Weblog » Archives » March 2006

  • It's been hard for me to get Internet time this week, sharing one measly connection with my sister and my wiser half (W.H.) who is in Beijing for eight days. I adore both of them but I noticed that my Internet usage has…

  • Buyer Beware

    This blog and "Dissertation Trip" (on MSN Spaces) both seem like cautionary tales (to put it kindly) about writing a dissertation and traveling abroad to gather the requisite materials. Granted, things have gotten much …

  • Checkpoint

    I'm finally back to a normal schedule after a "lost week." I think I have put more pressure on myself given that I only have three months here in China but I'm trying to stay positive and productive for the remainder of…

  • Transporting

    My sister and I seem to be rare individuals in the Beijing expatriate community. Aside from the really diehard people who try to blend in seamlessly with local residents, everyone seems to take taxis here and there. …

  • Illness in a Foreign City

    I have been minimizing computer activities (well, non-work-related) for the past few days due to a most unwelcome cold. I have never been able to understand how only this aspect of my astrological profile fits me so wel…

  • 3-Mile

    Well, a Chinese li is not equivalent to a mile, but I decided to succumb to temptation and come up with something snappy and derivative. I couldn't write yesterday because my gas machine was on the fritz, and consequen…

  • Retrospective

    Unlike in Taiwan, where I basically kept the same schedule every day (commute to the office, work from 9-5, return home, eat, and sleep) with few interruptions, I am enjoying a diverse and rather unpredictable life here …

  • May the revolution never end....

    I witnessed a very disturbing sight today which I wish I could say never happened -- but this, dear readers, is not fiction. It happened just two hours ago and I am still a bit rattled.I expected that many readers are f…

  • Brush with Greatness

    Historians deal with famous personalities all the time. Most of the time they are already deceased. Sometimes we try to catch them before they pass on (oral history). In any case, eminence is a frequent element in our…

  • CaffeinatedThis entry is a tribute to my wiser half, the scholar of Qing political history and of teacraft who teaches me a great deal about both subjects."All the tea in China" is a common expression, and indeed, despi…

  • Never before has a microwave oven terrified me so much.Our landlady should have provided a nice new one for us as part of the "basic conditions" of our lease, but being the frugal woman that she is, brought over the one …

  • "How do you get to the quill pen market, please?"Becoming a "local" is always a challenging endeavor, but it was actually quite heartening that some random gentleman would ask me that as we passed by each other on the st…

  • Becoming Canadian — One Step at a TimeI discovered a new favorite magazine while killing time in the Vancouver (YVR) airport before boarding my first Air Canada flight (to PEK). I chanced upon The Walrus (www.walrusmaga…

foniyo

  • Visit foniyo's Xanga Site
    • Name: Loretta
    • Gender: Female
    • Member Since: 2/27/2006

Connect

Recent Weblogs