Julia Ross
writer + traveler
You''ll notice many of the stories on this site relate to China/Taiwan. That's because I've spent long stretches in Shanghai and Taipei, roaming back alleys and night markets, studying Mandarin, and generally trying to understand the culture better by writing about it.
I taught English in Shanghai in 2002, then skipped across the Taiwan Strait in 2006-07 to study under a Fulbright Fellowship. I miss the temples, the hiking and, above all, the Taiwanese, whose affection for Americans I have yet to see equalled elsewhere (ok, the Irish like us, too, but it's neck-and-neck).
I've worked in international development since the mid-90s and have traveled--for work and pleasure--to a few unlikely places, including Uzbekistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Turkey and Latvia. Washington, D.C. is home, and every August you'll find me on Block Island, RI, hanging with my nieces and nephews.
My articles and essays have appeared in the Washington Post, Time, Christian Science Monitor, Plenty, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington City Paper, the Travel Channel's World Hum, and other venues.
One of my World Hum essays made the "Notable Travel Writing of 2008" list in the Best American Travel Writing 2009 anthology, and an op-ed I wrote for the Washington Post won an award from the North American Travel Journalists Association. Media appearances have included Radio Taiwan International, Taiwan's United Daily News, Peter Greenberg's XM radio show, and KPAM-Portland's weekend travel show.
What else? I hold degrees from the University of Michigan (history) and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (journalism), and survived nine months of Chinese study at National Taiwan Normal University.
If you're interested in traveling to D.C., check out my blog on the city's museum scene at dcmuseumgoer.com. You can find me on Twitter at @julia914. I can be reached at juliarossdc [at] gmail [dot] com.
I taught English in Shanghai in 2002, then skipped across the Taiwan Strait in 2006-07 to study under a Fulbright Fellowship. I miss the temples, the hiking and, above all, the Taiwanese, whose affection for Americans I have yet to see equalled elsewhere (ok, the Irish like us, too, but it's neck-and-neck).
I've worked in international development since the mid-90s and have traveled--for work and pleasure--to a few unlikely places, including Uzbekistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Turkey and Latvia. Washington, D.C. is home, and every August you'll find me on Block Island, RI, hanging with my nieces and nephews.
My articles and essays have appeared in the Washington Post, Time, Christian Science Monitor, Plenty, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington City Paper, the Travel Channel's World Hum, and other venues.
One of my World Hum essays made the "Notable Travel Writing of 2008" list in the Best American Travel Writing 2009 anthology, and an op-ed I wrote for the Washington Post won an award from the North American Travel Journalists Association. Media appearances have included Radio Taiwan International, Taiwan's United Daily News, Peter Greenberg's XM radio show, and KPAM-Portland's weekend travel show.
What else? I hold degrees from the University of Michigan (history) and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (journalism), and survived nine months of Chinese study at National Taiwan Normal University.
If you're interested in traveling to D.C., check out my blog on the city's museum scene at dcmuseumgoer.com. You can find me on Twitter at @julia914. I can be reached at juliarossdc [at] gmail [dot] com.
