‘I Owe China an Apology’: Ex-Expat Writer Alan Paul Explains WhyI owe China an apology. One of my most popular The Expat Life columns was about the rather intense and seemingly insane quest to get my Chinese driver’s license. That involved studying thousands of questions in badly translated English and scoring a… May 14 15May 14, 2015Article at WSJ
‘Dixie Doc’ at the Great Wall of China: Writer Alan Paul on Expat MemoriesSix years after moving back from Beijing, I no longer think about my 3-1/2 formative years in China on a daily basis. Repatriation is a long process and now the whole experience has been processed through my system and simply become a part of who I… Feb 10 15February 10, 2015Article at WSJ
‘Panda Dad’ Recollects ‘The Expat Life’When my wife Rebecca was named Wall Street Journal China Bureau Chief, I gave up my jobs as a Senior Writer for Guitar World and Slam magazines and moved to Beijing in August 2005. I was prepared to plunge into an exotic new culture but quite naïve… Feb 02 15February 02, 2015Article at WSJ
Into the Great Wide OpenThere are countless motivations for traveling, but most people abandon "throwing yourself into the deep end to see if you can swim" after they have kids. It just feels too risky to set off on aimless wanderings into parts unknown with children in… Mar 29 11March 29, 2011Article at WSJ
Tiger Mom…Meet Panda DadLIVE TONIGHT: The Journal's Katie Rosman will liveblog Amy Chua's appearance, with husband Jed Rubenfeld and older daughter Sophia, here. Follow on Twitter at @WSJIdeasMarket. I have watched the uproar over the Tiger Mom debate with growing annoyance… Mar 29 11March 29, 2011Article at WSJ
Alan Paul: Kind of (Beijing) Blue“Sometimes I see the world through Jefe’s eyes, rich in the color of another’s tasteI imagine this world in new degrees, through threads he spins like tapestries; saving the wonder others waste…” Alan Paul was part of a writing movement that picked… Mar 11 11March 11, 2011Article at Jambands
Black, Gold and RedDuring my three-and-a-half years living in Beijing, I went native in a lot of ways. I ate Chinese food for breakfast, lunch and dinner most days. I tried to shop in local markets as much as possible. And I never got the Slingbox or satellite TV… Jan 18 11January 18, 2011Article at WSJ
Sweet Home BeijingChangsha, China The scene at the windowless Coco Club, a "private club for successful people" in Hunan, Mao Zedong's home province, was improbable by any measure. A packed, drunken crowd of local high rollers was screaming for American roots music.… Sep 18 09September 18, 2009Article at WSJ
Signing OffThis will be my final Expat Life column. After three and a half years, 91 columns and six months back in the U.S. it is simply time to move on. My recent 13-day return visit to China helped me achieve closure with most parts of my existence there,… Jun 26 09June 26, 2009Article at WSJ
An Old Friend in China Searches for the Right PathI just returned from a 12-day return visit to China. The trip was prompted by the release of "Beijing Blues," the debut CD by my band Woodie Alan, and we played 10 shows in 10 days to mark the occasion. I never would have returned so soon without the… Jun 06 09June 06, 2009Article at WSJ
An Expat's ExoticaI always understood that living in Beijing seemed pretty wild to most people back in the U.S. On visits home I had to make a conscious decision whether to exaggerate or downplay the exoticism. The truth is that in a big, rapidly developing Chinese… May 09 09May 09, 2009Article at WSJ
Who Knew?The volume and intensity of response to my recent column on battling the repatriation blues caught me off guard. It is a subject to which virtually all expats who have returned home keenly relate, and almost uniformly feel isn't well understood by… Apr 24 09April 24, 2009Article at WSJ
It's China, or the JobMy work life was one of the many areas in which I was extremely fortunate during my China venture. I was able to maintain relationships with the two magazines I primarily worked for before moving -- Guitar World and Slam -- while also greatly… Apr 10 09April 10, 2009Article at WSJ
Combating the Repatriation BluesEveryone in my family has been battling the Beijing blues. Back in the U.S. for almost three months after three and a half years in China, we've settled down in school and work, and we are all basically doing fine. But sadness is creeping in. For the… Mar 20 09March 20, 2009Article at WSJ
Come Home, Did You Say?We went to China in 2005 with a three-year commitment. Like most traditional expats, we arrived for a job (in our case my wife Rebecca's) and when the home office called us back, we packed our bags, said tearful good–byes and climbed on a plane. This… Mar 06 09March 06, 2009Article at WSJ
An Ex-Expat Learns Lessons from a New ExpatLast fall as the reality that we were in our final months in China was beginning to sink in, I thought about dropping my Chinese classes. There was a lot I wanted to do and it seemed pointless to pursue my language studies much further. I continued,… Feb 20 09February 20, 2009Article at WSJ
Transported by a Buddha, a Clock or a Cow BellMy aunt Joan walked into our house the other day, about 24 hours after the movers had deposited nearly 300 boxes, to see how we were doing. She lives across the street and had been amused watching a crew of guys spend all day stumbling through ice… Feb 06 09February 06, 2009Article at WSJ
Separating Anchors from AnvilsI'm writing this column sitting at the same desk in the same spot in the same room where I sat and worked for seven years before moving to China in 2005. I'm looking out the same window I used to gaze out and daydream about busting out into the wider… Jan 24 09January 24, 2009Article at WSJ
Honey, I Exported the Kids"You hear your 5-year-old kid talking to another 5-year-old kid and saying, 'So, what do you think of Malaysia? I think Thailand's a little nicer.' Those kinds of things give me pause," he says. On the other hand, the family has a limited window to… Jan 24 08January 24, 2008Article at NPR
