Er, hello!
I am on a life-long quest to keep scaring myself silly with new and improbable living arrangements.
Currently based in Shanghai, I teach at a university do super secret exam work boss teachers around (for money), take tons of photographs (for pleasure) and write (for sanity).
I maintain a long-running blog to remind me of where I have been, because after fifteen seventeen many, many years of traveling it gets hard to remember sometimes.
Questions? Arguments? Email me: koangirl at hotmail dot com
I live in Shanghai. I tend to travel. I cook stuff. I read a lot. I try to scare myself silly with regularity. I write about it all. A lot. 
Fabulous stuff. Had me laughing out loud and longing to return to China, which for me will always be my favourite place to eat out….. Where else can you spit on the floor, ” gambey” till you’re falling over, eat, smoke and burp and still be socially respectable?
Indeed! When are you coming up or a visit? You are long overdue for a creative haircut and bleach-job!
great maryanne! i’m so glad to see your writing
i’m enjoying a beautiful spring morning in your old house. we have tomatoes, peppers, clementines and lots of flowers growing on the balcony. we are trying to convince aysegul to get a kombi over the summer, otherwise we’ll probably get another place in october or november. but we’re holding down the fort for now. lots of love to you!
Oh, so jealous of your balcony garden! I still yearn for that balcony overlooking the Zen Garden. Do the cats still hang out on the roof and walls? I had wanted to grow a garden but I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to stay there long (sadness). Good luck with getting a kombi. That would make it just perfect. Miss you lots!
The new blog layout is GREAT MaryAnne! Your writing and observations are hilarious!
Hey, I work with the CheapOair travel blog (cheapoair.typepad.com) and we’re interested in having you guest blog for us. Please contact me if you’re interested. Thanks! Aldo.
Landed on your website through Suzy Guese. It’s gorgeous!
You created it yourself?
I’m using typepad – not sure I can do much to make it look great. But I can stand back and admire others…
Thanks! I use WordPress (.org not .com as .com is banned in China and .org is a lot more malleable design wise!). The basic theme I downloaded from somewhere, I forget where- the green background, the luggage tag art and whatnot. The rest I tweaked myself, bit by bit. A learning experience to be sure!
Hi Maryanne:
My name is Lash. Like you, I”m a long-term world traveler. I”ve been on the road for 12 years so far.. nearly as long as you! I was livingi n Shanghai for 4 months in 2008, but find I prefer hot SEAsia… anyhow, i’m planning to continue traveling anotehr 10 years…
LIke you, I also have a travel blog. I added a link to your site. I’d appreciate a cross link- if you don’t mind?
Meanwhile, I”m always happy to meet other long-term travelers, esp. women! let’s keep in touch! hope to meet up somewhere in the world!
Please request me as a friend on FAcebook.. I tried to request you, but was denied.
http://www.Facebook.com/LashWorldTour
http://LashWorldTour.blogspot.com/
look forward to hearing from you!
cheers, Lash
Hi Lash,
I added you on Facebook and I’ll add you to my blog roll. Nice to meet another long-termer! I saw on your blog that you dive a lot- very cool. I have my PADI advanced cert but haven’t been able to do anything for nearly a year because of location- ugh. Last summer in Sulawesi was amazing. Ever dived in Bunaken?
MaryAnne
Hi MaryAnne, I’m glad to have discovered your blog too. Learning Mandarin is “easy” (says she who has been struggling for years…) since I have no other commitments… I often wish I had a job to distract me though
I wish it was easy for me… I mean, when i actually (finally) sat down for the month of August and actually did that intensive 80 hour course, it was so easy (compared to previous languages I had had to learn) and I learned so much. But now that I’m back at work, engaged in my Sisyphean feat of trying to get a never ending stream of students to stop writing and speaking the gibberish they had been fed by their previous teachers. If they can’t learn coherent English after eight or nine years of it at school and then another year of 18hs/week with me, what hope do I have? Sigh. I do enjoy your lessons by proxy though!
Listen to this! http://www.growingupwithshanghai.com
I just released my newest book for the Growing Up With Shanghai project- Huai Hai Lu. If you want a free copy let me know where I can kuai di it! Or you can buy it at the Red Bookstore in the Shanghai Sculpture space.
Thanks!
Terence
That’s very cool. I’ll be in touch with you- the project is right up my alley.
