I’m Ava Ming and I’ve been living and working in China since September 2012, prior to that I’d lived all of my life in England where I was born to Jamaican parents.
My original plan was to come to China for 3 months with an option to stay for 6 and then return to the UK feeling happy about my little adventure but somehow, I’ve now been here on an uninterrupted, extended stay for going on 4 years
Trying to explain why I stayed would give reasons too complex to wrap up in a neatly explained paragraph however, I’m happy to admit that this period has certainly fulfilled a long-held dream of being an expat, living and working far away from the UK.
Unlike other travellers who blog as soon as their jet-lag subsides, it’s actually taken me a while to get my thoughts, feelings and experiences down on paper. I took the time to acclimatize because China is so different to any other country I’ve been to. It’s certainly not like a western country but just with more Chinese people and it’s hard to make a comparison when there’s really nowhere like it.
In short, it’s a totally different, amazing, world with good points and frustrating aspects, in that regard I guess it is like other places.
My perspective, depending on how the muse strikes, is as a Global Black Woman, and, at other times it’s that of British Chick, but to be honest, most days it’s simply from a human perspective.
For more information about how I came to live in China be sure to check out my About Me page https://myorientallifeblog.wordpress.com/about/
Thanks,
Ava
1000 Days In China 
Wow, four years in China. We have a similar story in that I only planned to come to Korea for one year. But, it has been three years and I’m soon to start my fourth year. I never imagined that I would have lived here this long. Now, I can’t imagine how it would be to repatriate back to the U.S. I do miss my family though. But, I enjoy life abroad.
LikeLike