Expat Living 101.com Blog » book

China: Expat Heaven in the Middle Kingdom?

Paul Allen — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:58:58 +0000

I’ve long been fascinated by China – probably the result of reading James Clavell’s novels as a kid and my father’s tales of two years spent in Hong Kong in the Fifties! My own trip to Hong Kong 20 years ago further inflamed my fascination with the country and its culture, but a bus ride out to the New Territories to take a peek through the border fence was as close as I came to seeing the country proper.

So reading Alan Paul’s new book on expat life in China has been a real eye-opener.

Big in China

In Big in China Alan reveals a world of sequestered expatdom. The multinational ranks he depicts are cloistered together in compounds boasting well-maintained streets lined by large houses, with clubhouses, gyms and swimming pools. The kids go to the international school together and play at each others’ homes. There are family sports days, barbecues, dinners with friends.

For many daily life is made easy by cheap domestic help – cooks, cleaners, drivers and nannies are par for the course, creating a luxurious lifestyle only a few could expect to have back home.

As Alan observes, it is all too easy to become immersed in this expat bubble – a world of privilege, ease and security.

Yet it is also one of sterility. And to his credit, Alan is determined not to become a prisoner behind the expat gates. Instead, he is keen to find the China that exists for its population. He relates his adventures as he cycles off by himself to explore the local villages and countryside, his journeys into the hinterland, his efforts to learn the language, make friends and taste the ‘real’ China, from its food on up.

The picture of China that emerges is just as complex as the one gleaned from inches of newspaper and magazine columns, with all its beauty and ugliness. Yet it is coloured by great insights into the immense joys and frustrations that life in China offers for expatriates.

Pros and cons

As a growing economic (and political) powerhouse, China presents an extraordinary opportunity for expat entrepreneurs and employees on assignment to make their mark, and a lot of money.

But China has much else to offer besides a step up the career ladder. Its beautiful and varied landscapes, and diverse cultural riches dating back thousands of years are incentives enough for many inquisitive foreigners.

As becomes evident from reading Alan’s book, there are inevitable challenges to living in China too.

For one, there is the language barrier. There are important cultural differences in terms of the structure of society and individuals’ interactions with each to navigate as well – many of which it can be nigh on impossible to fully grasp as an outsider.

Issues such as media censorship and political repression may come as a stark counterpoint to the societal norms to which expats are accustomed.

In addition, there is a real risk of physical isolation and introversion creeping in. As Alan relates in his book, for one thing it is notoriously difficult to obtain something as simple as a Chinese driving licence. Yet without it you lack the freedom of movement we take for granted back home.

China’s notorious pollution, with all the health risks it poses, is another problem that the country is only belatedly trying to tackle.

In short, China is hardly the easiest place in the world for an expat to move to. But what it does promise is one big and exciting adventure of life-changing proportions. Just ask Alan.

Are You Prioritising YOUR Life?

Paul Allen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:35:24 +0000

Priorities are powerful forces … assuming you’ve got them in the right order. And keeping them there requires continual monitoring.

So what are your priorities?

Most of us – myself included – get batted around like a pinball from one activity to the next. Our days are spent finishing up that urgent project at work for which the boss is breathing down our necks … seeing to the needs of our kids … phoning parents to check how they are … dashing to the shops to pick up a last-minute birthday present.

We go to bed exhausted, only to get up tomorrow and do it all over again. Lives spent scuttling from one weekend to the next, firefighting whatever today’s most pressing need happens to be.

But what about that life you’d really like to be leading? The one you keep nestled somewhere close to your heart?

We all have one, don’t we? That ‘if I won the Lottery …’ vision of how things would be in a perfect world. Where you’d like to live. How you’d like to spend your time. And with whom. The long-term dream.

Making that vision reality though takes consistent action, and time. Progressive, daily steps. And to do anything on a daily basis means prioritising.

