A Day in the Life of an Expat Living in China

What do you do all day?

Most people have their routines and habits. Most of these were built up over a lifetime, living in their own country. Everything is familiar, commonplace.

But when you move to a new country everything changes. Just going to the grocery store can be challenging. Nothing is the same anymore.

Here’s what a typical workday looks like for me in China.

Morning

In the morning, I wake up and check on my water supply. Do I have enough water to get me through the day? If I don’t, I’ll have to plan an emergency trip to the store. If I do but am running low, I’ll have to remember to buy some on my way home from work.

Next, it’s time to make breakfast. I usually have oatmeal, so I have to carefully monitor how much I have left of that, too. Otherwise, it’s time for another trip to the store. A different store than the water store.

Shopping in China is not as easy as it is back home. I have to go to four different grocery stores. 4! I have one to buy water. I have one for snacks and vegetables. I have a Walmart for oatmeal and random household things. And then there are the import stores for the really good snacks and other comforts of home.

I have to teach online classes because I was stupid enough to think that teaching a few classes would be a great way to earn extra money. It wasn’t. I would much rather be able to sleep in. But, I have to get up, check my schedule and see what classes and how many I’m teaching.

But once the torture of online classes is over, it’s time for lunch. I can either make my own food or order it. Often, I just order it. It’s easy. In 40 minutes or less, I have a fully cooked delicious meal right at my doorstep. Well, technically, it’s downstairs but it’s close enough.

I also try to do a load of laundry in between classes. In China, they don’t believe in dryers. I have to hang dry all of my clothes. It can take quite a while to do all my laundry. Just washing and drying my sheets can take the better part of a week!

Then, it’s time for lunch or a snack at about 11. Usually, I just order something for delivery. It takes less than 40 minutes to get to my building. I just have to go downstairs to fetch it. They haven’t been allowed to deliver to the door since the last time there was Covid in the city months ago.

After eating, I am more than ready for my afternoon nap. Yes, I take a lot of naps. They’re necessary when you stay up until midnight and then have to wake up and teach a class at 8 am.

Afternoon

I have to start getting ready for work over an hour before I have to be there. It takes me that long to get there. Granted, I also don’t usually want to jump up and leave. 2pm is my typical nap time after all.

Getting in the metro is a complicated dance. I have to show my QR code, put my bag on the x-ray scanner, and grab my water bottle. Walk three steps then hand over my water bottle, grab my bag, and grab my water bottle back all while switching apps on my phone so I can get through the ticket gates with a minimum of fuss and people trying to tell me something I don’t understand in Chinese.

The metro ride itself is rather short, only a few stops, but the walk that follows takes about half an hour. I’ve started to enjoy the walk. It gives me a chance to think about my upcoming classes, what I want for lunch, or listen to an episode of some podcast. I’m woefully behind.

Once I get to work it’s time to order more food. We call it lunch, but it’s at 3 o clock. Often it’s my dinner. But not always. There are only a few restaurants around that I like so I do wind up eating the same thing a lot, but it is yummy and usually cheap.

While waiting for my food to arrive, I can either get some work done, if I have any, or I can chat with my coworkers. Since most of the materials for class have already been made, I spend most of my time just chatting.

At 5:30 p.m., I start teaching my first class. And then I just keep teaching, often without breaks (yay grading!), until almost 9 p.m. It’s only two classes, but it often feels like more, especially if they’ve been yelling or they’ve forgotten where their seats are and I’ve been yelling).

Evening

After I finish teaching, my classroom often looks like a disaster area. I spend some time cleaning and getting ready for the long walk home. If any of my friends are walking to the metro station, we wait for each other and go together.

I have just enough time after work to go to one of two grocery stores. I can either buy some food or water, but not both. My backpack isn’t big enough to carry both. I have to make a decision based on which one I need more.

Once I’ve finally made it home, I’m exhausted but I can’t go straight to sleep. I need to do something first. I need to relax. I’ll either watch an episode of some TV show or read a book.

And then the blessed event – I get to go to sleep for 7 or so uninterrupted hours of blissful unconsciousness.

But, all too soon, I have to start everything all over again.