Re-entry is hard, in many ways even harder than living overseas. In re-entry, you are trying to sort out a massive change in identity,...

There’s a question I’ve come to dread in my life: “Where are you from?” I’ve been asked this question many times by many people, in...

One way I’ve been dealing with my re-entry shock and our isolation is by experimenting with cooking Chinese food. I didn’t cook Chinese...

There’s a metaphor in cross-cultural training that goes something like this: your home culture is a yellow culture and has yellow ways to...

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday.  I love the memories from when I was young and all my aunts, uncles, and cousins gathered...

On my last trip to the Great Wall, about five minutes after I arrived at the top of the wall, a kid (maybe about 12) mustered up the...

One of my favorite memories from the time I was in the U.S. this fall was teaching several groups of people to make Chinese dumplings....

Every time I post about my attempts to cook Chinese food, American friends who have lived in China ask about The Green Beans.  This dish...

Spring Festival (aka Chinese New Year) comes to an official end on Monday.  Throughout these weeks, a couple people have said something...

This winter, instead of taking a vacation some place warm and sunny, I took a trip to Michigan.  Even though January is arguably one of...

中秋节快乐！  zhōng qiū jié kuài lè !  Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! A few weeks ago (September 27), we celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival, one of...

I currently have a six-month visa that can’t be renewed in Beijing.  In order to get a new one, I had to take a trip to Hong Kong.  Since...

After the days we spent exploring the breathtaking Jiuzhaigou and admiring the pandas’ cuteness, we spent our last day relaxing in the...

One of my favorite summer drinks is an iced chai latte, especially from Panera, especially when combined with a cinnamon crunch bagel...

Sometimes I like to take my camera out and take a saunter around my neighborhood, stopping to photograph whatever seems interesting. ...

I ate chicken feet (okay, a chicken foot) in my own apartment.  Chicken feet are on my list of things I’d rather not eat because of their...

A fun thing about living in China is pineapple season!  Pineapples aren’t grown in Beijing, but they appear for sale everywhere in the...

Happy New Year, everyone!  The traditional Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, and today is the first day of the New Year.  (Note:...

In some ways, it seems odd for a coffee shop to be popular in China, where tea is the most common beverage.  And yet, coffee shops are...

“All it takes is the decision to walk with some awareness, both of who you are and what you are doing” (An Altar in the World, Barbara...