Interview With Educator & Author Janet Flaugher About Her Book On Working In China

 

 

1.       What is one of your most recent books, Two Bottles of Water, a multi-book-award winner, about?  Two Bottles of Water is a memoir of my and my husband’s life as expat immigrants in Beijing, China.  It tracks our adventures and struggles with language, daily activities, cultural differences.  We dealt with grocery shopping mishaps, getting lost in an enormous city (no cell phone), isolation in an area of the city that had few westerners, and finally with the outbreak of the SARS epidemic.  

2.       What inspired you to write it?  Living in China was eye-opening.  I have immigrants in my family tree, with grandparents from Italy, Germany and Canada, an ex-mother-in-law from Mexico, and a sister-in-law from the Philippines   In P-12 schools,  have worked with and supported immigrant families in the US.  Actually being an immigrant and learning first-hand about the experience inspired me to write Two Bottles of Water and provide readers with an honest picture of the experience.  

3.       How did you and your husband deal with the culture shock of being in China at the turn of the millennium?  We lived in China before the Olympics took place there.  Few people spoke English, so we adapted and hired a Chinese teacher.  We “read” a lot of Chinese movies (subtitles).  We jumped in and tried to function as normally as possible – shopping at the local grocery, engaging with taxi drivers, who were pretty nice to us.  Our Chinese neighbors gave us a wide berth, as did light rail riders.  We found some “Western” venues and Westerners that gave us a little breather and sense of home.  We chaperoned many school activities that allowed us cultural learning experiences. We commiserated!  We bought black market phone cards so we could call our family back home.  We went on adventures – sometimes fun, sometimes scary.  We hired a Chinese language tutor.  We leaned on my international school staff for camaraderie.  

4.       What did you miss the most about America when you called a new place, 6000 miles away, home?  It was hardest to be far away from family – our children and aging parents.  We are very independent people, and it was difficult to lose that sense of having control over our lives.  Everything had to be planned in advance – we lost spontaneity.  Sometimes the weight of the extra time that had to be devoted to every activity was crushing.  We couldn’t just jump in the car and go shopping, go for an outing, go to a restaurant, or just go for a ride.  For example, if we went to a store that carried some western food items, we walked down to the taxi station.  Then we had to engage a driver who could understand us and would take us to the venue.  At the store, we filled our basket with available western items we thought we could use, and then Chinese items we thought we recognized.  After checking out, we had to find another taxi to take us back to our apartment.  The afternoon was spent checking to see whether our food guesses were actually usable.  It took us three trips just to find tuna fish.  First time was a concoction that contained red bean paste. Second time was weird looking and tasting.  Third time was the charm.  Exhausting.  

5.       What did you export from Beijing – not items but ideas, values, or experiences?  1.  Red lights mean “Stop” if there are cameras or police in evidence. Otherwise, stop if you feel like it.  2.  Stop standing in line:  you will never get to the front!  3.  What is said is not always what is meant.  Learn to read between the lines (it’s much harder to do when you don’t speak a language or have a good grasp of the local body language)  4.  Be courteous even in the worst of settings.  People will try to help.  5.  Chinese people are like people everywhere.  They want to do well in life, and they work hard to achieve their goals.  They love their kids and their families.  They are interested in Americans and how we do things in America.  They are mind-boggled that we are allowed to own guns. 

6.       How were you able to function as the Head of School at the New School of Collaborative Learning International School in China while acclimating to a diverse student body form Armenia, England, USA, Australia, Japan, France, Korea, New Guinea, and China?  Having a strong background in school administration facilitated operations.  The staff were an excellent and competent team that worked well together and with children and families.  The students and parents were delightful to interact with.  The Chinese government presented some barriers, but we were generally able to negotiate to a successful resolution of problems. 

7.       What did you learn from being immigrants in a foreign land?  As I often tell my Filipina sister-in-law, she is my hero.  It’s is hard to go to a strange country to live.  It’s not all egg rolls and fortune cookies!  The language is difficult to learn.  The food is strange.  Very little is done the way you are used to doing it.  It’s hard to fit in, even when you are trying.  You are so dependent on the time and kindness of others.  Frustration and depression are very real issues that are rarely addressed. 

8.       You have traveled extensively – through the United States, Mexico. Asia, and Europe. Can you share some life lessons learned from your journeys?  Everybody wants to be successful.  Nobody wants to be a failure.  We all want food, a table to eat it at, comfortable clothes on our backs, and a place to be safe from the weather for ourselves and our families.  Everyone has a gift, a talent, something of value to enrich the world around them. Our reason for being in the world is to help one another fulfil our needs and give our talents the opportunity to bloom.

      About The Author:   Flaugher is an award-winning, published author of over a half-dozen books, including: Two Bottles Of Water; The Acreage: An Anthem; Ny Father’s Voice; What If We Had A Dinosaur?; a book of poetry, a cookbook, other memoirs, and many children's stories in English and Spanish.  Flaugher has over 30 years of education experience, including more than 20 years in administering public and private educational organizations. As a Follow-up Lead for DLH Corp, she was responsible for oversight of monitoring, guidance, training, coaching, and team building for the Office of Head Start Regional Offices serving fourteen states and territories. Dr. Flaugher has broad experience in leadership, staff and program administration, program accreditation, financial management, systems analysis and restructuring to improve quality and effectiveness of program operations, grant development and project planning.  For more information, please see: www.jtalespinner.com 

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For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

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