Adventures in Asia

Having lived abroad for about five years now, I’ve encountered a few (understatement) preconceived ideas about me/people from my country. Recently I came across a book called “Survival Kit for Overseas Living” that actually lists the stereotypes many people from around the world hold about Americans. Fascinating! I then shared a partial list of these stereotypes on my Chinese social media to see what my international friends thought. (I should mention that I have friends from all over the world on that app, and the responses / these stereotypes do not exclusively represent the Chinese perspective.) I have now come up with a slightly modified list based on their comments. So without further ado, I’ll end the suspense and share it here: Americans are usually… -Friendly, outgoing -Optimistic -Casual -Loud -Rude -Hardworking -Aggressive, confrontational -Wasteful, extravagant -Confident -Uninformed, ignorant -Privileged -Impatient -Ge...

I married my happy, hardworking, handsome husband 10 months ago, and I didn’t take his last name. Naturally, many people back home asked, “WHY?” My marriage certificate is a little red book! There are two main reasons: paperwork nightmare and my husband’s Chinese culture. Here's what a normal American woman does to legally change her name: provide her marriage certificate at the bank, change her social security card, and update her drivers license, all in person. But I live in China. So I would need to go to the nearest American consulate (2 hours away by train) to renew my passport (which costs $120 US). I would then have to make another trip to pick up my new passport (train tickets totaling to another $120 US). Then I would have to fly home ($1,000 US round trip – if I’m blessed with a good deal) to complete all of the things normal women do… Only hiccup being my marriage certificate is in Chinese. Like, the only English word on that entire document is my ...

“Oh, China! My sibling/friend/acquaintance adopted from China!” While this isn’t exactly a FAQ, it is a Frequently Stated Observation (FSO?) when my life-in-China comes up in conversation with people back home. For many, the only personal connection they have with the exotic Far East is adoption . (And mine, too, until I got into English teaching. And Asian TV shows .) There are several fascinating reasons why adoption from China to the U.S. exploded back in the day, and why it’s steadily decreasing now. Random picture of blossoms in spring~ Why did so many people I know adopt from China? Americans began adopting children internationally in the 1940s [read this article by PBS] , and the U.S. continues to be the highest receiving nation of children in the world. This article by CNN goes so far as to say that “the story of international adoption is an American story,” and “The United States adopts more children internationally, but also domestically, than the rest of ...

“So, when are you moving back home?” I get this question fairly frequently, and people ask my parents a lot! I think the motivation behind it is mostly innocent curiosity, so I’d like to share a bit here about my life in China and how this particular inquiry comes across.   Shanghai Skyline with Slight Smog   “When are you moving back home?” reflects an American approval of the gap-year (living abroad for a year, usually between high school and college), but a strong, strange feeling towards long-term life abroad. When I (or my parents) answer with a brief comment about me living in China for a long time, it’s usually followed by, “I could never do it! That would be so hard!” Sure, long-term living abroad is hard. Especially the first year, though the experience is largely determined by the amount of local language you know going in and what kind of community you’re going into. For me, I’m approaching 4 years in China and I’ve built up the support systems ...

Exciting news!! I got married!! In two countries! It was crazy! Ahhhhh! I would like to share some of my experience and advice after pulling off weddings in China and America. If you’re getting serious with someone from outside your culture, or if you’re just curious, I hope this post is satisfying! My main advice for those who are probably going to do this in real life is… Repeatedly discuss these two very important questions with your significant other: 1. What are the normal engagement and wedding customs in your culture/family? 2. What engagement and wedding customs do you personally like and want to do? I wish that my husband and I had discussed BOTH of these questions more frequently and earlier on in the wedding process. We did get married, so it all worked out, but there might have been fewer surprises / awkward situations / frustrations if we had communicated more. (I feel like that sentence sums up intercultural relationship...