This is a time of tumultuous change. My apartment, the nature of my work, my ‘purpose’ for being in Shanghai are all rapidly changing and evolving. At long last,I feel like I am finally in control of my expat experience (the…
Letting Go
My jade bracelet has shattered. It’s funny, the bracelet had been on my mind for weeks and I had just spent over a month trying (quite unsuccessfully) to get it back (back from where? well, that’s a more complicated story)….
Accepting Changes
It’s funny just how drastically and rapidly your taste for something can change. If, just a year ago, someone had told me that I would be sitting on an ivory-painted bench in front of the Shanghai Centre, spooning ricotta cheese into my mouth…
How I became trapped on the 27th floor, and other major life decisions
This week, I experienced free-fall. On my way to Baker & Spice for morning yogurt with apricot granola, the elevator in my building collapsed, jolted, and I became entrapped between the 27th and 29th floors of my apartment complex. A thump, a crash,…
Living Fearlessly
The air finally smells of Autumn. Somewhere between the pouring rain (does 72º count as an Autumn chill?), crossing Nanjing West Road and its shimmering boulevards in that dim light that is so reminiscent of October, breaking out my skyblue windbreaker, and steaming hot…
Thoughts on Housekeeping
Writing on the internet is weird, isn’t it? On a purely fundamental level, these posts that I write are for myself – to de-stress, to preserve memories of my life in Shanghai for that time when I finally come home, and…
"Where is the Kombucha?" and other silly questions
A few days ago, I was asked the one question I haven’t been asked much since coming to Shanghai. Why did I come to China? Why am I 9,000 miles away from home, the people I love? (and most importantly from…
Moving on
This weekend, I had quite a difficult conversation while Skyping with my mom. It was difficult in a few ways: the call kept dropping. yes, mom, I’m eating enough, stop making silly jokes about Chinese food. (Is this where I get my awful…
Coming home
I am not ready to go home. I don’t think I’ll be ready for a while. And that in itself is kind of frightening. I’ve been having a few internal crises about being here in China. I can feel that I’m already…
Making Friends
Meeting new people after college is hard. I am slowly starting to find my place in the beautiful crazy mess that is Shanghai and I’m lucky to have both roommates and co-workers who I love spending time with, but it’s meeting people…
Fighting loneliness
I may write (mostly) about the silly and the inane, but sometimes life abroad get complicated. I go throughout periods of being so happy about my new life in China. It’s disorienting and enthralling (except for the poison water). But then,…