If security opens your box, do they have tape for you to re-tape it? The answer is yes. But I have to ask, who inspects the work of the TSA? I thought my belongings were gnawed at by a group of hamsters. Items were squirting out of the sides of the box like excess jelly on a P&J. […]
Thank you, TSA
What the F@#K say?
Yeah! Yesterday was my last day of school. Make that YaWei. It was year to be remembered for many reasons, a lot of classes spinning out of control, making me wonder if I made a difference with the spinners, those born in the Chinese Year of the Entitled Child. But YaWei, my youngest student, helped me put things in perspective. […]
Leaping Tiger Gorgeous
Every now and then, it’s good to risk your life. Yes, a few friends and I braved Tiger Leaping Gorge near Lijiang, Yunnan and didn’t even get a “I risked my life and all i got was this lousy T-shirt”. The only view more stunning than the gorge when I jumped out of a plane in college and ended up […]
Meet the new voice for Jin Bo Cable
OK. I admit. I’m not I’m not part of SAG but I just recorded an emergency cable car announcement for the Jin Bo Cable company. It’s not cable as in Direct TV, but as cable as in cable cars. It’s located directly across from the school I work at in Kunming, China and they wanted an English voice over for […]
New 生日快乐 Tradition
生日快乐 shēngrì kuàilè! My odometer turned over today and kicked it off by starting new shēngrì kuàilè or birthday traditions. First: no cake. I had planned on celebrating by indulging with a coconut crunch old fashioned and cuppa Joe at a Dunkin Donuts (as there are Dunkin Donuts in Bangkok). Instead, my taste buds did a U-turn. I grabbed […]
Dinner Entertainment
If I didn’t believe in the Great Flood before, I do now. So, I just left Bumrungrad Medical Center in Bangkok for my annual “mid life check-up”. A probe, squeeze and roter rooting for one set price. I thought I’d reward myself with a special treat. I walked past Dunkin Donuts, eyeing the coconut crunch donut, saving that for Monday, […]
Lost in Translation
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 […]
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 […]