This is part 3 of a conversation I had with L, a 25-year old woman working at a massage parlour. Click here for part 1 (“How come you married so young?”) and here for part 2 (“Did you come here with your family?”). L looks closely at my eyes, and asks: “Do people in Austria […]
Monthly Archives: October 2013
This is part 2 of a conversation I had with a woman called L who is working at a massage parlour. Click here if you’ve missed part 1 (“How come you married so young?”). Stay tuned for part 3 (“Do people in Austria have their eyes made bigger?). After talking about marriage, L goes on: […]
Y and I are in Changchun. Changchun (literally meaning long spring) was once the capital of Manchuria, which was the name of Northeast China under Japanese occupation from 1931 to 1945. Today, it’s the capital of Jilin province and China’s biggest auto manufacturer. After lunch we set out to take a cab that will take […]
One day one of our co-workers treats us to dinner after work. The reason? He recently became a father and it’s tradition in China to treat your friends and co-workers to a nice big meal once your child is 100 days old. When we finish with the food, one female co-worker asks another female co-worker […]
This is part 1 of 3 of a conversation I had with L, a 25-year-old woman working at a massage parlour. Stay tuned for part 2 (“Did you come here with your family?”) and part 3 (“Do people in Austria have their eyes made bigger?”). One day in August 2013 I go to get a […]
Since I’m in lack of a new guest post here on China Elevator Stories, today I’m linking to Yin-Yang: On Love, Fighting and Finding Harmony in a Chinese-Western Marriage, a guest post I wrote for Speaking of China. In the article I write about the fact that Y and I did fight a lot month 4-6 […]
“Canadian.” “German.” “American.” “British.” These are all nationalities I’ve been associated with in Northeast China’s Jilin province. Often, people don’t say it directly, rather they’ll tell their friends: “Look, a German.” I don’t really mind if they say that I’m German, after all, it’s as close as it gets. Even many Chinese who know me […]
One day in May 2013, I’m at a Lanzhou noodle restaurant near my apartment. While I’m waiting for the food, I send my then-fiancé now-husband a voice message. When the guy sitting across the table from me hears that I can speak Chinese, he starts chatting with me. After talking about where I’m from and […]
This is part 3 of a story of a family dinner. If you haven’t read what happened at the dinner, click here for part 1 (“A family dinner and to raise your glass or not to raise your glass”) and here for part 2 (“A loss of face”). After Y has paid, his mother who […]
When people in Austria ask Y how old he is he’ll say he’s 31. When people in South China ask him about his age, he’ll say he’s 32. And when people in Northeast China ask him, he’ll say 33. So what is true? Does he sometimes lie about his age? Fact is, he doesn’t. All […]
This is part 2 of the story of a family dinner with my husband’s extended family in their hometown Siping in Northeast China. In part 1 (“A family dinner and to raise or not to raise your glass”), daye, my husband’s oldest uncle wants me to raise my glass to him. Will I give in […]
Today I’m featuring a guest post by Sara Jaaksola. Sara wanted to go to China ever since she was little and has made her dream come true in 2010, when she finally went to Guangzhou to study Chinese. She has stayed there ever since and gives advice on life, love and traveling in China on […]
Y, his 9-year-old niece, her mother and I eat dinner together. Y’s niece has just asked me about the positive aspects of having a different citizenship. We start talking about something else. She says: “I’ve read in the news that in a country really close to South Korea there’s a guy who’s always making threats. […]
On our last evening in Y’s hometown, Siping, we have dinner at a restaurant with his parents and uncles and aunts from his father’s side. We wait until everyone is in the room and seats are assigned in order of age. The most respected person (which is usually the oldest person in the room or […]
China elevator stories 