Marryin' Joseph!  OMG!  You should have been here.  Was this an operation.  I played my role as a minister, but I swear, I was more popular than the bride and groom.  No kidding! Marryin’ Joseph, in person. You may recall from my April 16 post, "An Unusual Request," that I was asked to play a minister for a young Chinese couple who wanted to have as part of their wedding theme an enactment ... Read More

Children are fearless and uninhibited.  Today on the bus as we returned from the grocery store, a seven-year-old girl engaged Char in a conversation using her basic English, which actually was quite good.  About a dozen people within earshot smiled and chuckled as they spoke.   Char proudly demonstrated to the girl that she, Char, could count to 10 in Chinese.  After which the girl demonstrated to Char ... Read More

We discovered the Hand-Grasping Pie early in our stay one day while we walked to our apartment from West Lake here in Hangzhou.  We ordered that first street food delicacy by pointing and nodding.  When Char, who teaches at Hangzhou Foreign Language School, told her students about the experience, they were thrilled that we would venture into the local culture in this way.  One enterprising young girl, ... Read More

Get this!  I have been asked to be a minister at a Chinese wedding! Ok, ok--for some of you who know me well, this may seem a bit unusual, if not outright unbelievable.  But this is an interesting situation. Now pay attention and follow along carefully; this may seem a bit convoluted. A young couple is getting married at the end of May.  It is common for young couples in China to plan a theme for ... Read More

Construction season has come to Hangzhou as well. One morning about 6 a.m. we heard the loud clanging of metal on metal combined with voices in foreign tongues. Alas, construction workers went about the business of erecting scaffolding at the building across the courtyard and beginning to tear off overhangs above the windows. By the end of the first week, scaffolding appeared around our building as well, and workmen are ... Read More

As the weather has gotten warmer, sunnier, and friendlier, we find ourselves getting outside to see this place or that, purchase needed items, and collect information for a host of stories.  Alas, such activity leaves little time for writing.  I offer apologies to my readers for my lack of time management skills--I have wonderful stories to tell, and precious little time to write them. Just last weekend ... Read More

Weather permitting, all students go outside for 15 minutes of exercise. BoomerTrekker Note:  The following article is by Char Koppi about her continued teaching experience at Hangzhou Foreign Languages School. By Charleen Koppi One Child, and Only One Child China’s “one child” rule sort of hits you in the face here.  I often make references to a brother or sister when I’m giving examples or asking a ... Read More

My high school World History teacher somehow burned into my memory the observance of the Ides of March with the story of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC (or BCE, Before the Common Era, as the politically sensitive term puts it today).  He was stabbed 23 times.  Must have been quite a scene.  After 50 years, I still think of it every year. After three days of sunny, spring-like weather with ... Read More

Dealing With Health Issues Away From Home I have just spent the last week dealing with a bout of gout, of all things.  Yes, Gout!  It is a form of arthritis and is an extremely painful affliction.  It most often settles in the joint of the big toe, which it did for me on my left foot.  It rendered me nearly unable to walk for about three days, and able to walk with a great deal of pain for the next ... Read More

I packed up all of my workout gear--both gym clothes and swimming gear--and set off to use my new health club membership for the first time.  My new workout venue is the Hangzhou Oakwook Health Club located in the Oakwood Residence, which is two towers of upscale condos with a Mercedes Benz dealership next door.  Anyone who lives in Oakwood Residence is certainly beyond my economic class.  However, health ... Read More