I’m halfway down the stairs to the Central Station LRT platform when I see the train pull in. I run the last few steps and hop on board the nearest car just as the doors are closing. As I look for a seat, I am surprised to find that most of them are already occupied. …
Sometimes, when my alarm clock drags me away from an especially vivid dream, its details stick with me – long enough to share the story with my husband as he shaves, to muse over while I make coffee, to accompany me to the bus stop. But by the time I’ve settled into my office and …
This is for all the Magpie Learners who know the joy of reading words and images, and the magic each brings to the other.
The little blonde girl and her littler, blonder brother are running hand in hand down the ramp of the Tropical Pavilion at the Muttart Conservatory. With six-year-old authority, she tells him, “And pretty soon it’s going to get a flower. And then it will stink like dead bodies!” Her face and voice light up with …
That night, the 20-minute cab ride from downtown Changsha back to my hotel had been unusually quiet. Aaron, in his traditional place in the passenger front seat, was staring straight ahead, not chatting to the driver as he usually did. Claudia had her head down, flicking through her phone. I checked the time on my …
Two weeks into my China adventure, I finally experience what people in Changsha call a “good air” day. A few rainstorms had cleared the smog and significantly reduced the 30+C temperatures. Under cloudless skies, the sun warm on our backs without scorching us, I walk with Mia, my grad student guide for the day, in …
One evening when I was having dinner with the grad students, Mia and Claudia were badgering Aaron to think through his buddies for possible boyfriend candidates (they were speaking Chinese, but Claudia explained their general topic of conversation, if not all the details.) “Aaron is asking what our requirements are,” she grinned. “And what are you …
The first time I crossed the hall from my hotel room to visit my China teaching partner, Walter, in his room, I was kind of jealous. Not only was his room more spacious than mine, it was on the shady side of the hotel, and its view showcased Changsha’s bustling streets, affluent skyline, and urban …
When I’m at home in Canada, Sunday is grocery shopping day. As my husband and I trudge up one aisle and down the next, filling our cart with food that looks the same as last week’s and last week’s before that, I’m occasionally overcome by a feeling of irritated boredom. “Why can’t someone invent some …
In 976 A.D., Zhang Shi and Zhu Xi, two leaders of ancient Chinese learning, climbed Yuelu Mountain, located on the west bank of the Xiang River in Changsha. When they arrived at the summit, they built a platform and named it “Hexi,” which translates as “the splendor of sunrise.” The platform became the foundation for …
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