Voice equilibrium
I withdrew into a shell. I did no work because there was none. I ignored emails that required responses. I stopped smiling and talking to colleagues. I took days off […]
I withdrew into a shell. I did no work because there was none. I ignored emails that required responses. I stopped smiling and talking to colleagues. I took days off […]
The last standing man in HQ, Mr. Yamada, was very enthusiastic about “improving” the overseas operations and considered me one of his disciples to execute his plans. He was young […]
I was fighting a lone battle. I was allowed no more attempts to prove my worth to my colleagues, most of whom were polite and left me alone. But only […]
I don’t remember how the breakdown unfolded. I believe I called Stuart and told him about the call and everything that happened since my relocation was agreed upon. I might […]
I told Stuart I didn’t want to give up Germany yet and wanted to give myself another couple of years to achieve something. Stuart said it was fine. Summer was […]
Stuart moved into his new flat by the end of summer. He was in no haste to furnish it because he was very particular about how he wanted his new […]
Stuart started viewing flats in the same neighborhood he had lived in since university. He invited me to the second viewing once he narrowed it down to a few. The […]
In early summer, Stuart told me he would purchase a flat. He had been talking about it before, but I didn’t realize he was that serious. I shuddered—the housing market […]
I didn’t fully grasp how political accents could be until much later. In a novel Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian woman who returned from […]
Since I arrived in Europe, especially as I started seeing Stuart, I became increasingly conscious of my accented English. Because of a stint in California, my accent was tinged with […]