My blog has a new home, here on my new website! Welcome! I haven't written much in the last few years through reentry. This past...

I keep hearing people talk about things “going back to normal” soon. Spoiler alert: I don’t think we’re going to back to normal. I...

I’ve long loved the look of watercolor painting and wished I could do it myself. Seeing a friend share some of her beginning watercolor...

Re-entry is hard, in many ways even harder than living overseas. In re-entry, you are trying to sort out a massive change in identity,...

Peterson Beach With What I Think Are Pitcher Thistles, a Threatened Species Native to Great Lakes Dunes “We have traveled this day / to...

There’s a question I’ve come to dread in my life: “Where are you from?” I’ve been asked this question many times by many people, in...

“Let Love clasp Grief lest both be drown’d” –“In Memoriam A.H.H.” stanza 1, Lord Alfred Tennyson Love clasping grief as I said goodbye to...

One way I’ve been dealing with my re-entry shock and our isolation is by experimenting with cooking Chinese food. I didn’t cook Chinese...

A couple of years ago, I arrived back in Beijing on about March 17. A few days later, I noticed that the lilac bushes in my apartment...

If you are an American child of the 80’s like me, one of your earliest exposures to China might have been the Sesame Street Special, “Big...

In my first class for my middle school students, I showed the students these two photos. I asked them which one they would choose if...

“Return Slowly” sign at The Hermitage Community Last week, I heard a story. There was once a group of Western scientists that wanted to...

A couple weeks ago, I read “Never the Stranger” by Kate Kooyman on The Twelve blog about not just offering, but receiving hospitality. ...

I woke up early on Christmas morning. It wasn’t because I was excited to open gifts or see my family. I woke up early out of an intense...

This summer, I spent some time in the U.S. getting to visit lots of family and friends.  I spent time in Michigan and went out on a East...

There’s a metaphor in cross-cultural training that goes something like this: your home culture is a yellow culture and has yellow ways to...

There is a familiar rhythm to this time of year in the expat world: it is saying goodbye time.  Many people conclude their time overseas...

My naturally curly hair and Beijing are not on good terms.  The weather is not ideal for curls–too dry in the winter and too humid in the...

The day I enjoyed the tulips, I also saw something that made my heart heavy: a “marriage market.”  I’d heard of this phenomenon in China,...

Spring is a brief, but lovely, season in Beijing.  Last Sunday afternoon, I was in the general vicinity of Zhongshan Park, which is...