Name: Eric McGraw

Birthplace:  Sandusky, Ohio, U.S.A.

Hometown:  Huron, Ohio, U.S.A.

My hometown has around 8,000 people and is located on Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes and in the northeast area of the United States.  It is a typical small town, where a lot of people in the city know everyone else; just like a big family.  My city is also a special place because there is little crime and most people don’t lock the doors to their house when they leave!  I lived and grew up in Huron until I was 18 years old.  I could drive to big cities like Chicago in five hours and both New York City and Washington, D.C. in ten hours.  My part of Ohio is also home to Cedar Point Amusement Park, which is voted as the number one park in the world every year!  It is cold in the winter because we are neighbors to Canada and hot in the summer.  Luckily we have Lake Erie to keep cool by swimming and boating.

Family:

Mom & Dad:  My dad, Brian McGraw, was born in a small town called Bucyrus, Ohio, while my mom, Katy McGraw, was born in Middletown, New York.  However, both grew up in Huron, like me!  My mom is a nurse and is studying for her master’s degree.  My dad is one of the hardest workers I know…he works for a construction company that builds new roads and repairs old ones.

Brothers:  I have an older brother, Chris, who is almost two years older than me.  He is a soldier in the U.S. Army and lives in Tennessee, close to Nashville (a great city).  My younger brother, Kevin, is five years younger than me and recently earned a job with the Sandusky Fire Department (yes, he’s a brave, tough guy).  Right now he lives with my mom and dad.

Pets:  We have a dog, Cally, who is a very beautiful and sweet.  We also have a cat, Coco, who has a great personality.  Kevin told me he is buying a new dog very soon…

Colleges:

Bachelor’s Degree:  Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

ASU is located in the Southwest area of the United States and is part of the Phoenix city area (Phoenix Suns, NBA team), and more than 2,000 miles away from my hometown.  I studied journalism and public relations.  I was busy studying and participating with the college radio station (like Radio WuDa) and the television station.  I also worked for a professional sports team, the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team, for three years.  Because Phoenix is in the desert it was very warm there for most of the year…I would wear jeans and a t-shirt in December!  But the summer was very hot, even hotter than summers in Wuhan!  I was also able to travel around the Western United States, which is an area of impressive natural beauty, like parts of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.  If you ever have the chance to visit the United States, I recommend you visit San Francisco, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, Grand Canyon, Arizona, Sedona, Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona, Denver, Colorado and Albuquerque, New Mexico.  

Master’s Degree:  The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

OSU is located in Columbus, the capital city of Ohio.  It took me two hours to drive from my hometown to Columbus, so it is not very far!  Many of my childhood friends went to school there and also live in the area, so it was great to spend time with them after being far away in Arizona for almost five years.  My major was communication, and I studied conflict resolution and negotiation – more or less how people settle their conflicts and differences with other people.  I also taught public speaking and newspaper writing.  OSU is also home of the Ohio State Buckeyes American football team, which is number one in the country right now and will be playing in the national championship game in January 2007.  What is a Buckeye?  It is the nut of a tree that is special to Ohio, and looks like the eye of a male deer, otherwise known as a “buck”.  So people from Ohio, like me are nicknamed Buckeyes.

Favorite city in the U.S:  San Francisco, California

Favorite city in China:  Wuhan, Hubei.  It’s a fascinating place that allows me to see old and new China at the same time!  And I don’t care if it is very hot in the summer!

Hobbies:  Sports (Running, Basketball, Bicycling, American football, Soccer, or anything else I can play with friends), playing guitar, reading, traveling and learning Chinese…Ni hao!  I also like exploring all the interesting places of Wuhan.

Favorite foods:  Steak and potato (my dad cooks them very well), pizza, Mexican food and Chinese food.

Favorite Chinese dish:  Hot dry noodle (Er gan mian) and almost everything in HuBu Xiang.

Favorite drinks:  Water, coffee, tea

Cities I’ve visited in China:  Beijing, Wuhan (of course), Yichang, Shanghai, Kunming, Zhongdian, Lijiang, Dali, Shenzhen, Hong Kong

Places I would like to go to in China:  Xi’an, Guangzhou, Hainan and Harbin are a few…so many places to visit!  Plus I know there are very small towns that are interesting as well.

Favorite sports teams:  Cleveland Browns (NFL, American football), Cleveland Indians (Major League Baseball), Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA), Ohio State Buckeyes (College Sports)

Person I’d like to meet most in the world:  Dave Matthews, because he is a great guitarist and a cool guy.

Favorite Band/Singer:  So many!  Dave Matthews Band, Ben Folds, John Mayer, Guster, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, Supergrass, and Coldplay, to name a few.  You might not know all of them but you can find them on the Internet.  I recommend them.

Favorite quote:  “So many worlds, so much to do, so little done, such things to be.”  Alfred Lord Tennyson