Category Archives: China Expat Life
Chinaversary: Seven Years in China
As of today, I’ve been in China seven years. I’m officially a 7 Year Laowai. In contemplating what having lived in China for three-quarters of the last decade means to me, I find it interesting that in a lot of ways I feel less sure or informed about this country now than I did in …
A trip to Haikou Zoo
For the last few weeks Maggie’s been suggesting we take Casey to the Haikou zoo. I have deeply mixed feelings about zoos. Like the ROM for history, trips when I was a child to the Toronto Zoo instilled in me a great sense of wonder and a love for animals. On the same coin, I always feel depressed looking at anything confined to a cage — and never is this more so than at Chinese zoos.
If being in the company of wild animals is a gradient; most Western zoos would be further towards “in the wild” and most Chinese zoos would be sitting much nearer the “waiting for slaughter” end of the spectrum.
However, after a very long, hot summer, the weather in Haikou is absolutely beautiful for getting out and doing some site-seeing. Conjuring up just enough cultural relativism to tuck away my misgivings and not ruin our son’s first trip to a zoo, we headed out.
Until Starbucks, Coffee World it is.
I never thought I’d be one of those people who craved a Starbucks, but the last few years in Suzhou spoiled me. Within a two kilometre radius of our place there we had four Starbucks. Four. That’s roughly on par with the number of mainland Chinese food restaurants in the same area.
Haikou doesn’t have a Starbucks. Or at least according to rumours, doesn’t yet have a Starbucks. However, unlike the rest of China, and much like India and Thailand, we do have branches of Coffee World and Pizza Corner.
The downtown Guomao Coffee World and Pizza Corner was the first Western restaurant we were introduced to after moving down to Haikou. I’d never heard of the chains before, but was looking forward to sampling something not steamed, stir-fried or boiled, and I wasn’t let down. Their pizza, while not earth-shattering and a far cry from the ‘za of home, was more than enough to subdue my comfort food craving.
Unfortunately, its distance from where we live made it a bit of a non-starter for regular visits. I think other parents with young kids will sympathize; when it comes to eating out with a toddler, close to home tends to win out almost every time.
Happy Halloween 2011
I love Halloween, and am a bit bummed that Casey’s not going to get to experience it while we live in Haikou. As a bit of fun, I decided to dress the three of us up “digitally”. Happy Halloween!
Getting Canadian Citizenship in China
When we first started the process of getting Casey his Canadian citizenship here in China, I had intended to write a post about the experience. The long delay between the application and us actually picking the thing up left the post in permanent “draft” mode until I received the following comment from Cam in Xi’an yesterday:
Oh, so this is the rainy season…
According to Wikipedia, Haikou’s rainy season falls between May and October, with the most rain in September. We knew moving down here in April that we were essentially moving into heat and wetness. We waited for the rains all summer, not out of excitement but out of curiosity regarding this new and strange climate we were living in.
Nothing came. Day after day we had beautiful blue skies, fluffy white clouds and only short, scattered showers. Getting closer and closer to the end of September and still no rain, we thought maybe we skipped the rainy season this year.
But then a week ago typhoon Nesat hit, and it hasn’t stopped raining since. The 24-hour period from this Tuesday and Wednesday past saw more precipitation fall on the city than ever in recorded history (333mm). So yeah, we’re wet.
Nesat – our first typhoon
Waking up this morning and peeking outside, you’d hardly believe 150km winds were sweeping over us just a handful of hours earlier. Actually going outside, however, was an entirely different story.
The first casualty of Nesat was our papaya tree, which had fallen before dawn yesterday. I say “our” papaya tree, as it’s right outside our kitchen window, but really it’s the community’s — a fact made ever evident by the endless stream of people who walk up and grab some unripe fruit while I’m washing dishes or preparing dinner.
Bugs!
I realize I risk a little goblin coming in the night and stealing the essence of my manhood by saying this — but I fucking hate bugs.
I’d have to be more than a bit ignorant to move to a tropical island and not expect to cohabitate with the creepy crawlies, but it doesn’t disturb me any less. For the most part though, Haikou isn’t too bad. I’m sure there is a six-legged sea of ‘sects just waiting for me outside the city, but here among the concrete and tile, it’s relatively calm.
But though we live in a new apartment, and it appears to my untrained eye as well-sealed; drop a piece of food (a 15-month-old does little but), and within seconds a ration line of ants has formed with a tin cup and bowl. Leave some fruit out for more than a few minutes and a squadron of fruit flies gather — their tiny little wings a buzzing cadence that if you listen closely enough sounds like Ride of the Valkyries.
It’s hot, but not — comparing the weather of Haikou with Suzhou
When I mention to people in China that I live on Hainan I almost always get a, “Really? that must be great.” And it is. Everything that sold us on moving down here this past March has held its shine. Similarly, the things we steeled ourselves against are also ever present — one of the largest being the unrelenting heat.
Summer in Haikou is hot. Damn hot! But, and this is a bit surprising, it’s cooler than summer in Suzhou/Shanghai.
What’s in store for Thirty Four?
Today’s my birthday. I’m 34. I think this is the first birthday I’ve ever said it, but I feel older. Not old, but older. Undoubtedly some, if not most, of that feeling of age relates to being a parent now. Nothing forces you to look at the world in more “grown up” terms than when …
