Ephemera and Detritus

About Me

Er, hello!

I am on a life-long quest to keep scaring myself silly with new and improbable living arrangements.

Formerly based in Shanghai but now kind of in transit all domesticated and housewifey (for the first half of 2014, at least) in the wilds of urban Leicester, England, I am an accommodated exam specialist at Vancouver Island University teach at a university/ do super secret exam work/ boss teachers around / do absolutely nothing (for money), take tons of photographs (for pleasure) and write (for sanity). I’m currently based in Canada, in the wilds of Vancouver Island Saigon, Vietnam, but that may change. It always does.

I write mainly to remind myself of where I have been, because after fifteen/ seventeen many, many years of traveling it gets hard to remember sometimes.

Questions? Arguments? Email me: koangirl at hotmail dot com

PS I don’t accept sponsored posts, embedded paid links or secretly-commercial guest posts. If I have a guest post amongst my archives, it’s because I asked the writer to contribute, not the other way around. Please don’t email me with requests to post irrelevant articles with commercial links.

I do accept free stuff and praise and love and kindness, however.

I am also more than happy to accept interesting paid writing gigs, especially ones that don’t just pay in ‘exposure’.  I have had enough exposure to last me years.

Comments

33 responses to “About Me”

  1. David Wardell Avatar
    David Wardell

    Fabulous stuff. Had me laughing out loud and longing to return to China, which for me will always be my favourite place to eat out….. Where else can you spit on the floor, ” gambey” till you’re falling over, eat, smoke and burp and still be socially respectable?

    Reply
  2. MaryAnne Avatar
    MaryAnne

    Indeed! When are you coming up or a visit? You are long overdue for a creative haircut and bleach-job!

    Reply
  3. Hayley Avatar
    Hayley

    great maryanne! i’m so glad to see your writing 🙂 i’m enjoying a beautiful spring morning in your old house. we have tomatoes, peppers, clementines and lots of flowers growing on the balcony. we are trying to convince aysegul to get a kombi over the summer, otherwise we’ll probably get another place in october or november. but we’re holding down the fort for now. lots of love to you!

    Reply
    1. MaryAnne Avatar
      MaryAnne

      Oh, so jealous of your balcony garden! I still yearn for that balcony overlooking the Zen Garden. Do the cats still hang out on the roof and walls? I had wanted to grow a garden but I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to stay there long (sadness). Good luck with getting a kombi. That would make it just perfect. Miss you lots!

      Reply
  4. Rebecca Avatar
    Rebecca

    The new blog layout is GREAT MaryAnne! Your writing and observations are hilarious!

    Reply
  5. aldo Avatar
    aldo

    Hey, I work with the CheapOair travel blog (cheapoair.typepad.com) and we’re interested in having you guest blog for us. Please contact me if you’re interested. Thanks! Aldo.

    Reply
  6. boldlygosolo Avatar
    boldlygosolo

    Landed on your website through Suzy Guese. It’s gorgeous!
    You created it yourself?

    I’m using typepad – not sure I can do much to make it look great. But I can stand back and admire others…

    Reply
    1. MaryAnne Avatar
      MaryAnne

      Thanks! I use WordPress (.org not .com as .com is banned in China and .org is a lot more malleable design wise!). The basic theme I downloaded from somewhere, I forget where- the green background, the luggage tag art and whatnot. The rest I tweaked myself, bit by bit. A learning experience to be sure!

      Reply
  7. Lash Avatar
    Lash

    Hi Maryanne:

    My name is Lash. Like you, I”m a long-term world traveler. I”ve been on the road for 12 years so far.. nearly as long as you! I was livingi n Shanghai for 4 months in 2008, but find I prefer hot SEAsia… anyhow, i’m planning to continue traveling anotehr 10 years…

    LIke you, I also have a travel blog. I added a link to your site. I’d appreciate a cross link- if you don’t mind?

    Meanwhile, I”m always happy to meet other long-term travelers, esp. women! let’s keep in touch! hope to meet up somewhere in the world!

