The Archives

• Shanghai

  A Fare to Remember

  08.31.10 | Permalink | 2 Comments

  My paternal grandparents, Nana and Papa, were in Shanghai for a few days. I’ll post a bit about that later, but after a lovely dumpling dinner on their last night here, John and I left Nana and Papa at their hotel and went to wait in the taxi line in front of the Ritz-Portman. There [...]

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• Shanghai, Uncategorized, headaches, musings

  Amnasia

  08.14.10 | Permalink | 13 Comments

  Just over a year ago, I wrote the Chopstick Manifesto, detailing my experiences and perspectives on living in China. I noted that China has very complicated problems, as does the rest of the world, and that life is better here, especially if you are a foreigner and especially if you are white.

  And here I am [...]

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• Shanghai, huzhou, less food-related, students, teaching

  Revival

  08.09.10 | Permalink | 5 Comments

  Daytime soaps deliberately leave the greatest cliffhangers for Friday so that the viewer must suffer through the weekend wondering just who is the father of Theresa’s baby or if Louis will ever find out that poor Sheridan is locked in Beth’s basement and that the baby Beth is ‘pregnant’ with is, in fact, a sack [...]

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• Balloons, Shanghai, less food-related

  Twist and Shout

  05.24.10 | Permalink | 5 Comments

  It is said in local laowai circles that China seems to attract a somewhat higher percentage of weirdos. While I’ve certainly met my share of creepy, strange, and/or weird foreigners, I find that one reason I like the expat community is that I have a greater chance of meeting someone really interesting. Of course [...]

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• Expo, Shanghai, holidays

  I Hear the Nation March

  05.17.10 | Permalink | 3 Comments

  Something strange happens when life gets good: my blogs get sparse. They get much more frequent when I’m bored or lonely. Sure, doing and seeing cool things helps, but given that this blog is three weeks delayed, I’ll stick with the theory that my creativity is inversely proportionate to my happiness. Generally.
  I’ve been shuttling back [...]

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• Shanghai, huzhou, less food-related

  The Bird of Time Has But a Little Way to Fly

  04.27.10 | Permalink | 9 Comments

  If you’ve studied your Plate of Wander history, you know that Huzhou has not been the easiest place to live. I’ve known it was time to leave for quite a few months now. And now that the school year is about 6 weeks away from ending, my official clock is counting down.

  Though Huzhou has certainly [...]

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• Shanghai, Thanksgiving, animals, entrees, holidays, out and about, restaurants

  Generous George and the Eight Chinchilla Souls

  11.22.09 | Permalink | 2 Comments

  Most holidays that last longer than a day require some sort of fasting or deprivation. Passover: no leavened bread. Lent: Give something up. Ramadan: Fast all day. Off the top of my head, I can think of two exceptions: Hanukkah, in its eight latke-filled days and nights, and Thanksgiving.
  At the moment you may be [...]

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• Shanghai, chicken, dessert, entrees, fish, out and about, restaurants, temples, travel

  Who’s the Fei-est of Them All?

  07.22.09 | Permalink | 3 Comments

  I’ve partaken in a few food challenges in my life. The first, when I was 15, was at summer camp, when I decided to eat as much pizza at dinner as I could (final tally: 9 slices). The next summer, in the rural Costa Rican mountains, a woman had prepared a local meal for [...]

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• Shanghai, cooking, dessert, entrees, huzhou, mysterious ingredients, out and about

  Pura Vida

  06.23.09 | Permalink | Comment?

  It hasn’t been a particularly photographic past week or so, mostly due to a heat so oppressive that the act of scratching one’s mosquito bites produces sweat amounts so copious that really, there’s just no point in showering anymore. Really the only thing anyone wants to do is sit or lie around complaining about the [...]

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• Parks, Shanghai, animals, chicken, dessert, fish, mysterious ingredients, restaurants, temples, travel

  Maternal Instincts

  05.18.09 | Permalink | 6 Comments

  There are a lot of reasons people have kids— to continue the family name, to give and create life, to get that bangin’ minivan they’ve always wanted. But I think my parents had a unique vision: have a kid, raise her to be independent, and get her to move to China so we can go [...]

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