an Americanish life in backwater China

Author Emily

It’s 39°F in My Bedroom, But I Can’t Complain (Seriously. I vowed not to.)

When we woke up this morning, the thermometer showed that it was 39°F (3.9°C). Not 39°F outside, friends. That was the temperature INSIDE our bedroom. Brrr…. But I am not going to complain about how frigid it is because…I promised not to. This… Continue Reading →

A Story Only China Expats Will Mingbai

How good is your Chinglish? If you can follow this story, I’m guessing you have lived in China hao jiu. The other day, I was buying some ershou furniture from a guy across town but I knew it was going… Continue Reading →

Thanksgiving is Bland, Pale & Overly Sweet (and we wouldn’t want it any other way)

When I, an American, see a big ol’ Thanksgiving feast spread on the table, it makes me salivate. It’s a feast I spend weeks looking forward to. I think that’s probably true for most of my countrymen. But to my… Continue Reading →

TCK Novels Going Strong During NaNoWriMo in China

I took the plunge and am now half-way through my novel for National Novel Writing Month! So far, I am on track to finish by the November 30th deadline, and am feeling good about my story. I expect somewhere in… Continue Reading →

One Pumpkin, Four Ways

Our friends gifted us with this gorgeous gourd about a month ago. Wow. It was so pretty that I couldn’t bring myself to slaughter it right away. I just wanted to enjoy looking at it for a while before we… Continue Reading →

This Global Life: Southern China

  It has been incredible to follow along with Taking Route’s October series, This Global Life. Each day this month, we’ve been treated to glimpses of  everyday life in 31 different countries through the eyes of expats who live there. I’ve… Continue Reading →

Zàijiàn to Pippin & Her Puppies

In the last episode of our exciting puppy adventure, Pippin had just given birth to four beautiful puppies. I left you wondering how many of the puppies were boys and how many were girls. But since our home now had… Continue Reading →

6 Chinese Words I Learned from Songs

Learning the lyrics to Chinese songs is a really fun way to learn new words and phrases in Chinese. It’s a great window into culture, too, to hear the poetic way sentiments are expressed in songs. From the time I… Continue Reading →

These 6 Taobao Freebies are All Winners

If you live in China, you know just how much most people have come to depend on Taobao. You can get ANYTHING on Taobao. Some of my friends from Israel just bought a shofar on Taobao, for crying out loud…. Continue Reading →

8 Reasons the U.S. and China are Basically Twins

There are times when it feels like the U.S. and China are the farthest apart you could possibly get in terms of culture, language, and many other aspects of life. However, the two countries actually have quite a bit in… Continue Reading →

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 small town laowai — Powered by WordPress

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