Moving a Family to China from Finland: Culture, Community, and Expat Life in Shanghai: S1E6

Send us Fan MailWhen Pia moved from Finland to Shanghai with her husband and two daughters, she started a blog to document the family’s life abroad. In this episode, she reads a 2016 post in Finnish and English and looks back at the busy early months of learning Mandarin, exploring Shanghai, visiting Tongli water town, finding familiar food, and building a new life in China.Pia also reflects on what the public blog left out, including loneliness and homesickness, why her honeymoon period in China lasted for her entire stay, and what surprised her about Shanghai’s safety, infrastructure, and optimism. She explains how living in North Carolina prepared her for China, why broad statements about Chinese culture can be misleading, and how living abroad changed her view of Europe, America, and the world.In this episodeReading an expat blog post in Finnish and EnglishMoving from Finland to Shanghai with childrenLearning Mandarin and adapting to daily life in ChinaThe private experiences left out of a public blogWhy Pia’s honeymoon period in China lasted two yearsWhat surprised her about Shanghai’s safety and infrastructureThe friends, culture, and optimism she missed after leavingHow living in China changed her worldviewPia's blog: https://pianshanghai.blogspot.com/Original publication date: October 30, 2018💰Best credit card for Americans living or traveling outside the U.S. NO transaction fees, only a once a year fee. Pays for itself in no time. Chase Sapphire: https://accounts.chase.com/raf/share/1805579379📬 Traveling abroad long-term? Traveling Mailbox gives you a permanent US mailing address you can access from anywhere: https://travelingmailbox.com/geopats/?ref=3422💰Need a global bank account: I use Wise for multiple currencies https://wise.com/invite/dic/debrad107📸 Instagram reels from my past and present life abroad: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/🎥 Daily video clips from my life abroad: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew🎙️Start your own podcast. The podcast host I recommend most often is Buzzsprout. Use this link and get a bonus when you upgrade:https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=2022201📬 Weekly podcast discoverability tips to help your older episodes keep getting found:  https://podcaststeph.substack.com/