Who Is
I’m a Chinese Canadian business owner who had been working and living in China – HK – Taiwan – US since 2004 till very recently. These posts represent only a slice of what I’ve encountered in China. I also have aging Chinese parents, and we’re in a race to see who sends whom to our respective graves first. (They might have a head start, but I’ve already got one foot in.)
For the record: this isn’t a race I’d like to win.
By day I’m trying to reconcile my Chinese and Western upbringing and values; by night I’m pretty much the same thing, except the alcohol makes me less baffled. Sometimes I also participate in disastrous dating. The alcohol helps with this, too.
I’ve got enough material to blog and to tour countries with a stand-up comedy routine about westernized Chinese, living in China, dealing with aging Chinese parents and sarcastic dating; however, most non-Chinese people wouldn’t pay the big bucks to go see a Chinese Canadian rant about China and most Chinese people will think I’m being racist or selling out “my people”. So, you guys are stuck with this blog – for better for worse.
BTW, in case you’re wondering, this is not a picture of MY legs (my legs are much daintier, thank you very much). This is a picture of my Accounting Manager’s legs taken at a sushi restaurant in China, although that has no relevance to this picture. She wouldn’t let me take a picture of the upper half of her body, so to get back at her I took this picture and am posting it for the whole world to see.
It’s OK, I pay her a lot to put up with my abuse.
I welcome all comments and criticisms. Writing is much more fun than what I do to make a living – which I’m still trying to figure out what the hell it really is.
Any questions or comments – lostnchina@gmail.com.
43 comments on “Who Is”
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lostnchina 
HI..love reading your blog,and i just wondered if you seen these 2 movies “Joy Luck Club” and “saving face” both are about Chinese girls living in the USA with Chinese born parents.
I would love your opinion on these movies..
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Hi Martyn!
You know, I had to look up “Saving Face”, since I’d never heard of it – and now I’ve another movie on my watchlist – thanks for the tip!
I believe there are many ways for us “westernized” Chinese – or any first-gen offspring of immigrant parents, for that matter – to express the experiences we go through growing up in a country that’s totally different from our parents’. “Joy Luck Club” is poignant and moving and was one of the first movies detailing the Chinese in America experience that really took off. It made non-Chinese people think about about the cross-cultural challenges we Chinese Americans faced growing up at a time when being cross-culturally aware wasn’t on people’s radars yet.
Now, there are more Chinese Americans writing about growing up in the States with Asian parents. Eddie Huang’s “Fresh Off the Boat” comes to mind, and it’s made into (a pretty embarrassing) TV sitcom. But his book is more raw, in your face, and written from the point of view of my younger sister’s experiences growing up with Chinese parents, as they’re about the same age. His style is something I can relate to more easily than with “Joy Luck Club”, which seems another generation ahead of me. They’re both saying the same thing but expressing them in different manners.
But who knows, once I get around to watching “Saving Face” maybe I’ll have something else to add!
How did you think of both movies? Do you think they expressed the Chinese American experience adequately?
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Thanks for your reply,I thought “Joy Luck Club” was very well made,and i think it was based on a Amy Tan book,but i may be wrong!.
Saving face is very different,set in Flushing New York,it’s a very unusual story with many strange “plot twists”.but it shows how a Chinese born mother,expects her NY born daughter to always look after her and look after her! the mother is played by “Joan Chen” it’s a great movie by a fairly unknown directer..you should try and see it,very well made movie.
Martyn.
(UK born English man,that likes Asian girls!!! ha!ha!)
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I absolutely love your blog and am looking forward to reading all the extremely interesting looking posts. Even your description about not having all the Peking ducks in a row made me laugh. Thanks for the lift!
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Thank you for your kind words and for following. I read your bio and while I don’t watch enough stuff on Netflix to put two words together for any review, I think your concept of consolidating all Netflix reviews into one blog is great. Sometimes you go through the reviews and they’re sad one-liners, or someone who has a chip on his shoulder over an actor. Welcome to the blogging world!
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Been reading your blog this afternoon. I must say my favourite posts are the ones about your parents…your parents and my Chinese parents seem to be so similar in many ways – struggling with technology and wanting to chat all the time. Love the humour and wit in your posts 🙂
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Thank you for your comment, Mabel. I guess Chinese parents are the same throughout the world…which is comforting, but scary, at the same time!
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Hi,
My name is Neri Olaes and I am an assistant for author Kathy Brook.
I hope that things are going well with you!
I see that you do product/book reviews in the social media/online dating niche. We have a Kindle product, Online Dating for Men or Women: How to Get What You Want and Find Your Soulmate- Mastery Advice on Internet Dating ebook that we would like to gift to you, if you would be interested in reviewing it for us.
There is no obligation to review it – we would like to gift it to you regardless.
If you are interested in this, please let me know and we will get you the book ASAP.
