I’d classify myself as an affectionate person. At least, I used to be. China seems to have trained it out of me. That makes me sad, I admit. Sometimes more sad that I can explain. Chinese people are just not very outwardly affectionate. That is, not in the ways you’d expect. There are exceptions, of course, and modern Western media…   …read more.

Well, this is probably the most embarrassing blog I’ve ever written. I’m a modest person at the best of times, but I am pushing myself through this because it’s something that I think pregnant women don’t talk about. And we should. So, it goes like this. In pregnancy, I have this problem. It’s my second pregnancy, so it’s the second…   …read more.

When I first met Guo Jian, he was one of the few Chinese people I’d come across who had a car—young people, that is. Especially in the world of musicians who make so little per gig, cars are rare here. He was working with a famous Chinese rock star at the time, though, and he had become pretty famous himself…   …read more.

Today, while talking to a dear friend on Skype, I was telling her how grateful I am not to be having monthly check-ups at a Chinese hospital. Who needs the constant probing, testing and ultrasounds when I know things are progressively normally? He’s swimming around in there and kicking me all the time. The second time around has its bonuses,…   …read more.

When I first met Guo Jian, we did a lot of hanging out in the city like going to restaurants and shops or walking around in the interesting areas like Gu Lou 鼓楼 or Hou Hai 后海. He knew the side alleys and fun stores and would regularly tug me around corners that I hadn’t even noticed led to pathways….   …read more.

I always take a week to recover from flying across this vast planet. During my first week in either country—Canada or China—I have many surreal experiences during which I dream vividly, sleep erratically or like a boulder, and sometimes even see things or hear things that don’t seem to be there. Jet lag brings us another layer of consciousness, I’m…   …read more.

Just over two weeks ago, I went to the ultrasound that was supposed to tell us the baby’s sex, not to mention confirm my due date. The ultrasound technician was very nice, but she was unable to tell me any information. Seems that Canada, particularly with its immigrant population and/or some newly resurfaced “old” ideas about the preference of sons…   …read more.