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2026 FIFA World Cup!

Well, watching the 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals wasn’t on my bingo card for this year, but I did it.

I was sort of half-assedly following who was doing well. But I hadn’t really watched any of the games. The Jumbotron screen on the mall on the corner was showing games, but I wasn’t really invested in any of the teams. I wanted Cape Verde to win. But when Spain made it, I wanted to watch the game.

I wasn’t about to pay for streaming, and I don’t own a television right now. So I found out that despite the hideous time difference (3 p.m. east coast time means 3 a.m. in allllll of China since Beijing calls the shots) I wanted to watch it. And La Mesca, my favorite Mexican food place in Fuzhou, was going to be open. I didn’t even have to reserve a table! There were maybe a maximum of 10 people in the place total, at any given time. And I didn’t want to watch the game alone.  It was nice and intimate, almost like having a private screening room, er, restaurant.

So I showed up and I met some new people. The owner wanted to watch the game, and stopped serving food right around the time I got there. But an acquaintance had ordered some chips and salsa, and said I was welcome to that. I’d brought my own Coke just to be on the safe side, and with a glass of ice, I was set.

I was surprised at how vocal I got. I was swearing and shouting and going “ohhhhhhhhhhhhh” whenever Spain missed a shot. I hardly ever watch football (see, I’m even sounding like a woman of the world) but it looked like Argentina was taking some tips from the NFL and knocking the fuck out of any Spanish player nearest the ball. The obviously biased Eastern European ref (probably paid for by Putin) and Argentina’s body slamming tactics were pissing me off.

I missed the halftime show because it wasn’t broadcast in China. No, we got treated to a very boring, minutes long car commercial. And you know how in the Super Bowl, the commercials are great because the advertising cost so much they have to come up with something memorable? The car commercial was like a boring Ted talk. One of the guys watching dialed up Bohemian Rhapsody first, then turned up YMCA.

And that’s when yours truly got up to give a show. Yes, I danced and sang throughout the whole bloody song. Sadly (or maybe thankfully) no record of it exists anywhere, except in the memories of the unfortunate people who got to see it. But, no one was paying me, so sorry, you aren’t getting Fosse-level choreography and prime vocals.

I was a bit surprised when the first 90 minutes seemed to fly by with no score. I actually enjoyed myself a lot more than I expected to, which was really, really nice. I was glad I ended up at La Mesca. The American who asked if I was going to come and watch didn’t really care who won (but low key, I think he did) and there were a couple of Chinese folks who came in who seemed to be pulling for Argentina, but we gently kidded them. Foki Foki, a nearby place, seemed to be all Chinese pulling for Argentina. For the most part, we were rooting for Spain. And I felt I was the most vocal.

When Spain finally scored (for real, offside my ASS!) I let loose my best Andres Cantor imitation. I’ve watched hockey for years, and sort of know what “offside” means, but I’m lost when it comes to football offside. It WAS entertaining to see Argentina body-check everyone out of their way, then claim innocence. Entertaining in a furious way. I got madder and madder. I saw so much touching, I finally shouted out, “just kiss him already!” or words to that effect. Yet if Argentina fell on their own accord, they went batshit, looking for someone to blame.

And it was funny to see a young Argentina supporter, comically, dramatically gesturing with his hands about the unfairness of it all. I wish I’d taken a picture of him with my smartphone. Listen you little bitch, YOUR team resorts to physical violence because Messi is nearly 40, and it takes 11 to make up a team, not just one. Spain, despite the crappy referee and constant physical mauling, responded with never giving up or giving in to the nonsense.

And after the game was over, I finally saw the punch thrown by Molina, and the shove by Paredes that China didn’t air as it was happening. After the game, there were many hugs. But Argentina wasn’t happy with their hockey game on ice and resorted to (what else) physical violence.

So yeah, I had a really great time. I thanked the owner of La Mesca, and slowly walked up the main road of Three Lanes, Seven Alleys. It was weird to see it at that time of the morning, deserted except for a few walkers and a street sweeper. It reminds me of Zhongshan Road, with the type of shops and restaurants that are there.

Spain’s win made my proud of my heritage, which is Spanish by way of Puerto Rico. Spain’s back to ruling the world again.

Very early in the game. My German neighbor said it wasn’t a good game, but how would I know the difference? I’m American.

The following are some random memes I thought amusing.

Not nearly as good as the kid in the stands I mentioned. I’ll kick myself for not getting that picture.

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This Weekend

So this weekend turned out really well. English corner was canceled Friday night, so I went swimming. The water seemed a bit cold at first, but I got used to it. It definitely had warmed up a bit, which is nice. Back in March, the water was really cold.

I was able to do 30 lengths of the pool. Definitely rebuilding my stamina.

I had dinner and walked home. I did a bit of grading and then relaxed. Need to redo that process though. If I can swim Fridays, I need to not grade later that night. It was so nice to swim, eat, and then go home. But grading was easy because it was a short quiz.

Saturday was nice too. I stayed home until I went out to have dinner with some new people I met. We had a great time eating and talking about her fingerprinting experience. I had to do that in Xiamen, and I did it by myself. However, this person went to a notary office, who charged her 400 yuan, or $56. She didn’t need her prints notarized, she just needed to get some clean prints to send them to the FBI for a background check. You’d think in China, all that would be computerized, but it isn’t. You download the form from the website, print it off on cardstock (several copies; you’ll need to practice) and then do the fingerprints. It’s hard to do by yourself. Plus, you get ink all over your fingers.

Then, we walked around. The restaurant is located in Three Lanes, Seven Alleys, a place where some important people lived a long time ago. The area is now a cultural area with museums, and lots of little shops. I found the handbag shop I’d seen many months ago. I restrained myself; I didn’t buy anything. But boy, what a great shop. If you have a handbag fetish like I do, it was paradise. And the prices really didn’t seem that bad for genuine leather.

We walked some more and checked out a donut shop, but since it was nearly closing time, they didn’t have a huge selection. I didn’t even know they had that. I’d been to that mall, but only the first floor. My new friends were familiar with the shop, which I will definitely have to check out. I’m not really a donut person, but lately, I’ve been craving them.

We also found another handbag shop, and I think they sold pre-owned designer bags. It was a much bigger shop than I expected it to be. It was nice to walk around and check out what they had, which was a lot. It sort of reminded me of Second Hand, which is a resale shop in Hong Kong, except this store didn’t sell clothes, just handbags.

The weather was absolutely perfect for once—nice and warm, clear skies, full moon.

We finally got tired out and took a Didi back to campus. I ended up getting another snack, because I was hungry.

Sunday, I spent quite a bit of time prepping. Prior to doing that, I went into town to get lunch. I have been having some cravings for forbidden food. I also stopped to look at glasses. I’ve repaired my Prada frames so much, it’s depressing. But I’ve been saving up money for a while, and I think I have more than enough money to get regular prescription glasses and prescriptions sunglasses as well.

I’m lucky enough to have a three day weekend because of my schedule. So today, I slept late like I usually do when I have the day off, then had my nice long walk. Ate lunch, then I got some food for the week. I usually bring my lunch for my long day on Tuesdays. But sometimes, I don’t feel like eating too much, so I just pack a little bit. I got some little tubs of flavored cream cheese, some Greek yogurt, and some fruit. On a low-carb diet, you shouldn’t eat fruit, but last week, I tried to eat bacon and some tomatoes, and ended up throwing quite a bit of the bacon away. It just didn’t taste good to me.

