I’ve been thinking about this a lot about over the past several weeks. Do we stop writing because we have too many stories to tell or because we have too few? And when we do stop, how do we get ourselves…
American-Chinese
The second time coming back home it finally hits you that China has started becoming something familiar and comforting (doubtful I would have said that in May). I feel like on any trip anywhere really, you sort of crave the…
Baby steps, or my first year living in China
It still feels a little wrong to say that I’ve been living in China for a year. But I have. Here goes: “I’ve been living in China for an entire year of my life”. Wrong, because I remember coming back…
Maria's New York
The past two weeks have been a little frustrating, because I’ve been just too overwhelmed by the experience of being home, and as a result haven’t really been able to write about them coherently (and isn’t that the mark of…
Life Abroad: What I expected and what really happened
Living in a foreign place never turns out the way you would have thought it to have turned out. And right now, I’m panicking. Hard. In about two weeks, I’m flying back to the U.S. for the first time in almost a year. It’s…
What exactly would be an “authentic Shanghai experience” be?
My Dad left this past Saturday. Since he’s flown back, I’ve just regained my sense of a routine (if being trapped in bed for two straight days hopped up on all the DayQuil that he had brought from the U.S. could count…
Why we become expats
Encounters with strangers in Shanghai always come with difficult questions. For one, ‘why did you come to China?’ is one that has been asked each time I have met someone new and over time, it’s become more and more of…
The problem with living in China aka "Thoughts on Housekeeping Part II"
One of the problems with living abroad is, that after a while, life in a new city can begin to lose its initial thrill or its sense of excitement. You become immune to the shock of only buying fruits at…
What it's like to live in Russia
I’ve written about What it’s like to live in China. I’ve also written about The overwhelming devastation of getting Russia. Now, it’s my turn to (try to) figure out what life is like in Russia. —————————————————- The Moscow I remember…
The charm of Moscow in November
Uncoordinated. That’s the only way to describe my 10-hour flight from Shanghai to Moscow. Over the course of ten hours, I spilled water on myself (twice). Most of my (gluten-free) biscuit ended up on my blanket. My slippers (which Aeroflot gives…
Thoughts from Tea Bottle Caps
In lieu of posting today, I’m reprinting an entry I wrote for my old (now long-gone) blog on 10-21-2010. A little glimpse at my life as a 19-year-old in New England Two nights ago, at Blue State Coffee on York, as…
Things I'm Not Used To
I’ve missed home so much this week. And since I’ve been at work for about 18 days in a row now, in lieu of posting today, I’m reprinting an entry I wrote for my old blog on 2010-14-12. A little…