From Shanghai to San Francisco Lisbon

Hey there,

I'm Fay.

Chinese by blood, Dutch by upbringing.
Third culture kid.
Global feminist.
Engineer by education but an aspiring entrepreneur at heart.
Passionate about sustainability, surfing and saving the world, i.e. humanity. 

Only kind of joking there.

I’m also a survivor and really do want to make the world a better place. All I need to do is figure out how. While I’m at it, I thought I might as well share some stories along the way.

This blog is about my journey from growing up in Shanghai, to studying in the Netherlands, to interning in San Francisco, to starting a software engineering program in Lisbon and beyond.

 

latest posts

From Shanghai to San Francisco
From hardware to software
From hardware to software

I think I seem crazy at times. I already dedicated 8 years of my life to studying, don’t necessarily think I’m better off for it, and yet I still felt the need to apply to a software engineering course. Here’s why:

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Coming out as a survivor
Coming out as a survivor

I never thought coming out as a survivor, on a website that nobody reads, would be so hard. Yet, I find myself struggling describe myself as a survivor. A survivor of what? What do I tell people?

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It's good to be back
It's good to be back

It’s been a year since I’ve written and a lot has changed. I dropped out of Entrepreneur First, lived with my parents in Barcelona for a year and just moved to Lisbon.

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Today is a gift
Today is a gift

I’ve been back in the Netherlands for about four months, during which I have been working 20 hours per week for Prime Coalition and spending the other 20 hours figuring out what’s next.

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Vliegschaamte (Flight Shame)
Vliegschaamte (Flight Shame)

While enthusiastically telling my aunt and uncle about my experience in San Francisco and future plans, my youngest cousin asked, “How do you feel about flying all over the world, if you’re such an advocate for sustainability?”

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Leaving San Francisco
Leaving San Francisco

Leaving San Francisco feels unreal, as though I’m not actually leaving and that this move is only temporary. In less than six months San Francisco has come to feel like home, maybe even more than the Netherlands and I’ve been pondering why.

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