Hi there!
Shall we greet with the traditional French cheek kiss or would you rather attempt one of those awkward North American hugs?
Think about it while I introduce myself properly.
I’m Juliette, aka “Zhu”—this is not random onomatopoeia but my Chinese name, 珠.
I was born in Nantes, France, in 1983—go ahead, do the math, I age more quickly than I update this page. At 16, I travelled solo to China to attend summer classes at a university in Beijing and I caught a bad case of wanderlust. I left France a few days after graduating high school and I arranged to complete my Chinese studies university degree while abroad. I worked in Hong Kong, then I joined Feng, my Chinese-Canadian then-travel partner and now-husband for several backpacking adventures through Latin America and the South Pacific.
We eventually picked Ottawa, Canada’s national capital, as our home base. I was granted permanent resident status in 2005 and I became a Canadian citizen on July 3, 2009. I have dual citizenship, French and Canadian. You can read my full immigration story here.
I worked as a French as a second language teacher from 2005 to 2009, then embarked on a translation career. After several positions in the public sector, I decided to go freelance to embrace different roles—English-to-French and French-to-English translator, as well bilingual copywriter, editor and proofreader.
Our son, Mark Floyd, was born in 2012—not quite fluent in Mandarin and French yet, but he does love some cheese on his Chinese noodles, so that’s a start.
Overall, I consider myself lucky. I absolutely love my job and I know what makes me happy in life.
The only tiny problem is, I can’t just pick one road, one storyline… so I divide life into several chapters.
In Canada, I’m productive. On the road, I’m creative.
When I’m in Canada, I work long hours and translate as many words as needed. In my spare time, I write stories I try to get published—no luck so far, life isn’t that perfect. I’m not quite the perfect North American mother either and even though I’ve been living in Canada for half of my life, I still find cultural differences amusing and occasionally puzzling.
But everything of value I own fits in a backpack, which is just as well because there’s always a point when I just pack up and go travelling. This is not a holiday but a way of life—whether it’s the three of us or just me alone, there are no plans and no hotels booked, only the thrill of jumping into the unknown and waking up in a new city every few days. On the road, I’m still working, but I’m also focusing on photography projects and writing.
I can’t settle down, and I can’t travel all the time, so I try to balance both lives—coffee and to-do lists help, and so does a sense of humour.
Obviously, it’s a bit more complicated than I make it sound but that’s the gist of it.
Yeah, well, I am not the easiest person to live with. I know.
Correr es mi destino… isn’t it?
Zhu (珠)
Hey,thanks again for popping in on my blog. I forgot to add this to the last message I left on here: besides the Mandarin links I would LOVE it if you could send my any links you think might help me to make my blog look better. If I could get it half as wayyyyyy cool looking as yours I’d be satisfied.
Gary
HI Zhu 😛
Very very lovely blog! I am very new with blogging and am simply so inspired with what you have created.
We have several things in common-
– I am Chinese Singaporean (thus the fascination with your name- Pearl in chinese)
– I was a Biology teacher (but I love art) and thus greatly appreciates what all the lovely pic of your self expression
– I love travelling (and I “accidentally” got to Toronto from NY Buffalo over a weekend and I am so mesmerised by Cananda)
Please can you teach me two things (and b great if you check out my blog)…
1) how do I created a forum like what you have done for people to “talk” to me?? YOu see,reason why I started to blog was to use blog as a platform to continue the friendship with my students. Somehow,,,, after changing the skin, I lost the “code”
2) HOw do I get into a “community of bloggers”How can pp read and share on my blog or I can do likewise for others?
B great to b your friend
john
Thanks for telling you’ve fixed your template. This is an interesting page at its nice to read about your background. When it comes to climate and nature, living in Canada is pretty much the same as living in Norway I guess. So it might be cold sometimes, but then I guess you’ll take notice of my saying: ‘There is no such as bad weather, only bad clothes’. At least I love to be out on a cold and snowy day with crispy, fresh air feeling you are alive.
Bonjour Juliette!
