As the holiday season approached, I met more and more people on the road trying to figure out what to do for New Year’s Eve and asking other travelers for suggestions. I was no help to them though, as I had already decided to spend my New Year’s Eve in silence at Tam Wua Forest… Read More Why I Spent New Year’s Eve in Silence at a Monastery
Originally posted Tuesday, January 28, 2014. It’s funny, isn’t it, how the way we view people and things change so much between the time we’re kids and when we’re adults? Or even year to year? How the way we remember people and events change along the way? Well, at least most people and things in… Read More Mr. Helmly, Revisited
Originally posted Monday, August 13, 2012 I didn’t need to open the letter. I could recognize that messy yet particular scribble as easily as I could the handwriting of my parents. I knew I had found Mr. Helmly. Nearly a year and a half ago, while I was still living in Montana, I posted about the… Read More Mr. Helmly Found
Originally posted on Thursday, April 21, 2011 When I first came to this country, I was a shy little kid who only spoke as many as 20 words in English and had the hardest time saying “Tuesday” and “cinnamon.” It’s very possible that if I hadn’t had Mr. Helmly as my teacher I would be… Read More The Search for Mr. Helmly
This is ZhangYe Danxia Geopark in the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu. It’s also known as the Rainbow Mountains of China. This is also ZhangYe Danxia Geopark. In fact, it’s the exact same peak. And oh wait, this is the same place in ZhangYe Danxia Geopark yet again. The only difference, of course, is that… Read More ZhangYe Danxia, the Rainbow Mountains of China
Originally posted on Friday, October 25, 2013 I call them kids, but they’re not really kids. A lot of them are my age or older. And I call them lost, except many of them are perfectly content as they are. I live in the Haight, a neighborhood in San Francisco that is somewhat known for… Read More The Lost Kids
On Dec. 28, 2014, an Air Asia flight from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore crashed into the Java Sea, killing all onboard. That same morning, we flew on an Air Asia flight from Bangkok to Siem Reap, and gasped when we got finally on Wi-Fi and saw news of the crash. First, disbelief. Then, thankfulness. And… Read More The Monk on the River Kwai
Originally posted Monday, April 9, 2012 China, communism, church and capitalism. Quick, which one doesn’t belong? A couple of decades ago, there would have been two answers, but since the seeds of capitalism began to sprout in the past decade, the only misfit that remains is the church. China is officially an atheist state, and… Read More A Church in China
I’m fascinated by new places, people, and experiences, and like a bug drawn to the light, I’ve always wanted to go. Anywhere and everywhere. Go here, see this, try that. It’s one reason why travel, especially international travel, has always been so important to me. Without it, I feel like a fish out of water,… Read More FUNemployment Adventures
Originally posted Monday, Nov. 12, 2012 Despite growing up only in large cities, I’ve always been fascinated with small towns. Small town America, in particular, is a very interesting concept to me. Although the majority of our country’s population lives in urban areas, the expansive rural areas dominate in land ownership. They are: quaint little… Read More Small Town America