There's a stereotype in America that Asians don't know how to drive and I have no wish to add another piece on that pile of cliche here. However I've witnessed more than a handful of couples who squabble incessantly about driving--how to drive, how to drive better, road signs to watch for, how many miles … Continue reading Mini Story: The Driving Lesson
Month: September 2020
Things Coming To Mind While Driving
I've had four consecutive days of insomnia, which was barely controlled by taking cold medicine even if I don't have a cold. Knock on the wood. I will make sure I don't have cold or flu this coming winter since any cold symptom is a suspect for the more serious COVID-19. It's ten hours ago … Continue reading Things Coming To Mind While Driving
Courage Misunderstood
My friend Y once told me that he had traveled to Russia and Ukraine to run his small business of selling household goods. That in itself is not terribly uncommon since I heard of Asians businessmen carrying goods to Russia to sell and carrying Russian specialties back. So I asked him if he's afraid since … Continue reading Courage Misunderstood
A Mild Heartbreak
I am not really nursing a broken heart, but I am trying to use the word "heart" and "break" in the title, like Shaw's "Hearbreak House" or Wallace's essay on a tennis star who broke his heart--I can't remember the exact title or the star's name. Too lazy to look it up. My heartbreak is … Continue reading A Mild Heartbreak
At The Store
She stared at the money I handed over as if she wanted to say something, so I said, "No changes. I don't want any change." She said, "All right. But do you have 80 cents?" I hesitated and then pretended to look into the inner crease of my wallet, which held coins more than a … Continue reading At The Store
What Does It Mean?
What does the word "russet" mean? Also words like "orb", "presage", "quaff", "brogue", "dirigible", "druid", "patisserie"? I have no idea. Some of them I've already looked up at least several times, but still I forget what the meaning. It must be my disappointing memory, but that's another story for another day. It sounds rather exhausting … Continue reading What Does It Mean?
What A Headache
I've heard the drill many times before. "Don't take pain killers for your headache. Stop thinking too much." "Don't take sleeping pills. Just listen to music or count sheep." Among my friends, the general attitude towards medicine is--not to deal with medicine. This is why I often feel it strange that many Asian parents here … Continue reading What A Headache
Throw Caution To The Wind
I wish I can throw caution to the wind, but I can't. Today I read this piece of news that more than half of the new Cov-19 cases are from people who have gone to restaurant. One minute you are enjoying your food and the next thing you know you come down with all the … Continue reading Throw Caution To The Wind
Who’s Afraid Of Ghosts
Some differences are in our head, and what's in our head are even more difficult to change than visible and perceptible aspects of differences like accent and manners etc. Not that I can change my accent or my manners. I can't. However I know it's there and I've developed a way to deal with it. … Continue reading Who’s Afraid Of Ghosts
Different Body
I've heard similar incidents happen again and again here in the Asian community in New Jersey. This is one story I heard about five years ago. One manager in a big drug company suddenly fainted. He is middle-aged and held a lower level management position, which is reachable by Asians before hitting the usual bamboo … Continue reading Different Body
Visible And Invisible Masks
Our invisible social masks are not enough. Now we have to wear visible masks, which have more advantages than merely shielding our breath and preventing the spread of virus--under the cover of a mask, we can do with a lot less makeup or even no makeup. How much time we waste every day on beautifying … Continue reading Visible And Invisible Masks
Easy Wonton Soup
Whenever I make a bowl of wonton soup, I will think of R. When I first came to America as a graduate student, R was my roommate from Eastern Europe. In America, we all live in our own communities and it's unusual for an Asian girl like me to team up with a girl like … Continue reading Easy Wonton Soup
Short Story: A Cat And A Train Ride (Part 1)
Armi was a beautiful cat with shining black and white furs, fierce eyes. He was discovered as a starving kitten, about several weeks old, by my grandmother's neighbor, lying next to a ditch after a rainstorm. It's said Armi was discovered too late by humans and couldn't establish the kind of bonding a normal pet … Continue reading Short Story: A Cat And A Train Ride (Part 1)
Short Story: A Cat And A Train Ride (Part 2)
Click Here For Part 1 After a while my mother and I dozed off again, and my mother's tight hold on the cat was loosened. So Armi jumped off once again. This time, he attacked a person sitting right behind us, who is young and tall. He must have sausage or beef jerky or boiled … Continue reading Short Story: A Cat And A Train Ride (Part 2)
Fragmented
Regular strawberry or organic strawberry? They taste the same. If there's any difference, it must be due to the power of imagination. Regular soy milk or organic soy milk? I don't understand. Can genetically modified soy be considered organic? Are all the soy crops genetically modified? And all the corns? Should I make parsley dumpling, … Continue reading Fragmented
The Peril Of Persistence
It's the peril of persistence. I was brought up on the principle of finishing what you started and now I am suffering the consequence. I can't go on with this book, but my habit of persistence doesn't allow me to give up in the middle. What to do? I can't stand "The Barbarians Are Coming" … Continue reading The Peril Of Persistence