I picked up some more tomatoes today, and also sweet potatoes, which I’ve developed a taste for. I also walked home, and I was proud of that. I hit over 11,500 steps today. Trying to hit 10,000+ steps per day five days a week. Need to get back to my core workouts as well.

I know I feel better when I eat better. It’s depressing to eat carbs and feel sleepy, but if I don’t want to feel sleepy, I know what I need to do.

And this evening, I worked some more on prepping and grading.

So it was very satisfying, this weekend. I wish my new friends would stick around, but they are leaving in a month. It figures.

But things seem to be good for once. I’m happy about that.

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Timmy Hortons and the Badly Handled Drive-Thru Coffee Order, Part Seven

Simple. Calm. Not hostile. For all I know, they just had a baby and didn’t get any sleep last night and they don’t have the luxury of maternity leave. Or maybe they just suffer from insomnia and are a bit foggy. Or maybe they are having a day when nothing seems to go right. It doesn’t ruin my day if they mess up my order. I just calmly tell them what went wrong, and they fix it. (Why don’t I go inside? Because the weather might be absolute balls, or I’m feeling particularly lazy.)

And then there’s the dreaded “clopens.” Anyone who works retail knows what I mean, but for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, that’s when you are scheduled to open maybe two or three days in a row. Then, you have to close. Goodbye regular sleep schedule! Then there was the time I worked nine days in a row without a break. No overtime pay, either. I got off at 3:30 p.m. or so, and was asleep by 6.

There’s also people saying that Tim Horton’s is not a safe place and should be closed down. Rick from Pawn Stars (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2kchnK4J3Y) said so himself.

And there’s a relative of Anita Grayson who had this to say on Facebook:

“The mask has finally slipped, and the truth is out for everyone to see. ​For years, my mom and my auntie talked about the aggression, the abuse, and the mistreatment they endured when they lived with Anita Grayson. And what did the Graysons do? They tried to cover it up. They denied it. They tried to paint this public picture of a helpless, weak, 75-year-old woman with congestive heart failure who wouldn’t hurt a fly. They wanted everyone to think she was too brittle to do anything….. This video from the Fort Wayne Tim Hortons shows exactly who she really is. That is NOT a weak, fragile woman. That is the exact same aggression she took out on my mom and my aunt for years. The only difference is, my mom and my auntie were defenseless and vulnerable.”

There’s also speculation that the woman had dementia, or some sort of psychosis, low blood pressure, low blood sugar, or had something going on to put her on blast. Having an incorrect order just sent her over the edge.

So who was right and who was wrong?

This case has it all.

Read part six here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/27/timmy-hortons-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order-part-six/

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Timmy Hortons and the Badly Handled Drive-thru Coffee Order, Part Six

So yeah, mistakes were made. I’m thinking with incidents like this nearly a daily occurrence, corporate America really needs to have de-escalation training, pronto. And yeah, perhaps this sounds sexist of me, but maybe hire some tall, solidly built men for shift manager/general manager positions. Because if working retail or a customer service job means you have to deal with customers willing to throw punches, I’d much rather call a manager who is 6’5” and a solid 250 or so, than someone who is maybe 5’5” and 130. Either that, or teach them martial arts or something. But if you look like you can kick someone’s ass without really trying, I’d rather have that as my managerial backup. The 20-year-old shift manager was maybe a third of the size of the customer, but she came out swinging.

After I was hit twice, I started dressing like a punk/goth. Hair ratted out, black eye shadow, chains for jewelry, and I think I stuck safety pins in my ears. It wasn’t really my style, but people seemed to be more polite when talking to me, and I was never hit again.

I haven’t been this invested in a case since Luigi Mangione. I got obsessed over that, and I’ll probably be obsessed over this one too.

So who is at fault? It’s a bizarre case. For one thing, we don’t know what happened in the drive-thru. Who showed attitude? Or was ANY attitude shown? What was ordered? Was it a case of not hearing the customer clearly, or was the customer confused as to what exactly she wanted to order?

When I go to McDonald’s and order chicken nuggets, my go-to dip is honey. NOT honey mustard, but honey. When the drive-thru employee repeats my order, it seems like they always say, “one McNugget meal, with honey mustard sauce. I always calmly repeat my order, emphasizing, I want HONEY. NOT honey mustard, but honey.” Usually, this does the trick. I check my bag before pulling out. If something is wrong, I just circle around to the drive-thru again and say, “yeah, I was just in the drive-thru, you got my order wrong, I ordered blah blah, blah…” and they usually say okay and to pull forward.

Read part five here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/26/timmy-hortons-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order-part-five/

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Timmy Hortons and the Badly Handled Drive-Thru Coffee Order, Part Five

Customers laid hands on me, but I never touched anyone. Even in my current job, I try NEVER to touch anyone. For starters, I hate being touched. Secondly, you never know how someone will interpret your touch. A gentle, encouraging pat on the shoulder can be twisted into an “inappropriate massage” and mess you up. The 20-year-old employee never should have touched the woman. I understand what she was trying to do, but no matter how gently you touch a person during an altercation, some people will scream that the older woman was “shoved” by the younger employee.

To me, it was just a gentle hand on the woman’s upper chest near her shoulder. I’m surprised no one has claimed sexual harassment.

So yeah, the Tim Horton’s employee never should have touched the woman. Mistake number one.

The elderly woman shoved the 20-year-old in a not-so-gentle way after she was touched. Mistake number two.

Immediately after being shoved, the 20-year-old leaned right up in the older woman’s face. Mistake number three.

Older woman punches 20-year-old employee. Mistake number four.

The 20-year-old comes charging out of the swinging door, with a series of punches. Both she and the customer end up on the floor. Mistake number five.

After the 20-year-old is pulled away by the combined efforts of two employees, the woman gets up under her own power and sits down at a booth.

Supposedly, one of the employees brings the woman some water. The video doesn’t show that part.

Read part one here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/22/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order/

Read part two here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/22/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order/

Read part three here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/24/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order-part-three/

Read part four here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/25/timmy-hortons-and-the-badly-handled-coffee-order-part-four/

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Timmy Horton’s and the Badly Handled Coffee Order, Part Four

I hate to see anyone die in fast food altercation, and I didn’t expect to see it in my hometown. This incident seems like Detroit-level shit. But as someone who has worked retail, things could have been handled better, but they weren’t. So we have a dead woman, two very young employees who probably are too young to exercise impulse control (a 20-year-old shift manager? Are you fucking kidding me?), and Tim Horton’s, who probably didn’t bother with any training as to how to deal with these situations, should they come up. Usually, the only training is, “call the manager.” Well, when the manager is 20 years old, that doesn’t make me feel very confident.

When I worked at Lowe’s, I was hit TWICE by customers. Not in the face, but I got whacked in the shoulder by someone upset that the coupon we found in a box of trash bags happened to be expired. I also got swatted by someone wielding a set of temporary blinds.

And I can’t forget about the various men/little boys who have barged behind the paint desk, or the woman who accused me of not sealing the paint can lids on properly. Lady, that wasn’t me. I hammed those suckers ON. I always wanted management to put small doors that could LOCK on the little pass-throughs that split the paint desk into four sections. Frequently, the little plastic chains were never hooked, and anyone could unhook it even if they were hooked.

