Living Laowai: A Foreigner's Survival In China

By Katrina Cogan

Laowai is Mandarin for foreigner. And that is EXACTLY what I was for a year in Communist China, a foreigner. I ignored that name. I grew to hate that name. In the end, I embraced that name... It's 2008, I'm a recent divorcee living in Missouri and feel my shame is too great a burden to carry back to my family in New York. Embarrassed by my failed marriage, I impulsively decide to do something extraordinary for someone who always feels less than ordinary. Searching on the internet, I eagerly accept a six month teaching position at a private English School in Xi'an, China. With very little knowledge of the far East, I jump blindly into this adventure, one that will prove almost fatal. The moment the landing wheels of my plane meets the tarmac in Xi'an, I embark on a dark journey that will cost me almost everything, my health, my sanity, my identity, and most importantly, my daughter. The temporary refuge I sought in China becomes a self-inflicted hardship as I fall into a depression from lack of English speaking friends, absent family, overworked hours, and non-stop illness from pollution. I am trapped for a year in Xi'an, and before my contract ends, I learn of my crooked boss's plot to cheat me out of my salary and I must formulate a plan to get what is owed and find a way home. At the same time I become caught up in a violent unrest from the aftermath of the 2009 Urumqi riots between the Uyghurs and the Chinese. Finding a way back to the United States begins to seem an impossible mission. Struggling to acclimate to China, I will cross paths with thieves, con-artists, and eventual murderers. Amidst the turmoil, I am also befriend by incredible locals who help navigate and guide me through the chaos, the confusion, and ultimately my escape... I take great lengths, and painstakingly intimate detail on my hardships, my joys, my friendships, and my ultimate revelations of what matters most. When I was at my worst, when I regretted everything about that year, the pollution I exposed my body to, the loneliness I forced upon myself, the year I abandoned my daughter, the year I can't take back, I decided to write my story and shift some of my pain to pages and within a memoir, began the process of healing, and ultimately forgiving myself

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1520490933
• ISBN13: 9781520490939
• Release Date: January 2017
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 261 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"