No one can tell me that I am not getting enough fiber in my Zhong Guo diet. I am nursing a steaming cup of Gui Hua Cha...which is the tea this beautiful city is famous for - Osmanthus Tea. I just inhaled a twig...although as it forced its way down my esophagus it felt more like an enormous branch. I am still feeling my way around the art of tea-making. I have endless ingredients, although when it comes to making the perfect cup of tea, I am still a bit hopeless. I have jasmine flowers and osmanthus flowers, green tea leaves, those brown balls...whatever they are called, dried mandarin slices, jasmine-infused green tea leaves...osmanthus-infused green tea leaves. The list is endless. Well, that's not quite true. It ends with the osmanthus-infused green tea leaves. So far ... read more

I enjoy writing. I like putting words together on a page...or a screen and letting my thoughts and ideas pour out of me like the rain water here in Guilin. When I was young, I thought that I could write a book, and get it published. I had a title, and 17 typed pages on my IBM-POS laptop from the Dark Ages that I had set up on my desk in my bedroom. I wrote mostly about crushes and boys and how I felt like a Teenage Superwoman, putting up with all the drama of High School. In reality, my drama was no more or less than anyone else...I think it just felt like it. Seventeen pages. That's pretty good for a fourteen year-old. I have had term papers in college that didn't need to be ... read more

It rained again today. My life this past week has felt a bit soggy and unremarkable. Wikipedia will tell us that Southeast Asia's monsoon season falls in late spring through the beginning of summer. I would disagree at the moment. I missed Christmas. I missed Christmas Eve at Grandma's, and Christmas morning with my parents and brother. I missed Christmas day with my dad's sisters and the family that they themselves have accumulated over the years. I wouldn't say I missed America...but I certainly missed the holiday spirit that infects Americans from Thanksgiving until New Years. It wasn't the same. I have grown so accustomed to being driven nearly insane by the gaudy overproduction of the Christmas season...perhaps all it takes to appreciate it is to spend the holiday in a place where the people don't ... read more

A week and a half ago students from Guangxi Normal painted the trunks of all the trees on campus. I have no idea why. I saw them going to town on the trees outside of my apartment as I was leaving for class, and couldn't help but smile and think of the Disney movie "Alice in Wonderland." All of the cards were painting the roses white and red because the queen had ordered it so. No one knew why, they just followed instructions. I think this tree-painting activity was very much the same idea.... read more

I wanted to be sure to get some pictures of the market where I buy all the meat and produce I could possibly need in one lifetime.... read more