- She was taken by Thoreau and seemed offended when I told her that Henry was not all he made himself out to be, that he had strolled into town most days to feast on his mother’s cookies. — K: A Novel, p. 83
Day: May 19, 2022
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Back in Oxford! What a feeling. She arrived from East London and realized she hadn’t bothered to make a note of Lucy’s house number (She did know the street) because she thought she’d recognize the house at first sight. She ended up walking back and forth, back and forth, for half an hour. Conveniently, her Android told her “There is no wi-fi connection.” This is why she pays Verizon $239/month for the International Plan. So she can be stuck with luggage on a street in Oxford, with no wi-fi connection. Her laptop was completely out of battery, so no help there.
Tugging her luggage behind her, she started asking the neighbors: “Do you know Lucy?” She figured, Oxford is a small town, this is a small street. Everyone must know Lucy. Guess what: NO ONE KNEW LUCY.
Finally, she heard her name being called, and there was Lucy! Lucy had seen self pass in front of her house, trundling luggage. Probably wondered why self didn’t stop, since the front door was wide open.
Anyhoo, she’s arrived! Same room and everything! There was even the sweetest little arrangement of wildflowers on her writing desk!
Posting a picture for Cee’s Flower of the Day.
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While many of the foreign professors dressed like students and probably wanted to be students, if not sleep with them, I occasionally wore silk vests and tie clips. Every night I polished the incessant Beijing dust off my shoes. Perhaps I was overcompensating for my thin frame and boyish face. That afternoon, lowering my haunches to the blue couch, I felt like a freshman in big trouble.
“We are terminating your contract,” he said. “Your resident status will be revoked. You have one week to leave the country.”
I said nothing.
Why did I have such a hard egg in my throat? I had nothing to lose. This was not my country. I sometimes hated the place, I missed my sister and my mother, my best friend Mac, and yet I didn’t want to leave China.
— K: A Novel, p.38
Kanlaon 