Heya, and welcome to this week’s newsletter!
📢 This Week: Travel, Reverse Culture Shock, and Staying Social
From our hot and humid enclave, we have some reflections on returning to Beijing, changes in travel, and what we miss—or don’t miss—when we’re overseas.
🎵 Listen to the Latest Podcast Episode
Available on Libsyn, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube
🎥 This Week’s Videos
- 🚲 How Often Do You Go Out? – Overseas nightlife vs. hometown habits. 👉 Watch here
- 🍳 What Do You Miss When You Are Overseas? – Western foods, condiments, and familiar flavors. 👉 Watch here
- 🌏 Travel Changes (2025) – New airport rules in China. 👉 Watch here
- 💬 What Is a Dummy Check?! – Don’t forget your stuff! 👉 Watch here
- 🧘 What Do You Do After Travelling? – Do you unpack, plan, or just crash? 👉 Watch here
- BONUS: LIVE STREAMS ARE BACK!
🚲 How Often Do You Go Out?
George Street in Sydney was buzzing this weekend, but it made me wonder: how often do you go out? While living abroad may seem exciting, the reality is often more routine. Would you be on the street shopping or relaxing at home like you would back in your hometown?
🍳 What Do You Miss When You Are Overseas?
Inside an Australian grocery store, I was reminded of the variety of fresh foods and familiar condiments like Vegemite (LOVE IT!!) and maple syrup. What do you miss most when you’re far from home?
🌏 Travel Changes (2025)
Three big changes I saw this past trip: you can now carry liquids through security, you now leave most items in your bag, and your power bank must be CCC certified in China (for domestic flights... might be hit or miss with international flights.)
💬 What Is a Dummy Check?!
Before leaving a hotel or Airbnb, check everything one last time. Behind the TV, under the bed, inside the fridge—yes, even the washing machine. Have you ever left something behind because you thought you already had it? That's what the dummy check is for.
🧘 What Do You Do After Travelling?
Back in Beijing after a quick trip. Do you unpack right away, start planning the next one, or just chill for a few days? How do you unwind after travel?
🧳 BONUS! LIVE STREAMS!
As I mentioned in a previous week's email, we were looking to return to live streaming over the summer months. We've done this before last year, wherein we broadcasted for about an hour about a certain topic. Topics included teaching ESL, learning Chinese and Russian, and living overseas. We're looking to continue with these subjects going forward, but change up the manner in which we do them.
The first live stream we did was just a little check in and an overview of some of the things you can find on the channel and different platforms we are on (including the podcast).
The second live stream, however, we watched "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in Chinese. If you've ever lived in the Mainland of China, you'll no doubt have seen the CCTV 8 TV series, which is the same one you can find on YouTube for free. Due to copyright restrictions, however, my live stream has since been blocked in much of the world.
However, over on Instagram, we've taken to studying AND broadcasting at the same time by way of writing out Chinese characters. You can check out the live streams here.
- 👋 Checking in and seeing what’s new – Quick update and casual vibes. Watch
- 📺 Let’s Watch TV in Chinese (x2) – Video 1 | Video 2
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We'll leave it there for this week. Hope you enjoyed that. If you have any comments, concerns, suggestions or rejections, let us know. Just reply to this email.
Best,
Steve
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