Covid U-turn in China

I always follow the news from China very closely, and these past weeks I’ve been amazed by the speed at which changes are taking place there. I’m sure you heard about the protests… Continue reading →

Trip to Lisbon

At the beginning of October, I had some days off because of the Chinese national holidays (even though I’m not in China anymore, I follow the Chinese work calendar), so we decided to… Continue reading →

The business of education in China

China is well known for the pressure students are subjected to. Education is a rat race in there and basically all children attend lots of after-school classes because they have to be the… Continue reading →

My 20th Chineseversary

A couple of days ago, I suddenly realized that 2022 marks 20 years since I started studying Chinese. First thought: Has it really been that long? Second thought: Now I’ve spent a longer… Continue reading →

Roman ruins by the beach

Like last year, we also spent this summer in our apartment by the beach, in the southwest coast of Spain. It’s right by the sea and on the ground floor, so we don’t… Continue reading →

Family trip to London

Whew, it’s been a while since the last time I updated the blog! I’d never taken such a long break before. Oh, and I also stopped Instagramming. Am I the only one who… Continue reading →

The Shanghai lockdown

At this point, I think everybody has heard about the lockdown in Shanghai, but I will recap it briefly just in case someone doesn’t follow the news: Shanghai, a city with a population… Continue reading →

Jin Ping Mei: A Chinese classic

During these past couple of months, my reading time was occupied by a Chinese classic novel called Jin Ping Mei. You’ve never heard of it? Understandable. It’s not as famous as Journey to… Continue reading →

Outbreak in Suzhou

It’s been over two years since the COVID-19 pandemic started and Suzhou had not had an outbreak yet. Now with Omicron it was just a matter of time… and it finally happened. Last… Continue reading →

“I won’t eat candy ever again”

A few days ago, my mum unearthed our old VHS player. Among the cartoons from my childhood that we had on tape (mainly Disney movies), there were also a couple of episodes from… Continue reading →