Tag Archives: Chinese life
Born In The USA
It was awesome having Pseudo-Thanksgiving with my Yantai friends. Ron and his wife brought their new baby so in some ways it really was like a family. A crazy dysfunctional family, with a lot of alcohol and trashtalk, but still. … Continue reading
It’s All True
I wrote this a few days ago but I made it sticky to faciliate the flame war make it easier for folks coming over from Sinosplice. One thing that about learning Chinese that makes me crazy is that there seems … Continue reading
Yantai Museum
If you find the drop spindles underwhelming, there was also a dusty jawbone of a whale, and a preserved seaturtle. The weird exhibits are arranged around a courtyard with a garden and a temple. The garden was impressive, even in … Continue reading
How Can I Leave?
Yesterday, I was handing out new schedules in my Drips class, thinking about how great it is to be at a school with actual schedules. “This class is becoming too big,” I told my kids. “Starting Saturday, there will be … Continue reading
Lost In Translation
The other day, I picked up the first season of Lost at my local DVD shop. I watched it in Mandarin with English subtitles. Sometimes I do that to improve my comprehension, it’s very passive learning but it does help … Continue reading
Pepero Day
Today all my Korean kids came to class wearing traditional Korean dresses and eating this amazing candy called pepero. Pepero is a Korean version of a chocolate-covered pretzel. Or chocolate-pretzels are the Amewrican version of pepero. Either way, pepero is … Continue reading
Red Fire Fire
Red Fire Fire is a local BBQ and beer shop. Even though it’s just down the street from my house, my co-workers Debra and Junie had to introduce me to it. It’s famous for 3 kwai beer, cheap barbecue and … Continue reading
Chinese Language Exercises
I started going to a yoga class. It’s really hard because although I can understand simple things like up, down, left, right and basic body parts, I can’t understand many verbs. I don’t think I understood a single verb in … Continue reading
Without Thanksgiving
I’m heartbroken that I’ll miss Thanksgiving at home this year. I love every part of the holiday, but especially the food and my family in all our dysfunctional glory. I love getting home on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Last year … Continue reading
Six Weeks Left In China
I love Yantai with the part of my heart that’s not full of the love-hate expats have for China. It’s hard to fully love a places in which all travel involves dealing with an Mandarin-speaking Whitmore. Here, I’m a G-rated … Continue reading
