I prepared my first one in a cold oven overnight. I wasn’t in the range personally, you understand, but the turkey was. My adult daughters now roll their eyes when I speak of such things, but we lived in a country where individually purchased store-bought eggs came from mounds of unrefrigerated straw. Evidently, salmonella didn’t exist back then. Turkeys weren’t …
Death flew into our family that day on the wings of a storm-tossed, little bird. My thoughts struggled to find words of explanation. I knew the answer full-well but felt unprepared to explore the topic with my precious preschoolers. For days, our small Samsung TV tried valiantly to warn us of the pending deluge. Although our Chinese language was still …
I was twenty-years-old and spending my first summer in Asia. The sub-tropical heat forced me indoors, so I retreated to my third floor room to spend solitary time before the Word of God and a singular, rotary fan. All summer, a certain long-distance relationship had remained forefront in my mind. He was tall, dark and extremely cute, with a sense …
I’ve lost things before. My keys, my rings, my purse. Once there was a span of fifteen minutes when I misplaced my preschoolers. It turns out they were hiding from me, with a stash of matches and some scratch paper, so maybe that one doesn’t count. Losing the car was my fault, especially since I was the one …
This one is best when you have the tune to Julie Andrew’s “My Favorite Things” in your head. Santa with pandas and reindeer on ramen Plastic poinsettias and breakfast of salmon Clerks dressed like elves in their red and green bling Christmas in Taiwan, a favorite thing. Mock snow on windows and shiny foil displays Fake trees of purple …
Seems that no one ever correctly explains what to expect from your first Asian foot massage. So, year after year, thousands of unsuspecting Americans are duped into shedding their socks for this ancient method of Chinese reflexology. That’s not to say that I don’t like a good foot massage. But, somehow it’s kinda like all addictions. You probably throw-up or …
Within days of arriving in Taipei, I realized that Taiwanese women had a definite advantage over me: they had incredible calves. American women go to great lengths to exercise their calves. We buy slant boards, mini steppers and workout DVD’s out the wazoo. But in large Asian cities, all of these devices are built into society. They are …
I’m not sure if it’s the smell of the cardboard or finding dead bugs underneath the sink, but moving never brings out my best. Mark knew this too, as he always needed to climb a ladder when my moving stress escalated. Actually, I think that he got up there to inhale the last molecules of breathable oxygen from the living room. …
“We’ll catch a cab,” Mark announced as he stepped toward the curb and extended his hand. We’d been in Taiwan about three weeks and although our Mandarin language skills had the finesse of a plate of sweet and sour pork, we could say our address. If that two syllable word was misunderstood, we could always hand over the …
