Hey! I’m Ivan B, a Canadian English teacher-turned-translator living in Shenzhen, China. Welcome to Country and a Half!
I’m glad you’ve stumbled upon my website!
If you’re thinking of working in China, this blog is for you!
It was 2013 when I decided to move halfway across the world to China. To this day, I maintain that it was one of the best decisions I ever made. At first, it wasn’t easy adjusting to a completely different culture with a completely different language. However, over the years, I slowly became more accustomed to my life here, and learned how to navigate a land and culture that was not my own. Now, this “old China hand” is here to help you, my readers, succeed as I have succeeded, and have an enriching, rewarding experience along the way! If you’re thinking of working in China, this blog is for you!
What the heck is Country and a Half?
Great question!
I started this blog with the original intent of showcasing my travels around the world to my friends, family, and basically anyone else with a two-minute plus attention span who (probably drunkenly) stumbled upon my website.
Now, I have been living in China for 4 years now and have learned a lot about the culture, work, food, travel, and simply, success. However, not everyone finds achieving success in China (or anywhere else for that matter) to be the easiest thing to do. So, I’ve decided to focus my blog on helping expats like me navigate through life in China as best as they can. And trust me, when I first came here, I was just as clueless as everyone else! It hasn’t been easy, but I’ll reveal some tips, tricks, and simple guides to show you how you can better enjoy your life in China. My posts mainly discuss culture, employment (English teaching and translation, among others), food, money, and travel. However, I like to write about a variety of different things, so if you ever have a topic you wish to know more about, please leave it in the comments section and I’ll see if I can write a blog post about it!
I hope to inspire you to step out of your comfort zone and be the best person you can be. Find your voice. Find your passion. Set a goal and work towards it.
A little more about me…
I was born and raised in British Columbia, Canada, one of the most stunning (and rainy!) places on Earth.
Having never left North America, in 2012, I decided to travel to South Korea to meet up with some friends. Needless to say I was floored by my experience and didn’t want it to end. When I graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2013, I signed up to teach English in China for one year.
After feeling fatigued with my job, I decided to return to Canada for one year and took up a job at a grocery store. I met a lot of cool people from a huge variety of backgrounds which certainly changed my perspective on things. Though I enjoyed my time there, I had an urge to go travel again, which brought me back to China, my current home base for jumping off to foreign lands.
I currently work as a translator in Shenzhen, China, and travel whenever I can. I also try to eat local as much as possible, to bring you new things you may have never tried or even heard of. You will quickly be able to tell that noodles are an undeniable passion of mine!
Get started!
Don’t wait! Start exploring all China has to offer by exploring my website.
Thanks for reading. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for more useful CHINA-related content!
-Ivan B