The sun was out over the mountains this morning. I woke up to birds and tree frogs and the sun. It was magic. I had a cup of instant coffee (getting used to it – Nescafe does a good job) and stood on my rented patio and just appreciated how lucky I am. In the […]
This weekend I am on vacation. It’s a long weekend for the school – it’s Tomb Sweeping Day, the equivalent of Memorial Day back in the States. I am currently in Dujiangyan, a “small” town about an hour from Chengdu. I made this decision based almost entirely on a posting on the Chengdu Living forums. […]
CCTV says there’s been another shooting at Fort Hood. I find a functioning American news source on Chinese internet (firewall) and confirm. I can’t express my anger in gifs or snarky captions. I’ve deleted so many versions of what I want to say. I preface all this by saying that I am writing from a […]
The Sichuan specialty cooking style is called “hot pot.” Have you ever had fondue? Maybe visited the Melting Pot at some point? Hot pot is essentially fondue, except instead of cheese or chocolate, you’re given a broth mixed with chili oil, chiles, and other spices. Chili oil seems to go into most dishes here unless […]
Just got out of the shower to knocking at my door. I don’t know how to say “busy” in Chinese, but looking through the peephole I see the two housekeepers. Since I can’t say “busy” I figure that if they see I’m still in a towel and clearly not ready for conversation they’ll give me […]
Gal's Got Moxie 