China Expat Life

Obligatory Dragon Boat Festival Post

Gawd, it’s not enough that my post isn’t going to be original, as everyone in the Chinese blogsphere is writing about the damn Dragon Boat Festival, but now I can’t even do the “Dragon Boat Festival Late Post” and be original, as Meg at Violet Eclipse has that. Anyway, Dragon Boat Festival – as I …

June 2, 2006
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Why I Live In China

I realized today that though I've been along for this bloggin' adventure the whole way, some have not and they may be a little unclear as to my current motivations and reasons for living in a country that can often be rather crazy and confusing. So… People come to China for a bazillion reasons. Some …

April 27, 2006
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Hold The Phone

I think it was over a plate of Hui Guo Rou (回锅肉) last Saturday with Matt that something clicked. I don’t know if it was one of the multitude of enlightening things he always seems to spout off during lunch, or if it was just the first time I’d had a chance to really think …

August 26, 2005
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Beijing: I went for the postcards

Right, so Beijing. I would have had this post up sooner, but I wouldn’t dare go on and on about my awesome trip to China’s capital, and not have some photos to share. The thing is, I took so many, I didn’t want to do the conventional [insert photo here] system that I have been …

March 29, 2005
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Feeding The Dog At The Table

Right. So I did it. Despite moral objections to the way in which the animal is killed, I can officially say – for the first time in my life – that I have cold, dead dog in my fridge. After class today my neighbour Matthew and I went out for some Korean food. By and …

January 27, 2005
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The White Safety

I’ve been trying to write an update for about two days now, and I just keep getting side-tracked, so though it’s getting close to midnight, and I’ve got to be up at 6:30… I’m going to do this damnit. So what’s new, what’s new… Oh, right! I officially started my classes. I went to school …

January 19, 2005
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Hello Teacher

Right, so I figured that today I’d just go in to the school, chill out, maybe sit in on one of Tom’s classes and get a feel for the whole thing… but a sickly Matthew last evening put a kink in that. As there is only five foreign teachers at the Jinzhou school, and I’m …

January 16, 2005
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ATMs 15, Ryan 1

Whose got money? Oh, I’VE GOT MONEY! That’s right ladies and gentleman, after searching high and low, I went where I should have gone to begin with – my Lonely Planet guide book. Many people swear they suck, some swear they ruin the travelling experience, but those people have never been stuck in Jinzhou with …

January 14, 2005
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Mao For Something Completely Different

“The traveller’s-eye view of men and women is not satisfying. A man might spend his life in trains and restaurants and know nothing of humanity at the end. To know, one must be an actor as well as a spectator.” – Aldous Huxley (or Huxtable, depending) And so with this starts my new journey… I …

January 5, 2005
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