    Please request me as a friend on FAcebook.. I tried to request you, but was denied.

    http://www.Facebook.com/LashWorldTour
    http://LashWorldTour.blogspot.com/

    look forward to hearing from you!

    cheers, Lash

    Reply
    1. MaryAnne Avatar
      MaryAnne

      Hi Lash,

      I added you on Facebook and I’ll add you to my blog roll. Nice to meet another long-termer! I saw on your blog that you dive a lot- very cool. I have my PADI advanced cert but haven’t been able to do anything for nearly a year because of location- ugh. Last summer in Sulawesi was amazing. Ever dived in Bunaken?

      MaryAnne

      Reply
  8. Christine Avatar
    Christine

    Hi MaryAnne, I’m glad to have discovered your blog too. Learning Mandarin is “easy” (says she who has been struggling for years…) since I have no other commitments… I often wish I had a job to distract me though 🙂

    Reply
    1. MaryAnne Avatar
      MaryAnne

      I wish it was easy for me… I mean, when i actually (finally) sat down for the month of August and actually did that intensive 80 hour course, it was so easy (compared to previous languages I had had to learn) and I learned so much. But now that I’m back at work, engaged in my Sisyphean feat of trying to get a never ending stream of students to stop writing and speaking the gibberish they had been fed by their previous teachers. If they can’t learn coherent English after eight or nine years of it at school and then another year of 18hs/week with me, what hope do I have? Sigh. I do enjoy your lessons by proxy though!

      Reply
  9. Terence LLoren Avatar
    Terence LLoren

    Listen to this! http://www.growingupwithshanghai.com

    I just released my newest book for the Growing Up With Shanghai project- Huai Hai Lu. If you want a free copy let me know where I can kuai di it! Or you can buy it at the Red Bookstore in the Shanghai Sculpture space.

    Thanks!

    Terence

    Reply
    1. MaryAnne Avatar
      MaryAnne

      That’s very cool. I’ll be in touch with you- the project is right up my alley.

      Reply
  10. Gabriela Avatar
    Gabriela

    Hi there,

    I’m seeking female participants for my PhD study on internationally mobile participants. The criteria is to have lived and worked in 3+ countries, each time due to personal career path, that is, not as a dependent spouse.

    Please let me know if you are interested in participating through an anonymous interview via Skype.

    Additionally, I would like to know if you authorise me to use your site as part of my research, respectively referenced to its home address.

    Regards
    Gabriela

    Reply
    1. MaryAnne Avatar
      MaryAnne

      Hi! Your study sounds quite interesting- I’d be happy to talk about being, well, internationally mobile. I’ve definitely hit more than 3 countries so far with no spouse in sight 🙂 I’ll email you.

      Reply
  11. Julia Szabo Avatar
    Julia Szabo

    Hi,

    I have found out about you online and thought that you may be interested in PocketGuide, since we are offering the best personal tour guide experiences worldwide.
    I saw that you have been travelling a lot, therefore I believe that our offer will interest you!
    We are looking for people passionate about their city (NY, SF, Washington, Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas) to co-create audio walking tours with us and release them as smartphone applications.

    Here I list you a few points: why should you join:

    * get 20 % revenue share after each copy of the tour(s) sold (currently we have more than 150 tours for download in 20 cities in Europe and by now, altogether we have app. 50 000 application downloads per month)
    * manifold your activities without much effort (you could constantly earn money from the tours, even in off-season)
    * get credited properly and access a new distribution channel for your content, increase the visibility of your own personal tour guide business

    We have worked with tour guides extensively, our platform is tailored to tour guides’ needs and we offer careful assistance to market your tour as quick as your write. We take care of all the technical details so all you need to concentrate on is writing.

    If you are interested I am happy to tell you the details of content development, payment and send you a draft contract.

    Hope to hear from you soon,

    Julia Szabo
    GPS City Guide Llc.

    Reply
  12. Namrita Avatar
    Namrita

    Hi MaryAnne

    Fabulous blog! Am just thinking of doing a trip to Myanmar and as we’re also based in Shanghai –I have been reading your log with great interest! We have been here (in Shanghai) nearly 8 years now—be nice to learn more about all your travels. If you’re in Puxi sometime maybe we could catch up.
    best,
    namrita

    Reply
    1. MaryAnne Avatar
      MaryAnne

      Hi and welcome! Did you find anything useful for your Myanmar trip planning? I remember that I didn’t write as much as I had planned to as the Internet there was so slow and restricted and, well, I was a bit overwhelmed by it all! It’s a fascinating country! I actually live in Puxi and will be back in Shanghai in two weeks if you have any questions. Or fire away here!

