Beijing is the capital of China and a well known city. It's a pretty cool city but I still prefer Shanghai for it's international influence compared to Beijing. My husband, Denny, and I flew to Beijing to pick up our friend Joseph who was visiting us from the states....
How I Got a Free Taxi Ride in China The story I am about to tell you is the taxi story of a lifetime. Denny (my husband) and I had our friend Joseph visiting us for about a week and a half from the states in Qingdao, China. Our story is us taking him to the airport...
What do you know about Pakistan? Well, I personally didn't know that much until I asked our Pakistani couch-surfers, Dada and Hamza, about their home country. People love to share about their culture. Not only did I get to know them better, but I learned more about...
Like every culture, relationships can differentiate on region, areas within a city and groups of people that you interact with in life. In my post below, I will describe the dynamics I have witnessed in Qingdao, China, a second tier city. Let me preface that China is...
One of the best perks about being an expat in China is that the spa parlors that the average Chinese person goes to are cheap. You should expect to spend between 35-120RMB ($5-$10). My husband and I can't read characters in Mandarin so we didn't know that this place...
The biggest obstacle with products in China is not being able to read the labels if you are concern about the ingredients. Even if a product is in English the ingredient label is covered with a Chinese label that employees will tell you not to take off in the...
If you are the traveling adventurer or would like to be, then you quickly (need to) learn that "things" mean less and it's the experiences you value. I believe this personally to be a true statement but if you decide to live in a country for a few months or a year...
HALF-WAY DONE on the 10,000 Smiles Project (Counting this post there is 5,000 Smiles in the 10,000 Smiles Project.) Some Highlights thus far.... The 10,000 Smiles Project is bigger than me, people are being impacted. On my project I sometimes come across people who...
Living in a foreign country has a lot of positive traits: adventure and growth. BUT, there is one thing living abroad can't offer, personal face-to-face bonding experiences with loved ones. From the past 10 months of living in China I have come to learn of some clever...
Recently I was having a discussion with a non-believer about our conscious surrounding good and evil. I was using terms like “shame” and “guilt”. My husband kindly reminded me that the words shame and guilt are terms Christians use. The general population that...
