It was a good night for a glass of peanut juice over ice with a splash of Jack. My heart was sad as my life wasn’t turning out like a Julia Roberts movie. I had papers to grade,  forms for my lawyer and Microsoft did automatic updates on my computer, turning all of my software back into Chinese. Then I […]

While many of you call me Ginger,  or Ginge or some even refer to me by my maiden moniker, Sinsabaugh, Byt my Chinese students call me Mai Lao Shi or Hamburger Teacher. And this week, I had a lot of lessons beyond pickles and sesame seed buns. For instance, the fourth graders.  Thanks to them, I had to learn that […]

Six bucks a night. That’s cheaper than the rent when landing on Baltic Avenue on a monopoly game. That’s  Sapa,  Vietnam.  A quick trip on a night train plus a two dollar bus ride up the mountain and BAM!, you’ll find yourself in the pages of a National Geographic magazine. The hills are full of surprises, possibly a few landmines […]