Ordering food in China can be tricky if you don’t speak or read Chinese, leading to many a frustrated expat staring into an unanticipated plate of chopped chicken feet. When I first moved to Beijing in 2005, my Chinese was a bit more limited, which led to a limited set of dishes I could order.…
Read MoreBeijing – An Underwater Adventure
About a week ago, it rained heavily for an hour and I came home to find my street looking like this: I was grateful that emergency crews were there to try to pump the water out, but pretty shocked that cars were still driving through that mess (and with great speed, no less). Forecasters started…
Read MoreTaxi cab confessions
Conversations with taxi drivers generally follow the same formula. I could probably record my side of the conversation a la Ferris Bueller’s doorbell routine and save myself quite a bit of talking time. Yesterday, however, my cab conversation took a turn for the delightfully quirky. It started raining sideways basically the moment I stepped out…
Read MorePatience is a virtue
In case you’re unaware, the current population estimate for China is somewhere around 1.3 billion. Beijing alone is home to at least 20 million, possibly even closer to 25 million. To state the glaringly obvious, that’s a lot of people. Given such a massive population, you would think that people would naturally be used to, you…
Read MoreFun with Fire
Well folks, it’s that time of year again. 春节 Chūnjié (Spring Festival), known more commonly as Chinese New Year is coming to a close in Beijing. Which means that I finally have the peace of mind necessary to sit down and write. Well, almost. Tonight is the last legal night for setting off fireworks, which means…
Read MoreGiving thanks
Western-style ovens are not common in China. I own a sort of toaster oven on steroids, large enough to accomodate a dozen very strategically placed muffin cups. It is not large enough to handle a chicken, never mind a turkey. So, when questions of Thanksgiving dinner arose, my American friends and I were at a…
Read MoreOf cabbages and kings
There was terrible traffic. My alarm didn’t go off. The weather really slowed things up. There was a cabbage and fish sale at the grocery store. As far as morning delays go, this is definitely a new one for me. There’s a grocery store in the basement of the building where I work, and when…
Read MoreBroken record
Apologies (again) for my long absence. It hasn’t been for lack of interesting things to share, rather it’s been a combination of work schedule and laziness that has kept me away from you. To make up for the prolonged pause, I’ve migrated the blog over to WordPress (tada!) and made the site its very own…
Read MoreA collection of happy thoughts
Over the past two weeks I’ve been taking mental snapshots, Cam Jansen style. Whenever I hit a patch of stress or exhaustion I like to bring them back to the forefront to remind myself to breathe. Disjointed and strange as they may be, I take comfort in these human moments and thought I would share…
Read MoreGetting back in the swing of the Jing
One of the things I love about Beijing is its ability to provide me with little moments of amusement throughout the day. There will eventually be things that drive me crazy, but as it is at the start of any relationship the quirks are charming rather than infuriating. Take, for example, opening a bank account. While…
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Positively Natalie 