It’s something with which I still struggle. But by persevering it’s starting to pay off. In fact I’m feeling pretty good, for I’ve finally finished revising and proofing the print version of my book on the pros and cons of moving abroad. It is now with the printer, the last step before public release next week!

It’s not been easy mind.

As with so many other people around the world, it’s been a tough 18 months.

The financial crisis has forced me to scramble for work like never before. And outside of the long work hours are my commitments as a husband and father.

As a result, it’s not always easy to find time to do the ‘non-urgent’ writing I really want, the books and screenplays that one day I hope will be my full-time occupation.

I realised though that unless I made the time, prioritised the writing in my day, it would never get done. And my dreams of being an author would go the same way.

It’s the same in all aspects of life. We all have to find time to pursue our dreams, whatever they are.

If you want to learn the piano it’s never going to happen unless you sit at the keyboard on a regular basis – preferably every day – and hammer out the notes.

How are you ever going to get your golf handicap down if you don’t go to the driving range, or get out on the course?

Ditto moving abroad. There may never be a great time to up-sticks. There are always other financial pressures, kids about to change schools, new job promotions in the offing. Valid obstacles that keep you from taking action, from grabbing that life you want.

But that’s the choice you must make. You have to seize the moment – take the requisite steps, however small, and make progress. Without it, your life will never become what you want it to be.

Expat Book Publication

Paul Allen — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:50:33 +0000

Mea culpa – it’s been too long since my last post here. My excuse is it’s been a frenetic time, with lots of professional and personal changes going on – and all for the better, I hasten to add. Still, I’m making it a New Year’s Resolution … Must Blog More!

One of the big developments is the upcoming publication by Lean Marketing Press of my book on the pros and cons of moving abroad. We’re still finalising some details, but it should be out in print in the next few weeks.

It’s amazing getting an inside view on all the different components that go into publishing a book.

Obviously writing the thing in the first place is a crucial – and time-consuming – part of the process.

But making it look good – editing, proofing, formatting, designing book covers et al – and then putting strategies in place to actually help generate sales are whole other areas that take a lot of work and expertise. Thankfully I have a publisher in Lean Marketing Press with the requisite experience!

We’re now in the process of soliciting reviews of the book from relevant experts in the expat industry, to give it that all-important credibility. Once done publication will be just a short step away. Exciting times!

Book Publishing: The Future … Part I

Paul Allen — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:51:26 +0000

Many years ago I read Peter Mayle’s classic A Year in Provence.

At the time I remember thinking ‘Blimey, that’s the life.’ Writing a few hours a day and then trailing around the French countryside the rest of the time.

Hardly a deep, or unique reaction I know. Everyone thought the same, which was why the book went on to sell so many copies and turned Peter Mayle into a rich and famous man.

What was perhaps different was my next thought – ‘That’s what I want to do.’ Become a writer, first and foremost. And live abroad.

Well, I’ve done the moving bit all right – first to the States, and then six years ago to Spain. But now, at last, I’ve got a book coming out too, which I hope will be the start of an even more wonderful journey.

There is, after all, a certain kudos to being a writer.

Millionaire novelists like J.K. Rowling, John Grisham and Stephen King spring to mind. Or perhaps the literary cool of an Ernest Hemingway, Jay McInerney or Zadie Smith.

And the non-fiction arena is an even bigger market. Self-help bibles, business success stories, health and fitness guides, even cookery books have the power to turn their authors into celebrity figures.

And even if it doesn’t make the New York Times bestseller lists, a book can act as a badge of status that a writer can leverage for speaking engagements, workshops, coaching programmes and a host of other money-spinning activities.

No wonder so many people dream of becoming an author.

But the traditional publishing world has an uncertain future.

There are the big success stories of course, with millions of copies of certain titles – not least the Harry Potter series – flying off the shelves.

Nevertheless, reports indicate that for years the general public as a whole has been reading less and less. It doesn’t bode well for your business then if demand for your product is steadily falling.

