Firecrackers

Anna was nineteen years old when she moved from rural Indiana to China as a foreign exchange student. What was intended to be a five-month stay turned into a five-year adventure as Anna integrated herself into the culture of Jinan, Shandong. Firecrackers contains thirteen true and truly wild tales about life as an expat in the city, focusing on the manufactured expat culture. You won’t find stories of enlightenment in these pages, nor does anyone climb the Great Wall. Instead, Anna reveals the underbelly of all Jinan had to offer its foreign residents, with no shortage of partying, police encounters, and nearly-missed disasters. From navigating the local hospital system to long-distance online dating, from kitchen fires to escaping an attempted kidnapping, Firecrackers showcases stories of everyday humor and debauchery present in lives of the 2010’s foreigners.