Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say This has got to be my all-time favorite book for those of us who call a foreign country home. Although this is a picture book intended for children, it is a treasure for adults, too.
There’s fifty nifty U-ni-ted States, and 50 ways to tell you’re from one of them.
I wish there was just one big button to press. “Activate China Mode!” And it would be done. I would instantly fit in perfectly here. My brain would switch to Mandarin, my digestive system would immediately be used to handling… Continue Reading →
The swell gals over at Taking Route have been running a series called “31 Tips for Surviving (Not Crying) in a New Country.” This month, they and guest contributors are sharing all kinds of humorous tales of language and culture… Continue Reading →
So, what do we eat here in China? We get asked this all the time by people here, who assume we eat nothing but this, all night, all day. If I had to eat these “Western” dishes every day, it… Continue Reading →
As baggage allowances shrink, we have had to get pickier and pickier about what takes up our precious 50 pounds per person. Here are 7 items that easily made the cut. 1. Shoes for me I wear a women’s size… Continue Reading →
Once a week, on Sunday nights, I make dessert. Unless we’ve just gotten a care package that includes brownie mix, making dessert means baking from scratch. And I mean super-duper, Laura Ingalls Wilder-style scratch. Yesterday, I was thinking: it’s… Continue Reading →
We just moved back into our 2nd floor apartment here in the little town of Jingxi. This is a true 2nd floor (at least true to how Americans number the floors of a building), not the sneaky 2nd floor where… Continue Reading →
Every once in a while, I get a food daydream. Not a food craving, but a daydream, where just for a split-second, I am suddenly imagining myself eating something I could never get here in rural China. Today’s dream was… Continue Reading →
This little beauty is a great addition to your bug-killing arsenal. Shaped like a tennis racquet, it uses an electrical current to fry whatever flying insect comes in contact with its wires. There is a loud crackling/popping sound when the… Continue Reading →
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