As an athlete, I’ve always known that rest days were important. You need to build recovery days into your routine, so you don’t literally injure yourself. And obviously, you also take days off from work. But what about the rest of my life? Do you need rest days from socializing? From creativity? From cooking? From... Continue Reading →
Returning to Minnesota
Last weekend I visited Minneapolis to see a friend who'd moved there last spring (using the Medtronic 10 Miler race as an excuse to travel). I was born there, but it was my first time back (in my memory) since my parents moved us away from the Twin Cities to Austin, Texas when I was... Continue Reading →
Assimilation
On not feeling foreign all the time, but continuing to feel like an immigrant.
Queues
Lining up, waiting in line, queuing, is vastly different across the globe. The most extreme form of orderly queuing in my personal experience is in Hong Kong. If there is a line, many people will join it just because they assume they should be in the line. At bus stops and taxi stands, there is... Continue Reading →
Texas and the many cultures in America
The scale of distance changes drastically from city to city and town to town in America. We spent the last week in Texas, San Antonio and Houston, and we rented a car for the second time this year. Even though we were going to be in urban centers, we needed an automobile to get around.... Continue Reading →
American Skies
The sky is bigger and bluer in America. It's true. Even though I'm in a city filled with high rises and skyscrapers, the sky is obviously clearer and larger [than Hong Kong specifically, and other places generally]. This may seem like just an aesthetic quality, but let me assure you it is not. There are... Continue Reading →
Going to the Cinema
Things have changed in movie theaters. I learned this two weeks ago, and up to that point I hadn't been to a film in America in over 3 years. I only realized this gap in my experience when it occurred to me that I wanted to see Avengers: Age of Ultron, and didn't know how I should buy tickets. I... Continue Reading →
Coming home is a new country
Lack of challenge and urgency takes away some of the seduction of exploration.
Nostalgia
Every day I've had Turkish class for the past two weeks, a Good Humor ice cream truck has been playing ditties on the adjacent street. This ice cream truck is not targeting children or high school students, but University of Chicago students. One classmate finds them creepy, one friend was surprised they were real, having... Continue Reading →
Ex-expat thoughts on race: it’s my problem now
Part 1: race abroad As an expat, the problems of your nationality country are distant, and the problems of your resident country are not your fault. I saw things from afar; news in America was distant and even foreign. When I moved back to the states, one thing I knew would change is that I... Continue Reading →
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