Hi there,
I’m seeking female participants for my PhD study on internationally mobile participants. The criteria is to have lived and worked in 3+ countries, each time due to personal career path, that is, not as a dependent spouse.
Please let me know if you are interested in participating through an anonymous interview via Skype.
Additionally, I would like to know if you authorise me to use your site as part of my research, respectively referenced to its home address.
Regards
Gabriela
Hi! Your study sounds quite interesting- I’d be happy to talk about being, well, internationally mobile. I’ve definitely hit more than 3 countries so far with no spouse in sight
I’ll email you.
Hi,
I have found out about you online and thought that you may be interested in PocketGuide, since we are offering the best personal tour guide experiences worldwide.
I saw that you have been travelling a lot, therefore I believe that our offer will interest you!
We are looking for people passionate about their city (NY, SF, Washington, Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas) to co-create audio walking tours with us and release them as smartphone applications.
Here I list you a few points: why should you join:
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* get credited properly and access a new distribution channel for your content, increase the visibility of your own personal tour guide business
We have worked with tour guides extensively, our platform is tailored to tour guides’ needs and we offer careful assistance to market your tour as quick as your write. We take care of all the technical details so all you need to concentrate on is writing.
If you are interested I am happy to tell you the details of content development, payment and send you a draft contract.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Julia Szabo
GPS City Guide Llc.
Hi MaryAnne
Fabulous blog! Am just thinking of doing a trip to Myanmar and as we’re also based in Shanghai –I have been reading your log with great interest! We have been here (in Shanghai) nearly 8 years now—be nice to learn more about all your travels. If you’re in Puxi sometime maybe we could catch up.
best,
namrita
Hi and welcome! Did you find anything useful for your Myanmar trip planning? I remember that I didn’t write as much as I had planned to as the Internet there was so slow and restricted and, well, I was a bit overwhelmed by it all! It’s a fascinating country! I actually live in Puxi and will be back in Shanghai in two weeks if you have any questions. Or fire away here!
hmm..never thought of a travel blog..pity i didnt as i have been to a few amazing places..anyways, read a few and it sort of inspired me…loved the blog about lanka, pity that when home is such a beautiful little place, i end up in extreme opposite..good luck
Hi Mary Anne,
Nice to know about your blogs. I am Tony, and i am travel addicts also. I’ve just started travelling lately exploring Vietnam and Cambodia. I’m planning to do my longterm backpacking soon and of course my own travel blogs to document my even but i don’t know where to start yet.
I am currently working in a four corner of my office work station and my sick and tired of it. It makes me feed good whenever i remember good memories i’ve had during my travels.
I am also planning to explore Shanghai hopefully this year, hope to crash on your place and i’ll definitely looping on you on how to get around Shanghai.
Please add me at fb email: tony_pacific@yahoo.com or Tony Armada Jr.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
Tony
Hello there! My name is Malte Zeeck, and I am with InterNations.org. I really enjoyed reading your fantastic blog! I think expats in Shanghai and around the world could really gain some great insights (and a few good laughs) from this page. The quality of the blog in general is very convincing, which is why I would love to feature you and your writing on the Recommended Blog on Shanghai section on InterNations.org
Not only do we feature and link to your blog prominently; we also would like to hear from you directly in our questionnaire! We have also designed a link badge for your blog.
If you are interested, please feel free to contact me via email: maltezeeck@internations.org
Best,
Malte Zeeck
We are seeking writers based in China urgently for a project for Tourism Malaysia. Can’t seem to find a direct email contact here so using Twitter and this form. Can you email me asap if you’re interested – joannelane@yahoo.com. There is payment.
Cheers
Jo
Joanne Lane recently posted..Russia and China veto Syria resolution again
Great blog and even better writing!
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Hello There,
My name is Tiffany and I’m a professional blogger.
I have over four years of experience writing for the web and have covered plenty of topics about Internet Marketing.
I noticed that you have a blog and was wondering if you would be interested in allow me to write relevant, useful topics about internet marketing on your blog at no cost.
At this point in my writing career, I simply want to get more visibility for your writing and I will write for free as long as you are okay with me adding a small author bio section next to each blog post about myself.
Please let me know if you’re interested and if you’d like for me to submit a sample blog post for your approval.
Thanks a bunch,
Tiffany
Thanks, but I don’t accept guest posts. It’s a personal blog.