Read part three here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/24/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order-part-three/

Read part two here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/23/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order-part-two/

Read part one here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/22/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order/

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Timmy Horton and the Badly Handled Drive-Thru Coffee Order, Part Three

What’s wild is that there’s no statements or anything from the staff at Tim Horton’s. It’s very possible they were told not to talk to the press.

But the customer died, and no one has been charged. The coroner is supposedly doing his thing. Apparently the woman had heart problems. And the city is divided.

The case has many interesting aspects, I think. The woman’s heart condition. The ages of the staff involved. The videos that have been circulating. Claims of racial discrimination (the customer was a 75-year-old black female.) The Go Fund Me for Anita Grayson’s family. A family member claiming that Ms. Grayson was an actual terrible person, and was abusive. Customer service. And the fact that so many different people have so many different interpretations of what went down.

There’s also claims of false narratives, anger at Tim Horton’s employees, anger at the woman herself, notes of “FAFO” criticisms of Baby Boomers, and also, “all this for a cup of coffee?” And as one of my friends on Facebook said, “and the coffee ain’t that good.”

So WHO WAS at fault?

Read part two here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/23/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order-part-two/

Read part one here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/22/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order/

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Timmy Horton and the Badly Handled Drive-Thru Coffee Order, Part Two

The 20-year-old then goes after the customer, and they end up on the dining room floor. The 17-year-old and another employee (could be male, not sure) walk out into the dining room and attempt to pull the 20-year-old off the customer. There is a fourth employee who appears behind the counter, as well as a customer on a cell phone.

The 20-year-old is dragged behind the counter, and the 17-year-old takes what looks like the customer’s bag (looked like a small lunch cooler-type bag) and sort of tosses it toward the front door, but didn’t quite make it. The 17-year-old, now behind the counter, yells one last thing at the woman, who is still on the floor. The woman gets up on her own, and grabs something on the floor. Reports say it was a fistful of hair pulled out of the 20-year-old’s scalp. The video stops with the woman now seated, but her feet and legs are the only things visible in the camera frame. The male customer is still there at the counter, probably 20 feet away, on the phone. The video source I used is visible here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k6uu7aJM2U. It was posted by the Fort Wayne Police Department, with a pinned comment saying, “This is store security video. There is no audio.”

A few minutes later the woman died.

Missed the first post? Read it here: https://nowaylaowai.home.blog/2026/05/22/timmy-horton-and-the-badly-handled-drive-thru-coffee-order/

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Timmy Horton and the Badly Handled Drive-Thru Coffee Order

So my hometown made the news, and is it ever a juicy story.

Tim Horton’s is a Canadian coffee shop chain that made its way into Fort Wayne several years ago. I guess there were a few locations around the city, but there’s just one now. It’s near the ice rink built on the north side of the city.

I remember eating at that location, I think, a couple of times. I love ham and cheese sandwiches, especially if the cheese is Swiss. I’d get a sandwich, warm potato chips, and a Coke. Maybe some Tim Bits as well.

Anyway, about a couple weeks ago, an older woman went into the shop because staff had incorrectly made her order. She’d ordered something in the drive through, but went into the shop to correct it.

That’s when things went south. Some videos claims she “stormed” into the shop, but the footage I saw shows a woman just walking into the shop. She went to the counter, then waited at the part of the counter that had one of those little swinging doors that silently say, “Employees only beyond this point.” The woman (reports say she was 75 with a heart condition) was right in front of the door when she began gesticulating in a manner that suggests she was monumentally pissed her order was wrong. There’s no audio—the footage is supposedly from the one camera posted in the dining area—but the position of her right hand and the pointing finger would indicate she wasn’t politely asking for her order to be corrected.

The footage isn’t exactly top quality. There’s only one camera in the dining room, and it shows the woman’s left side. Anita Grayson was her name. An employee, supposedly 17 years old, moves a bit closer to explain the situation, and her body language indicates she wasn’t responding in the most calm way either. Here’s where it gets a bit confusing.

It’s Okay, the Kids are Minding the Store

The 17-year-old employee, who had dark hair, was talking to the woman from behind the counter and the little door I told you about previously. Another employee, supposedly a 20-year-old shift manager, comes to try and deescalate the situation. Looks like she has red hair. She steps in between the 17-year-old and the customer, and starts communicating with her. The 17-year-old backs away. The 17-year-old returns on the 20-year-old’s left side, still behind the counter.

It looks like the customer stabs her right index finger in the direction of the 17-year-old, but it’s hard to see if any actual physical contact was made. The customer was trying to lean around the 20-year-old to better address the 17-year-old. As this is happening, the 20-year-old, places a hand on the upper chest of the customer, in a sort of, “hey, you need to calm down” gesture. Was it a shove? I think not. It certainly wasn’t a slap.

The older woman wasn’t having it and shoved the 20-year-old back. The 20-year-old leans against the little door, opening it a bit. Then the older woman punches the 20-year-old in what looks like her nose.

To be continued…

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A Good Day

Invited out to lunch by a friend, neighbor and colleague. The weather was cooperating and the temp was nice too. After a great Mexican meal, we went to a print shop to print out a white paper I wrote for the college. Even though I only had Microsoft Word to work with, I’m very happy with the way the paper printed out. It looks like a little book, which is exactly what I wanted.

Then we went to Ole, a fancy food store. They had sliced turkey again, which was great. Turkey is hard to come by here in China, for some reason. Duck, on the other hand, is EVERYWHERE. I’m getting back on the low-carb wagon and also picked up some bacon as well, plus some veggies.

After we got home, I went for my walk. I found out 15,000 steps is a little over six miles. Since I try to walk 15,000 steps nearly every day, I’m logging way more miles than I thought.

Then I graded some quizzes.

Today was just right.

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An Ugly American

I’ve been lucky enough to avoid Americans here in China. The last one I really had to deal with who got on my nerves was back in 2021. She was so pampered and spoiled, I couldn’t believe it. It’s taught me a lesson to reserve judgment on meeting new people. I need to spend some time with them the first few weeks to really see how they are. When I saw how she treated the security guard at our school, that really soured me on her. And how she felt she needed to hire a private driver, because the Didi (Chinese Uber) drivers couldn’t understand her. What she needed was an apartment. But because she’d been living in West Palm Beach with her parents, expected deluxe accommodations in China. I thought since I was moving out she could take over my apartment, but I guess the “unfinished” (her words, not mine) bathroom and the few odd rats scurrying around the delivery boxes near the outside staircase put her off. The bathrooms here frequently are all one room. It didn’t bother me—I just put up a shower curtain and dealt with it. But it wasn’t good enough for her. The last thing I was going to do was remodel a bathroom in an apartment that isn’t even mine.

Anyway, yesterday I ran into another Ugly American. I was at McDonald’s, and I noticed him while I was waiting for my food. He was walking around the dining room. He had a big pair of headphones covering his ears. He drifted over to where I had my stuff, but he veered back over to the other side of the dining room and picked out a table.

I was waiting for my already paid-for food, but he freaked me out with his constant pacing. Had I been in the United States, I would have walked out the restaurant.

I had to wait a little bit longer for my food than normal. The restaurant wasn’t crowded, so I think it might have been lack of workers. After a longer than usual wait, I finally got my food.

An Indiana Pacer?

