Lao Shi

Grumble Grumble Warning – this post is a rant. Someone’s had too much wine with dinner tonight…
For those of you who have wondered what China in the winter is like: It’s cold!
I’m trying not to gripe too much, because when I get depressed and physically stressed sickness comes on, as it did two […]

Alright, so I’m at it again… more school related drama.
I wanted to show my seventh graders the movie Dead Poet’s Society, as it has strong thematic connections to our class novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Specifically, ideas such as “carpe diem” and, in particular, a favorite of mine this year, “question authority” are essential […]

This article on netiquette in The New York Times fascinates me: I’ve been using the sign off “best” in both formal and friendly emails and have never thought about its impact. Have I been sending a cool, overly formal message in my send offs? This article implies as much, whereas I’ve always thought […]

Suzhou is a small Chinese city of seven or eight million, known for its scholar gardens, canals and beautiful women. Suzhou is sometimes called “The Venice of China,” but the similarity basically stops at the canals – except for a small area of old city, most of the canal banks have been redeveloped into gated […]

Hangshen Lake denizens dredge up hairy crabs from the lake’s nether regions, and on a weekend bus tour to Suzhou we took quite a long detour to track down this regional specialty. Hangshen’s lake shore was huge, stretching out into misty never land, and mostly idyllic. However, the rush of new housing developments has touched […]

Some people have asked me whether, in such a mono-cultural environment, where the dominant culture is a conservative Christian one, I talk with my students about religion or politics, since my views are obviously very different from theirs. YES, I DO. Last week I got in hot water because I shared my thoughts too openly […]

The people of Pudong have a talent for making smoke.
Walking home from a trip to the wet market (farmer’s market) last night I saw a column of black smoke rising from somewhere in the vicinity of my building. Our stove tops are so cheap I am convinced that one day mine is going to […]

Dear China,
I am writing to apologize for being such a frustrated, crabby old fart the past few weeks. I hope you won’t take it personal, and while I won’t go through defending my attitude – which has been indefensibly negative – I do want to give you some sense of where I’m coming from […]

Democrats taking Congress is one great thing, but these two are personal:
Pennsylvania has finally cleaned the Santorum out of its offices…

Is that girl crying over her dad’s defeat, or because of mom dressed her like a Christian Cabbage Patch Doll?
And Rummy is finally gone too? It’s a twofer!!

Don’t cry Rummy, it just is what […]

I’ve taken a momentary pause in blogging the past week or so, partly because my online time has been filled by managing the message boards I’ve started for my seventh grade class, and partly because I’m working on grad school applications (I’m seeking an MFA in Creative Writing). More posts to come soon…