Greece, the birthplace of democracy, has always been known for its rich cultural heritage, breathtaking natural beauty, and delicious gastronomy. For centuries, invading armies of tourists have trekked to Greece to enjoy its unique attributes. In fact, the Greek tourism industry accounts for nearly 17% of the country’s GDP. Since the Greek leftist party Syriza came to power on January 25th of th...

America talks too much about race. America also talks too little about race. This is a line from award-winning Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s latest novel Americanah that echoes in my head. I read Adichie’s book last summer, since it was the my college summer reading assignment. As I read, I jolted down some questions, which I hoped to ask the author (who was to give a talk at our c...

“ZZzz…z-i-ao Yeee?” 

“Here. Please call me April.”

And here we go again. Admittedly, my given name is difficult for Westerners to pronounce. While most Chinese names are badly pronounced in terms of their tones, my name usually causes a even greater struggle, to such an extent that some of my course instructors, on the first day of class, would hold their breadth for a second, an...