The pacer guy went up to the counter and was arguing about something. It was puzzling to me, because the guy was an American—I could tell by the accent and the cursing. Why he wasn’t using a translator app was a mystery, unless he didn’t want to interrupt whatever he was listening to. He was insisting the cup of fries they set on his tray wasn’t “large”. He kept saying “da! Da!” That means big. After they finally brought him a big cup of fresh out of the fryer fries, he grumbled they “always try to fucking cheat him here.”

I wanted to tell him if that was the case, he should try another McDonald’s. They are literally all over the place. There was another one a block down the street.

But I didn’t. I wanted to eat my food in peace. But the guy seemed strange to me. He looked way too old to become a teacher. He wasn’t dressed very well, so it wasn’t like he was some executive in town that wanted familiar food.

He was unnerving though. The constant pacing before he got his food, yelling at staff, ugh. In the USA, this happens every day pretty much. But in China, people are pretty calm about stuff. Even ebike/auto accidents are more civilized than this, and much more is at stake.

It made me realize how safe I feel here and how much I take it for granted. I know that when I step into a restaurant, I won’t be gunned down. I won’t be overhearing American men who seemed a bit wired, and anxious about their damn French fries.

I felt so bad for the staff I went up and told them I was sorry about the angry guy. But really, either use a translation app, or learn the language. Because yelling at someone in a foreign language is going to make you seem like an asshole. Dude had a cell phone, but maybe he didn’t have a translation app, because, being American, he probably assumed everyone in China speaks English.

So You’re an American? Bye!

It’s funny, some of my Chinese acquaintances assume I’d welcome speaking to Americans because I’m an American, but no. I’m fed up with Karens, Chads, the violence, the stupidity, and people who don’t give a shit about putting together a decent outfit. I saw a photo on Facebook of a French guy who had an effortless, but cool-looking outfit, and I’m like, YEAH!

The guy at Micky D’s had a face like a melting candle, and greasy hair, and headphones like he was a sound engineer. I don’t know why, but those made him look extra dorky. Whatever he was listening too certainly wasn’t mellow, with the way he was pacing.

And I’m not kidding. If I see someone pacing like that in a fast-food restaurant back in the states and I’ve paid for my food and I’m just waiting for it, I’m getting the fuck out. He probably didn’t have a gun, because it was China, but they still let any damn fool buy a machete here.

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Hong Kong Diary, Day Six

May 4, 2026

Another GREAT trip to Hong Kong. Train was delayed, but only by about six minutes or so. Some little kid was screaming; I went to see what was going on because she sounded awful. She eventually calmed down, but her mother thanked me for being concerned. Apparnently, mom forgot to pack yogurt! The rest of the train ride was uneventful.

Got another bag of Cheetos crunch, and nearly ate all of them. The ones they sell on the mainland are steak-flavored. I LIKE steak, but leave the snacks alone. Cheetos, should taste like CHEESE. Now, my ankles are swollen. That’s never happened before, welcome to old age, I guess.

Otherwise, I feel fine. Blood pressure good. Over 28,000 steps walked yesterday, which doesn’t really surprise me, but may be the most steps I’ve ever taken in a day. Forgot to mention that S. and I went to the Formula One Grand Prix museum on Sunday. They had all sorts of interactive things to try, and since I love to drive, I had to try pretty much all of them. I plan to send $1000 USD home come payday. Had nearly $2000 HKD left, but left some money as a tip at the hostel, and then kept a few bucks to fund the next trip to Hong Kong. I have $459 HKD in total, which includes the $175 that I already had, but forgot to take with me. Can’t believe I forgot about that.

Met a nice guy from Singapore. Let’s see how long THAT friendship lasts. Added some funds to my various envelopes, so I’m that much closer to a plane ticket home and new glasses.

So… the Macau Grand Prix Museum. I’ve never been a fan of NASCAR, because I’ve always thought it was tacky. Indy cars have a very definite look, and so do Formula One cars. I’ve been to the Indy 500, but have yet to experience a Formula One race. It just looks glamourous, driving at top speed through some super-cool city. So here are some photos from the museum.

Yes, that is a genuine wax figure.
Another wax figure. These were pretty damn realistic.I think this is one of the coolest cars I’ve ever seen.
They had motorcycles too. I was surprised there was no tread on the tires.
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Hong Kong Diary, Day Five

S. met me for lunch and we walked around Macau for a bit. Saw the Ruins of St. Paul’s. Really bizarre to see the front of it, then look at the back and realize it’s a facade. It’s literally just the front of the church, and that’s it. Everybody seemed to be there. Everyone looks like an influencer who brought their own personal cameraman/woman.

S. found a nearby coffee shop and we stopped to have a rest. After we left, I was hoping to see a cemetery on the way back to the bus stop, but I got screwed up again with the maps. I always THINK I’m going the correct way, but I’m not. But we made it to S’s bus stop. I decided to walk back, then realized almost too late that wasn’t the best decision. I was deeply afraid I’d miss getting back to the Sands and miss One Bus back to Hong Kong.

And to add to the drama, my phone was nearly dead. And my charger didn’t seem to be working very well, and… it started raining again. Hard. I desperately needed my phone to navigate the not-so-straight streets of Macau, but somehow, I was able to juice it enough to get me into familiar territory, then I broke down and took a cab to the Sands. It wasn’t a very long ride, but knowing my luck, I would have gotten lost and missed the bus.

But I got back in plenty of time, it turned out. It was so nice to get home and take a hot shower. My room and bathroom may have been tiny, but the superb water pressure and non-stop hot water were wonderful.

I was a bit sad knowing that another wonderful trip to Hong Kong was nearly at end. There’s something about this city that I just love.

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Hong Kong Diary Day Four

Made it to Macau just incase S. didn’t want to go Sunday. Didn’t spend a lot of time there, didn’t get as many good pictures as I wanted, but it was a good trip. Found a Daiso japan and an Aeon grocery store and I have CRAVED stores like that since day one.

Got insoles for shoes and also those blade things to trim callouses from your feet. It was like a feast for my eyes. Gambled a bit, but slots are boring. One bus is all right. Very nice and relaxing if you like riding the bus. I saved a bit of money going by bus instead of ferry. Not too bad price-wise. Weather continues to be good. Temperature is perfect.

The Sands Casino had a horse statue covered in what looked like Swarovsky crystals.

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Hong Kong Diary, Day Three

Tried again to go to the Giant Buddha. I didn’t have exact change for the bus, or an Octopus card, or WeChat. I can’t use WeChat because I’m not a Chinese citizen. Didn’t know I needed exact change ($37) until I got there. But the person took pity on me and told me to wait. she broke my $100 bill, then I was able to pay exact change. So why didn’t I use my credit card? They don’t accept them.

Finally got there to the Giant Buddha. The bus ride was almost like being on a roller coaster. Seemed like the bus was going really fast, and the plants/trees along the side of the road felt like they were rushing at me. It would have been a really wild ride if I’d been stoned.

So we get to the area, which has a fishing village not very far away, and a tourist trap sort of village with all sorts of places to eat and souvenirs to buy. You walk along this path lined with statudes of the warriors and the astrological signs they represent.

You need to climb stairs to get to the actual Buddha. It took me about a half hour, but I was stopping along the way to get pictures and prevent a heart attack.

Traditional shot of the Giant Buddha on Lantau Island.
Experimenting with the “negative” filter in Camera MX.
A psychedelic view using the Thermal filter on Camera MX.

Burger Cafe, despite its name, had some delicious spring rolls. They also had a decent variety of western foods, but their spring rolls hit the spot.

