cellar door

. . and in closing

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 10:15:47 -0700

sleep has been had. favorite foods have been taken. spike has been reacquainted. i swear, i thought he was going to crawl inside my mouth and take up residence in there when he saw me. cute puppy of mine. he has not left my side yet. i love him. have been to the gym, have been to work. things are starting to normalize. another trip has come to an end. a few more stamps in the old passport. a few

. . goddess bless america

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 11:27:09 -0700

it took me a very, very long time to get here. a very long time. before actually getting on board, there was yet another security check at the entrance of the plane itself. 3 all together before i could set my ass in a seat. and leave it there for the next 13+ hours. but enough about HK. i’m in SF now. and yep- there was yet another security check. i am not sure what they think anyone can get up

. . don't i at least get dinner?

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 18:53:00 -0700

okay. forget everything i said about breezing through HKIA. well, not everything. it remains that check-in and security were not the horror i had been warned of, thank you CNN. it was all a very simple process. UNTIL... all direct flights bound for the united states are put through another, entirely uncivil, near full-body cavity search, rigamarole. i mean, i appreciate the efforts. but come on.

. . departures

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 17:32:10 -0700

leeeavinnggg, oonnn a jet plaaane. something something, won’t come back againnn. again, i am struck by the beauty of the HK international airport. so very well done. and so efficient! it took no time at all to get checked in, maybe 5 minutes to get through security. it’s heaven in here. except for the life-size 747 cutaway airplane i’m forced to stare at while i have my croissan’wich and scaldin

. . hongee kongee

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 00:38:19 -0700

my fascination with neon continues. why i am drawn like a moth to these gaseous tubes of brilliance? these past couple days in HK alone have been a much needed respite. i am not so much a fan of group mentality, and spending a month as part of a group was trying. i can do it, i can play the part. but i have to separate myself and go wandering alone. it’s been suggested that i’m anti-social. hardly

. . the legend of suzy wong

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 17:03:54 -0700

before WWII, the lan kwai fong, or simply ‘the fong’ was a hawker’s market. a long stretch of road where anything could be had for the right coinage. during WWII, it was much the same place, only the goods had changed. one miss suzy wong moved into the ‘hood and soon had an extended family of pretty chinese girls, who all seemed to stay up late into the nights. word travelled far and wide throug

. . harrowing

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:32:11 -0700

zhuhai is now just a memory. because bopa and saomi are growing in intensity, i thought it best to get out of zhuhai early this morning, lest i be trapped in zhuhai a single day more. the turbo-ferry experience was less than interesting. plus, with the rough waters, it was all i could do to keep my head upright, while trying to hold onto some semblance of international aloofness. made it safely

. . here comes bopa

Wed, 9 Aug 2006 17:41:31 -0700

so, we’re about to get spanked again. two tropical cyclones are en route, bopa will arrive first followed by saomi. it does not look like they will grow to typhoons, and taiwan is set to bear the brunt of it anyhow, but there is a lot of rain and those little white spinny things on the weather report. i am good with it, provided the rain does not hinder my exit from zhuhai tomorrow. i am taking a

. . resistance is futile

Tue, 8 Aug 2006 23:46:47 -0700

i have entered into phase 4 of the experience, or rather, assimilation. nothing phases or shocks me, my pace has slowed to a 120% humidity crawl, i can suddenly speak cantonese in passing, without drawing the sentence out in my head first, or using exaggerated hand gestures. the locals seem to know me now. the stray dogs have stopped following me, clearly no longer interested in my scent. the 100

. . 2 years and 1 day

Mon, 7 Aug 2006 02:24:29 -0700

in exactly 2 years and 1 day from today, beijing will become the world stage, as the 2008 olympics opening ceremony alights. i would very much love to return to china, to beijing, with bobby, to witness the olympics that year. i mean, beijing itself is reason to come back, the forbidden city, all these things. i’ve never been to an olympic event. i really would love to witness that sort of condens

. . bandits!

Mon, 7 Aug 2006 01:37:38 -0700

thievery has struck sun yat-sen university. i had just returned to the apartments from inner zhuhai where i was plotting my exit strategy from this, my memoirs chinoise, when fabiola (the other scrumptious latina instructor) stopped me with a “did choo hear wha’ happen? no you din-nit.” - well, it seems that during the time i was in the city and the others were doing whatever it is they do, the

. . all is calm

Fri, 4 Aug 2006 19:32:47 -0700

now that we have all been sufficiently pummeled by typhoon papiroon, it’s back to business as normal. the skies are clear, mostly, and the heat has turned itself up once more to about a million degrees. with any luck, the typhoons will hold off for awhile. i had bee soup last night for dinner. bees, in soup. i am not quite sure how i feel about that yet. i think it is kind of my duty, as a guest

. . paracetamol

Thu, 3 Aug 2006 09:22:27 -0700

. . is just another word for aspirin. i’ve been eating a lot of it today. and yesterday. a lot of us are feeling the same way. it’s too hot one day, cool the next. it’s humid one day, dry the next. hot, dry, wet, cold, hot-cold, wet-dry, hotcold, wetdry, hotcoldwetdry. it’s messing us up. but now, it’s all about wet. lot’s of it. ‘papiroon’ is here. the people in the picture are just a couple of

. . please sir, may i have another?

