Author Archives: Meg
Why Spelling Matters
Last night, Zorro (formerly known as Jason), David and I went to the Jazz Island Cafe. Like more of the “English” places around Yantai, Jazz Ialand has a few spelling errors in their signage. In some places, Jazz is spelled … Continue reading
Travel In China
Tonight I had my adult students. Now, I don’t really like teaching adults because they have all the idiosyncrasies of my middle school students (refusal to speak above a whisper, inability to separate “L” and “R” but an insistence that … Continue reading
Helen of Yantai
I tutor a little girl called Helen, and by “tutor” I mean we play Barbies and lots of clapping games. She is bright, sweet, funny and the picture to the left shows her dressed up for her school concert and … Continue reading
One-Way Ticket
We moved David into his new place the other night (my school is playing Musical Apartments right now — I think the prize is getting an apartment with a bathtub) and we noticed this bar on the way over. That … Continue reading
Meg Vs. Mandarin
Stick’s mom is famous for forcing me to watch Nascar and driving my hyperactive self to the MTELs. The other day, she e-mailed me to tell me she’d learned some Mandarin words, and she gave the examples wo xiang-nian ni … Continue reading
Summer in China
Today I was walking through the park in Kaifaqu in a haze of sunshine, sea air and June roses. I saw a little girl, around 5 or 6, in a white princess dress walking through the summer flowers with her … Continue reading
A Classical Education At Work
After a lesson on present progressive and some Slytherin vs. Griffindor verb charades, I dismissed my teenagers and came back to the teachers’ office. “Meg, did they have wheelbarrows in ancient Rome?” Jason asked. “I suppose so, they had to … Continue reading
Chinese Standards
My new co-worker, David, and I both have Thursdays and Fridays off, so yesterday we went exploring downtown. “is this squid on a stick kosher?” “The next person who calls me lao wei…” The Lonely Planet mentions that Yantai #2 … Continue reading
It’s not a new job until you almost flash someone.
My class today was three Korean students. They call me Professor McGonagall, in Korean this time — and why does everyone do that? Is it that all Westerners look alike? Does “Meg” sound that much like “McGonagall”? Do I radiate … Continue reading
Wrong Girl
Will, my boss, was playing videopoker in the office. He asked me if I played, and I had to admit that my Foxwoods success was more luck than skill. “It doesn’t matter though, because as soon as I start working … Continue reading
