It was Sophia’s Birthday and we wanted to wish her a Happy Birthday and let her know how much we love her even though we lived in Beijing, and she was in Texas. That was her special day, and she deserved a little extra attention. It took a bit of doing with the […]

I was born into a working-class family in the US. We moved a lot and about time we would get “settled” my mother, who suffered from depression, would get sick and be put in the hospital. My brothers and I would stay with our grandmother until my Dad would start all over in another place,

Most people have an image in their mind of what a warrior is. We read about them in history books, see them in movies, and in the news. I met one 35 years ago. He didn’t wield a sword or carry a gun, but was part of the battle, nonetheless. He loaded weapons on fighter

Soon after moving to Beijing, our friends took us to a wildly popular “discount” market. They have all the name brand products at a fraction of the regular price. Busloads of bargain hunters come to partake in these unbelievable deals. The salesladies speak several languages and will give you their full attention. They call you

Last week the pollution was bad in Beijing. It climbed to over 400 AQI, and it looked like a thick fog had settled over the city. From our apartment I could only see a few buildings, with nothing in sight beyond that. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought that was all there