Do you dream about moving abroad? YEAH THAT'S ME
Young Chinese women are under immense pressure to have a baby the moment they get married. For many, the pressure comes from the grandparents who are only allowed one grandchild under the One Child Policy. Society also plays a role with constant questions and comparisons. I joke that a few of the English teachers at my […]
This year, the Chinese government gave everyone Wednesday January 1st off for the Western New Year. Since I work at a boarding school, the administration wanted to give the students Thursday and Friday off as well, so that they could go home to their families. But, since I also work at a public school, we’re […]
After my bout of Christmas food poisoning, I started to feel a little better on Monday, so I taught my afternoon classes. While my voice was still pretty much gone, I was at least able to show the first third of Elf, which the students really enjoyed! In the afternoon, I stopped by the office […]
Earlier this week I was teaching a typical high school Senior 1 class. We were learning how to give directions, and I gave them a map activity to do in pairs. While I wandered through the desks observing the students, I happened to notice that two girls weren’t doing the activity. I walked over to […]
While I’m used to not going home for Thanksgiving (DC to Seattle is a long and expensive plane ride for just a few days), there’s something about being in China for Thanksgiving that makes you miss home. Almost everyone in China has heard of Thanksgiving, or Gananjie as they call it in Chinese, but most people don’t know […]
China Facts! Here’s a list of random things I’ve learned about China and Chinese people since moving to Ningbo: Chinese people peel the skin off grapes- not for health reasons, just because they don’t like it. When Chinese children say “hungry” it sounds like “hangry”. Now imagine a class of 50 fourth graders screaming “I’M HANGRY!!!” […]
There’s been a few articles floating around about China’s recent Summit, in which leaders discussed China’s long-term goals for the future. Most of the attention comes from the discussion of the disbandment of the One Child Policy and forced labor camps, but all of these Chinese reforms are worth exploring. Yesterday I came across a […]
Being a minor celebrity in my middle-of-nowhere high school has led to some interesting experiences and classroom culture shock; one of which is the adjectives my students use to describe me. Aside from the typical “HELLO TEACHER!”, “RICHELLE!!”, “AHHH MS. JIANG!”, I also get “SO BEAUTIFUL!!!” multiple times a day, every day. Talk about a […]
*This post is a continuation of A Day in Lhasa, where I talk about my trip through Qinghai, Tibet, Nepal, Hong Kong and Guangzhou this summer. The next morning we awoke to a phone call at 6:25am. 6:25?! Crap! We had to be downstairs at 6:30! It turns out the phone call was from Yoko’s […]
You never realize how much you miss American holidays and traditions until you ship yourself to a country that has never heard of them. Halloween is such a fun and interesting holiday, I wanted to bring it to all of my students… over 700 of them at least. Every week I alternate between teaching Senior […]
Hi I'm Richelle! I'm the founder of the Freedom Life and I've been living abroad since 2013. For the last eight years, I've been helping hundreds of adventurous people just like you move abroad, and I can't wait to help you get started on this incredible adventure!