Je suis ravie de faire ta connaissance! J’arrive juste après mon ami Renny! Que le monde est petit! Et bien quelle belle expérience! Et tu es partie à 18 ans! J’aimerais bien connaître ton parcours!!! Ma fille a 20 ans et l’année scolaire prochaine elle veut partir loin comme toi mais en tant que jeune fille au pair.
A bientôt j’espère! Et bonne fête d’Halloween!
Oh, a fellow world citizen! I, on the other hand is a tropical man who chose to settle in Europe. Hugs from the dark and cold land of Sweden! Cheers! 🙂
Hi Juliette!
i’m veru impressioned by your blog (look & content)
and i’m especially by your biography that shows a special aspect of your personality.
Excellent blog & go on..
your friend patrick
Great blog !
😉
I love your q & a’s and your about page. One thing I’m still puzzled about is “who is feng”? And which way did you immigrate to Canada under? I had 2 possibilities actually. I just celebrated my 1 yr but already have another year under my belt for all of the time I waited.. Congrats on being able to apply for citizenship in 2008. I’m in 2009..
expatravelers last great read…Bad Hair – Photo Hunt
Hi Zhu. Can I give you some honest feedback? I’m trying to leave a comment on your posting about making money on your website, and… gaaa I hate when I feel stupid… I can’t do it. I can’t figure how. I’m not sure what’s wrong because I was able to comment yesterday.
Since you changed your blog layout a week ago, it’s *much* harder for me to navigate. Bear in mind, I miss the most obvious things in front of my own face sometimes. I’m sorry.
P.S. I’m on holiday for the next couple of weeks. I’ll see you when I come back! Hugs.
P.S. I LOVE your blog.
Seraphines last great read…The Kansas Rectangle
Hi Zhu,
Thanks for dropping by at my blog. I thought you were somehow Chinese because of your nickname 😛
But it’s awesome that you speak Mandarin. I, who has a Chinese face, only know the word “thanks” in Mandarin and that’s just about it.
Nice blog you’ve got, nice design and all, I will also drop by here from time to time. Cheers!
the writers last great read…Jo and Ja
Hi, dear teacher…
Just dropping by to show my visitprint…
😀
Just want to say that your blog inspires me to create a better blog for myself and for my readers. What a beautiful blog!
Hi Zhu,
trust me this is the greatest blog ever.
your personality, content & style of your blog is simply awesome…”extremely good & addictive”
never left a reply before…though I’ve been reading your blog for a month or so. 1st day I read your blog was on 10th July..kept reading till 15th July. left my homeland on 17th July…landed here in Ottawa on 18th..
Your shared info was of great help for my settling down here in Ottawa…
too packed with 2 different p/t jobs and working 15 hours a day.. So hardly I get time to sit in front of my PC and…but whenever I get time I just love reading your blogs. You write so damn good..
I am one of the craziest fan of “Pink Floyd” .. but never ever thought that I’d also become a fan of someone’s blog..LOL!! wish I could express the way you do of my “likeness” in qualitative & quantitative measure.
keep it up..and best of luck for your Citizenship.
*Cheers*
Salut Zhu ou Juliette,
Je suis venue ici par le blog de The Writer. J’éspere de trouver une chinoise mais tu es Quebecoise, quel surpris! Ta blog est très jolie et informative. En Indonesie, j’ai appris le Francais et la litterature Francaise à l’université pendant 4 ans. Malheuresement mes vocabulaires sont devenus tres pauvre à cause de mon séjour aux Pays-Bas depuis 1995.
Je suis trés contente d’avoir faire connaissance avec toi.
bisous des Pays-Bas,
Lorraine
Lorraines last great read…Which causes do you believe in?
@Gary – Anytime! I will send you some links by email.
@Julie – I suggest you get a “permis travail-vacances” and head for Ontario, Manitoba etc. basically, anywhere but Quebec where the official language is French! AS for jobs, it depends what you want to do.
@John – I emailed you about your questions 😉
@RennyBA – AS I noticed, both our countries are very similar, aren’t they! “True North Strong And Free” 😉
@claudie – Ravie de faire ta connaissance aussi! Renny est très bon pour présenter les gens.
