Doctor Smithsonian

Dec 18

I asked my Chinese friend what her type is in men. She said, Buddha-types: big belly, double chin, seated.

Dec 11

I can see how SARS could be a problem here.

-Hangzhou Train Station, China

Public health isn’t fun.

-Lakeside, Nanjing, China

I found the Chinese version of me and my older sister Britta. Maybe the world is better off with just one child.

Oh wait.

-On Purple Mountain, Nanjing, China

I, for one, am excited for China to get EVEN OPENER in the future.

-National Porcelain Museum, Hangzhou, China.

it’s a pity that half of all Chinese words sound like the other half of them

Dec 10

Developing world soap sucks.

Nov 17

If you lived everyday like it was the last day of your life, you would be dead.

i am great at chopsticks

The other night, I ordered some noodles for dinner in my little community Suo Jin, north of the lake in Nanjing. And, six grown men came out from the kitchen, placed chairs in a semi-circle around me and literally just watched me eat. It was like performance art. Unwilling performance art. Feeling mighty uncomfortable, I could not stop laughing, which intrigued them more.

I must learn more mandarin.

Please stop staring at me.

I am finding that I am too blonde to live in China.

Oct 26

On living with geckos in Cambodia

I’ve been here for five months now. I’ve started to notice that there’s a lot of in-fighting amongst the geckos who live in my room over who gets to walk on my face when I sleep. Nestle in my mouth. Do they actually do this? This is one of my greatest fears.

A group of them live in my air-conditioner. I’ve named them after the Royal Family, but can never remember who is who. Camilla’s the fat one. Princess Beatrice is the one in the hat.