I’m not sure how it started. Maybe I just thought it was cute the way my Taiwanese boyfriend pronounced Pikachu (pi-ka-que), but for the past five years, every time one of sees a Pikachu doll, toy, game etc we have to talk about it and point it out, and end
Here We Go Again!
Bored, playing around on my computer the other day, I started looking through old bookmarks on my browser. Since I have been an Apple user for a long time, whenever I get a new device or computer, it copies everything over automatically and I have bookmarked websites I haven’t looked
The Five Books I Keep Returning To
As a (attempting) minimalist, and a traveler who has no permanent home base, I try to keep as little stuff as possible, which is quite a feat given that I have natural pack rat tendencies, and enjoy collections (hello spoons of the world). Books are one of the most common
“Do You Like Bread?”
I passed by a friendly woman whose family I buy fruit from and stopped for a minute to chat. She was standing in front of a cooler she had dragged out from her store a little down a side street and she was selling cold watermelon cut up into containers
100 Years of the CCP and All I Got was This Lousy Light Show
Okay, I click-baited you with that title. It wasn’t a lousy light show at all, it was quite spectacular but “…and all I got was this spectacular light show” isn’t how the t-shirt goes, so there you have it. So yeah, July 1st was the 100th anniversary of the founding
I Wouldn’t Expect to Like This But…
There is a secret food in China that people in the south eat almost everyday, yet in other countries it’s virtually impossible to find outside of a dim sum restaurant or Chinatown. That food? The slimy, squishy but amazingly delicious changfen. It comes from Cantonese dim sum food, but it
This Meme is Stupid
I’ve seen a meme passed around on facebook for a few years that seems like a good idea. It’s a picture of a city street with fruit trees and the words “The trees planted on city sidewalks should be replaced with fruit trees, so the homeless have something to eat
What Does $12 Buy in China?
I went to the store to just pick up one thing and of course walked away with a bagful. On the walk back home I mentally berated myself for buying too much, and spending too much money. But, being as I live in China, what I like to do when
I Got the Chinese Vaccine
While the vaccine has been available to the public in Xiamen for months (including foreigners) and free, I have been putting off actually getting the shot. It’s not because of any dumb notion of anti-vaxxers, or not trusting the science. It’s more that I, along with the majority of people
What School is Like in China Right Now (Fall 2020)
We are a month into the fall 2020 semester, so I thought I’d give a little update on what the teaching situation is like. Masks? Alternate day in-class attendance? Social distancing on campus and a mix of classroom and online learning? Well….no. None of that. If you were beamed to