Y and I pick up my two wedding dresses the other day. Before we leave the shop, the tailoress says: “Promise me to be happy. If you find out that the dresses are too tight before flying back to Austria for the wedding, you can call me and I’ll change them once again. Or if […]
One day in March 2013 my fiancé and I go to the hospital to see a Chinese doctor. We sit down to tell her my ailments and while she feels my pulse my fiancé starts chatting with her. Y: “Are you from Henan? The way you speak sounds like Henan-dialect.” Doctor: “I am. I have […]
I’m at the supermarket. A little girl who’s probably not older than 5 is playing with the cup you usually use for putting rice into a plastic bag. I ask her: “Can I borrow this for a moment?” She says: “Sure.” And then, after looking into my face: “Wow. Are you a foreigner?” I: “I […]
The first time I go to a blind massage place in China in 2013 reminds me of all the reasons why I hadn’t been to one of these places for a few months: It hurts like hell and is not remotely connected to what comes to most people’s minds upon hearing the word massage. (If […]
It took us a week to fall in love with each other. Two weeks to get together. On the weekend of the third week we were sitting on the carpet in Ys apartment, holding hands and laughing without end, both unable to believe that it had been only a week since we got together. It […]
On my way to work there’s a small street stall selling all different kinds of congee. I usually go there to buy take-away congee for breakfast. One day I have time to sit down for breakfast. The woman in her 40s selling the congee comes up to me to have a chat. A while into […]
One evening in July 2012 the rain drops are pounding heavily against the windows as we sit in the living room of a friend’s place in Kunming. We are happy for the rain, because in the last three years and counting Yunnan province has suffered a severe drought. We have just finished a home-cooked dinner […]
