. Before I came here, I was an English teacher in China. I was also a researcher, a textbook writer, a test designer, and an administrator. Now I am teaching ESL at Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York. I am also a columnist for Essential Teacher, a quarterly journal for TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other languages), an international organization of English teachers all over the world (for details see my complete profile on the left)


I have a wide range of interests.

I like music, basically neo-classic type. My favorite ochestras include Mantovani, James Last, and Paul Mauriate. I am addicted to the classic pieces played by these bands. I download music and collect all albums by these bands and my collection is among the largest and the most complete all over the world.

Every time I am online downloading music via WinMX, there is often a long line there waiting to download music from me. Many neo-classic music lovers thought I am German or France because they believe Europeans like this type of music more than people from other parts of the world. Of course they were surprised to hear that I am Chinese. My favorite pianist is Richard Claydeman who is a genius in giving classic pieces new life by playing them in a new way that fascinates people. His album “Golden Heart” never fails to appeal to me. I like to play piano although I have never taken any classes or received any formal training. Play for fun. That’s how I see it and enjoy doing it.


I like painting as well. It was once my dream to become a painter when I was in high school. I took some classes or tutoring learning Chinese ink painting, water color and oil painting. I love to paint landscape and nature. I often watch “Paint with Ross” on channel 21. When I was studying at college, I did some oil painting during my leisure time. I started to learn painting in high school when we didn’t have a heavy workload at school and had a lot of free time. I was one of the 4 members of a group responsible for publishing the class wall-newspaper. Most of my best friends were amateur painters. So we spent a lot of time checking each other’s latest work, commenting on each other’s work, discussing on the works we saw in the museum or recent art magazines and inspired each other. Unfortunately, I was born and grew up at a wrong time and my dream didn’t come true. I didn’t have many choices by the time I finished my high school and I eventually became a foreign language teacher.

I am also an amateur photographer (see my photo gallery web site). I particularly like to take landscape pictures. I love nature. I love big mountains, rivers and lakes although I also like flowers and plants. Every time I go on a trip to somewhere, cameras are something I never forget to bring with me. I don't remember how much money I have spent, or wasted, on photographing, but I truly enjoy taking pictures. Apart from taking pictures myself, I also collect landscape photos and nature photos.

I like to travel. I have been to over 10 countries including Australia, England, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, and the Philippines. Everywhere I went, I couldn't help being amazed by the breath-taking scenic views, the architecture I had only read about in books before, the people wearing colorful clothes, speaking a different language; the music, the customs and the food of the country. I walked on the streets or sat in the park trying to communicate with the locals with the few phrases I picked from a little travel guidebook I always carried with me. Even when I couldn't express myself clearly with my extremely limited vocabulary, I could always exchange a friendly smile with them. I tried different kinds of food, of which some I enjoyed and some I didn't, but without regret. I actually enjoyed being surrounded by an exotic atmosphere and being immersed in a language environment where virtually nobody spoke my language. The mixed feeling of fear and excitement and the burning desire fired by curiosity to find out about the mysterious culture. I have also been to most of the national parks in America, such as the Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, the Arcadia, the Grand Teton, Zion Canyon, the Great Smokey Mountain. I like to walk in the winding paths in the woods, hearing the birds chirring and breathing the fresh air in the morning; or to read a book sitting on a rock while washing my feet in the clear water at the foot of a waterfall.


Another hobby of mine is cooing. I believe food is a very important part of a culture. I seldom dine out. In stead, I cook my own food. Whenever I have time, and in good mood, of course, I would cook some food of my own choice, and then take time to enjoy them. I often watch cooking programs on TV and try something new by myself from time to time. I have read many books introducing all types of Chinese food. It is a nice way to invite my friends to dinner at my home and cook a few dishes which are testy and healthy. Every time I am invited to a dinner party in a well-known restaurant or someone's home, I will not only enjoy the food, but also try to learn a few tricks to cook the food I eat.


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About Me