France and China both have proud language traditions, a long history of cultivating the arts, and *ahem* overly-hierarchical and opaque bureaucratic systems. But best of all, they both have very old and interesting culinary traditions. Here are a couple of dishes that connect these two diverse nations.
Read MoreAnna Hartley is an Australian writer.
She has lived in Paris and Beijing since 2011.
Her work has been published in The Washington Post, France 24, Forbes Travel Guide, The Houston Chronicle, The New Zealand Herald, The Vancouver Sun, the Beijinger, and Babbel Magazine.
I Don't Know Where to be Homesick for
/After 2.5 months in China, and before going back to my hometown of Perth for the first time in almost 2 years I reflect on what ‘home’ means to me now.
Read MoreOne Month in China: The Biggest Mistakes I've Made so Far
/In the first piece published from China, I examine the mistakes I’ve made so far, and lay all my cards on the table.
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This second pregnancy is nothing like my first. I am calm, cocooning. I do my exercises, occasionally even yoga. I have an ample supply of comfortable maternity clothes and a giant (and I mean giant) horseshoe pillow that encloses and immobilises me in a firm hold at night. Sshhh. It whispers. I got you.
I am on top of my medical appointments. I take my vitamins and monitor my blood pressure. I have been registered at the maternity hospital since around the third month of my pregnancy. My husband and I spent about 15 minutes discussing a baby name, decided, smiling, and haven’t wavered since.
I am, in short, having almost the opposite experience as my first pregnancy.