Plus publishing has an idiosyncratic business model. For while the publishers bear the expense of producing and – less frequently these days – promoting their books, any unsold ones can be returned by the retailer without having to pay for them. The publisher then has to find warehouse space to store them, or pay for them to be pulped.

In other words, they face all the risk for the success or otherwise of their products. Can you imagine any other business working that way?

So it’s no wonder publishers are keen to focus on what they think will be surefire successes – the celebrity writers with marketable names, and established literary big guns with a track record.

Which isn’t to say new writers can’t break in. Arguably those that are good enough, and keep submitting, will get noticed by agents and publishers, who are full of talented people as keen to sign the next literary superstar as the writer is to be one.

But it’s not easy for the aspiring debutant. And the rewards for all that work are often pitiful.

Meanwhile a mass of mediocre books continue to hit the display stands, largely on the strength of the author’s name blazoned across the top.

But an alternative future is emerging … which I’ll come to in Part II.

Expat Book: The Long and Winding Road

Paul Allen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:03:14 +0000

Ernest Hemingway, Tom Wolfe, Bill Bryson … the list of successful authors who started their writing careers in journalism is a long and illustrious one.

Like so many other journalists, I too have been dreaming of that publishing deal that would set me on the road to literary fortune. In fact, my journalistic career was more happenstance than design, a by-product of my early book writing efforts, rather than the other way around.

The impulse to write has been with me since my exercise book-filled scribbles at infants’ school. But it wasn’t until a backpacking trip around Spain with my wife in 1997 that I took the all-important step, and committed to become a writer. And that means consistently putting pen to paper.

I remember it now. Sitting in front of our tiny tent under the pine trees and stars, enveloped in the warmth of a Valencian spring evening, I opened my newly-bought notepad and with a cheap ballpoint began to recount our adventures.

In the 12 years since I have written something practically every day.

In amongst the hundreds of magazine and newsletter articles for my day job there has been that original backpacker’s tale, several novels, a host of short stories, TV programme pitches, and a work-in-progress screenplay.

The investment of a lot of time, a lot of work and a lot of hope. It’s been a long, and at times frustrating, journey. Indeed, given my lack of publishing fame and fortune you’d probably be justified in thinking it’s about time I gave up.

But although the dream of being a full-time author has seemed a million miles away at times, I have never lost sight of it. So I persevere.

Still, rightly or wrongly – and I’m sure there were glaring deficiencies in my work that merited the stack of rejections – I haven’t had much joy thus far with the traditional publishing world.

Which is why for “Should I Stay Or Should I Go,” my guide to the pros and cons of expat living, I decided to go down the internet route by writing an e-book, and setting up a website to support and sell it.

The internet is a fantastic evolution in the spread of the written word. For it has provided the opportunity for anyone with a message to reach out to a global audience, even if at times it can be difficult to get that message heard.

But the thing is, you never know when someone is listening. And that’s when one of those serendipitous events occurred to me.

Somehow Bea Stanford, founder of global network community Inside Twente (http://www.twenteinside.com/), stumbled on my website and signed up for my Moving Abroad-opedia newsletter. Apparently she liked what I wrote and asked if I’d share my blog posts on her site.

Through Bea and Inside Twente my book reached the attention of Jo Parfitt, the author of numerous bibles on expatriate living, including “Expat Entrepreneur” and “A Career In Your Suitcase” (http://www.joparfitt.com/).

And I have Jo to thank for referring me to her publisher Lean Marketing Press, who in turn got in touch expressing interest in my book. As a result, we’re now working together to produce a print version of Should I Stay Or Should I Go, which we hope to bring out shortly.

It’s been a strange, circuitous route to publication – certainly not how I imagined it would occur. Nevertheless, it is an immensely exciting prospect, not least because I believe – and many other writers have similarly argued – that the model adopted by companies such as Lean Marketing is the future of publishing. But I’ll go into that another time.

