• June 20, 2006 - FAQ or Why Are You in China?
edited Jan. 17, 2008
Because it's rather unusual for an American family to be living in China, when people see my blog, they start wondering and asking questions.
Well, here's my effort to answer some of those questions. Please realize that if I haven't answered a question here or if I've answered it vaguely, it's probably because I don't want to divulge the information in such a public place as a BLOG. Please understand and respect the need for privacy on the Internet. Ask yourself if YOU offer the same details on your blog. And if you do, should you?
Frequently Asked Questions
...............................and their answers
Q. Why do you have the user name Jimmie?
A. That actually is my name. Ha! Really!
Q. Are you in China as a military family?
A. Uh, no. Check your politics. There are NO US military bases in China.
Q. What ARE you doing in China? What brought you there?
A. My husband works here. And I now have the privilege of being a stay at home, homeschooling mom. This happened after three years of being a working mom and ten years of being a working woman. I love it!
Q. How long have you been in China?
A. Five and a half years.
Q. Do you and your family speak Chinese?
A. Yes, we speak Mandarin Chinese. My husband and I are not fluent, but we can have daily conversations and survive without too much problem. Sprite, our daughter, is bilingual, having lived here since age 3.
Q. How did you learn Chinese?
A. We had private tutors who help us through textbooks (called Chinese Made Easier in case you want to know). And of course life is your best teacher. That's called barefoot language learning -- learning on the "streets" through daily life.
Q. Do you like living in China?
A. Yeah, most of the time. It's home now. We have what we call "Bad China Days" when we dislike living in China. But doesn't everyone have a bad day now and then when everything goes wrong? Because we live abroad, we tend to blame those bad days on our surroundings and say that "China is making me crazy" instead of realizing that LIFE makes us all crazy sometimes. You can have a frustrating day anywhere on the planet.
Q. Do you have one child because you must obey China's One Child Policy?
A. No, foreigners are not held to that law.
Q. Isn't homeschooling illegal in China?
A. No, homeschooling, although unheard of among local Chinese people, is not illegal. There is no compulsory school law here, so there is no one checking to see if children go to school at all. (Many poor children have no opportunity to go to school since it does cost money.) As far as our situation, being foreigners here, certainly no one is regulating how we educate our child. Most people consider it strange, but it's certainly not illegal.
Q. Can you cook Chinese food?
A. No! Why should I? I can get it fast, cheap, and delicious at any nearby restaurant. And with no dishes to wash! I cook "western" food at home.
Q. Does your family like Chinese food?
A. Shoot yeah! I think this is a hilarious question because the answer is so obvious! We love the food. Doesn't almost everyone like Chinese food? I mean, all over the world you can find Chinese restaurants. Why? Because the food is GREAT! And let me tell you, what we get here is about one hundred times better! (And by the way, this question also ranks high in the "Top Five Questions Chinese People Ask Us" category. People all over the world worry about unusual food.)
Q. Why do you blog so many pictures of China?
A. I've recently become interested in photography. The blog gives me an avenue to showcase some of my pictures. Also I see it as a way to educate others about this fascinating country and culture. And finally, I've discovered that my readers LOVE the pictures of China more than anything I put on the blog. So I give YOU what you want! :-) But I do put in some homeschooling things when I think they will be helpful to others or when I just want to show off.
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• June 20, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Gayle :)