I wish I’d gone to the fishing village, but I wanted to make sure I got back to the bus on time. We had another adventurous run through the mountains. The Giant Buddha seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere. I saw very few houses.

I was tempted to take the cable car, which offered great views and a relatively quick 5 km trip over the mountains, but I was trying to be better about money. As it was, the bus was great fun, what with the speed and the turns, and wondering what would happen if the driver lost control. But he didn’t. I was able to get back in plenty of time, and not sure what I did that night. I think I probably took pictures because my diary entry ended with Burger Cafe’s listing of burgers, shakes, fries, calamari, fish and spring rolls. I was probably too tired to write anything more about what I did. A look at my photo information should clue me in.

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Hong Kong Diary, Day One

April 29, 2026

Back in Hong Kong! A nice man carried my suitcase up the last flight of steps from the subway tonight. That was so nice. AND my room has a bathroom!* Smallest room yet, but I have a bathroom. Took pics and walked. What a nice night!

*The reason I was surprised my room had a bathroom was because my card wasn’t accepted on the first booking website I used. On the Agoda website, my card worked, but it didn’t show the room I wanted as available. I figured a private room with a bathroom down the hallway was better than sharing a mixed dorm room with strangers.

But when I checked in, I had a bathroom in my room. Aw yeah!

View from my bed into the tiny bathroom.
View from the bathroom.
The rest of the bedroom. It’s all I need–a reasonably clean place to sleep and shower.
My beloved skyline.
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Vacation all I ever wanted…

I haven’t been posting because I went to Hong Kong and Macau, and exhausted myself. I took my laptop with me, but after getting home each night, just wanted to go to sleep.

It was amazing. Hong Kong has such a 1980s vibe, but isn’t as dirty or crime-filled. Macau is interesting for a number of reasons. This time, part of the interest was a downpour. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get back in time for my bus back to Hong Kong. That’s right, I took One Bus over the border. It was very pleasant, because I like being driven around. The bus wasn’t completely full, so I had an empty seat beside me, which was nice.

It’s a bit cheaper to go by bus rather than by Turbo Jet Ferry, but it takes twice as long. Still, it was relaxing.

Hong Kong is, well, Hong Kong. A mixture of east and west. Cantonese food, English widely spoken, and people being polite. It’s a hold over from being a British colony, I’m sure. Great weather, great food, and seeing new sights.

I had more energy this time around, and I think it was because a health issue had been taken care of. Plus, I’ve been logging about 10,000 steps a day, nearly every day of the week. That, plus an eight-pound weight loss, has been helping.

I got lucky. When I booked the room, the site wouldn’t take my card. I switched to another site, and it did take my card, but I couldn’t get the room I originally wanted. But to my surprise, when I checked in, they led me to a room that DID have a bath, which is what I wanted. On the site that did take my card, I could get a private room, but not one with a bath. It was nice to know that I wouldn’t have to sleep in a room with a stranger, AND I wouldn’t have to leave my room in order to pee. If men have been shitty and abusive to you for decades, it’s a little scary to room with a strange man. But the male roommates I had were pretty decent, even though one of them was a Trump supporter.

But that’s how much I love Hong Kong; I’m willing to share a room with a stranger in order to experience the city. My Hong Kong diaries are coming up, so stay tuned!

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Going to the Devil

So what do I have in common with the people who went to the premiere of The Devil Wears Prada 2 April 20?

I saw it before the rest of North America did.

I was planning to see the movie before I was going to Hong Kong, then realized I’d be in town when the film came out, because here, it was released April 30, a full day before North America gets to see it.

Nanny nanny, boo boo!

I’m gonna gloat, because rarely do I have the chance to do it. But as someone who is growing more interested in fashion and developing a style for myself, I had to see this movie because I saw the first one in the theaters, and at that time, I was working for someone who had her own magazine. She wasn’t as bad as Miranda, but she did splurge on things I thought she could have saved money on. An SUV for example. She could have just as easily rented a van for the one week a year she actually needed a larger vehicle, instead of investing $10,000 in upgrades before buying the monstrosity that she HAD to use on a regular basis in order to make it a tax write-off.

Anyway. About the movie.

It was good. Not as funny as the original, but they had lots of little throwbacks to lines and scenes in the original script. They did it without making the movie feel like it was the same old thing again. The four main characters, plus the screenwriter and the original director came back, so I had hopes, and I was right.

SPOILERS!

It’s now 20 years later, and Runway is still going, but not as strong as it once was. The movie opens on Andy Sachs getting an award for her writing. Right before her name is called, she finds out she and her fellow journalists were fired. Via text. As she accepts her award, she gives an impassioned speech about the unfairness of it all.

After crying the blues at dinner (in a scene reminiscent of the original, when Andy’s phone is kidnapped by her “friends”) she is offered a job at Runway. Not having lots of other options, she accepts the job (offered to her by Elias-Clark head Irv Ravitz after her impassioned “I was fired” speech goes viral) and walks back into Miranda’s office. Miranda doesn’t remember who she is until Nigel explains she was one of the Emilys.

Speaking of Emily, she now works for Dior.

Miranda approved a glowing article about Speed Fash and how great it is, only to find out it’s a sweatshop. Andy’s first job is to do some PR damage control. Andy writes a great piece apologizing for the error. She still flounders a bit, and in a throwback to the first film, Andy has to figure out what exactly Miranda wants—and if you’ve seen the first film, you know that’s something you just can’t ask Miranda—you have to figure it out yourself.

Emily seems to hold a bit of power in this one. Dior is a big advertiser, and makes some demands of the magazine. And also turns out to be a bit of a villain.

Meanwhile, Andy scores an interview as well as an exclusive from a reclusive celebrity, and finally gets the hang of what the readers want. As she improves, Miranda (who wasn’t aware that Irv had hired her in the first place) eventually warms to Andy.

But there are twists and turns in this one. Miranda is hoping for a promotion but SPOILER ALERT! Irv ends up dying at his 75th birthday party. His son, Jay, played by B. J. Novak, has ideas for the publication, and he and his Millennial staff tell Miranda the way it’s going to be. Gutted.

It’s Andy’s nerdy assistant who drops her phone and deliberately leaves it under Miranda’s chair, where the meeting with Jay and his buddies take place in the Elias-Clark cafeteria of all places, and records everything being said, so Andy finds out what’s going on.

The climax comes at a fashion show in Milan, where some favors had to be called in. Lady Gaga provides the music, or else she won’t get another cover. Andy shared her plan with Miranda, and phone calls are made. In a sort of “passing the torch” moment, Miranda realizes she can’t be in two places at once, and, nudged by Andy, asks Nigel to give the speech she had intended to give. Miranda claims Nigel won’t do it, but realizes that in her treacherous fashion world, Nigel is her rock. He’s always put up with her shit and never said anything, was loyal to the core—and he’s finally, finally rewarded.

There’s another twist at the end, but despite fast fashion, Wish, Temu, Shein, and technology, the good guys win. Andy turned down a $350K book advance about working at Runway (even the book deals aren’t seven figures anymore) to not hurt Miranda, but of course, Miranda knows about it and encourages Andy to write the book anyway—the resulting warts-and-all memoir might actually buy Miranda a few more years at the top.

The film closes with an exterior shot of Miranda, Nigel, and Andy all in their individual offices, all on the same floor.

