Adventures in Asia

I hate exercise. I had heard about the traumas of working-out-in-front-of-an-audience from fellow expats. I was not interested in going to the gym in China. But I love my husband and he wanted to and it’s healthy so I went anyway. Here’s what it was like for us! One of the signs in our gym - gotta love the English, lol. We visited three different gyms before committing. The first one was super small, technically a sports club, located in a hotel. The price was a little steep, but there wasn’t a membership fee. The owner made us tea and kindly answered all our questions. The second one was big, hot, and loud. Unintelligible club music thumped through the whole place. Rows and rows of machines were occupied by young adults who, of course, stared at the weird foreigner (me). My husband and I started sweating during the tour. I was not impressed. The third gym was on the tenth, top floor of a building. They had a lot of space and were more affordable. I liked the yog...

“If I have one more person ask me if I eat dog or cat, I think I’m going to scream. That should be one of your blog posts! It’s what everybody wants to know.” (Direct quote from a friend who just returned home to the U.S. after six months in China.) Pretty place setting! But what poor pet will soon fill it??? Unfortunately, I do not have any graphic stories of dog or cat meat, as I haven’t eaten or seen any during my 3.5 years of living in China. My most traumatic food stories involve having to give up macaroni and cheese, and eating meat with the bones still in (and sometimes with its head and feet still connected). I’ve also had to eat more vegetables here (Oh! The horror!!), and there are SO many more vegetables to eat! Often my Chinese husband’s vocabulary and the dictionary fail us, and he simply tells me that what’s on the table is a “Chinese vegetable.” Eventually I just stopped asking. Chinese food in China is nothing like Chinese food in the US, by a long sh...

Wow! Hard to believe it’s the ONE YEAR anniversary of me posting my random thoughts about Korean TV and living life in Asia on this blog! I was to say a huge THANK YOU for taking the time to read my sporadic posts! In celebration of One Year, let’s play a game: Name That Korean Celebrity! Below are some of the famous faces I see on a regular basis while I’m picking up groceries, eating out or shopping. Can you identify them?? (See answers at the end of the post.) 1. Some dastardly handsome cardboard cutouts at KFC, who happen to have magical powers. 2. You know you want this adorable stuffed animal from Caffee Bene. 3. Nothing like a Chinese Pizza Hut. 4. Happy Lunar New Year! 5. Stylin' with some potato chips! 6. Chocolate... Ooh ooh... 7. More chips! This time, tomato flavor! 8. I scream, you scream, we all scream for Oppa! 9. I'm starting to see a chip trend here... ...

Vacation is here! School’s out for summer, school’s out forever! Woohoo! A few weeks of no class means I’m States-side for the first time in nine months. The following is a list of things I keep having to remind myself now that I’m home in midwest America and not in northern China. 1. Strangers are going to talk to you. A lot. And it’s going to feel weird, because (a) they can speak fluent English (what the heck?), and (b) it’s a lot of small talk that you aren’t used to. In Asia, conversation at the checkout or with a waiter is brief. In America, strangers are friendly and will talk to you more. And you’ll probably accidentally end up telling them you just returned from China. (How does that even happen?) 2. Public restrooms will have western toilets (not squatty potties), furnished with tp and soap. You no longer have to keep your bag stocked with tissue and hand sanitizer. Isn’t it great? 3. Clean up after yourself at Starbucks, McDonalds, Panera, Moe’s, and al...