Endless Summer – The Postcards Tour Finale

Paul Allen — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:03:07 +0000

A special treat today – I’m joined by fellow expat author Mike Harling, whose wonderfully-funny Postcards From Across the Pond is a must-read for anyone dreaming of a life abroad, wherever you are and wherever you may be going. Mike is finishing up his virtual tour promoting the book, so without further ado I’ll hand over. Mike …

Mike Harling - author of Postcards From Across the Pond

I started this tour just as summer was beginning, so it seems fitting to end it just as summer draws to a close and autumn takes over. It’s been fun and I’ve met a lot of great people, but touring is tiring, even in the virtual world, so I’m taking advantage of that magic we call the Internet to round up the Kindness of Strangers Tour by relying on the kindness of several strangers at once. In a way, making my final tour stop to ten locations simultaneously seems the perfect ending for it – one big autumnal burst before quietly fading away.

This tour began as a means of promoting my book, but it soon became an end in itself and took on a life of its own. Very often, I found myself having such a good time “visiting” people around the globe that I forgot to mention the book. To date, my trip has taken me from Britain to Canada, Australia, Tenerife and even back to my own hometown, ending up here in sunny Spain with Paul.

It’s a fitting final stop, as this is where the book started out, sort of. My publisher lives in Spain and she was one of the first stops on the tour. Additionally, Paul has the same publisher, so after I finish this post we’re going to load up the car with Coronas on ice and head over to her place. I’m sure Lean Marketing Press won’t mind two of their authors showing up just to say, “Hi!”

I have to say, of all the adventures I might have imagined for my life as a young boy, touring the blogsphere on other people’s blogs was not a contender. But then the idea of leaving my quiet, rural life, moving to England, marrying a foreigner and writing a book about it never occurred to me, either. I’m glad and grateful for having done both, however, and although the tour is coming to an end, the adventure continues.

May yours continue as well.

Thanks and Good-bye from
The 2009 KINDNESS of STRANGERS TOUR
Visit the Tour Page for the latest Tour updates.

Michael Harling is the author of Postcards From Across the Pond - dispatches from an accidental expat.

“Laugh out loud funny regardless of which side of the pond you call home. Bill Bryson move over, there’s a new American expat in town with a keen sense of humor.” — Jeff Yeager, author of The Ultimate Cheapskate.

Buy the Book: http://www.lindenwald.com/booksale.htm
Follow the Tour: http://www.lindenwald.com/thetour.htm
Visit the Home Page: http://postcardsfromacrossthepond.blogspot.com/

Expat Living By the Book

Paul Allen — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:02:34 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve done any blogging for Expat Living 101. In truth, like so many other expatriates I’ve been hit hard by the financial crisis over the last year – a double whammy of soaring interest payments on our mortgage, and plummeting currency rates when converting my foreign earnings into euros. As a result I’ve had to work twice as hard just to standstill. Not what you want at the best of times, but especially when the sun is beckoning outside!

But now I’m starting up again with a new zeal … for I have just signed a contract with Lean Marketing Press to publish a print version of my book on the pros and cons of living overseas: “Should I Stay Or Should I Go? The Truth About Moving Abroad And Whether It’s Right For You.”

The publishing contract may not come with a $1 million advance and movie tie-in rights as per my J.K. Rowling aspirations, but it’s an exciting prospect nonetheless – one that, hopefully, will help a lot more people get a better handle on the real benefits and costs of moving to a foreign country, and give them a much clearer view on the right path to take. And if it can help readers towards living the lives they truly desire then I will be well satisfied.

This blog then will record the book’s journey to fruition and beyond, as well as being an opportunity to record some of my thoughts and observations on the expatriate life as they crop up.

I hope it proves interesting – and if you have any comments or questions on the way please feel free to add them.

And don’t forget to check out my website, www.expatliving101.com, where you can sign up for my free weekly newsletter. I’ll also be updating and retooling the site with the help of the nice people at Lean Marketing Press for when the book comes out. So please keep checking in.

Hasta luego …