A few days ago, I was asked the one question I haven’t been asked much since coming to Shanghai. Why did I come to China? Why am I 9,000 miles away from home, the people I love? (and most importantly from…
The baguette cult of personality
Four years ago, I spent a magical summer in Paris, capturing memories in a long-forgotten blog. Every Thursday, I’ll post my favorite entries from that blog. This is reprinted from 7-20-10.` Baguettes are a ubiquitous phenomena in Paris. They…
Moving on
This weekend, I had quite a difficult conversation while Skyping with my mom. It was difficult in a few ways: the call kept dropping. yes, mom, I’m eating enough, stop making silly jokes about Chinese food. (Is this where I get my awful…
Chocolate, Chess, and the Elmhurst
This weekend I saw a side to Shanghai I hadn’t seen before. It was raw, crumbling, boarded-up, and really quite visceral. Saturday was one of those perfect afternoons where things just seem to go right (except the weather, nothing ever goes…
An Inordinate Fondness for Cheese
Four years ago, I spent a magical summer in Paris, capturing memories in a long-forgotten blog. Every Thursday, I’ll post my favorite entries from that blog. This is reprinted from 7-7-10. I have had so much cheese since coming to…
How do you say ‘kale’ in Chinese?
There’s someone intrinsically romantic about walking past the shimmering fountains and the glittering Hausmannian storefronts of Jingan in my pressed work Oxford shirt and slacks at dusk every night. Yesterday, I stopped by the fountain in front of the Gucci…
Shakespeare & His Bros
Four years ago, I spent a magical summer in Paris, capturing memories in a long-forgotten blog. Every Thursday, I’ll post my favorite entries from that blog. This is reprinted from 7-18-10. [yes, I know this one is late, but I…
Coming home
I am not ready to go home. I don’t think I’ll be ready for a while. And that in itself is kind of frightening. I’ve been having a few internal crises about being here in China. I can feel that I’m already…
La Comédie Française
Four years ago, I spent a magical summer in Paris, capturing memories in a long-forgotten blog. Every Thursday, I’ll post my favorite entries from that blog. This is reprinted from 7-20-10. Highlights of my day A white chocolate macaroon with…
The one-day weekend, or how I spent last Sunday between heaven and earth
I only have one weekend day (yes, I complain about this a lot, but it’s true). I’ve been in Shanghai for exactly four weeks, so here, presented in all of its (uncensored) glory, is how I spent my fourth Sunday:…