Those dam butterflies in my stomach… they’re persistent buggers! I try to catch my breath, inhaling, deeply… as our car crawls slowly in and out of lanes, jammed with thick Saturday evening traffic. We are late. Naively forgetting about the headache of weekend traffic in China, we’ve severely underestimated how long it will take to … Read more
If you’ve never been to China (and maybe you never want to) I’m here to convince you to give it a shot, to put it on the bucket list! I’m not promising a picture perfect paradise that will blow your mind but I am pitching a place that is predominantly laced with a fascinating past … Read more
“He’s checking his list, he’s checking it twice, he’s going to find out who’s naughty or nice…..” Sing it with me! “….Santa Claus is coming to tooooown!!” No pretending you don’t know this one ladies and gents! It’s one of those traditional, well known and much loved songs you hear ringing out across the radio, … Read more
I’ve been living in the middle of China for almost a month now. It’s my second expat posting, so while I’m not a newbie to “expat life”, having bandied about the term ‘culture shock’ on this column many times, I’ve got to say, in all honesty I had rather naively forgotten how confronting moving to … Read more
I now know my departure from Hong Kong is (sob) imminent. After calling this foreign frenzy of bright lights, burgeoning buildings and bustling bodies my ‘home away from home’ for four years, we are heading north… to China. Yes! (gulp) real Mainland China (but that’s a story for another day, you can read about it … Read more
I know eventually there will come a time when I am (through no fault of my own) forced to (with a very heavy heart) pack up my chopsticks (just kidding I don’t really own a pair), put away my Octopus card and leave those clean, clean (did I mention clean) toilets behind for less superior … Read more
As an expat blogger in Hong Kong, I get all sorts of weird and wonderful requests to collaborate. Everything from joining a ‘baby formula selling’ business in South Africa to taking part in travel focus groups in the US, to write ups for removal companies and health bar reviews come my way. Naturally some things … Read more
G’day, If you’re a regular reader of my ramblings, you probably know I’ve spent a fair bit of my writing time, wearing expat shoes and being quite vocal about the thrills and spills of culture shock – you know – stuff like: what happens when you find yourself catapulted into the arms of another country, … Read more
“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson As an expat, my arrival in any country (these days) brings with it, the steely eyes of a super sleuth. The minute I step off the plane, I’m giving my holiday destination the once over! Judging, comparing, making … Read more
When you get the call to uproot your life and relocate to a new, foreign country, the shellshock of packing up your ‘life as you know it’ and heading into the unknown abyss, is more often than not followed by a fast and furious ‘Google’ of the new ‘home’ in question. First things first: Location: … Read more