I expend so much energy on communication here, attempting to navigate daily language interactions without major misunderstandings. As my Chinese has improved I understand more, yet I can’t communicate nuance or humor and I feel like an enormous part of my personality is missing. I suspect in Chinese I ... Read More
If you are the one regular reader of my blog entries, you may have realized that I am not a big fan of breathing in dust and poo. No matter class, status, or the false belief that a Porsche Panamera elevates you above your countrymen, we must all breathe in ... Read More
There's plenty of pieces on the site now about Mother's Day—does this mean that writers leap on any opportunity of a special event in order to fill column space as they are devoid of any new, fresh ideas? Possibly. Am I going to do the same? Of ... Read More
Don’t read this if you’re a removalist or related to one. The only requirement for working as a removalist in Australia is a recent stint in the Big House and an 80-decibel wolf whistle, but I thought Chinese removalists might be different.
When I moved house this week ... Read More
Bringing your children to China can be rewarding in many ways – yet there are obvious concerns and issues that need to be dealt with. On arriving, everything seems new and at least a little daunting. New arrivals to Shanghai will be concerned with how to settle, survive and forge a ... Read More
So you’re giving birth in a Chinese hospital ... sounds like the terrible title of one of those pamphlets you see at the doctor's office. As an expat, if you don’t have insurance that covers the cost of giving birth, you are faced with either an enormous hospital ... Read More
Year 6 Dulwich student Lauren Loy discovers puppet theaters, skyscrapers and tofu pudding in Taipei
During my last holiday break, my family and I took an exciting trip to Taiwan. When we arrived, we were fascinated by its beautiful scenery and landscapes. With endless streets to walk on and countless ... Read More
Go and give your spouse a kiss. Right now! Maybe even do them. If you do not have a spouse, then I’d ask why on Earth you are reading the ‘family’ section of this website. Even if you have children and a significant other, I would strongly suggest marriage ... Read More
Stomach troubles are such a universal phenomenon in Shanghai that it’s barely taboo to discuss them. Whether they’re caused by a shock to the digestive system from greasy street food, dirty water or disregard for restaurant sanitation, gastrointestinal (GI) problems are a famously common occurrence for expat stomachs ... Read More
I am not an überparent. I haven’t enrolled my kids in any extracurriculars, I don’t pester teachers incessantly about their qualifications and I don’t casually drop test scores into conversations with other moms and dads. In short, I suck at the sport of competitive parenting, and this ... Read More
Summer is here! Anything over 15 degrees Celsius is summer for a Brit, so the season rushes onto us in just one week. This does mean that some expats in the cit-ay will all but spasm with desperation at the mere thought of getting an outdoor seat on a terrace ... Read More
Shanghai United International School grade 5 student Rachel Jiang swims with tropical fish in East Malaysia
Malaysia is a great place to visit, especially Kota Kinabalu, which is the capital of the Malaysian state Sabah. When I arrived at Kinabalu, the very first thing I noticed was that it was ... Read More
In this week's blog I'm dishing out some parenting advice just in time for spring. Check it out below.
Advice for mothers who have sons:
Don’t over-mother your son! At nursery, playgroups, kiddie times, it is almost always the boy who is crying the most – if his ... Read More
Expat children in Shanghai grow up exposed to at least two languages: Chinese and whatever their parents speak. Most people easily rattle off the advantages of multilingualism, but rarely do we think about possible detrimental effects. Can it cause confusion? Feelings of isolation? What about delays in language development? Is ... Read More
I have a rebellion on my hands: my family hates Chinese food and they don’t care who knows. As a self-confessed foodie, I couldn’t wait to get to China and try every food, and I wrongly assumed my family would embrace the same philosophy. Their initial pallid enthusiasm ... Read More
Going anywhere is good: not being polluted with each breath, being in a country where the people don’t hate each other and the only form of ‘culture’ in the city is not ‘wo you moneeeeyyy’.
So where to go for a family break? Would a huge and busy city ... Read More
Put four people in a confined space for 30 or more hours, cut off from any form of communication to the outside world, and imagine what might happen. Well, thanks to the Ministry of Railways, there’s no need to imagine it as I recently decided to travel from Shanghai ... Read More
When my children began studying at a Chinese school, I imagined all the cool kids they’d meet and the fun they’d have together—kicking a ball in the park after school or hanging out at home watching TV and munching on snacks—basically the same things they do ... Read More
Living in Shanghai provides a reasonably international environment. Nothing like the true international environment of real cities such as London or New York, but a bit of a mix nonetheless. This means you can overhear and over-read plenty of strange and silly things every day – people desperately trying to appear ... Read More
As someone who gave birth to a half-Chinese baby two months ago, I can attest that the endless stream of baby- and pregnancy-related advice, assistance and admonishment that I’ve been receiving from in-laws, colleagues and random passers-by this year has probably brought me closer to my adopted culture than ... Read More
Welcome back from Ordos! Well, maybe all of you didn’t go to Ordos, as I hear that many foreigners in China like going to Thai resorts so that they can imagine that they are VIPs, somehow innately deserving of a superior lifestyle than common muck, before returning to Shanghai ... Read More
SCIS Grade 11 student Julia Moon discovers the ancient history and beauty of Beijing
For our first family trip in China, my family decided to go to Beijing—China’s cultural, historical and political center. It took almost five hours on a high-speed train from Shanghai to Beijing.
When we ... Read More
Your heart sinks as soon as you see the email in your inbox. “I don’t know if you remember us but we’re friends of your aunt ...” More damn visitors. A peril of living in Shanghai is that it’s a city every one of your friends and relations ... Read More
We were going through the animal years, until it was suggested that there IS, no there really IS, a Year Of The Giraffe. No? Alright then, you have the endless discussion with a little girl about it and then see what conclusion you draw.
To change the subject as abruptly ... Read More
You’ve been in Shanghai for some months now, but to you, it’s still a strange, confusing place. Then you realize with a start that your children have just ordered directly from the Chinese menu while you’re still looking up the word for “fork” on Pleco. Why is ... Read More