This is me:
My name is Becky Ances and I am a writer, traveler, and tea drinker. I am a former magazine editor, current book author and teacher living in China. I spent 10 idyllic years in a small New Hampshire town until the call of the road was too loud to ignore. I worked 2 jobs (80 hours a week) for a year to save up enough money to get out of the country for awhile. It was hard, but worth it. I chose to teach English in China and ever since my first day I wake up excited for the day ahead of me and I go to sleep with a big smile on my face. It has been a long time since I’ve been like that.
This is what I do:
I am the creator behind Moo-Cow Fan Club, and award-winning children’s magazine which is now a book series. Luckily writing is a job that can be done anywhere in the world so as I travel we continue to create. To find out more about Moo-Cow and his gang please go to www.moocowfanclub.com. When we are in America we do school visits and speaking engagements. Please contact me for further information if you are interested in having me come to your school or group.
This is my home:
It’s called a yurt and it is located on six peaceful acres in southern New Hampshire. It looks like a wooden spaceship and sometimes I wish it was so I could take us with us when we travel. But you can’t let a house dictate how you live your life so it is currently rented it out while I travel around.
These are my cats:
Their names are Pua (left) and Upoko (right). They live in the round house and probably miss me very much. I miss them. A lot.
This is my home in China:
It’s called Zhejiang Forestry University located in Lin’an, a small town 3 hours south of Shanghai. I was only supposed to live here for 6 months, but enjoyed it so much that somehow turned into 1 year, which ballooned into 2, and is currently 3. I’m thinking I’ll be here 2 more to round out an even 5 and after that, who knows? The students are great, the school treats me well, and I love the food.
I started this blog as a place to write down my observations and thoughts as I live and explore a new culture. But more than that bloggers have helped me in many aspects of my life (budget bloggers, travel bloggers, entrepreneur bloggers) and I wanted to pay it forward. I have learned a lot about teaching in china, traveling and just living the life of my own choosing. I thought I could share my experiences and information and hopefully inspire people as other have done for me. Thanks for coming, reading and sharing. And if you like what you see, make sure to subscribe to get my posts delivered to your RSS feed or e-mail inbox.
Ni hao! Looking through the moo cow fan club and lov’n the concept! I am a Mexican-america who spent nearly 7 years in Suzhou and Qingdao, last 2 years in Oregon and looking to return to China this summer. Quick question: have you ever thought about video blogging about your experiences in China?
Hector
I have, but that’s a lot of work and maybe I’m too lazy, ha ha. But I actually have been thinking about it lately……
Hey becky
nice to knw ya, im fira from Indonesia! Ive seen all of ur post and i love it! did u knw? i like to traveling but i have no time for spent with it. So, you’re a lucky girl it hink 
I would love to go to China and teach oral english but scard of going alone which is i guess common sense i lived and worked in Hong Kong which happened by accident so are you alone would love some advice as fed up of my boring home life. x England
Linda, you shouldn’t worry about coming alone. In fact, most of the foreign teachers come by themselves. You employer will take care of you at first, setting you up with a place to love, taking care of the visa etc, and once you start teaching you have dozens (or hundreds) of eager students who can help you if you need it. Even though China is a strange and exotic place, you will quickly learn how to navigate your own area by yourself and you have instant friends with the other foreign teachers at the school. So on’t let that feat stop you!
live. I meant, place to live…not love. ha ha!
Hi Becky…can’t believe it’s taken me this long to read your blog. I guess it was the “chinese boyfriend” hook that got me on facebook. At first I thought “chinese boyfriend” in addtion to all the other boyfriends that aren’t chinese? Anyway from the blog I read the whole book list. Great fun. We agreed on a lot but not “City of Ember” which I loved. You’ve revisited a lot of books that I read along time ago including “Hitchhikers Guide” that I remember loving. So I recently started the sequel written by Colfer (Artemis Fowl author). He does a good job.
Nice to see you are happy and doing well.
Kim from the Toadstool in case you’ve forgotten.
Kim, don’t be silly, I’d never forget you! I’ll admit that I have been reading less lately, just because I’m not sure what to read these days. So I’m reading a lot of non-fiction (like Imagine by something–Tom?–Lerner) and also some re-reads. Like I’m almost done with the His Dark Material series again. Remember when I was first going to china and I took forever choosing the ONE book I would bring with me. And after choosing the one volume thick His Dark Materials, it turned out to be too big for my bag? Ha ha. Thank god for my Kindle.
Glad to hear from you! Miss you!