“What do you mean, you don’t know?”  I ask Alice, my interpreter.  “I don’t…  Well, I know a little,” she says.  “My elders taught me about some of the history here in Tiananmen Square.”  “It wasn’t taught in school?”  “No.”  “Seriously?”  “No.”  “Do you know of the famous photograph called “Tank Man?”  “No.  What is […]

“Her name is Jing Jing,” Alice, my interpreter says.  “It means Crystal in English.  Her grandfather told me that he brings her here, to the park, every day.  They sit under these trees while she plays.”  I look at the little girl while Alice and the man continue their conversation.  I walk slowly toward Jing […]

Listen to those lovely birds singing…  I snuggle into the pillows a little deeper…  It’s so peaceful lying here…  Wait a minute.  There aren’t birds chirping outside my hotel room window here in Beijing.  I sit up in bed, feeling confused.  Where am I?  Oh yes…  How could I forget?  I’m in Bali, about to […]