China Expat Life

Travelversary, how I got where I am

So, that little bump in the road with the site being down marks my third year of running this blog. Well, technically I didn’t start writing on here until I arrived in China in January… but thehumanaught.com is technically three this week. Additionally, this week marks another anniversary of sorts. It was November 11, 2003, …

November 16, 2007
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Why not to study Chinese at university

As some of you may know, I’m enrolled at Suzhou University (or Soochow University, SuDa) studying Mandarin. Having just completed my mid-terms, I want to give a bit of a summary on the problems I see studying in this way. First, the title of this post is a bit of a misnomer, as overall I …

November 2, 2007
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Guess who’s coming to Christmas dinner?

Hint: It’s not Sidney Poitier. We made our third and final visa trip to Shanghai yesterday. After about 45 minutes of watching a muted DVD of Canada’s more scenic side, Maggie got called in for her interview. Neither of us knew really what to expect, but to calm her nerves about the whole thing we …

October 23, 2007
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Gettin’ Smashed

As some might remember, I bought an e-bike a few months back. It’s pretty much replaced taxis as my primary mode of transportation (taxis having replaced buses shortly after I got caught in the rear door pushing my way on an overstuffed bus). For a city like Suzhou I would even go so far as …

October 20, 2007
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The dreaded Canadian visa process

After a failed start last Thursday*, Maggie’s application for a visa to go to Canada with me this Christmas has finally been submitted. Why is it that governmental bodies, no matter of what nation or for what purpose, always have the ability to make even the most innocent person feel like a criminal? For something …

October 15, 2007
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Wipha Sucked But Krosa Blew

Back a couple weeks I wrote about Typhoon Wipha coming to wipe Suzhou and the rest of China’s eastern seaboard off the map. It failed to do so. The other day all the reports seemed to indicate Krosa was coming to do the same. Nada. However, what it did do was give Suzhou that long-needed …

October 9, 2007
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In Love & Hate of Chinese Supermarkets

Hey, so I’ve started a new Group Writing Project over at Lost Laowai called China: Love It Hate It. Essentially I’m asking China bloggers (not at all limited to English-speaking bloggers) to chime in and sound off on what they both love and hate about China. The post can be written in any form or …

September 26, 2007
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Soochow University, here I come

So, I’m registered. As of yesterday afternoon I am officially a student of Mandarin at Suzhou University (cue hollers and hats thrown in a random and celebratory fashion). The whole process was pretty straight forward, and I have to admit that I’ve little clue as to what is actually going on (mantra – follow the …

September 7, 2007
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The Laowai Psychological Street Fight

I’ve always been a lousy liar. Remembering whom I’ve told what to is difficult for me when it’s the truth, but add in the complexity of deceit, well… forget it. About five years ago my buddies and I started up a weekly Texas Hold’em game, and this taught me the “bluff”. Now here was a …

August 28, 2007
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The Humanaught v3 – Coming Soon

Just a quick note to apologize for being so craptastic about frequent updates lately. I’ve been bogged down with work for clients (yeah, I’ve got “clients” now, I’m cool like that). I’ve also been fiercely working on a new design for this site. Should be up by end of the day today. Bear with me …

August 14, 2007
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