Short Story: Trouble With Language (Part 2)
Click Here For Part 1 One week later, they met again. Pammy looked haggard, her under eye circles darkened, her eyes more guileless and fierce than usual. "My old man (her term of endearment for her husband which sounds more of a term of respect in her native tongue than in English) and my father-in-law … Continue reading Short Story: Trouble With Language (Part 2)
Short Story: Trouble With Language (Part 1)
Lu, Pammy, and Armei met at Armei's little cosmetic store, specializing in Asian cosmetic brands, every Monday afternoon. It's not really Armei's store. She's just a shop assistant. Monday is slow and a perfect time to meet her friends. If the owner of the store happened to come in, which she never did on a … Continue reading Short Story: Trouble With Language (Part 1)
Dusk Falls At 7:00PM
Darkened sky, brisk air; cool breezes chill the arms bare, ruffle my summer wear. Dusk so soon I am not aware. A year passes a blink of an eye; a day goes by before I could sigh. Chores I can't simplify; Do it or not do it, either can satisfy. Honest toil is something, or … Continue reading Dusk Falls At 7:00PM
Nothing And Everything
Have you ever had that feeling of dread that when you open your refrigerator, which is filled up nicely, but can't find anything to eat? Soy milk--I just drank it for the breakfast. Tomato soup--I had it yesterday. Vietnamese pizza with rice wrap underneath--I tried it twice already within 48 hours. Bean curd--too bland. My … Continue reading Nothing And Everything
Magnificent In Different Ways
This is not for me. I mean the book, "Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue". It's obviously for those native speakers. The magnificence described by the book must be felt by a lot of people, but as a non-native speaker I feel differently. If I feel the magnificence, it's a different kind of magnificence. Mencken and Orwell … Continue reading Magnificent In Different Ways
Lost In Translation
No matter how I explained, he just wouldn't understand. Or probably it's just his pretensions which offer him his rights to insist on his own idea. Show your stubbornness long enough and other people would mistake that for your strength. What a wish. Go your own way; enjoy your freedom of making your own mistakes … Continue reading Lost In Translation
Foist
is a word that I cannot handle. No matter how many times I've encountered it and looked it up, I have to look it up again for the next encounter. Same for words like flout, flounder, flaunt. F for failure to remember. I don't know about native speakers, but for non-native speakers like me such … Continue reading Foist
Old News and New News
I've often seen the phrase "old news", but never seen the phrase "new news", which is obviously considered as redundancy, pleonasm, tautology or whatever other pedantic words available. However in the age of frantic pace of various media, there should be a phrase "new news" to distinguish the news within two or three hours, from … Continue reading Old News and New News
Fall Is My Favorite Season
When I first came to America, I was surprised to learn that autumn is commonly called "fall" here, probably due to the falling leaves. The autumn foliage of red and yellow and orange in Pennsylvania is spectacular. Nothing characterizes the autumn better than the word "fall" of these beautiful leaves in such a scale. Though … Continue reading Fall Is My Favorite Season
The Cauldron
There's always this table, on which books pile up high, in one of the local grocery stores, the ShopRite of Edison township. Sometimes one or two precariously perched books on top would fall off when an inattentive shopper passes by and inadvertently brushes against the table. I've seen the books forever but never noticed them … Continue reading The Cauldron
Canopy And Canape
At first I thought it means awning and then I realize it is not spelled canopy, but rather canape, for which Firefox's quick search shows it means those little bite sized dim sum like food. For Asian immigrants like me, hors d'œuvre is a type of dim sum no matter what you say otherwise. Somehow … Continue reading Canopy And Canape
The Year Of Change
I ordered the book "The Barbarians Are Coming", borrowed the book "Pangs Of Love" from Archive.org, and are planning to proceed to Chang-rae Lee's books sometime later. I haven't read any books by Asian American authors for a long time, all because of "Joy Luck Club". It's not that I don't like the book. On … Continue reading The Year Of Change
Likes And Dislikes
I like that here when it is quiet it is truly quiet. Probably this is unachievable in New York City, but in New Jersey it is common. Still it is not as quiet as in the rural area in the nearby state. That's dead quiet. At night, one can hear the howling of coyotes from … Continue reading Likes And Dislikes
Disillusionist
is not a real word (I've checked the dictionary. As a non-native speaker, I'm never completely at east with English), but I think the word is self explanatory when it comes to its meaning. I am a disillusionist, sadly. Whenever I like something and get into that fluffy feeling of being illusioned, I am always … Continue reading Disillusionist
Night Vision
At first I thought it is the word "college", but the sentence just doesn't make sense. Then I realized that it is the word "collage", which I don't know the meaning of. English has so many words and some are confusingly similar. Collage is an epitome of it. Does it have anything to do with … Continue reading Night Vision
Haoyan Do 