Happy Chinese New Year, Y’all

Six years ago, I left Atlanta and moved to China. It wasn’t a fascination with the culture that drew me there. It was desperation.

I was like a lot of other quarter-lifers – I was stuck in indecision, afraid to chase my dreams and more afraid not to, so I bumped around from city to city and job to job until I had a work history that said to potential employers, I-don’t-have-a-clue-what-I’m-doing-and-I-won’t-be-here-longer-than-a-year.

I needed a life change. And I’d always wanted to see the world, but I’d never had the money.

I found a job teaching English and American culture through my sister’s acupuncturist’s husband. Isn’t that always the way? I moved to China in late February of 2006 and although I was the teacher, I learned far more than my students. I was immersed in the culture, learning the language, and finding out more about myself that I ever could have on American soil. 

I recently completed a book documenting my life-altering experiences. A travelogue/memoir, Pretty Woman Spitting, is a kind of love letter to China. I chose the title after hearing a particularly guttural noise (spitting is commonly heard all over China) and turned to find a beautiful woman in a delicate yellow frock hocking up a big one.

Pretty Woman Spitting is the book I wanted to read before I moved there, filled with loads useful information, such as where to go to the bathroom and how you shouldn’t hug Chinese men after they fix your toilet.

The book’s only $.99 on Kindle and NOOK and a fourth of the profits will go to Oxfam International, a fantastic confederation of organizations dedicated to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice.

It’s been six years and I’m still fascinated with China and what travel can do for the soul. I want people interested in going to China or who have been there or who will never ever go to read the book. And I want to give back because it was such a rewarding experience for me.

Read an excerpt on Amazon HERE and see what you think. And happy Chinese New Year, y’all! Today marks the 4709^th Chinese year, and it’s The Year of Black Water Dragon. Certainly that’s a good sign.