On Thursday night my landlady called and asked if she could come over to see me because she had some tranlation questions for me. Anyone who’s been in China for awhile knows the fear and dread that well up inside at the sound of someone asking for help with translation work. "Just read it over." […]
Slippery Slope
While visiting a Beijing city park recently, I saw this sign beside a marble staircase leading to a pagoda on top of a hill. For some reason, it made me chuckle! There’s something familiar about the phrasing, but it’s not quite right! Anyway, I liked it, because some days just feel like that!
The Curse of Kenny G!
A great mystery here in the Middle Kingdom is the Chinese love affair with Kenny G, the bushy-haired soprano sax player, who anchors the "smooth jazz" genre of music. Kenny G music blaring out of stores, or wafting through hotel lobbies is as ubiquitous here as chopsticks and dumplings (OK, so I exaggerate, but only […]
Smoke!
Tonight as I was riding home on my bicycle, I noticed the air smelled of smoke. When I got home I checked the Yahoo! weather for Beijing (I need to know how many layers of clothes to wear tomorrow), and, under "current conditions," it said, simply, SMOKE. This is the only city I know of […]
