Category Archives: Yangzhou

Shepherd

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Meg

The other day, I had a new student called Shepherd. I always ask my kids how they chose their English names, for every mumbled explanation that it was assigned in primary school English class, there’s a great story about identity and personality. Shepherd … Continue reading →

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Everybody Rise

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Meg

Everybody Rise is a lifestyle-porn New York adventure with a likeable protagonist, a middle-class girl pretending to the world of deb balls and multimillion-dollar getaway cottages. I love lifestyle and manners novels, with a blatant escapist love for the gorgeous, the exclusive and … Continue reading →

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Bing Kafei

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Meg

I have an electric kettle in my room, so one of the first things I bought was a package of those Nescafe instant coffees. They’re nice, of course, but not even the most optimistic expat could mistake it for brewed, fresh coffee. Fortunately, … Continue reading →

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Retro Point-and-Click “Theropods” on (The) Absolute

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Meg

I have a new post over on The Absolute, talking about Therapods. Theropods is a simple point-and-click adventure game about a cavewoman battling dinosaurs, but the game is surprisingly adorable. Our story opens when a peaceful evening at the neolithic campfire … Continue reading →

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Anne of Arkham Asylum

Posted on August 9, 2015 by Meg

Inspired partially by Julia’s post about getting all the Anne of Green Gables books on the Kindle, and partly by a chat with a coworker about Prince Edward Island (Australian coworker: They’ve assigned me to teach a class on Canadian life… … Continue reading →

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Essential Chinese: Frappuccino

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Meg

I recently learned that xing bing le  is Chinese for Starbucks’ frappuccino. This is pretty exciting because I recognize each character from another context, so I feel like I actually understand the whole, as language and branding, not just as sounds … Continue reading →

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Montclair Filament

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Meg

I started reading Elisabeth Egan’s A Window Opens shortly before I left for Yangzhou, but for some reason, moving to China and immediately losing my suitcase put me slightly behind on my reading and blogging.  I mean, I could have just … Continue reading →

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Legit Concerns, Best Laid Plans, Whatever

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Meg

When Harold and I started dating, we were working together at Next Island. I really loved working with him, whether it was there, or last summer when we worked on Star Trek: Rivals together, or when we met at Merscom five … Continue reading →

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Marco Polo

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Meg

Detail of a photocopy of a map drawn by a previous expat teacher. I paid extra for an iPhake with a workable map app, but I really like the idea of a hand-drawn map of the city’s highlights, and maybe … Continue reading →

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A Song of Bing and Huo

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Meg

I’ve been reading A Song of Ice and Fire, mostly thanks to SuperDan’s recommendation, which means I’ve been lying in front of my room fan in my underwear, trying to remember what being cool felt like, and reading about how winter is … Continue reading →

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