Thank you for your time.
Neri Olaes
If you are interested, please feel free to contact us through this email address
brookskindle01@gmail.com
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Hi Susan, I’ve been trying to reach you, like sending you email and contacting you on Facebook, but you didn’t reply. I guess you’ve got too many fan mails and messages on Facebook that you forgot to reply mine. So I decided to come here hopefully for your response.
In fact, I want to invite you write for my company. Recently my company is looking for some professional writers for a marketing project and I’m impressed by your articles, so I’m wondering if you’ll be interested in writing for others.
You can contact me via lovelisakim@gmail.com and I’ll talk more about the project later.
Thank you.
— Lisa
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Hi Lisa, Thanks for the note. I’ve not received any of your messages, and believe me – if I ever receive any, it would be from my concerned mother. I will contact you at your email address.
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What great wit… Really have enjoyed this blog. Cheers to more discovery and humor.
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Thank you!
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I love engaging writing, and boy howdy, yours is chock full of it! Very happy to be following!
-Andrew
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Boy howdy do I ever love the term “Boy howdy”. Thanks for the follow!
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My pleasure!
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Love your writing, would also pay hard cash to see you do stand up… Keep it up.
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Thank you!
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Thank you for dropping by Malcolm’s Corner.
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No problem. Same to you!
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Hell I’d pay good money to see that comedy routine.
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I’ll make sure you’re in the VIP circle, where everyone’s going to be entitled to a case of lethal Chinese rice wine. Because after hearing my routine, you’re going to need it.
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I love the way you write and for that I nominate you for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award! Cheers!!
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Thank you so much. What a great thing to see first thing in the morning 😉
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You have just been nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award! Really enjoying your blog. 🙂
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Thanks so much for the nomination! I’ll definitely check out your blog when I get the chance. (PS: Nice to see some of the blogs you follow are also the ones I love, too!)
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I guess I must be stuttering. Blame it on the night shift.
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HI, Thanks for stopping by and for the compliment (about the fun part). Not sure if I’m *fun* as much as I’m sarcastically Chinese Canadian. We Chinese do grow up with some crazy ideas ingrained into us by our parents, dontcha think?
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Hi Sue:
Just came across your blog. Your ‘about ‘ sounds very interesting. You sound like a lot of fun. I am also Chinese Canadian, but I am nCan’t wait to read your writing. I need to lighten up.
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Don’t worry about it…
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Hi Sue:
Just came across your blog. Your ‘about ‘ sounds very interesting. You sound like a lot of fun. I am also Chinese Canadian, but I am not fun. Can’t wait to read your writing. I need to lighten up.
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Really, it’s OK. I do the same thing all the time….
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Hi Susan, I grew up in Western Canada during the 60s, and am 1/2 Chinese and 1/2 Ukrainian, hence why the about me on my blog is called sweet and sour cabbage rolls. I have enjoyed reading some of your posts, looking forward to more. Also don’t worry about the fame, just keep inflaming peoples minds, they will remember you.
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I love the concept of “sweet and sour cabbage rolls”! Says it all. You do have a very interesting background and must also have quite a few interesting stores to share. Thanks for stopping by!
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You’ve Just Been Tagged: check it out at:
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Heyo, I’ve finally updated that Versatile Blogger Award post, and yes, you are one of my favourite 15 blogs out of the trillion or whatever on WordPress. Thank you for being interesting.
http://hyperactiveinefficiency.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/thank-you-if-i-were-brave-blog-for-the-versatile-blogger-award/
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Sharon!
Thank you for your kindness. Have replied to your post on your Versatile Blogger page.
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I love this blog for many reasons. One, You’re hilarious. Two, my little sister (15 years younger than me) is adopted from China, so the balance between the Western World and the Chinese world is something that is very interesting to me. My mom and I have tried to provide her with a connection to her heritage while also knowing that we can never quite fill that gap. My mom is not up for traveling anymore (the last time she was on a plane was in 2001 when she adopted my sister, and there were 26 other screaming adopted babies along with her. Enough said.) So I hope to take my sister back someday and navigate through a very foreign world as best as I can as any “well meaning, baffled” foreigner will do.
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Thanks so much for your comment. If you ever need help navigating China, just let me know. Alcohol really helps too. For yourself, not your baby sister, of course.
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I’ve enjoyed reading your blog, partly because you’re such an excellent writer, and partly because my daughter just returned to Canada after a year in Beijing. I’ve sent her a link to “A Foreigner’s Guide to Living in China.” I think she’ll love it, too.
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Charles,
Thanks for your compliment about my writing: it certainly means a lot coming from someone I consider to be a very accomplished writer. And thanks for passing along the link. Somehow, I think the “Guide” is more understandable AFTER someone has lived in China. Maybe your daughter will be starting her own blog about her experiences in China someday? China’s an unending geyser of blog material.
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