Same Same Vang Vieng

The last time I was in Laos, I was locked out of China due to covid, floating around SE Asia with only the clothes that I had in my backpack, trying to teach online for two months. Bathing suits, mind you, do violate the dress code.. After a short stint in Kuala Lumpur to join a few other misplaced teachers, I returned to Laos until I had to evacuate the country, one of the more traumatic moments of my life, grown folks begging with ticket agents to board planes.

Why do I hike?

When I find myself literally at the end of a rope in China, hiking is the ultimate brain eraser. Either I’m concentrating on the beauty or not slipping, totally forgetting that the snack I purchased for my cat was freeze dried baby birds (I will spare you the photo).

Nails

Hopefully, someday, Easter will be restored to a holiday where I can enjoy going to church, biting the heads off chocolate bunnies instead of eating frozen pea-sicles, and thinking about the nails of the crucifixion, not mine.

Tombs and Brittle Bones

It’s sad. Folks spending eternity in a cemetery really are forgotten. We have don’t even have a word for them. We have words for the grounds (cemetery, necropolis, catacombs), words for the urns and burial stones, words for that stupid piece of plastic on the end of your shoelace (aglet), but no word for our collective of loved ones that left us their Hummel collections.

Rice 饭 Fàn

his year for Christmas, I travelled to Xishuangbanna, where rice is anything but a bland side dish. There are rice stuffed pineapples, purple sticky rice, speckled rice dumplings wrapped in Bamboo leaves, and rice stuffed bamboo shoots.

Local Color

I went to Kunming’s Museum of Contemporary Art this weekend and viewed what I thought was an abstract poodle. While I enjoyed the art, I found the streets just as colorful. This bean lady at the market reminded me of my mom. I really think it was her. She didn’t have her own booth or her own QR code, but […]

Paperwork

Working at an international school, I have been trained for fires, earthquakes. Hostage Takeovers. But what if a student gets stuck in the bathroom? It was photo day and my class was right after the snapping of pictures. Mars’ bow tie was next to the crayons. Albert’s jacket was on the back of his chair. But Yael’s kitty cat ears? […]

An American in Wuhan

Oh yes I did! I have just completed the Covid 19 Triple Dog Dare. I went on a cruise, ate at a buffet and ended up in Wuhan, then lived to blog about it. Actually, it’s not as insane as it sounds. Since I’m “land-locked” in China this summer, I thought I’d finally see the country. It’s not like I’ve […]

Pokes and Probes

So what’s an expat to do when it’s time to get back on the saddle again–wait–I mean back in the stirrups? Make an appointment at Women’s Angel Hospital for a pap smear and mammogram. Considering China makes more babies than any other countries, maybe it’s time we trust them with other female needs.

Temple Attire

So, just what do you wear to a temple or monastery, even if it’s one for chickens in Shangri La? It depends on if it’s a Buddhist temple, monastery, or the Hundred chicken temple.

Yak and Hack

Does anyone know of a good wine pairing for yak? That’s what you eat in Shangri La. And don’t laugh. Yak is where it’s at. I was referred to this little hole in the wall, a Tibetan version of a blue plate diner. I ordered Diced Yak with noodles and Yak Meat Pie. The crust was amazing. Plus, I had […]

Born to be like ginger

In America today, I officially turn into human wallpaper. It’s my birthday, or 生日快乐 shēng rì kuài lè, in Chinese. But no Barbie dolls or pin the tail on the donkey games this year. I turned sixty. The big Six-O. In dog years, I’d be dead. In America, childhoods that pre-date Google means you have become as desirable as panty […]

You Care Too Much

The three words silenced my room: “What the hell?” They weren’t from a junior high student, because the utterance would have been in Chinese. The slip of the tongue was from a second grader. From the same kid who doesn’t know his sight words. I looked at a coworker, who heard it too. While I was thinking about school policies […]

Smoke

There is a famous Chinese proverb: 不到长城非好汉. He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man. And after he visits the Great Wall, he picks up a pack of cigarettes.  Smoking is huge in this country, even with doctors, including my “no chicken, no OJ, drink broccoli juice” acupuncturist. Before the young doctor light his cigarette, […]

No Tittle Too Little

Lately,  I’ve been feeling like a tittle. If you’re wondering what a tittle is,  you’re not alone. Tittle is a big word for that little dot that tops the small vowel “i”. I never would’ve learned the word if I wasn’t teaching language learners in Asia, in an tittle sized  village of six million people. A tittle may seem like an insignificant […]

What the Pho?

I’m made pho fo’ three hundred and fifty people this afternoon. I don’t know what pho looks like or even how to pronounce it. I think it’s pronounced fo, like fo’real and fo’get it. I’ve never made pho be-pho,  but since I lived in Asia, everyone thinks I should be a whiz at making it. Pho’ real ? Luckily, none of […]

Moving Beyond

It was an afternoon like any other in Uptown.  Crisp blue skies. A few homeless guys checking trash cans for empties. Cars waiting their turn at the stop light. Kids playing soccer on the sidewalk and the ball that bounces into the street. Then BAM! A kid gets hit. I saw the aftermath on Clarendon and Wilson a few minutes […]

My Life Out Of Storage

When I slid up   the door to the five by teen foot space,  it contained  the usual suspects: Christmas ornaments, china, kitchen utensils and an Italian desk that we don’t know how to put back together. But the rest of those duct taped boxes in the storage unit? My countless diaries. I’ve been documenting my life since I was eleven, in pink paged diaries with little locks, the margins […]

Daily Dalai Llama

“Nothing will muck up your day more than an escaped llama.” That was my friend’s words of advice when I offered to llama-sit so she could escape with her husband for the weekend. “Ginger,  farm animals might be friendly but they can take you out if you turn around. So always, always always focus.  Shut the gate behind you.  Pat the horse’s butt when […]

The Donut Tree and Donut Dares

This is the first summer in five years I haven’t been at the family cottage in northern Michigan,  treat in a town with more fudge shops than people. The cottage is on one of those back roads that require a few stops at a gas station for directions. One of the landmarks has always been  this big tree with a hole in the […]

Same Same But Different.

In Bangkok,  there is a T-shirt that’s popular with tourists. On the front it reads: SAME SAME,  on the back it reads: BUT DIFFERENT. I found that XXL saying  true this weekend following another shooting in Uptown. Now after living in China, I know what firecrackers sound like. And living in Uptown, I know what bullets sound like. And just like the popular tourist T-shirt, there […]

Walk of Shame: Displacing Uptown’s Homeless

Over the past two days,  I witnessed two walks. First,  was the walk of thousands of music lovers in Chicago’s Uptown to the Mumford and Sons concert. They walked right in front of where I live, lemmings on their way to the concert venue at Montrose Harbor. The Alderman wanted to make sure  the streets were clean for these drive-by visitors […]

Sugar Glazed Justice

“Miss,  could you spare a dollar so I could get something to eat?” I took a good look at his leathery face as he rattled his cup near the Dunkin’ Donuts in Uptown. “Nope.” I didn’t feel guilty at all when I said it. That’s because I was the cook in the building where he lived. “I am so insulted!” I laughed. “Are […]

A Big Awesome Birthday Wish

I remember this birthday like it was yesterday. Debbie Patrujiah made my wish come true. She got me a twist and turn Barbie Doll with real eyelashes and bendable legs. And suddenly,  I forgot all of my troubles and other gifts,  including a modeling clay kit and hot dog machine game. But now, years after Barbie’s limbs  have been broken (though her […]