One day in mid-November 2013 my husband and I go to a women’s and children’s hospital. We haven’t been to this hospital before, but after having been sent to do a blood sample every third day, we have decided to change the hospital and this one was recommended to us by a coworker. It’s time […]
Monthly Archives: February 2014
In March 2008, just a few months before the start of the Summer Olympics in Beijing and right after protests took place that would later lead to deadly riots in Lhasa, Q, a friend from Northwestern Yunnan gets a call from her mother. Her mother is an ethnic Tibetan while her father is Han-Chinese. Their […]
One day I want to go for lunch. On my way to the restaurant, I walk past a café. I hear somebody call my Chinese name. I think that this is just my imagination playing a trick on me and walk on. But then I hear somebody call my name again. One of my female […]
On yesterday’s 元宵节 (Yuánxiāojié), translated as Chinese Lantern Festival, which falls on the first full moon of the Chinese New Year and marks the end of the new year celebrations in China, my company prepares 汤圆 (Tāngyuán), sweet glutinous rice balls filled with sesame paste. It’s tradition to eat Tangyuan, which come in the shape […]
Ever since becoming pregnant I haven’t been out and about as much as before (meaning less conversations with locals), so starting from today I’ll skip posting on Thursdays and stick to a schedule of two weekly posts on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Make sure to come back on these days to check out the latest posts. […]
After getting back the results of the blood works and confirming that I am indeed pregnant, the next time I see the doctor she sends me to do blood works again. And three days after that, again. It’s too soon to do an ultrasound yet. But why does she send me to do blood works […]
Everytime Y travels somewhere or takes on an important task, it rains heavily. And each and everytime this happens, he’ll say: “Do you believe it now? My mother came to believe it because it just always happens.” Came to believe what? Read on and I’ll tell you the answer. When Y is still little, he […]
After seeing the results of the pregnancy test and telling me that we need to monitor the progress, the doctor tells me: “There are three things you need to avoid: ‘Lifting heavy things, falling down and sharing the same room’*.” I: “I’m sorry?” She: “You can’t sleep with your husband. You might have different ideas […]
This is the last part of a conversation I had with a cab driver who took me to the airport in Shenzhen. The conversation was rather long, so I’ve split it into 6 parts. Click here if you’ve missed part 1 (“Is learning English hard for you?”), part 2 (“Do you know Deng Xiaoping?”), part […]
This is part 5 of a conversation I had with a cab driver who took me to the airport in Shenzhen. The conversation was rather long, so I’ve split it into 6 parts. Click here if you’ve missed part 1 (“Is learning English hard for you?”), part 2 (“Do you know Deng Xiaoping?”), part 3 […]
China elevator stories 