The Night the Lights Went out in Erseke

Late one evening in the fall of 2021, I lay doubled over with stomach pain in the back of a nice black car belonging to a Nigerian-British solicitor (the UK’s equivalent of a US attorney), on the way to Queen’s hospital in Rainham, Essex. In that moment I thought to myself “In the movie version

The Covid Connections

Getting to video chat one-on-one with people from all over the world was an experience I’ll not soon forget. I moved out of China in March 2020, one month after Covid struck there, and until early 2022 my only source of income was part time freelance English teaching online. This unique period of time allowed

Taking Refuge in a 12th Century Parish Church

It is said that in the 1500s, a sailor abandoned his post and took refuge in the St. Helen and St. Giles parish church in Essex, a short journey outside of London, England. (It’s likely that the church in England had not yet become independant of Rome and was still Catholic at this point.) He

Memories of Albania

Sensory memories are funny things, aren’t they? We can inhale a whiff of fall air and suddenly remember the scratchiness of jumping in leaf piles in elementary school, or see a white pine tree like the one we used to climb and have an intense recollection of sticky sap, white fluffy clouds, lunchboxes, and laughter

Ask Me About Busses!

Over the past 4 years, I’ve lived in 6 countries and owned a car in none of them! No two locations were alike. There were so many adventures and even more misadventures at every step of the way. When fresh-off-the boat Grace first took the bus to her new teaching job in Suzhou in 2018,

Tips for Long Flights

Having done my fair share of long global flights, including journeys with multiple connections, I have to confess that there’s no secret to it. The flying part itself is the easiest thing in the world – just stay in your seat as long as the seatbelt sign is on! Booking tickets, getting to the airport

Leftover Impressions of China

Dongbei, the region composed of three provinces in the very northeast of China, was particularly well-represented in our company for some reason none of us could figure out. A blunt, sometimes rough-around-the-edges people even by Chinese standards, Dongbei-ren (“ren” means people) have stories of icy winters, growing up without a phone in the house, coal-

Being Alone

Being alone is hard, worth it, draining, empowering, and lethal to overdose on. Do it, learn to enjoy it, do it often, and know when to quit. It’s more than just taking yourself out to eat or on a solo vacation. It’s watching major life moments – the happy ones – happen in front of

The Quest for Nakagusuku Castle

Sometime in April, 2020, island of Okinawa, Japan I routed to a small park near the Nakagusuku Castle, hoping to get closer to it and to find some scenic places to explore, as there was a lot of green in that section of the map. After a night of no sleep and a reduced appetite

Reverse Culture Shock (or, Why do You Flush the Toilet Paper?)

I’m back home in the United States for a month, and feeling pretty happy about it! Having a wide variety of food options has been fantastic, and the scenery of the Appalachian mountains in the Tennessee valley is beautiful. Catching up with extended family has been great too. BUT I’m also feeling a real re-adjustment