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this contradictory life
Ever notice how life is full of contradictions? Like, the thing you love most about something is also the thing you like the least? “I love the early morning, but I hate getting up early.” “I despise...
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people are people
The thing I like about people is, they’re people. No matter where you go, people are people. Can you believe that? See, I thought, when I moved to Taipei, that this dark-haired multitude would be...
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alone in an igloo
I couldn’t escape. There was nowhere to go. The apartment building, a tower of brick, lay a mile off the ocean. There was no heating. There was no insulation. It was 9 °C (48 °F). The December chill...
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on privacy
It was dark. Suddenly, as I scurried about my apartment cleaning and folding laundry in shorts and a tee, I realized my blinds were open. Oh, no! The view from my window. I live on the first floor near...
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roads
My running route in Hong Kong. There are roads— paths I know by heart. Up and down and up and down, I run. End to start. There are paths— friends I pound apart. Fast and slow and fast and slow, we go,...
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the luckiest girl in the world
View of the school from our office. I was forgetting something. What was I forgetting? This was important. But . . . Ohhhh. Sigh. The others were waiting for me. I’d already kept them too long. Forget...
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greater than all these
Dragons are the most exalted “animal” in Chinese culture. I was struck by its colors. Bright red and yellow and blue and green . . . But then it was gone. Nick* was driving too fast. But, oh wait!...
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the luxury of dreams
He was short. When he walked, he lilted—up and down and up and down—bobbing as a buoy on the sea. Maybe because one leg was slightly longer than the other. Or perhaps he had flat feet. No matter the...
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i stand corrected
Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong I remembered, after my last post, a conversation I once had with a friend. “My teachers told me I was stupid.” I looked at him. “They did what?” “They told me I was stupid.”...
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the power of kindness
I follow the rules of the road! I was riding my bike tonight—at the top of a long hill, huffing and puffing, watching the full moon rise—when suddenly a car passed, and someone inside yelled, “You...
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why i love travel
One pedal, then the other. Over and over and over again. Almost there. Just me and the road, and . . . That old guy who just flew past me. Seriously? . . . . . . He was pushing a much lower gear. I...
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oh, taiwan
The Sahara, a place I’d love to go… Seriously? The heat pummeled me as I stepped into the garage. What is this? The Sahara? . . . . . . I might actually have to get a gym membership if this keeps up. I...
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what the world needs
All of the inspiration I need is in the stars. I went running tonight, as usual. It’s been too hot to run during the day recently, and I like running beneath the stars best, anyway. If there is one...
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a whole new light
I blinked. I blinked again. Each time I blinked, searing pain ripped across my right eye. Something’s not right. It’d been going on for months. Every morning I’d wake with red, painful eyes—my right...
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where we came from
Boy in Sandimen, Taiwan Danshui, Taiwan • Dragon Boat Festival • June, 2011 The hot sun hung high in the western sky. Beneath it, brightly colored gods — with their wide eyes and big lips and...
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in the beginning . . .
Taipei 101 Something old and something new: My last few posts have catapulted my mind in a million different directions. All of my posts do, actually. It’s just . . . Sometimes it’s hard to focus on a...
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can you feel the love?
After my last Friday post, someone asked why Taiwan had been so influential. And I said, “How couldn’t it have?” The following is one of thousands of illustrations of just how “different” a world this...
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just another day in taiwan
Temple Dance April 2010, Sanjhih, Taiwan Sh**. As I ran, purse bouncing on my thigh, shoelaces untied, down the brick walkway toward the front gate, I could already see the Pony* pulling out of the...
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the truth behind travel
While on my trip a dear friend from high school posted this photo on my facebook page: “I think you’ve been satisfying this need for a couple of weeks now,” he said. And I wondered: Was it true? I’ve...
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the true meaning of the holidays
My bedroom in Taiwan Two months after I left for Taiwan, I got a phone call. “Jess, your mom and I have something to tell you . . .” My parents were getting divorced. After nearly 28 years, my mother...
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