Us China expats are an arrogant lot. Succeeding in China is rough and long-term expats see many friends over the years who can’t handle it, or hate it, and leave. That gives us a sense of that we are “survivors”
Chinese Kids Wishes to Santa
In my writing class I asked my students to write a letter to Santa. “Tell Santa if you’ve been a good girl or boy and ask Santa for something you want,” I said. While my students all know about Santa
Featured on NPR!
If you don’t follow my badminton blog then you haven’t heard the good news yet! I was featured on NPR’s Only a Game this month! Listen to the 8-minute interview here! For those of you that don’t know what NPR
Living a Cashless Life in China — Firsthand Experience
You may have read recently about how China leads the world in mobile payment. How people are giving up their bills and change for their more convenient smart phones. How even Chinese airports are striving to become the first cashless
When Putin Comes to Town
The acronym on everyone’s lips in Xiamen these past few weeks is BRICS. It stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Why and how these five random countries decided to team up is anyone guess (because I don’t
Walking 10,000 Steps Everyday for a Year
I can’t believe I forgot to write this post. Way back in March of 2016 I wrote about walking 10,000 steps everyday for six-months and how I was really going for a year. I wrote about the hardships, getting my
Summer Holiday Time Again
A few blog posts ago I was talking about the semester beginning, and now here I am talking about the ending. For the past month I have been free, with more than 2 months left in my holiday. (Usually my
When You’re Really, Truly, “The Foreigner”
Let’s talk about speaking Chinese. These days about 70% of my life is lived totally in Chinese with people that can’t speak English. (Take my classes out of the equation and you get closer to 90%.) I am not a
Thousand Character Chinese Classic
Like I do at the end of every year, I have my students in speaking class become teachers. Their final exam is to “teach class” for 15 minutes. (Not a presentation, but actually teach.) This is always super fun. Students
Parsley & Coriander — Italians in China
So I just finished reading the newly released English translation of Parsley & Coriander written by Antonella Moretti and wanted to recommend it to you, my dear readers. While fictional, the story will ring true with many expats in China