The end of the school year is always moving. But when a 6 foot third grade teacher moves back to Australia, he leaves quite a hole in his classroom. I helped his three of his youngest students put together a short film. David, the smiley 9 year old who keeps on forgetting his lines, tugs my heart every time. Only students who love their […]
I very vrery miss you
Smell Advisor: Top Smells of China
OK. I’ve created a few reviews for Trip Advisor, letting folks know the real deal about Kunming, China. It’s a lot more fun than writing updates on FB. But these travel websites always have the same categories: cool places to eat, visit and sleep. But hey–you are missing out on the real Chinese experience: the smells. So here are […]
Zhunk Food
It’s Dragon Day festival in China, another holiday that revolves around food. Lots of it. These are called zhongzi (pronounced jong-gee) a pyramid shaped package of rice and sweet fruit filling–at least I think it’s fruit–with a few good size seeds. You can crack a tooth on one of them if you’re not careful. You can’t buy zhongi from a […]
One star.
I just came back from a quick trip to Vietnam. The trip to Vietnam from my abode in Kunming was about the same schlepp as from Chicago to Charlevoix, Michigan. There aren’t any McDonald’s to stop at along the way, but a lot of fun sights that made this get-away memorable as well as reasonable. The entire adventure costing […]
Twice as bright, half as long
It was even too twisted for a Stephen King novel. I got the text from my husband and the waves of pain from southern California hit Kunming China like a tsunami. A friend lost his second son in eighteen months. To make the nightmare even worse, both deaths were the result of suicide. The second son, like his brother, pried open […]
After School Snacks
Chinese teens are no different than American teens: as soon as school lets out, they reach for a snack. This lady had a Chinese burrito. An eggy “tortilla” packed with spices, chips and a Chinese hotdog. I’d rather have my fingernails removed than eat a Chinese hot dog. The ping pong team was still practicing… but the girls were at […]
Hangouts
I miss some of my hang outs in Chicago’s Uptown. Everybody’s Coffee The lobby of Friendly Towers. Dollop. But I do have a few hangouts in Kunming’s BeiChen area. Here are some of my stomping grounds on the flip side. This is one of my favorite coffee shops in the BeiChen Fortune Shopping Mall. They have coffee, waffles and […]
Cute Háizi
China makes a lot of things…but the cutest thing they make are kids. Here are some snips of some children or hái zi (pronounced hide-zha) that caught my eye this week. Girl playing with her smart phone at a Muslim Goat Hot Pot restaurant. A pint size sherpa climbing Snow Mountain, Yunnan, China. Bundled up Bus Baby in itsy bitsy glasses. David likes to […]
Magic Mountain
I knew it was going to be a serious hike when a leathery vendor tried to sell me a canister of oxygen. “No thanks, ” I said, wondering if she knew something that I didn’t. It’s Jiao Zi (pronounced like “wowza”) Mountain. It’s forty two hundred meters high, a century back in time and a two hour drive outside of Kunming. […]
Hong Kong
It was over thirty years ago, the term after I broke my back skydiving, and the height of the now forgotten Falkland Island Crisis. My life was in a bit of a crisis, too. I took a break from MSU and studied for a term in London, being mindful to call my parents collect every Sunday assure them I was […]