Blog Post

Learning Mandarin and Teaching English

I moved to China to experience a new culture, new people, and a new way of thinking. When I arrived, I experienced all of those things and I picked up a few more. Unexpectedly I was fascinated by another piece of the culture as well… the new language.
Since taking on the challenge of learning mandarin, it’s been a difficult and exciting part of my time here. We’ve been taking lesson for almost 8 months now and I think I’ve reached a plateau. The problem with this plateau is that I know what I have to do to get out of it. I just need to practice more than I do now.

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A Story About the Credit Mix

Our China Friend

On our first day in China, in the Shanghai airport, we met our very first “China friend”.
As a remote employee, he moved to China to learn Mandarin and to explore more of the country. Over the first few weeks in China we shared similar interest and “survival tips” in a new country. Fast forward 15 months, and we still hangout out with Mike regularly.
Last night, we had dinner with Mike and caught up on everything from our future travel plans to our most interesting interactions with people in China. This went on for about an hour until Mike said “Hey did I ever tell you how I got declined for 2 credit cards?”. My ears perked up.

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Running in a Mega-City: Shenzhen

Today I ran the longest I’ve ever run in my life. I completed an 8-mile long run and I enjoyed every minute of it. I never thought I would be saying those words.
It wasn’t always this way. I just started running consistently 4 months ago, and it was a process to build the habit of running.

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A Random Day In China

Today was a random day in China. Saturdays are supposed to be my days off from work, but they’ve evolved into days of endless running around and meetings. So basically… another day of work… with no pay.
We are also fasting! I’ve been trying my best to avoid streaming any video content on any platform [Netflix, YouTube, Disney Plus, etc. ]. I’m sad to say that in today’s world this is a huge struggle for me, but I seen great results. I think part of the reason I’ve been able to keep up with this Daily Blog is because I haven’t been distracted by streaming.
This post is a recap of our random day in China with a few pictures [I know that everyone loves pictures]. I hope you enjoy.

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7 Places to Eat in Shenzhen China

I’ve been living in Shenzhen, China for a little over a year and I’m still adjusting to new things everyday. Chinese food was one of the first adjustments I made rather swiftly after arriving in China.
I’d heard horror stories about foreigners and food in China. Anything from explosive diarrhea to unidentified mystery meat to days out sick because of a bad case of food poisoning. For 6 months I vowed to not be one of those stories.
When I finally relaxed and smelled the cumin, I realized that I was missing an opportunity to experience food from one of the oldest countries in the world. I just had to take it.
With that being said… I’m still going to take it slow. This article is a summary of 7 places that I eat in Shenzhen China.
So here it is:

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5 Thing to Consider Before Teaching English in China

Teaching English in Asia sounds like an amazing opportunity when you are sitting in your cubicle screaming “I hate my life” for the third time today. It is a great opportunity, but let’s be real, nothing is ever as good as it seems. I’m writing this article to look past the amazing Instagram account of your ESL Teacher best friend and bring some of the things to light that you should consider before teaching English in China.

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How to Avoid Shiny New Things: Accomplish your Goals in 2020

We are 15 days into the new year, which means that we are 15 days into our new year resolutions. Some people may have already fallen off the wagon, while others (me) are being hit constantly with “distractions”, and aren’t far from joining them.
You might think most of these distractions come from external sources (girlfriends, babies, work etc.), but its been the opposite experience for me. I’m most distracted by internal sources (me), in the form of “shiny new things”!
Just this morning, I was daydreaming, a typical prerequisite to distractions, and I had an amazing idea for a new website. I thought of an elaborate plan of how I could dominate this niche with this new site and I should get started quickly. Like a toddler, I temporarily discarded all of my goals for 2020 for this “shiny new thing”.
Thankfully I caught myself, and was able to refocus on my goals for the year.
This article is going to be a few tips (To: Myself) on how I can continue to avoid shiny new things and stay on the right track.

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Cost of Living Shenzhen China: My Top 10 Expenses Decemeber 2019

It’s time for another cost of living in Shenzhen China update.
December was another great month filled with new memories, Christmas Parties, and a few vacation days. I didn’t do any traveling for the month, because I know that I’ll have tons of days off next month. Financially it was also a great month! I was able to exceed my income goal and save much more than expected. So overall December 2019 was a good month!
I will take this time to review my Top 10 expenses, document my thoughts, and come up with a realistic plan to improve for the new decade.

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Future Millennial Caregiver Pursuing Financial Independence

Holy s*** my parents are getting old! They are both well into there mid 60’s, divorced, and single.The more I think about my plans for the future the more I realize the realities of becoming a millennial caregiver pursuing financial independence.

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How to build a running habit: From 0 – 10K

Today I ran my fastest 10k! 3 months ago I know for a fact that I couldn’t hardly finish a 5k, let alone a 10k. Not to toot my own horn, but I am extremely proud of myself. I’ve aways wanted to develop a running habit, but I would pick it up for a month or two and always fall off. Before I knew it, I would be back in my old ways. Until recently.This article gives 8 ways that helped me to build a running habit in 3 months.

 

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