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tasty bytes from China
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12/23/13
Charles
Filed under: Kids
Posted by: @ 3:40 am

I was in America reading a British news article about a French helicopter crash that involved a Hong Kong boy that was my student in China.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/21/chinese-hotelier-french-wine-entrepreneur-helicopter-crash

Charles was the student who had me wrapped around his finger.
Make that eight fingers and two thumbs.
I didn’t get upset when he left QQ wrappers in the desk.
Which he did.
And I’ll miss.
I gave him atomic fireballs and lemon heads for speaking up in class.
 

I allowed him to shoot rubber bands at the 8th graders while they gave presentations.
He was shy and the spittin’ image of his father whom I met at teacher conferences. Lam thanked me for teaching his son and chuckled at Charles’ photo-shopping of a school project.

Charles Jobs.

The ocean isn’t big enough for all of our tears. I’ll miss Charles’ comments in class, especially his desire to know everyone’s favorite color.
He was supposed to eat stinky cheese for me in Paris (he missed the weird food party we had in class since he left a day before Christmas break began).
Charles didn’t finish his novel. Why? I excused Charles and other students to play in the snow—yes snow— instead of working on their stories in class.
Good choice.
Charles made a mini snowman which he brought into my classroom.

It melted all over his desk but left a beautiful memory.
 

Life and death are one thread,
 

the same line viewed from different sides. Lao Tzu

生命和死亡是一个线程,从不同的侧面老子看同一行

2 comments
12/14/13
kenny g rocks kunming!
Filed under: Culture
Posted by: @ 5:22 pm

I usually am not excited to listen to elevator music. But when Kenny G announced that Kunming would be on his world tour, I snatched up two smooth tickets at a pretty price.

When you live on the flip side, you just crave hearing anything that reminds you of “back home”, even if it’s what you hear in dentist offices.
I was tempted to bring a sign that read, “I CAME ALL THE WAY FROM DETROIT TO HEAR YOU!”
But instead, I brought my friend DouDou.
She enjoyed it, but she enjoys anything that allows her to practice English.
The concert was in the Kunming Sport’s arena.

8466763797_a4de673ecb_k

The place wasn’t packed. Still, the crowds ate up his saxophone playing and Men’s Hair Club “I’m too old for this hair style locks”.

Our top dollar seats were located in the nosebleed section.

I took pictures but my camera was stolen.

Maybe this guy hid it under his hat.
 BuddhistZooTemple 002

Could this be the president of Kunming’s Kenny G Fan Club?

BuddhistZooTemple 003

It was definitely not the same crowd you’d see at the Camel Bar.

Kenny offered an autograph session after his concert.

And just how do you say elevator music in chinese?

电梯音乐

comments (0)
12/02/13
Peaceful?
Filed under: General, Culture
Posted by: @ 2:59 pm


IMG_0025


So we went to Bangkok for Thanksgiving to gobble up padthai
and durian instead of choking down green jello.


It was warm and
peaceful.


Well sort of.


That’s because Thai citizens made international news over the holiday weekend due to a
peaceful demonstration about their govt.

IMG_0024

Of course, I got caught in the middle of it. Our  hotel, Soi 31, is located on Sukhumvit, which is the seedy Michigan Avenue of Bangkok. And,  just a whistle blow away from the ASOK BTS train
stop where Friday’s demonstration took place.



IMG_0021

About a gazillion and a half Thai men, women, and he-shes were 
blowing a gazillion and a half whistles, like the ones you used to get out of cracker jack boxes.


IMG_0023

I don’t know who this guy was talking to–there is no way he could have heard anything. It was definitely not his fashion adviser.

IMG_0020


Now was the Thai demonstration non-violent?  

Yes.


Peaceful?


Hardly.


Now our hotel pool was peaceful.


IMG_0019


This anatomically correct sculpture was peaceful.


STA_0061

Street Gods were peaceful, probably because they were
appeased by refreshing bottles of strawberry fanta.


STB_0064

Anyway, I didn’t stay around for the news cameras. I boarded
the subway and made my way to the world’s largest gold Buddha, which was peaceful.


IMG_0043

…and saw the world’s largest solid gold butt crack.

IMG_0036

So, what’s your idea of a peaceful holiday, or is “a peaceful holiday” the ultimate oxymoron?


 

comments (0)