      Reply
  13. indi.ca » A Totally Impractical Guide To Travelling In Sri Lanka

    […] in a barrel, from a Mannar carnival Mary Anne Oxendale is travelling around Sri Lanka and writing some hilarious posts. They include ‘7 Reasons Why […]

    Reply
  14. Ranga Avatar
    Ranga

    hmm..never thought of a travel blog..pity i didnt as i have been to a few amazing places..anyways, read a few and it sort of inspired me…loved the blog about lanka, pity that when home is such a beautiful little place, i end up in extreme opposite..good luck

    Reply
  15. Tony Avatar
    Tony

    Hi Mary Anne,

    Nice to know about your blogs. I am Tony, and i am travel addicts also. I’ve just started travelling lately exploring Vietnam and Cambodia. I’m planning to do my longterm backpacking soon and of course my own travel blogs to document my even but i don’t know where to start yet.

    I am currently working in a four corner of my office work station and my sick and tired of it. It makes me feed good whenever i remember good memories i’ve had during my travels.

    I am also planning to explore Shanghai hopefully this year, hope to crash on your place and i’ll definitely looping on you on how to get around Shanghai.

    Please add me at fb email: tony_pacific@yahoo.com or Tony Armada Jr.

    Hope to hear from you soon.

    Regards,

    Tony

    Reply
  16. Joanne Lane Avatar
    Joanne Lane

    We are seeking writers based in China urgently for a project for Tourism Malaysia. Can’t seem to find a direct email contact here so using Twitter and this form. Can you email me asap if you’re interested – joannelane@yahoo.com. There is payment.
    Cheers
    Jo

    Reply
  17. Michael O'Dwyer Avatar
    Michael O’Dwyer

    Great blog and even better writing!

    Reply
  18. Andrej Avatar
    Andrej

    Hi,
    If you want monetize your blog We invite you to earn a share of the
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    and text links.

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    Reply
  19. Tiffany Torbert Avatar
    Tiffany Torbert

    Hello There,

    My name is Tiffany and I’m a professional blogger.

    I have over four years of experience writing for the web and have covered plenty of topics about Internet Marketing.

    I noticed that you have a blog and was wondering if you would be interested in allow me to write relevant, useful topics about internet marketing on your blog at no cost.

    At this point in my writing career, I simply want to get more visibility for your writing and I will write for free as long as you are okay with me adding a small author bio section next to each blog post about myself.

    Please let me know if you’re interested and if you’d like for me to submit a sample blog post for your approval.

    Thanks a bunch,

    Tiffany

    Reply
    1. MaryAnne Avatar
      MaryAnne

      Thanks, but I don’t accept guest posts. It’s a personal blog.

      Reply
  20. Line Fricke Avatar
    Line Fricke

    Hi MaryAnne, happy to have come across your blog – you sure know how to make readers smile. The “relaxed” atmosphere on your blog is inspiring!

    Have you done a lot of traveling IN China? I am based in Shanghai for the second time and this time my goal is to explore China! And blog about it – as a part of my “stay healthy & happy in Shanghai” blog concept (getting out of the city once in a while is definitely a top priority to stay H&H if you ask me!).

    Best,
    Line Fricke

    Reply
    1. MaryAnne Avatar
      MaryAnne

      Hi there! Thanks for your comment! And yes, I’ve done a reasonable amount of travelling in China, sometimes for work, sometimes for pleasure. If you look in the category section under Excursions, and scroll down to China, you’ll find a lot of my trips and what I wrote about them– Unfortunately, a lot of my big ones in China were before I started this blog (Guilin, Beijing, etc) so bits are missing. For work, I was regularly going to Dalian, Zhengzhou, Hangzhou, Hefei, Jinan, Nanjing… I’m currently away in the UK because we recently had a baby and I really miss all my travels in Asia. Hoping to be back soon enough.