Wed, 2 Aug 2006 21:46:13 -0700

so there is another typhoon headed for us, ‘papiroon’, which is supposed to hit us in about 2 days. this is a much stronger storm than the last one, with wind and rain already pummeling us from every angle. neat. it had been rather comfortable prior to yesterday, with 2 really nice days. i was able to steal away to macau for a day, which was quite the adventure. when i am back on home soil, i’ll

. . it's raining

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 22:16:09 -0700

it’s also the last day of classes for my first cycle of students. i got two pairs of homemade chopsticks, and two cakes (cake, bobby!) and a number of love letters from my girl students. just as i’m really connecting with them, and getting them more comfortable with speaking without their hands in front of their mouths, they’re gone. i will hopefully see them for a bit tonight, for tomorrow they a

. . china mourns

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:33:16 -0700

today is the 30th anniversary of one of the deadliest earthquakes in human history. on july 28, 1976, at 3:45 am, the sleeping city of tangshen in northern china was rocked awake by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. 240,000 people were dead by sunrise. 15 hours later, another magnitude 7 aftershock brought even further death and destruction. it is the only thing people are talking about today. the effec

. . angles and insects

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 23:15:58 -0700

the rain is subsided, the air has cooled down, and i have somewhat regular access to the internet now. and it only took two weeks. and that still involves a 45 minute ride to the one merciful cafe i know has a wireless network. they know me well here now. if you are ever smacked in the face by a gigantic dragonfly, don’t try to kill it. they have a sense of vengeance about them. and they fly in

. . in which our hero dodges bullets and swords

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 22:24:52 -0700

for lack of anything better to do with my time, or ability to even to venture out from my apartment due to the rain, i’ve been watching a lot of chinese soap operas. they’re so much better than american ones. overly dramatized, overly acted, overly everything. it’s like what we’d expect from a parody soap. but they are for real. and even with the sound turned down, i can totally follow along. for

. . a lullaby, from wonder woman’s radio

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 05:34:34 -0700

the rain has not stopped. it’s quite nice to be cooled down somewhat. for the first time today, i did not sweat through my shirt in class. on my first day of teaching, i was speaking with a student where he sat, and i could feel a drop of perspiration running down my forehead towards the bridge of my nose. before i could reach for my handkerchief, the droplet had already made a springboard of my n

. . typhoon party

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 21:45:41 -0700

so the typhoon, though it brought a whole lot of rain and wind, was not the horror show i was kind of hoping for. so when i returned home last night to prepare for our departure to higher ground, i found my colleagues had befriended some locals. the lot of them were strewn about on the ground, surrounded by overturned bottles, laughing and carrying on like teenagers. when people get this drunk, al

. . my love, my heart

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 22:42:36 -0700

happy birthday, bobby. i cannot imagine life without you. for you

. . typhoon!

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 21:03:44 -0700

well, well. it all makes so much more sense now that it’s been explained to me. as i’ve mentioned, yesterday was unbearably hot. excruciating. today is pleasant, with a gorgeous breeze coming in off the ocean. the sky is a peculiar, grayish tone. so pleasant was this morning, i held my classes outdoors. this is when i was informed of the impending typhoon headed right for zhuhai, the coastal city

. . ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in space

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 07:12:54 -0700

there is something globally concerning with the heat right now. the one english channel i get is BBC, and if you’re going to get anything, BBC is the one you want. BBC tells it like it is. so i gather from the news, and phone calls home that there is a heat wave of sorts happening in the US. and europe and everywhere else. it seems every year lately it gets hotter and hotter and more and more peop

. . like clockwork

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 18:31:37 -0700

right on time. exactly 7 days into my immersion chinese experience, the body goes into revolt. it happens every time i travel. not so much european/western countries, but more so the questionable water countries. everything in it’s right place for a week. not worries, no issues, no problems. then like clockwork, i become a prisoner in my own bathroom. i have been somewhat ambitious with my diet,

. . go to the head of the class

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 02:53:46 -0700

this schedule rocks. though a lot has been restructured, and my classroom time has been cut by 50%, it actually affords me more one on one time with my students. and i love my students. education is so important here, and the students are actually excited, thrilled, honored to be here. they don’t take education for granted here. they grab it, they run with it, and they impress me. it’s such a plea

. . hot for teacher

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 20:13:56 -0700

today, i am supposed to meet with my students for the first time. to clarify, i am here in zhuhai, at a very well known and respected university, to instruct (i suppose the equivalent of MIT students) in the nuances of the English language for their business skills and so on. in reality, i’m at a grown up summer camp. i have two classes per day, for 7 days, from 9 to noon. (then 3 days holiday, an

. . to market, to market

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 16:45:11 -0700

spent the day wandering around guang zhou’s ‘colonial’ sector. i say colonial because it’s an old british enclave, set apart on a small(ish) island in the center of the pearl river. it’s a beautiful place. it’s also the world hub for international adoptions. it’s no secret that chinese boys are prized and girls are secondary. there are temples dedicated to certain gods that bless expecting couples

. . and i'm ready

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 07:51:41 -0700

i feel like my eyes have been peeled open and my eyelids stapled to my forehead. we are in guangzhou city, the former (long long time ago) capitol of china, though it remains the capitol of guangdong province. guangzhou is only the third largest city in china, with a mere 20 million inhabitants. i have never in my life seen a city like this. i thought i had visited the world’s largest cities alr

. . transistor radio

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 22:33:11 -0700

have departed insular HK, and am now barreling through mainland china. it’s not what i expected at all. at least not this particular region. i was expecting jade pagodas lined with gold, panda bears munching bamboo, vast, lush, green vistas with mystical shrouds of low-lying fog, little old chinese men espousing wisdom in a hushed, poetic cadence. basically, i was expecting to step into a living v

. . torrential

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 16:29:41 -0700

so yesterday was good. myself, getting to know a few of the other instructors, found ourselves up early, having nescafe in a tin cup, down on temple road. temple road is where you go for counterfeit gucci bags, fake rolex watches, pirated DVDs and pretty much anything you could want for less than a $5 note. i love temple road. every city has a ‘temple road’ of their own: canal street in nyc, the k