OK. So I broke my phone. It was already held together with duct tape, thanks to dropping it in Vietnam, but when I fell off my chair tutoring a student, the screen went green. I was 痛不欲生 . English translation: overwhelmed with sorrow. It’s not that I was in love with my Samsung phone I got free at Costco for […]
Lost in Translation
Are you there, Cortana?
A coworker was telling me about a friend who works for Microsoft. This guy’s job is to fine tune how Cortana works. You know, that annoying voice that greets you when you power up your laptop, asking if you want to add anything to your grocery list. His s job is to actually listen […]
My Chinese Friends
One of the hardest things about divorce is your friends telling you, “Ginger, you gotta get back out there.” But in China, there is no “there”. Finding English speakers is tough in Kunming. And quite honestly, the only relationship I’m really interested right now is with me. But my ears do miss English, gosh, they crave English: I’d lick […]
The only thing harder than being a 7th grader is teaching them.
My mind goes back to the early 1970s, to Watervliet’s old Junior High School, otherwise known as the Zoo. My mom went to high school there and kissed her first boy friend– in the gym–all glitzed up for prom night. Then my Uncle Norman got hung out of a window by his classmates as a prank, […]
Xie-Xie, Scooby-Doo
“Mrs. Mac,” Grace asked, her smile slightly less bright than a 1000 watt bulb. Do you think Jenny can have that piece of paper? She’s so excited!” It was a seemingly blank piece of white paper that contained nothing other than a UBS logo […]
Seven Foot Marlin
I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast on my wedding day. But I do I remember the kitchen was a wreck as the condo was in the final stages of being updated, the avocado green appliances being replaced with newlywed stainless steel. And my night sleep wasn’t good; I parked on the couch as my pots and pans covered […]
Life is Sweet
Eenie Meenie Minie Moe. Which Sapa darling do I buy the honey from? I looked at the three old ladies, all equally lovely, their faces road maps to hardships I can’t fathom. Their silver earrings stretched their ears into fleshy hula hoops, their black hair coiled on their heads like silky snakes. In front of each is a plastic bucket […]
The Frog Monger
I wanted to look away but I couldn’t. She had a corner on the sidewalk near our bank. I was drawn to her raggedy rice hat and crumpled up face, like a dollar bill that had gone thru the wash. She squatted on her store, a blanket spread on the ground, her wares a basket of frogs, each the size […]
Monkeying Around
So I got a real cool teaching tool for my classroom. Not sharpies or flash cards, but a monkey mask. Slightly used, but just a buck fifty. I started the class by telling the students I saw a monkey in front of the school. They weren’t impressed. As they worked on their spelling words, I had to use the restroom. […]
Morning Sickness
I have morning sickness. I know what your thinking, I’m not pregnant, I didn’t eat some some weird genetically modified vegetable that resulted in a bun in the oven. It’s just that every morning when I wake up in China, it’s still yesterday in the States, and my lawyer is firing me off emails before wrapping up her day. So […]