In my interviews, I hear it over and over again – success as an expat depends greatly upon your community, on how willing you are to dig in and dig deep with those around you. There’s no such thing as a successful ‘lone ranger’ here or anywhere else in the world for that matter; life […]

It’s Ron’s turn to divulge what it’s really like being married to yours truly – an excitable entrepreneur working her tail off to drive this start-up toward success and maximize its impact in people’s lives around the world. It’s not always pretty. In fact, the ‘ugly’ rears its head many times in a week, if […]

Today starts the Year of the Sheep and whether you are one who particular subscribes to the predictions of the year ahead or not, I find them quite interesting to learn about and it definitely gives us ‘laowai’ some insight into the superstitions of the land. In today’s show, I share the culminated findings of […]

If you’ve spent time in China or in Chinese communities over Spring Festival then you’ll know – it’s undeniably a time filled with tradition and the excitement and anticipation of visits home and time spent with relatives is almost tangible. For years, I never knew what all the hubbub was about. I didn’t have any […]

It’s no secret: gifts make China go ’round. As ‘laowai’, we can choose to play by the cultural norms of the land, or choose to dig our heels in and, well, not! There’s loads of grace to go around for the unknowing foreigner, but why choose to be that laowai if we don’t have to […]

It’s Chinese New Year week – get your red out and pick up some fireworks at the roadside stands! I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some quality family time and for the hustle and bustle of China to go quiet for a few days. (Well, minus the fireworks of course!) Why cover […]

As a start-up, time is your most valuable asset. I know that, but I’ve not been doing a great job safeguarding my time as that one thing that could make or break this project. And of course, this week, we had an odd family milestone that shook my foundation of the true meaning and impact […]

After working on various low-cost housing and sustainable design projects in Australia, Canada and Thailand, Sherry, a first generation Canadian Chinese, settled in Shanghai with her husband in 2001. After the birth of her first daughter, Sherry started Wobabybasics using her experiences as an architect, environmentalist and parent to guide her designs, and now her […]

Founder and managing partner of TEAM Education Consulting Company, Tess Robinson, knows a thing or two about how to help students and families access fantastic educational opportunities abroad. She has been assisting students in preparing for and applying to colleges and universities in the U.S since 1998 and she has quite the list of impressive […]

Jane comes from a very large family and she has four children of her own, two in Minneapolis and two here in Shanghai. She is passionate about horses and farming, gardening, traveling and cooking as well as learning languages and writing. Jane has been in Shanghai for 6 years and today she’s going to share […]