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. […]
Contestant 18_4
It was as grueling as Beijing-Chicago flight without a beverage cart. I was the Question Master for an English Speaking Competition (not to be confused with an English comprehension competition) sponsored by China Daily News. It’s the third weekend in a row that I’ve sat in a room for nine hours listening to students struggle to put an “l” on […]
Chinese Mega Malls
There’s a new super mall across the street from where I live in Kunming, China but I’ve never been inside. Why? I’m more enthralled with the old China with frog mongers and temples than the one that looks like was imported from Peoria. But this mall definitely wasn’t from Peoria, even if this mallwalker looks like the guy from the […]
Hey—what happened to China?
When my husband and I got off the plane and landed in Kunming, China in 2010, we did not know what to expect. We were met by the only two other white people in the airport at 3 am in the morning. They loaded our two hundred pounds of life into their tinny van (that priceless booty consisted of […]
When Life Gives You Buttbeans
Copi Luwak or butt bean coffee seemed like the perfect way to drown my sorrows on that anything but Good Friday.
What 70 元 buys
So, I spent 70元 pronounced quai (just over ten bucks) at the grocery store today in Kunming. So exactly did I fill my bag with? First, the shopping bag (it was an unplanned trip). Cost: 1 元RMB 6.67 cents Next, Flower flavor yogurt. Buy three, get one […]
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. […]
Are you there, Cortana?
A coworker was telling me about a friend who works for Microsoft. This guy’s job is to fine tune how Cortana works. You know, that annoying voice that greets you when you power up your laptop, asking if you want to add anything to your grocery list. His s job is to actually listen […]
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 […]