About Author: MaryAnne

Description: 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.

Posts by MaryAnne

4May 9, 2013
I’ll See Myself Out: Notes on That Time I Square Danced to Chinese Punk Music in the Park

Back in the early 1990s, back when I was an untravelled granola crunchy uni student living on an island off the west coast of Canada, I wrote a rather…
13April 25, 2013
I’ll See Myself Out: Notes on Stuff, Self, Place and Ridiculously Sudden Life Transitions

I moved most unexpectedly a few months ago, just after my life imploded in Bali. It’s taken me over two months to get all of my things from the…
17April 15, 2013
I’ll See Myself Out: Notes on Being a Tired Hermit With Possibly Unrealistic Expectations

I’ve got approximately two months left in Shanghai. After over four years in this city, most of which were spent trying to feel like it was home and…
4March 27, 2013
A Totally Impractical Guide to an Out of Body Weekend in Jǐnán

After a few months’ hiatus from my ongoing whirlwind Tour de Chine (the Academic Route), I’m back on the road, hopping trains like a nerdy hobo and wearing butt-shaped…
18March 19, 2013
I’ll See Myself Out: Attempting Shanghai Nightlife (for Burnt Out Recluses)

So I’m leaving Shanghai. Sometime in June, I’ll be handing in my Foreign Expert’s Certificate (actually a booklet, just to muddle matters) and sorting through my accumulated detritus to ship…
31March 9, 2013
Radio Silence: How to Write Publicly When All of Your Journeys are Private

I’m a surprisingly private person. I’ve only started realizing that recently. This may come as news to you, given that I’m blurting this out in a decidedly public medium and…
12January 27, 2013
Notes on Getting the Hell Out of Dodge: Oh, Hey, Bali! Nice to See You Again!

On the morning we left Shanghai for Bali, I was sitting on my bed sometime around 8am, huddled under a few layers of duvets, toes numb, feeling quite out of…
19December 29, 2012
What The Hell Am I Doing Here: Notes on End of Year Work Festivities in Shanghai

It’s Saturday and I’m at work. I’ve been here since, oh, 8 o’clock this morning and at the rate things are piling up, I doubt I’ll ever leave. Teaching…
13December 25, 2012
It’s Beginning to Look Not Even Remotely Like Christmas: Faking Festiveness in Shanghai

Actually I lie. I live in Shanghai (which, if you ask the Shanghairen, is barely even China but rather its own magnificent autonomous kingdom of wealth and awesomeness) and oh,…
8December 17, 2012
A Totally Impractical Guide to a Sudden Jaunt to Liuzhou, Guangxi

Over the past decade or two, I’ve become quite adept at rolling with the punches. Most of my jobs have called for finely tuned improvisational skills and I’ve had plenty…
18November 30, 2012
Notes on Not Running Away Again: Dealing Sensibly With a Shanghai Winter

It was some time midway through my London years that I found myself huddled in a phone box outside the Lords Cricket Grounds, surrounded on three sides by layers of…
15November 19, 2012
You look very terrible, Miss Mary: Unsolicited Advice for the Laowai

I’m still sick. Not sick like last week when I was horizontal and feverish, with my nasal cavity draining like Victoria Falls. No, this week I’m exhausted from working all…