      Reply
  21. Soyeon Avatar
    Soyeon

    Dear Mary Anne,

    My name is Soyeon Noh and I am writing to you on behalf of our team here at KAI Communications (China&UK) in Beijing. We are a prestigious Public Relations and Marketing company established in 2004 in China. Please visit our website http://www.kaichina.com.cn for more information about our company.

    Totally Impractical – Living in Shanghai, your blog with outstanding pictures and contents, is very impressive to us! Contents that you have created so far are very informative and elaborate! At this moment we here at KAI Communications are seeking bloggers for our program’s web site called GTC(Global Talent China). So we would like to invite you to join us as a blogger and share your amazing blog contents with us 🙂

    For your information, I’m writing explanations of GTC simply 🙂

    The program is called Global Talent China (GTC), and is aimed at helping selected young talents from all over the world to come to China and work on various assignments in art, design, marketing, IT, banking and many other fields, and receive mentoring from successful business figures in China such as Jack Ma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ma) of Alibaba.

    The GTC site will be published at the end of the April. The visitors of this site will be from all over the world. GTC program would like to invite Chinese themed bloggers like you and share your articles with the rest of the world. For the top ones, on a routine basis, GTC program will provide incentives as our appreciation and inspiration to encourage more interesting bloggers.

    If you join us, your name “Mary Anne” with the link of your blog “Totally Impractical – Living in Shanghai” will be placed on the GTC web site along with your contents. We are sure that it will bring you great influential of your reputation as well as career!!
    We hope you are happy to share your China theme blogs with young people from all over the world through this forthcoming wonderful Global Talent China program.

    I look forward hearing from you regarding this exciting suggestion! Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

    Reply
  22. Rufus Avatar
    Rufus

    Dear Mary Anne

    China is such a great country to visit isn’t it? Well, perhaps this is not so surprising considering the sheer size of the country and the huge number of people living there. There is an amazing diversity of places, cultures and sub-cultures, and people that it could take you seemingly forever to get used to just one aspect of the place. Then, of course, there is the language… not easy to get used to, to say the least!

    So,, whilst the early days living in China will not be without challenges, no worries, as you’ll generally find that people are friendly and happy help (especially outside of the man cities)—and, of course you have us!

    Today, with the kind permission of Jo, we are going to share with you some key tips you should pay attention to when you visit China. One of our writers from http://www.mynewchinesewife.com, C Fernandez, has put together an “infographic” and we’d like to share this with you.

    To be honest, if you have lived in China for a while like Joanna, you probably already know about and/or have experienced some or most of the points in the infographic. Still, we believe it will be particularly useful for those who are still not very familiar with China.

    Also, if you or your friends want to know more about the lives of Chinese women or men and gain a better understanding their way of life, please don’t hesitate to check out the latest posts on our website http://www.mynewchinesewife.com/

    Reply
  23. Joyce Avatar
    Joyce

    Dear ephemeraanddetritus,

    My name is Joyce and I work for ExpatFinder.com.
    ExpatFinder.com is a free one stop website for people preparing to move or working and living overseas. We provide a myriad of services for expatriates and we have over 2,000 articles to help and support the people moving around the world and we are now creating an interview section to help the expats with real life experiences!
    We quite enjoy your blog about living in China, it is very interesting and informative. Would it be possible to interview you to further share some of your tips and feature some of your first hand experience as an Expatand your interview will be published on our Expat Interview section as a guide for our expat readers. The questions are mainly about the day to day lifestyle of an expat. If it would be possible, could you also send some photographs that we can use?
    Of course, if you accept, we can add a link to your blog or some of your website.
    The questions are enclosed, feel free to respond freely. You can return the doc with your answers if you accept this invitation.
    Thanks in advance and do let me know if you prefer other means to conduct this interview and we would be happy to accommodate your terms.

    Best regards,
    Joyce

    Reply
    1. MaryAnne Avatar
      MaryAnne

      Hi Joyce,

      I forget if I replied to you by email (I had planned to but last month was mad). If you’re still interested you can email me at koangirl at hotmail.

      MaryAnne

      Reply

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