I cannot eat this apple, I thought as the old lady handed it to me, her beef jerky like fingers trembling, the smile under her hat lighting up the dingy room. “Xie Xie,” I nodded, admiring  her face. Every wrinkle lead to a different story, from China’s Cultural Revolution to her recipe for jiaozi. Why was I at this human time capsule […]

  I haven’t seen a rat that big since I lived in Chicago.  It was scruffy, looking like it had better days, huddled next to great wall of soy sauce in my favorite local store. That’s when  universal phrase for “I just saw a rat!” came flying out of my mouth: “SHRIEK!!!!!” A group of young female employees came over […]

I admit,  I was not the best behaved best high school student. I will be remembered for detention slips and making popcorn during chemistry lab more than my grades. So when I unexpectedly got a message from a teacher in the USA, I thought I was being summoned to the principal’s office. But it wasn’t from my alma mater, WHS,  in Watervliet, Michigan. It […]

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 […]

Never believe everything you read on the internet–nor the signs you read in China. They don’t sell whales here. Or semi-pregnant lips. Goat crackers? It’s not a bad translation. Just a bad idea.   I think I’ll stick with Ritz. This doesn’t sound like a big business idea to me. China has the best of the worse signage. But the sign […]

“Sorry,  we’re not able to process all of our phone calls at this time. Please try later. Goodbye.” That auto response message from Verizon sure boosts my confidence. I mean, if Verizon can’t handle their own calls, how can they handle mine? I made the mistake of signing a two year contract with Verizon for a free android phone back […]

The best thing about the antique/used furniture market in Kunming is that you can find about anything there. The hardest thing is finding it. It’s on the north side,   just on the edge of the city where new construction butts up to real life pages of national geographic.   You’ll make a right on a small “Am-I-on-the-right-street?” kinda street. ” […]