@MOGLI – Argg, your land is cold! I’d rather go the other way!
@astrono12 – Thank you!
@Philippe – Thank you!
@expatraveler – Feng is my partner 😉 AS for why I immigrated here… I guess I somehow ended up in Canada and stayed there!
@Seraphine – Sorry about the comment thing, I got it fixed. Blogging is trial and errors sometimes! Thanks for letting me know.
@the writer – Everybody think I’m Chinese because of my studies etc. They change their mind when they see me 😆
@Pangeran – Thank you for your nice comment!
@Syed – THank you for such a positive comment — that really keeps me going! So, how do you find Ottawa? I’m sending you an email, maybe we can meet over a café sometimes!
@Lorraine – Bonjour! Mais non, ton français est très bon… meilleur que celui de mes étudiants! Je suis admirative: apprendre le français en Indonésie, wow! Ce ne doit pas être commun.
En fait, je ne suis pas Québécoise (ni Chinoise!) mais Française. Je vis en Ontario où j’ai immigré. 😉
Zhu, if you don’t tell us the secret of those magic noodles you’re eating on the homepage of your blog, we won’t tell you how to get out from under the Canadian snow 🙂
You are beautiful.
You are fascinating! I really enjoyed exploring your website and reading your blogs. Great design, too.
Zhu,
Been exploring your blog today. I love your drawings, my faves are Afraid of Anything and Hualong and Dianqing. You have a consistent style. Do you only draw portraits or also landscapes? Je m’intérresse beaucoup dans l’art car mon pére était un peintre mais malheuresement Il est décedé il y a 8 ans.
hello,朱丽叶!
Nice to meet you, I do not speak good English very well ! I have been able to use translation software to chat with you, the translation Translation software it not very well, a lot of grammatical mistakes, forgive me. I am a Chinese boy. I live in Shenzhen, Guangdong, I Wish you happy to spend every day in china the Chinese people welcome you。
What a beautiful blog you have! I’m really glad I found it… And we are neighbors after all!!
First of all, I love your blog. I’ve passed it around to everyone in my office. Thank you for the laughes!
Second, I thought of you instantly for our new project. I am the marketing and communications manager from an immigration law firm in Montreal, Quebec. We have begun a new initiative that I would like to invite you to become involved in. LoonLounge.com is a non-commercial social-networking and guidance site for people interested in, or in the process of immigrating to Canada. I would like to invite you to work with us on this initiative. I think that you would be a great individual to become our resident expert on immigrating from France.You could help many people just by sharing your experiences.
Please review the site, and contact me to discuss how you can become involved. I truly hope that you have an interest and that we can work together in the future.
Thank you!
Natalie@canadavisa.com
One additional item: I think your french language could be an asset!
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Natalie
Hey, so can you vote now 🙂
I love your website, the layout is awesome!
“Correr Es Mi Destino”…”Running Is My Destiny”…Hm.
Zhu,
Pasatela bien el tiempo que estes por aqui y cuando sea tiempo de correr, no olvides que correr es tu destino.
Enrique.
Hi Zhu!
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I can tell you are a very fascinating person who loves culture…we have that in common (the culture part). I’m going to keep reading about your journey.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Yours is lovely. I will visit it often. I have visited a number of places in Canada, but not Ottawa. If the Republicans win another US presidential election I may immigrate to Canada myself. Cheers!
Hi Zhu,
You always have so much to say in your posts and I can’t help
but to think that you’re a cheerful person, with a lot of experiences.
Thanks for being a friend 🙂
嗨,你好!
真高兴能找到个既会说法语,又会说英语,还会说普通话的朋友。
自我介绍不错,不过最感兴趣的是你的签名
Zhu (珠)
看到问题了吗?你的“珠”字左右的括号不是用的同一个输入法哦,或者是忘了按shift切换过来了 🙂
Anyway, 很高兴能认识你!
Good Luck!
Llevo 10 años en Canadá, pero preferiría más estar en cualquier otro sitio más cálido, así que te envidio que puedes saltar de lugar en lugar.
Felices Fiestas