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Vacations are great. Coming
Vacations are great. Coming home to hundreds of messages, minor crises, and changing deadlines isn’t so fun. OIne of the joys of freelancing is a flexible and lighter workload. But returning from this vacation, I am as swamped with stuff to do as if I were a wage slave. I’m a slave, but no wages.…
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In eleven days we
In eleven days we covered plenty of territory in China: Beijing; Xi’an; Chongqing; Shanghai; and countless places I’d never heard of before. I captured it all in images. 252 slides on film and 181 digital photos, to be precise. But my favorite snapshot, the one that best sums up my travel experience, isn’t one by…
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Beijing is a city
Beijing is a city of fluid movements: tai chi in the shadow of the Temple of Heaven; ballroom dancing in a park; pedestrians sauntering down a shopping arcade. Traffic moves with the moment. On broad avenues bicycles, donkey carts and trolley buses share the raod with taxis and pedestrians. Nobody hurries, especially not the big…
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Arriving at Wansheng Theater
Arriving at Wansheng Theater was a Neil Stephenson novel come to life. Our taxi driver pulled up in front of an old, peeling-grey, three story building. Its windows were boarded over and outside the second floor unlit neon letters spelled out “Welcome to our ACROBATICS SHOW” A middle aged man in a dingy polo shirt…
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We rode three hours
We rode three hours out of Beijing yesterday to see the Great Wall. There are nearer places, but we wanted to see the Simatai section, described as “not touristy” and affording the best views. On the drive there, we passed through the northeastern suburbs of Beijing. Towards the airport are the lastest developments. First tall,…
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Last night we strolled
Last night we strolled down Wangfujing, a broad boulevard closed off to traffic. As the evening settled in, crowds of people came out to enjoy the bands and the beer at outdoor festival tables. We dined on food from stalls (avoiding the skewered crickets, scorpions and pupae) at a special night market and had fun…
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I’m in China. Beijing
I’m in China. Beijing reminds me a lot of Hong Hong, Kuala Lumpur & every Chinatown I’ve ever visited. There’s a mix of high-tech billboards and people on bicycles. Old, weed-sprouting roofs on houses hidden behind grey, tile-topped walls. 1970s residential highrises with air conditioners on the outside of each window. Upscale boutiques. Teeming millions.…
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Seth & Tara came
Seth & Tara came back from Akita in the north of Japan bearing a gift box of “Aunt Stella’s Hand Made Cookies from the Heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country.” It’s the perfect blend of Amish & Japanese. The box is wrapped in pink sprigged gift paper just like all Japanese omiyage boxes, and in addition…
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Japanese hospitals are medicine
Japanese hospitals are medicine machines that quickly move patients through a set path from Reception to Accounting. The NTT Kanto Medical Center is no different, but it is newly renovated and offers a comfortable environment. I was there yesterday for an appointment. I wasn’t the only foreigner there, but I was one of perhaps two.…
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Sitting on the arm
Sitting on the arm of a friend’s sofa last night, watching two little girls put “hair toys” into my husband’s too-long hair, I had an insight on writing the description of that scene. Glittering hearts; hysterical laughter; amused patience. But I slept and my insight faded and though I can still vividly picture the scene,…
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