I ate camel’s paw and sea slug. Police detained me twice. I took part, unwittingly, in a romantic farewell on a train platform. A crowd nearly trampled me on a bus. I barfed my brains out and thanked God for it.
The year I taught in China definitely had its moments. People seem to enjoy those stories almost as much as I enjoy telling them.
So in honor of 2008, Beijing’s Olympic year, I’m posting my experiences online.
The Year I Smelled Like Milk:
Stories from Beijing
I began drafting pieces for this blog over a year ago and (between work and family) have been revising since then. Total weight in words: over 50,000 — an online book, really. One post will appear every weekday beginning today. The full run should finish in May — well in time for the Olympics.
Future generations will remember 2008 as China’s year. I hope you enjoy these offbeat memoirs from my experiences there.
