We were having fun acting like tourists in Qingdao, but I never forgot the real reason for our visit; even as we bought cheesy souvenirs and took bad selfies, there was tension in my gut. I knew I was going to fuck this up. Read More
ByGD
The Gift of Lily
ByGD
A Beautiful Smile
At the China Community Art and Culture Hotel Restaurant, a puppet show to celebrate Children’s Day.
A few days into our trip, my daughter commented that people in Qingdao seemed nicer than people at home. She said, “Even when it’s their job to be nice to us, they just seem to mean it more. Except for the traffic, Qingdao feels safer than Seattle.” I knew what she meant, and I had to agree. I talked about the curious stares and occasional stink-eye in an earlier post, but the truth is, more often than not, once people figure out our relationship, the most common response is a thumbs up. After a couple of days in Qingdao, the first two words that came to mind to describe Qingdaonese were “kind” and “gentle.” Read More
ByGD
Stink Eye
My daughter is convinced that everyone is staring at us. This notion is ridiculous. Not quite half the people we pass stare at us. Staring is just not as taboo in China, and we do stand out. A white woman walking with a Chinese child generates some cognitive dissonance on the streets of Qingdao, Shandong. Beside myself, I only saw one other white woman today. She was one of two Caucasians (an American couple) we spotted on our first day in China. Read More
ByGD
The Brief Wondrous Life of Princess Lilac
Just add food – how hard could it be?
It began, as so many tragedies do, with a rash promise, made with little understanding of what was offered and almost immediately regretted. I hoped that I would never be called upon to fulfill the promise, but when, a week later, safe at home with the excitement behind us, my oldest daughter said, “Mama! You promised to buy me a rabbit!” I knew I couldn’t back out.
But I could try to renegotiate. Read More