Yes, I cried. If the first one was a coming-of-age story, this one also deals with jobs and what you sacrifice for them, and if those sacrifices are worth it. Andy has better friends, this time around, although Tracie Thoms (Lily) still likes free handbags, but at least she offered Andy a job at her gallery. Andy has a budding romance with a contractor, but thankfully, it doesn’t take precedence over everything else that’s going on in her life. Miranda is on husband number whatever, but they seem to be happy. The movie showed happy endings are possible, especially at the expense of outwitting villains.

Looking at you, Emily.

My jacked Prada frames. Six months after I bought these, they started falling apart. I’ve fixed them so many times, I can’t remember how many times I’ve glued bits of wood to keep the side pieces tight enough on my head. $1,400 for these, but the two pairs I got in November 2024 for $100 broke within a couple of months. Three eyeglass places said they couldn’t do anything. And neither could I.

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The Smallest Room Yet!!!

I got a pleasant surprise when I checked into my room tonight. I wanted a room with bath, but my credit card wasn’t working on a particular booking site. I went to another site and was able to book, but the room with bath was no longer available. That’s fine, at least I didn’t have to share my room with strangers like that one time.

So when they took me to my room, I saw that it had a bath! Aw yeah!

But it is the smallest room I have ever had here at Ashoka Hostel. There’s maybe 16 square feet of floor space, not counting the bathroom.

But I don’t care. I have a tiny private room with a bath.

And some kind stranger carried my suitcase up the last flight of steps to street level.

I love Hong Kong.

This is what you see when you first open the door.
The view from my bed looking into the bathroom.
From the bathroom looking out.
The rest of the room.
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A Good Day for a Walk

It was a good day for a walk, and just generally a good day overall.

Still getting in my 10,000+ steps per day. I’m seeing some results too, which is nice.

Some good things are starting to be habits now. I don’t know how or why they are sticking, but they are sticking. I might skip a day, but it’s rare. I guess it’s not striving for perfection, but consistency.

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Dumplings for Breakfast

Today, through one of my school contacts, I got to meet the dean’s son, and to have breakfast at a place near my apartment.

My contact warned me the place wasn’t too elegant. But I said I didn’t mind; there were lots of Mexican places that didn’t look great back home, but the food was really good.

The dumpling place was very popular; people lined up to get either pork or veggie dumplings. You had to walk through the kitcthen to get to the dining room, so that was interesting. The dining room was a bit deceptive; there was another dining room off to the side, so it was much bigger than I expected it to be.

The dean’s son was a very pleasant young man. He spoke about some trauma he had experienced in the past. After breakfast, my contact took me back to my apartment and I told the young man to keep in touch. He explained he wasn’t very social, and I said I understood.

The whole experience was really nice on a beautiful day.

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The Lost Art of Conversation

I think it was on Facebook recently, that I saw a short video that summed up dating now as well as in the 1700s.

Whoever did this video had a sense of humor. It showed two guys sitting on a couch, one saying to the other, “I wish to fornicate.” A footman (servant? butler?) brought oil portraits of young women, where one of the guys dismissed them for some reason or another. Of course, the woman with large breasts was chosen.

So a raven was summoned to send a message to the fair maiden. Took months. And when she unrolled it, all it said was, “hey.”

I had to laugh, because every so often, I get messages from men that have the stunning range of, “hey,” “hello,” “hi,” and occasionally, “what are you wearing?”

No joke. Here’s a string of messages I got from some guy years ago:

I hope we can video chat soon

hey gloria

how are you

I’m sorry to hear that

I’m sorry to hear that what are you doing today

That’s nice. Can I ask what are you wearing

Hello

hey

hey

What are you doing right now

Hello

good morning

Good morning

Of course, if you talk about sex, it doesn’t get much better, but it seems that once you get guys on that topic, they can string more than two words together.

Why aren’t people into dating anymore? Well, it’s kind of obvious.

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Tonight, Someone Else Cried

So Friday’s English corner was held tonight, and at least I didn’t cry. But someone else did. We tend to play card games that have questions on them. The EC coordinator has a bunch of games, and we played Talking Hearts couple’s edition. These kinds of games are good to get people talking, but on the downside, it can feel like group therapy.

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Sixth Tone For What’s Going on in China, in English

Every so often, I’ll go to Sixth Tone, an English-language paper that has interesting features about China.

For example, a few years back, there was a student who tried living for free for about a month. She hung out in fancy hotels and made do with sneaking into places. She faked being rich. Not surprisingly, this was an art student’s project.

Another article was about elderly people getting into video games.

And a more recent article was about how divorced Chinese women are searching for other divorced Chinese women for support. They share chores, cooking, child care duties and basically provide a safer, cohabitive space for themselves and their children. I had my students read this article and also Judy Syfer’s satirical essay, “I Want a Wife,” written back in 1971.

If you’re interrested in reading the articles, the Sixth Tone one is available here:

https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1017507

Syfer’s essay is available here: https://www.thecut.com/2017/11/i-want-a-wife-by-judy-brady-syfers-new-york-mag-1971.html

But you can read it for free here: https://msanaknudsen.weebly.com/uploads/9/3/6/8/9368722/i_want_a_wife.pdf

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Another Tuesday…

Tuesdays go by very quickly, and today was no exception. It was interesting to see how the exercise in instructions turned out. Students had to fold a piece of paper as per my instructions, without knowing what it was going to be. Most of the classes got it, especially after I went throught the process again, with visuals.

But my last class of the day got it right from the start.

I’m sure a few of them thought by the size of the paper I handed out it was going to be some origami animal, but no, just an ordinary paper airplane.

That air raid siren during my first class this morning was a bit of a shock though. A student sent me a message saying it was just a practice drill. But with the war in the Middle East, anything could happen. It made the last half hour of class a bit of a problem. Lecturing was impossible. And they didn’t give precise times for all of the air raid sirens. It would have been nice if they had said they were going to go off at 9:43, 9:55 and 10:00, but no.

I know it was practice, but still a bit unnerving.

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English Corner

I go to English corner, a twice-weekly gathering where students have an opportunity to practice their English skills. One of the students is in charge of it, and usually brings games to play. The icebreaker last night was to take a card from Talking Hearts, which includes a thoughtful question on one side, and a fun one on the other.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t answer the “fun” question. It was, “what was the craziest thing that ever happened on a night out?”

I hardly ever go out. And when I do, it’s usually for dinner with one of my colleagues. And nothing crazy happens.

But the flip side of the card had the question, “what are you most afraid of?”

I answered, but started to cry. I felt bad about it, but the question definitely touched a nerve. My time in China hasn’t turned out the way I planned it to be. Of course, some things were out of my control, but it makes me so mad when I have plans that seem rational and doable, and they don’t happen. It’s not like I say to myself, “within five years of living in China, you’re going to get down to your ideal weight and become a model/influencer by the time you’re 56.” No, I never had ambitions like that. I never said, “I’m going to be an astronaut/cowboy/movie star.”

What I wanted to save was a good chunk of money before I had to leave.

I’m nowhere near the amount of money I would like to save.

So my answer was, “I’m afraid of not having the energy to try anymore when things don’t work out.”

I’m afraid of other things too, but I feel that time is running out to achieve my goals. For all my education, I’m dirt poor, and very upset about it. And the biggest regret I have? Good thing that question didn’t come up, because the biggest regret was my master’s degree. What a colossal waste of time and money.

So yeah, I’m afraid I’ll get tired of trying because nothing works out.

