I didn't even notice when the broken stereo system started playing Hotel California.
Lifestyle changes are often spearheaded by trendsetters, such as movie stars and hip-hop idols.
I've been to a lot of parades but I've never experienced anything like the big show we just had in Beijing to mark the National Day..
"Get her away from that!" is a phrase often heard in our home these days.
In my home country of the United States, I swipe for the things that I buy. Debit and credit cards are standard in the US, and before coming here, I was a bonafide member of the cashless society.
Beijing has been getting smaller while the neighborhood has been growing bigger since my wife and I switched gears and swapped four wheels for two.
As the cultural capital of China, Beijing is simply bubbling with things to do and see. Art, music, sport - if it's a Chinese tradition, it will be practiced here. And if it's a Western trend, there will be a nascent scene.
Thomas Talhelm has a standing date with Confucius every Monday at noon at the gate of South China Normal University.
My American friend Kate laughed at my story.
I suffer from a bad case of "nesting", in that wherever I live, I have to set up my home so that I am surrounded by comfort and beauty.
Before I got a chance to reflect on my first night out in Beijing, a group of expat teens approached me and began trash talk. I laughed at their feeble attempts to insult me.Clubbing in China was unique, as with many things here in Beijing, I have accepted the experience as different and am grateful for it.
Out of sympathy for my charges, I then took a shot at one of the most infamous Chinese tongue twisters. "Si shi si (4 is 4), shi shi shi (10 is 10), shi si shi shi si (14 is 14)," I stuttered with a modicum of success.
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