06 Jun

Prom tickets are for sale, yearbooks are circling the campus, and the students have traded their long pants and tennis shoes for jean shorts and sandals. It's officially the end of the school year, and I'm counting down the days until I board a plane to Florida.

As a longterm expat, and international school teacher, I look forward to summer for so many reasons. Obviously it's a chance to get in some much-needed friend time, family time, and pool time, but it's also a chance to stock up on products that are hard to find (or just ridiculously expensive) on this side of the world.

27 May

I've lived in quite a few apartments over the years--thirteen to be exact. I've lived in studios, junior one-bedrooms, a house, even a sorority house.  I've rented places in Florida, Washington, D.C., Seoul, and Bogota. So I thought finding a place in Shanghai, especially after living here for a year (in school housing) would be no different. I was wrong.

Shanghai is a bustling city, with a population of 25 million. That's right, I said 25 million. People come here from all over the world for business, as it's a global financial center and a major transportation hub. Needless to say, hotels are always booked, and realtors make a pretty decent living. There's some hefty competition for apartments, though, and they go fast. I learned this the hard way. In fact, I learned a lot of things over the last few weeks--about Shanghai, the housing market, and myself. But don't worry, I'll save the lessons on personal growth for a phone call with my mother.

10 May

Whenever I travel to a non-English-speaking country, I learn several words before arriving: hello, goodbye, thank you, and delicious. To me, the last is the most important.

Food tells us a story—from the way it tastes to the people who prepare it. It’s a gateway to understanding a culture and its people. And when you tell someone you enjoy their cooking? Well, you’re not only making their day, but opening a window to a whole new world.

28 Apr

People often ask me to name my favorite country, or my favorite vacation. But I can't. I tell them that asking me to do this is like having me choose between ice cream and chocolate. I like both. I'm going to eat both. So instead of telling you about my top travel experience, I'm going to share my top ten thus far (while enjoying a bowl of ice cream topped with chocolate sauce).

22 Apr

Teaching Shakespeare is never easy. But teaching Shakespeare to a classroom of mostly English Language Learners? It's not only difficult, but hilarious.

This morning I began reading Romeo & Juliet to my ninth graders. We had already gone over the history of Shakespeare's life, the history of Elizabethan England, and what was considered popular entertainment at the time (think bear baiting, public executions and cockfights--and yes, "cockfights" evoked some serious laughter from the 14-year-old boys in the room.) Now it was time to discuss puns.

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Look at this place. Seriously. The white sand, the limestone cliffs, the turquoise water, the perfect mix of shade and sun.

Years ago, I interviewed a man named Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, a professor and the director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University. I was writing an article on Tampa Bay's best beaches, and wanted to know how the man known as "Dr. Beach" chose his ten top American beaches each year. He went into specifics about beach conditions, sand softness and color, the presence of wildlife, the views, water temperature, safety. He actually had a list of 50 criterion.

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You've seen it. Or, at least, you've heard of it. Playing on hostel screens all across Southeast Asia, the movie "The Beach," starring Leonardo has been declared a "must-see" for all travel enthusiasts.

The premise is that a young American man with a longing for adventure arrives in Bangkok, Thailand. He walks through frenetic Kaosan Road, through the neon-lit streets, past drunken backpackers and street vendors. He's yearning for something different. At his guesthouse he comes in contact with a mentally disturbed man who tells him of a secret paradise--a pristine island, hidden by limestone cliffs--hidden from tourists.

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I recently returned from a week in Krabi, Thailand with my parents. I hadn't seen them in eight months, and we decided a reunion at the beach was just what the doctor ordered.

I was of course responsible for choosing which island we would go to, since apparently being an expat in Asia makes me an expert on all Asian countries. And while it's true that I have traveled quite a bit in the region, I've done it a little differently than my 65-year-old parents would want to (i.e. staying in non-air conditioned bungalows for $10 a night).

27 Mar

Where does the time go? Seriously.

I remember rolling my eyes when "old" people used to say this to me. And now, all of a sudden, I'm the old one saying this. (Well, not old, but "old-ish" according to my teenage students). It seems like overnight all of my friends got married and had babies, and my bedtime became something of an embarrassing topic of conversation. I'm also about to wrap up my fifth year teaching abroad. It just doesn't make sense.

25 Mar

As an expat, there's nothing more exciting than having friends and family visit. You get the opportunity to show off your new home, introduce them to a new culture, and hopefully convince them that you're not completely insane for living abroad. However, there's also a flip side. It can be quite stressful having guests, especially if you live in a non-English speaking country and plan to spend some of their vacation working, leaving them to their own devices.

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