The Onion produces a cautionary tale. Or an uncomfortable laugh.

Or, well, effective satire. This story originally came out when were were packing for the trip to meet son (son!) last April, but if anything, I think it embodies a social current that has gotten even more prominent.

What with Brad Pitt on the covers... more

"The Guanyin Who Sends Children," Danshan, Sichuan

From Past to Present

An unwanted daughter, from the rice fields of China. Born across to the land of rain. Raised by a family loving and true. Never prone to seek the spotlight, Nor the teachers’ empty words. Skilled with pen, from tutor of father, along with brush, only time can tell. Being taught the tongues of many. Returned... more

Short note, but for those of you who aren't either hopeless NPR fans or consuming every bit of information on the poisoning of former spy Alexander Litvinenko, there was a thing last night from Scott Simon about being tracked down by Scotland Yard for questioning.

He lives in Washington D.C., but he, his wife, and his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter (who was adopted from China at about the same time we made our first trip) had been in London together and gotten take-out from the same sushi restaurant... more

Read this, adoptive parents:

Transracially adopted kids can really grow up feeling like space aliens, like they came from noone and nowhere that can be felt, seen and proven. I felt conspicously different in my nuclear and extended family because I knew I wasn’t “all Japanese.” So I strived to be as UnJapanese as possible when I was at school, and for the most part I managed to “cover.”

After I left the NY adoption conference, I stayed for a few days with my incredibly adorable godchild, who just so happens to be internationally adopted.... more

Just found this odd bit of news on Whitley Strieber's site: Adopted girl traces bio family, discovers she's a princess.

Sarah Culberson says, "I never dreamt something like this could happen." ...Culberson grew up in Virginia after being adopted as an infant by Jim and Judy Culberson.

Her adoptive father, Jim, is a professor of neuroanatomy at West Virginia University, where her mother Judy is a special education teacher. The Culbersons adopted Sarah... more

Pam in Henan: Here is not so different from there. Taxidermy is indeed a force for uniting global cultures.

OMGWTF!? %&#(* IT'S CHINA: Night clubs and DJs are universal. And sweaty. Always sweaty.

Violet Eclipse: Even the churches can be the same. Ish. (Click on that photo to see a larger version of the Chinese/Latin inscription. And the hot pot descriptions at the end made me HONGRY.)

Then... more

Off one of the local yahoo groups comes word of a study:

Dear Parent, I am a fifth-year graduate student at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology of Yeshiva University and am currently collecting data for my dissertation study. My study examines the cultural socialization strategies employed by parents of girls adopted from Asia. As you are likely well aware, cultural socialization refers to activities (e.g., language and dance classes, celebrating ethnic holidays) that parents encourage their children to participate in, in order to establish a connection and comfort with their birth culture.

In terms of demographics,... more

As a word geek, I became irrationally exuberant upon discovering this old entry on Language Log about Chinese Philadelphia Food and the cultural significance of Cantonese vs. Mandarin. And, of course, how to translate "cheesesteak" into Chinese characters. And where to order the best Chinese one in Philly. Even though I don't normally eat meat....

If you happen to be reading this in the United Kingdom, The Herald has an interesting story on international adoption. I know the red tape is different in... more

I find this story intensely fascinating somehow.

It's not about Chinese adoption per se. It's a news story about a celebrity from Singapore's Chinese community who's considering adopting a child -- and a few other Singaporean celebs weighing in on the subject.

Singapore's kind of a strange country -- the closest thing I think we've got nowadays to an old-fashioned city-state. It's one of the more ethnically diverse places I've ever seen, with Malaysians, Indians and Chinese rubbing elbows with British and Saudi Arabian expats. The headstones at the cemetery were written in at least... more

In some ways, Pam in China is leading the life I'd like, teaching English in China with her adopted and foster kids. But the link reveals that yes, sometimes the nagging anxieties do indeed come to pass.

Excerpt:

Both kids fell asleep on the way home. I paid the taxi driver, carried them both upstairs (only one flight) and put them to bed. I was dripping wet with sweat, so I got in the shower. When I got out, Xiao Qing was standing near the bathroom door. I was stark naked and someone was pounding on my door screaming something that sounded like POLICE in Chinese.

I... more