It's 4am in China. I haven't seen my country for 2 years..but I saw it live tonight..in Greece among other countries like Qatar, Sudan, Iraq, USA. There was Zimbabwe, proud and colorful, all of us, black, white and colored(please dont comment on this word use..its what we call biracials in my country and its not derrogative) Zimbabweans. It made me so proud to be Zimbabwean I danced and almost cried...and there I was at 3 in the morning with my friends from Bolivia, Lesotho, Canada, Au...

My desire, my purpose Exceeds my abilities Intimidated by this sacred Responsibility I yearn for the familiar That grants me a security Not to be relied upon The chaos within me Seeks to destroy Even that which is left in me My personal hell I pray to be excused, for favor The strength I use to be here Cripples me under the load I focus, I cry, I beg, I reason And then I crumble, a cowardly heap Crawling in search of a morsel, even a hint Of grace My efforts, my efforts T...

I have listened and read the articles posted here about race and I would like to say something without being misunderstood which is why i started my own article instead of responding to a string. On Preference: I don' t prefer a certain group of people over another. People are people, different tempraments, characters and norms sure but still people. On Minority vs Majority: I went to a predominantly white school in a country where black people are the majority and whites, thou...

Friends: Hold your hair up when you are throwing up at the club listen to you for hours and hours because they care believe in you when you don't criticize you, challenge you, mold you, break you love you, defend you, support you, comfort you Friends give a damn My friends have been all this and more to me. What's a friend to you?

I have only been here for less than a month or so and so far I have lived through the racial bashing tournament, the political rallies and I think we are now participating in the "gay" target shoot discipline. I am not complaining, this is part of the site's charm along with people with real problems and top notch humor. So this is my very concentrated attempt at introducing something fun and less controversial in keeping with the JU variety tradition. You have all heard the stereotyp...

• Are all singles in some sort of a holding pen where they spend their time mingling until somebody takes pity on them and picks them from the litter? If so then I must be the runt of the litter..the one that even the bitch discards or tries to get rid of by sitting on. I feel like I have been waiting..so long.. I don’t know what it feels like to be on the out side anymore..to really be held by my man, to be admired by my man…to have a man I can call my own. I’ve cried, hoped, prayed, plea...

• The panic has seized me…literally, I am having the cold sweats and the choking heart beat that keeps punching the back of my throat and echoing in the pit of my stomach. I woke today thinking lightly how lucky I was to have a job, now I violently hold on to that thought. I have 2 weeks to look for another job because the job that was promised to me is…not available. I can live with the uncertainty of it all in this country except when it comes to things that really matter to me, like jo...

Today was one of those “It’s too beautiful to go outside today so why pretend we are sun worshippers, lets stay home and watch a “sex and the city marathon” instead!” type of day. Which is exactly what me and my friend Sean ended up doing for the rest of the day. China has a booming industry of black market DVDs which explains why we already own the complete Friends season episodes right up to the series finale. We also have American Pie 3 and are now up to Home Alone 11. I cannot explain...

The value of words is severely undermined in China. You hear things like, "my English is not very well," "how big are you?" "I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters..(mind you this is a scientific impossibility in a country that has a well monitored one child policy, what they really mean is, I have 5 cousins and that their parents were born way before the Cultural revolution, along with their siblings.)" Thus, a hubcap is "beautiful", along with an icecream and a puppy. Granted, beauty is in th...

17. I left my heart at the pawn shop For he liked to belong to many, cheaply He liked to be used, again and again Squeezed, prodded, bargained for Devalued, evalued, bartered for He liked to be special to someone For a while Till they moved on To another He liked to feel at home Yet knowing, tomorrow, He might be at home, elsewhere He has been on the shelf For far too long now, my heart Sure he’s been tried on and a...

Today I ordered a soup I only knew 2 characters of out of the five that were printed- I didn’t know it actually said “nasty smelling soup that’s going to taste good but will contain a long thread of human hair that’s well ..not yours and afterward..u will explode into an long episode of diarrhea.” Needless to say, I continued to eat because(1) it was delicious and (2) I didn’t want to add to my already outrageous bill of culture shock therapy by trying to brave the world outside my apartme...

Speaking of the shits I had the worst episode the other night. I willingly knowingly ate a cup of yoghurt that was a good month overdue. I was thinking, I just bought some good imported dark Cervesa that was a whole year old and it was on sale..nothing happened except for the fact that I got drunk after the first two bottles. Looking back, I think I was expecting some similar pleasant consequence to occur upon consuming the outdated yoghurt. Boy was I way off. It started with a tight k...

Speaking of the shits I had the worst episode the other night. I willingly knowingly ate a cup of yoghurt that was a good month overdue. I was thinking, I just bought some good imported dark Cervesa that was a whole year old and it was on sale..nothing happened except for the fact that I got drunk after the first two bottles. Looking back, I think I was expecting some similar pleasant consequence to occur upon consuming the outdated yoghurt. Boy was I way off. It started with a tight k...

1. Dahlia Did you ever think of what was to be When you lay there all bright eyed with anticipation Did you ever think it would end –the pain That tore you up and left you scarred, changed Did you ever think that smile would fade That came when you burped and swayed with intoxication Did you think the world would change When you asked it to Did you laugh when you cried and thought you’d cheat death into living? 2. Sometimes My thoughts haunt me Deep longings, high dreams ...

In China, loneliness is a choice one makes, with so few foreigners to go around some schools that hire foreigners actually have “dinner partners, fuck buddies and general friendship guaranteed – true love not included.” Listed as one of their lucrative perks they have on offer. There are times, however when the loneliness creeps up on you, like the chilling cold that starts from the inside and it hits you when you least expect it, this loneliness. On a cold shabby winter’s day which is ever...