When I was going to the airport on Beijing Sunday morning to return to Minnesota, my taxi driver asked me what is a very common question these days: "what do you usually do on The Silent Night?" The Chinese language he was using is ping an ye, which is the Chinese name of the popular […]
Blizzard in the Bird’s Nest
Having successfully dazzled the world as the site of the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympics and the sporting events that followed, the Olympic Stadium, or “Bird’s Nest” as it has come to be known, has fallen on hard times. It was originally thought (hoped, really) that the Bird’s Nest would become a top […]
Pitching a Tent
After making noticeable progress on a daily basis for the first couple of weeks, my improvement seemed to slow down a bit this week. I had more pain in my leg, continued fatigue, and was still dependent on the crutches. By Wednesday I was a bit discouraged and let my physical therapist know how I […]
Going Global
I've become a walking (well, hobbling, really) advertisement for globalization…. ….an American… …born in Pakistan… …living in China… …and now with 3 Swiss screws in my leg!
Happy Delivery
When I began teaching English in China way back in 1984, people here were still quite isolated from the outside world. When I and my teammates arrived on our campus in central China to teach English, most of our students had never seen a foreigner, and even though they were middle school English teachers, they […]
Reality TV
With all the crazy 'Reality TV Wannabe' nuts in the news of late (think Balloon Boy and White House Party Crashers), I thought this would be a good time to direct you to a very funny blog post written by a friend of mine who works in Shanghai. It's called "Life in China IS RealityTV." […]
