to the tune of nelly: it's getting cold in here...

I've never had to open classroom windows to let in warm air.

non-christmas

There isn't Christmas consumerism blasting out of every speaker here and assaulting every rod and cone, and that makes me happy. I hate how in the states everything starts right after October, and it's relentless. Reminds me of Israel, where I completely forgot it was Christmas until I saw G.'s kids drawing Christmas trees around noon. It was a relief. That being said, I keep forgetting to buy Christmas presents.

what are you?

I did this exercise with my kids yesterday, asking them to give three answers to the question, "Who are you?" Very few of them mentioned race, although that's usually my first or second answer. Chinese-American, I always say, emphasizing the American. Usually have to convince people that I grew up in the states; the Bulgarians never believed me. Now, strangely, I am still confronted by questions about my race. I'm getting "Korean?" more and more recently; am I turning Korean? I still haven't opened the monster thing of kimchi that I bought at the beginning of the year. Hm.

This racial questioning happened in the states a bit, and god knows I do it too, but people are more pc there, so they are less likely to hazard a guess. The Chinese do not have this compunction. They know that my accent is off, but they're not sure why, so it's very likely I'm from another country. It's so strange to move to a country where I finally look like everyone else, and still get my race questioned. Yabasayah?

The birthplace of bubble tea

Ordering bubble tea is a complex project. It's somewhere between ordering a latte at starbucks, and buying a house.

[Original transcript]

I walk up to the window. The women at the tea stand greet my approach by singing / yelling "huan(0) ing(2) guang(3) LAAAAAAAAANG!!" (WelCOOOOOOME!!) One leads the other two, so it's a rondo of welcome.

"Oh, uh, a honey lemon tea, please, hot."

"We don't do honey lemon hot. It's too blfdsufiofdfsse (unrecognized Chinese words)."

"Ah. Well, what kinds of hot tea do you have?"

"Here's the menu (pointing.) This is the column for hot teas, like black tea."

"Oh, which ones are popular?" Desperately trying not to reveal that I'm illiterate.

"Well, we have icovuaernae, and vjfidosfje."

"Ah, can I have the first one?" Success.

"Sure, how much sugar should we add? Here's the sugar chart. (Pointing at something with numbers and decimals.)"

"Oh, um, not a lot of sugar." Gah, not success.

"Well, that type of tea isn't very good with only a little sugar. It makes the flavor more tacky. Sticks to your teeth."

"Okay... then with normal sugar." Eyes dilating.

"Excellent choice!"

"Great." Turning to wait, relieved.

"And normal temperature? Or we could make it room temperature."

"YES, normal temperature. Oh wait, and can you add bubbles?"

"We're out of the big ones now; are the small bubbles okay?"

"Sure."

"Here's a mini sample of tea while you're waiting." (With about 50 grams of sugar in it.)

5 minutes later, amidst sugar vibrations.

"Here's your tea. The small straw will allow the small bubbles to be sucked up, but be careful that you don't choke to death on them."

"Okay, thanks." Turning to return to my double parked car.

They chase me away with, in rondo: "GUANG LAAAAAAAANG." "guang laaaang."