And I cried in front of students.

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I’ve Never Been Able to Grow My Nails

My cuticles are ugly, and I have little shreds of skin surrounding the nail. Hangnails, I think they are called. On the occasions when I wear pantyhose, I run the risk of snagging the hose on the little bits of skin that stick out around my nails. At one point, I carried a nail trimmer on my keychain so I wouldn’t pick at the hangnail, or bit of skin, or whatever and have it start bleeding. The trimmer was to cut that shit.

I peel my nails away, I don’t bite them. So since childhood, my nails have always looked awful. I try to grow them from time to time. The last time was in August 2024, when I was under intense time pressure because I needed paperwork in order to stay in China. And my school claimed they weren’t going to help me. But thanks to the Xiamen Entry/Exit bureau, they got into gear and came up with the necessary paperwork at the last minute. I don’t EVER want to go through that again.

And the nails I was growing at the time got peeled away.

I haven’t bothered to grow them since.

But I’ve noticed that my nails are getting tougher. Especially my toenails. I’d like to have long, elegant looking fingernails, but maybe that is never meant to be.

I’m starting to do that lately, accepting things that may never be.

They never talk about how exhausting hope is.

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So I have a YouTube Channel…

I only have 61 videos up. I shoul have had more, but you know how it goes. Here are a few you might want to check out.

Disneyland Hong Kong Viewed by a Cynic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B69_gn2-V08&t=3s

I make snarky remarks about the things I see at Disney, then I am brought to tears by riding Hyperspace Mountain. Why did I cry? Because it is almost like being in the battle scene from Star Wars (1977). It is THAT. GOOD. Wish I had some onboard footage, but I don’t.

WTF Foods 7 Chicken Feet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwU7vwVuSt8

I try the delicacy of chicken feet. WTF stands for “What the Fuck” a series of videos where I try odd or unusual food/drink I find here in China.

Great Wall Mutianyu Section Toboggan Slide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ccYjdSVbho&t=1s

I take the easy way down after climbing up to the Great Wall. This is a fun way to get down. This has actual onboard camera video.

Gloria and Stephaine Practice Their Chinese! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUsrL-7Mn2U

Our tutor cancelled out on us one night, so we go to my apartment to practice on our own. Let’s just say, our pronunciation sucked, but the translation app spat out some truly epic, off the wall poetry.

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Random Photos

A giant bag of Doritos in the shape of a horse, because it’s the Year of the Horse. Decades ago, someone got me an inflatable La Choy horse, because it was also the year of the horse. Sometime in the 90s, I believe. I think I still have it. I went through a phase of collecting inflatable toys, for some weird reason.

Why is this pipe even here?

Talk about shitty eyeshadow colors…

Mr. Hankey without his Christmas getup. I think this was at a Walmart.

Cookware by Fisher Price. Seen at Ole, a fancy grocery store. How fancy is it? It’s in the same mall as a Van Cleef and Arpels store. And yes, they have a Cartier, Tiffany, and Louis Vuitton.

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Summer’s Here!

I’ve noticed that after April 8, summer begins. It happened again this year. It seems that starting on April 8, the weather becomes summery. And this year, it was no exception. Wednesday was nice, Thursday was friggin’ hot, and today was hot too. The sunset was just a red ball in the sky. And the mountain was in the perfect position to eat it.

The photo quality isn’t so great. Sorry about that, but I had to zoom in to get more detail.

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Feeling a Bit Better Today…

But my Christ, what a mess I had to clean up yesterday. I made the mistake of going without underwear, and on the way to the bathroom, I exploded from both ends. Probably the first time I had actual shit in my living room in my entire life.

I cleaned up though. Still felt a bit woozy today, but in a bizarre twist, my back has felt the best it’s ever been. Go figure.

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Strange Sleeping Patterns

I remember last Friday, and how I went swimming and had a huge meal before going home, showering, and getting ready for bed. I woke up early for me the next morning, and since I couldn’t get back to sleep, I got up and got quite a bit done.

Today, I was soooooo lazy. I don’t understand it. The early part of the day was sunny, but when I finally got up and got out for my walk, it was windy and had cooled off.

But I don’t know why I was so tired this morning, and had additional naps.

And I got a bit done today, at least enough to feel more relaxed about the coming week, which is good.

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YouTube is my Streaming Service

YouTube is basically my television here. I don’t have a television, because the uni hasn’t provided one. But that’s okay.

So no, I haven’t seen Love Story, about JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. I’m sort of interested in the story, but not really. I watched one of those “Watch Mojo” videos that compared the story to the actual details. I noticed a song playing. I recognized the tune, but wasn’t sure of the name or who sung it.

So I looked up the soundtrack to see if I could recognize the name of the song, or the group, hoping that would jar my memory. And it did. The tune I was looking for was “Name” by the Goo Goo Dolls. And yeah, I’d liked their stuff back in the day.

I just wanted to play a few seconds of it to see if it was the right song, because I knew if I played the whole thing, I’d probably burst into tears. I didn’t even get far. Someone had posted a really sad story as the topmost comment, and I burst into tears.

But I ended up listening to the whole song. I’ve seen many people refer to YouTube as the closest thing we’ll get to a time machine. I was surprised to see so many sad comments. Some people talked of dead relatives; one said her mother listened to this song and commented on how pretty it was, then she died. Another spoke of a brother who was deaf, and couldn’t deal with the bullying at school, and abuse from a father. He turned to booze and drugs to ease the pain, and yes, he died.

That being said, the song is a great one. But yeah, it’s hard to listen to that stuff. I think of where I was then, and the people who were in my life. I felt like I was an adult, but still a kid. My parents were alive, to catch me if I took a major step and fell. I published my own ‘zine. Scraped along on a journalism job that paid $5.05 after taxes. Resented having to work Saturday mornings to get a photo if something was going on. It was one thing to drive 45 minutes round trip for an eight-hour day, it was another thing to be exhausted from work knowing I didn’t even have my weekends free to have to go in and take a picture at an event.

What hurts, I think, is knowing how I was at the time, and looking into the future and wondering what would happen, vs. looking back now. I’ve done all right, compared to some people. But I’m still not where I’d like to be, and I’m no closer to accomplishing my goal that I had when I moved to China a little over seven years ago.

I just wish I hadn’t been so afraid.

I hate the people I went to school with that caused me to be fearful.

I miss my mom and dad, who were around back then.

I miss how my niece and nephew used to be. Back then, they thought Aunt Gloria was cool. They liked doing things with me, or so I thought.

Now, they don’t speak to me anymore. I haven’t heard from my nephew in years. Maybe even a whole decade.

I also miss the general attitude of the country. Things seemed good. There was employment if you needed/wanted it. People seemed happier; less uptight. Yeah, the president was fucking around with an intern, but even my mother was willing to overlook that because of the way things were.

And isn’t this line from “Name” so true: “And scars are souvenirs you never lose.”

I look at my knee surgery scar. It’s still there, after 53 years.

I’m not sure what the point of this post is. I think I get why people get nostalgic about stuff, the past, people.

But I feel like the 1990s were my golden years. Didn’t seem like it at the time, but they were.

And now, looking back, they really seem like they were.

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Relieved!

So admin wants recordings of the oral exams I did back in January, nearly three months ago. I DID have them, but had to go looking for them. Turns out they were on an external hard drive I had. I didn’t want to burden my laptop with over 60 videos, so I moved them.

