Lying side by side in the darkness one evening, at that time of night when we know we should be sleeping but have our most honest conversations, he asked me something he had yet to learn about me: “What are you most afraid of? Is it Spiders? Snakes?” No, I’m not scared of spiders or [...]
Tag: From Beijing…
方便: China’s obsession with convenience
Convenience is a myth for the majority of Chinese people. A myth lived out only by the elite, those rich enough to consider time more important than money. For everyone else, it is a long perpetuated lie cast by the shadow of capitalism hanging over the lives of 1.4 billion people. A lie many no longer believe will ever come true.
Bones Will Crow
Desert Years Tin Moe Tears a strand of grey hair a decade gone In those years the honey wasn’t sweet mushrooms wouldn’t sprout farmlands were parched The mist hung low the skies were gloomy Clouds of dust on the cart tracks Acacia and creepers and thorn-spiral blossoms But it never rained and when it did [...]
Snow Days
Last Friday, a first blanket of snow covered Beijing for a few hours. I was safely tucked away, out of the cold, in a classroom on the third floor, overlooking the university's playing fields. The more curious of the class peered out of the windows at the heavy dollops of snow coming down past the silvery trees [...]
Sarah Silverman’s recommendation to Lenny: Lady Parts Justice
I'm a Lenny subscriber. So I'm treated to intelligent, witty, Feminist writing at the end of every week, when I need it most. Lenny's weekly letter picks me up just as my Friday evening is setting in (I'm 13 hours ahead of NYC). On the way home on the Beijing subway after 7 hours of [...]
What’s in a name? or, Who am I?
Shakespeare told us that: ‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’, which is true, to an extent. And yet, and yet... Some people suit their name. There are those people who are utterly, one hundred percent, an ‘Annie’ or a ‘Joe’. Perhaps they were the first person called Annie that you ever [...]
Aung San Suu Kyi wins Burma (Myanmar)’s landmark election with overwhelming majority
I can barely believe this is true!! I had hardly dared hope this would really happen, but Aung San Suu Kyi has won a huge majority in Burma's elections held last Sunday. Election commission says National League for Democracy has won staggering majority in parliament, ending decades of military dominance Announcements of the results have [...]
Tali’s story
Not long ago, I had a particularly memorable class with a young female student I see once a week. I have been going to her house to teach Tali (13) and her younger brother, Uri (9) for over a year now, and we have become quite friendly with each other. She has quickly shed the [...]
Burma (Myanmar) elections: The day after
At five past three (China time) today, I saw some fantastic news, via the Guardian's breaking news app: Myanmar elections: ruling party concedes defeat to Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party This was the best news I could possibly imagine. I shared it. But I knew it was too good, or at least too fast, [...]
Since you left me
Here is a piece I wrote a little over a year ago, sitting in a coffee shop in Beijing, recuperating after a disappointing afternoon and a tough first few weeks in China. After all the frustrations I'd come up against and the trying paths I'd trodden to get there, I hoped that maybe I had [...]
Zhēn de Gender 