Welcome! If you haven’t met me in person before stumbling upon this Peace Corps China blog, you have no idea who I am – though, in truth, perhaps that’s how it should be, as I hope this blog ends up being less about me, and more about my experiences in China shared with you, and cultural exchange between China and you. A few basics, though, are in order: My name is Isaac Mades, a recent college graduate seemingly destined to perpetually live in places whose names begin with the letter ‘W.’ I grew up in Westfield, Wisconsin, attended the University of Wisconsin, and am now in Wuwei, Gansu Province, People’s Republic of China. I’m blessed to have the best family, and the opportunity to join the Peace Corps and serve as part of the 23rd group of Volunteers sent to China, where I will be teaching English at Wuwei Occupational College (武威职业学院).

Why a blog? It might be said that the official, technical reason lies with the Peace Corps Third Goal: to help promote a better understanding of other peoples (in this case Chinese culture) on the part of US citizens. Yet, to truly and fully understand the reason for this blog, we need to expand upon the ideas above. I’ve named this blog ‘Shared Stories,’ which is completely unrelated to China except in the fundamental way in which it relates to all of us: we all have stories, stories that are ours, are unique, and are different from the stories of those even living next door to us. So, too, are our stories different from those living across the world, and even in my first few months in China, I have seen the power of sharing stories – not just telling stories, not just listening to stories, but sharing stories with each other, stories that we had no idea even existed until they were shared.

I envision this blog as a tool for sharing those stories that I find with you – but also one for you to share your stories with me and China, and if you read my blog and a single story is shared that makes you think, that changes your ideas about China or the world, or you share a story through me with the Chinese people that helps them better understand U.S. culture, then I consider this blog, and my service, to be a success.

If it does spark questions, or interests in China, I encourage you to take a few moments to explore those questions, to search and discover a little bit more - know that you can always reach out to me and Wuwei through this blog as your first step to hearing about China through not only my voice and experience here in China, but through many different voices from China itself. In this spirit, some of the stories that you will read in this blog will be my stories, my experiences, and I hope that in the future, some will also be the stories and ideas that my students, colleagues, and community wish to share with you.

Let’s begin, shall we?