So of course, I about had a heart attack when I clicked on the folder that said IOE final videos and nothing was there. I remembered how I recorded them, and how much I worried I wouldn’t have an SD card big enough to hold them. I’d recorded them to my laptop, then moved them later. I also had the AOE final exams too, and I’ve copied those.

We had a meltdown with technology. A recording room was supposed to get all these, but the tech broke down. So we did what I’d done before: told the students to record the videos on their phones, then send them via WeChat. I remember painstakingly tranferring them from WeChat to computer.

But geez, this was not something I thought I’d have to deal with tonight after English corner. I thought they were all on my computer, until I remembered I moved them. Then, figure out which external hard drive had them.

But at least I’ll be able to sleep tonight.

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Seven Year Anniversary!

WordPress reminded me it was my seven year anniversary today.

I’ve been in China a wee bit longer though.

I suppose I should make another Chinaversary video. Those are actually pretty easy to make. Collect some photos from the past year and set them to music.

Oh, and I also got my taxes done yesterday. Damn, I woke up early (for me) couldn’t get back to sleep, finally got out of bed and got stuff done. So weird, but nice after feeling sooooooo tiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrred for the past year or so.

Anyway, got done what I wanted to get done tonight, so now I can relax and enjoy what’s left of my THREE DAY WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And no, it’s not even a holiday. It’s just how my schedule worked out this semester.

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Up and Down, Up and Down

Spoke with a former co-worker today. I feel a little bit better about things, but just a little. I’m kinda happy that I have a lot of time to take care of a situation that may not arise anyway. But that’s me, worrying endlessly.

I went swimming last night. The water was too cold, and the locker room was freezing, and the shower water wasn’t nearly hot enough, but I must have had a good night’s sleep. I stuffed myself at McDonalds, and no, I should NOT have done that, but I swam 24 laps and also got more than 10,000 steps in. The pool isn’t very far from my apartment, and there were maybe four other people in the pool. The weather has been warm and cold, warm and cold. The pool is in the basement, so no windows, but as the weather warms up, hoping the pool will, too. The big draw is hardly anyone using the facilities.

What’s weird is that I swear I went to this hotel last fall and asked if they sold pool memberships. They said no, but they also didn’t mention there was a gym in the basement of the hotel, WITH a swimming pool. This is part of the problem with living in China. I would have been THRILLED to find out there was a gym WITH pool in the basement. It could be that maybe I asked about the pool before the gym started up again. I’m thinking the gym that used to be there was the same one I was told about, when I walked up and down that block wondering where this gym was. My map said I was in the right place, but couldn’t find it. When I first moved here, that’s what I wanted. A nearby swimming pool. But maybe the gym closed, and they didn’t get it started back up again until last fall. And maybe I asked the front desk before the new gym management decided to take over.

But I’m happy the gym employee put a hang tag on my door advertising the gym, complete with his WeChat QR code. WeChat has a translation feature, so I got a tour of the gym, and also a free try at the swimming pool. I wired more money home this month than usual, which explains why my emergency fund keeps getting lower.

I told him I’d be back in April. I have no idea how much a pool membership costs, but swimming makes me happy. Not having to dodge people in the pool really makes me happy. And I didn’t see a little kid in sight, which means the pool will probably be cleaner. The water looked nice and clear last night.

I still wasn’t in a good mood last night, so I treated myself to McDonald’s, then chocolate after I walked home. I thought about doing some work, but I thought, “no.” I gave myself a break.

And it turned out to be a good move. I went to bed early (for me) and woke up before noon this morning, and actually thought I could start on getting some work done. Of the nine things on my list, I got four done. That’s amazing, especially for a Saturday morning/early afternoon. Usually, when I wake up early, I usually go back to sleep. But not this time. I watched mindless YouTube content, and never went back to sleep. Getting stuff done feels good.

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Frustration…

The moon must be in a weird phase or something. I was told about a last-minute event an hour and 15 minutes from the start time. I told one of my students that I had other plans. This is the SECOND time I have told him to PLEASE let me know 48 hours in advance if something is going on. He apologized, but just reinforces my belief that no one listens to me.

I’m also a little suspicious that my co-worker didn’t tell me the event was going on tonight, as he and I usually preside over these events. We have each other’s WeChats and he saw me today.

He’s starting to act like a former friend of mine. In private, he’s civil, but in public, he goes out of his way to make me look dumb/stupid.

And it bugs me that my life in China hasn’t turned out the way I wanted it to. I have these plans, and these plans seem simple enough and feasible, but they never work out.

Sometimes I feel nothing will.

Captain Underpants? No, Flying Underpants!

My little black dress, some underwear (including the pair that flew) and a pair of jeans.

Here in China, people hang up their washing on their balconies. The Chinese like the smell of laundry being dried outside. It brought me back to summer days when my mom used to wash my sheets and hang them up outside. She thought it was a big deal. I didn’t, but I’m older now.

I’ve found I like the smell of air-dried sheets too. I have no choice—dryers aren’t a thing here. In every single apartment I’ve had, there’s been a washer, but no dryer. That’s fine. I have enough of everything, and I do laundry on a regular enough basis that I never run out of anything.

That being said, I did a load today (7-1-26). I came back from grocery shopping and decided to hang it up before I got back into grading. I saw some fuzzies on my jeans. I wasn’t sure where they’d come from, as they looked like small clumps of polyester fiberfill, the stuff you see in pillows. And then, I just thought, I’d washed some pillows the other day. I must not have seen the remainders.

So I took the jeans and decided to shake them over my balcony. Seven floors down is not a high traffic area, so I don’t feel guilty about shaking the jeans.

But too late, I saw a pair of underwear had stuck to one of the jean legs. Too late, I tried to grab it, but the undies took flight.

I was tired and sweaty from my walk back from the store, but I wanted those panties. So I went downstairs and turned on my phone flashlight.

I really felt icky looking for them. It’s not a high traffic area, so the grass was nice and thick. I tried not to think about what might be lurking beneath all that green—frogs, snakes, rats, cockroaches—but nothing jumped out at me. I looked up at the building and gaged that I was a little to the right of my balcony, so I edged left.

And there they were! I KNEW they had to be there somewhere, unless during flight they detoured onto someone’s balcony, or some random ledge. But luck was with me. And now they are safely hanging from a hanger from my balcony.

Ah, the Internet…

I just hate it when I have an internet connectivity problem that is baffling.

My list of networks came up, all of them within range except my own.

A colleague came over with a spare router. It seemed to work with Bing, but not with any other browser and not with my you know what.

But eventually, both Bing and Chrome started working again with my you know what.

Rhyrmes with Scottie Pippen.

But it’s disturbing when these connectivity problems are strange. I thought of everything I could, but nothing worked. So I guess my old router was bad. But thankfully, the one my colleague brought over is working.

And I remember the days when we DIDN’T have wifi. But now that everything is online, it’s a bit different. Back then we had to go to the bank, the grocery store, the restaurants ourselves.

Now we do it online.

When online works, that is…

Public Service Announcement

If you don’t like the content I post on here, don’t read it.

I write about what interests me and what I’m concerned with. So if you’re looking for the MacNeil-Lerher Newshour, 60 Minutes, or even friggin’ Inside Edition, look elsewhere.

I don’t lead a very glamourous life here in China. So I don’t expect my posts to suddenly change from what I normally post.

But don’t even THINK I post everything that I experience. Because I don’t.