9 Things I Won’t Miss About Life in China
Given the difficulties of flying with a pet during a pandemic, I’m not sure when I will be able to leave Hefei, my home of the last year and a half. It’s no secret that China is not my favorite place. Actually, it’s the one country I knew without a doubt that I did not want to live in. Ever. Isn’t it funny how things turned out? Despite my lack of enthusiasm for this move, I came with an open mind. China, however, just didn’t win me over. I’m not saying that it might not be a good option for other would-be expats, but for me it was only meh.…
COVID-19: Then and Now
Over the course of this pandemic I had the pleasure of being interviewed twice for the Fancy Face & Friends podcast. Our first conversation took place while I was traveling for Lunar New Year in eastern Europe. At this time, the virus was still being referred to as a novel coronavirus. Our second conversation took place after I’d returned to China during the quarantine/lockdown.
How Much Does it Cost to Move Abroad?
I originally came to China in 2019 on a four-month contract. Although I don’t love China, I opted to renew the contract for an additional year. The job didn’t suck, and the city wasn’t horrible. I figured another year wouldn’t kill me. I bet there’s a coronavirus joke to be made in there somewhere… Even prior to the onset of the apocalypse, I knew I’d be leaving China this summer. What I didn’t know was where I would end up. This is the fourth country that I’ve called “home” over the last four years. I used to live in Kuwait, Mexico and Honduras. Initially, I was considering trying a new…
Teaching in China During COVID-19
Teaching in China this spring has been quite the experience. The semester began, as scheduled, on February 10th. Instead of physically returning to campus after the month-long Lunar New Year holiday, we started teaching online. The epidemic prevention period in China, AKA “Coronavirus Lockdown” was already a few weeks old by then. From late January until just recently, all across China, schools and businesses were closed. People’s movement was restricted, and they were expected to stay inside their apartments most of the time. In my complex, we were given three exit tickets each week. These tickets allowed us to re-enter the complex if we left to go shopping. Wearing masks…
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone: Bucket List Gem or Radioactive Hellscape?
I’m pretty sure just reading the words “Chernobyl Exclusion Zone” instantly conjures images of death, destruction, and nuclear contamination. This April, it will have been 34 years since the meltdown in Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in northern Ukraine. Despite the scale of the disaster, the official death toll is just 54, which doesn’t include the countless number of people with radiation-related illnesses that died prematurely. For most folks, Chernobyl isn’t a place that comes to mind when they think “vacation destination” yet that’s exactly what it’s become. Who in the hell visits Chernobyl anyway? The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, as well as other tragic sites turned…
Using the Internet in China…the Frustrating Truth
If I’m honest, there are quite a few things that annoy me about living in China. The Chinese don’t understand my need for personal space. They stare at me ALL OF THE TIME. Don’t even get me started on the spitting… I could go on, but I won’t. But by far the biggest frustration has been the internet. There hasn’t been a single day since I arrived that the internet worked as it should. Every Site I Need Is Blocked It’s no secret that the Chinese government blocks upwards of 10,000 websites. These include news sites, social media apps, streaming services, email providers, as well as a host of others.…
How to Visit the Three Gorges Dam Without a Tour
Scroll down if you only care about HOW to visit the Three Gorges Dam on your own. But keep reading if you’re curious about WHY I even bothered. It is no secret that I have a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with travel within China. I don’t like crowds, something very difficult to avoid in a country of 1.3 billion people. Then add to the mix the well-earned reputation of Chinese tourist and you can see why I struggle to travel in this country. Yet, here I am traveling to China’s #1 industrial tourism site. But why even put myself through this potentially harrowing process? The Three Gorges Dam is the…
Black and Living in Asia
Here’s the conversation Nicholas “Fancy Face” Harris and I had discussing our experiences living in Asia as Black people. He lives in Taiwan. I live on the mainland. Although we technically live in the same country, in a lot of ways our experiences have been vastly different. You can read more about my experiences living in mainland China below: teaching government control of the internet life as an expat
