I’ve tried a lot of things to get my 7th grade ESL students to use their vocabulary. These native Chinese speakers would rather memorize the longest sentence in a novel, from William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom (over 1200 words), than lose face mispronouncing a word. And yes, some want to take on that challenge. However, my middle schoolers got excited making […]
K.I.A-cademy Awards
Any Given Sunday
Guandu Old Town is just a few miles away from where I live in Kunming, but it’s also a million light years back in time. If you go on a Sunday, you’ll witness China’s version of American Idol. Singers of all ages come out with their microphones, amplifiers and Chinese lutes and perform in pavilions. Traditional Chinese ballads are sung. […]
Shades of Orange
She reminded me of my mom, right down to how she could use her belly as an arm rest. Her name, Bergitta, a retired librarian from Sweden who happened to be staying at my home-stay in Luang Prabang. She wasted no time. “Would you like to teach monks how to speak English?” “Excuse me?” I came to this city to […]
Loas: The Road Most Taken
While I’m usually a fan of Robert Frost’s advice of traveling the road less taken, I didn’t do that in Loas. It’s the landmine capital of the world. I didn’t go to Vientiane to snap selfies by a old temple but to visit COPE. It’s an organization dedicated to help those who have lost legs due to landmines. Back Story: […]
Amazon.God
So at church yesterday, a young couple asked for prayer. For a few years, they’ve been trying to adopt a Chinese baby –a process riddled with as much red tape as the Great Wall is long. As they told their tear jerking story, the couple shared how another family is considering adopting the same child. “Everyone, will you please pray […]
手shŏu (Hands)
I was half listening to the sermon, peeping my phone, spinning my rings. My great grandma’s wedding ring from Germany, most likely pounded out of nail as nail smithing was the family trade. Chunky black onyx from a favorite aunt. A gold band with my name engraved in Hawaiian, Awapui, slightly better than the Chinese translation: Pure and Powerful Wheat. […]
Albino
For the past few weeks, I have been on the judging panel for the China Daily English contest for the Yunnan Province finals. I’m the token dà bí zi měi guó ren (Big nosed American) so I’m the designated question master. Translation? I had to ask each contestant a question about the impromptu speech they had to give. It was […]
Listen to the Trees
My trip to the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center in Phnom Phen actually started in 1984. I was a new copy writer working at Leo Burnett wearing flannel and jeans for a creative director draped in hand dyed Indonesian fabric, chunky African beads with a haze of Opium perfume hovering over her desk. She had just seen The Killing Fields. “You […]
Snowflakes in Cambodia
Travel is not about the places. It’s about the landscape of people. Like in Bangkok, the small family owned hotel I stay at because I love the owners and try not to think of the history of the mattress. The wife scrubs the floors in her sari, the husband sleeps behind the desk all night and during the day, smokes […]
Invasion of St. Wàiguórén 外国人
When I first moved to China in 2010, signs of Christmas were about as was as hard to find as a clean toilet. But now? The foreigner or Wàiguórén 外国人 holiday is everywhere. While I haven’t seen the Shelf Elf today, there are Santas galore… Most often, he is playing a saxophone. Go figure. And his top Elf needs to […]