i don't want you to think that everything in china has been horrible. it hasn't. it can be hard and different and strange. it can make you so frustrated that you start pulling your hair out. but there are a lot of positives that i've seen during my time there. so i have learned to look at my life there with the same attitude i have taken with my parenting of three little ones: you either laugh or cry, and crying is just more mess for me to clean.
so here are the positives to my new residence (yes, it's another list form. i'm trying to write this while answering the endless "why" questions from my 5 year old, so it's a list or nothing!):
1. i'm kind of a big deal. no, really. i'm a freaking celebrity. people know me all around fuyang. and i don't know them. people take our pictures and gawk and flock to us. i didn't know how awesome i was until i moved to china! we were even in the newspaper, although that was more infamy than fame....i can get away with a lot simply because i'm foreign. in the US, we have a much different attitude about this. we figure that people that come to our country ought to know and abide by our rules. we get angry and shake our fists at a foreigner's audacity to behave differently in our country than we do, regardless of the fact that we are a melting pot and should, as such, be more tolerant of differences. instead, we take offense and turn up our noses. shoot, i've seen that happen to people from a different state, much less a different country. but in china, these differences make me popular! they are very curious about me and the girls, about what makes us different. it is not so much for my celebrity that i applaud, but rather the more accepting attitude. it was a pleasant surprise and it makes me like these people more than i thought i would.
2. they are so nice to my kids. any kids, really. they absolutely love children and are willing to forgive them anything! they place any children's well being about their own (with a few exceptions, of course, that that guy is a post for a different day). they want to make sure the kids aren't hungry, cold, hurt, bored, under educated, or generally unhappy. now, sometimes, as i have complained already, this leads to some interfering that i do not appreciate, but i do appreciate the attitude of willingness and love that drives them.
3. fashion...tolerance, we'll call it. in the US, there is an expectation for the following of current fashion trends. if you don't, you could very well be shunned. even out of school, you can be laughed at criticized for the way you dress or don't dress. fuyang is totally not like that. in fact, it is a constant source of amusement to see the different styles of dress on a daily basis. there is no one or two current trend that everyone tries to follow. everyone dresses in whatever way they see fit, from really dressy, down to pj's! in this sense, they are more of a melting pot than the US. it takes some pressure off when it comes to going out to dinner with people, or choosing the girls' school clothes, etc. granted, my own dress style hasn't changed since moving, but if i decided to go out in grungy pj's or something, i could without any embarrassment. i have a post of an email i sent out back when i first moved that detailed some of the fashion sights i witnessed then that i would like to share with you, but it will have to wait for another day. again...i have a 5 year old...who is being strangely quiet in another room......
4. shopping. not for food, mind you, because that is a constant source of frustration for me. but for clothes and shoes and purses. if you know where to go, you get awesome deals.
5. entertainment. i like karoake. if you didn't know before, you do now. and karoake is so freaking awesome here! on top of that, there are some really nice parks and hiking trails are everywhere! the zoo is close by and cheap, as is the safari park (that you drive through and the animals roam around you). and on every few blocks in the evenings, they have what noe has deemed "block parties". tons of people gather and there's music and dancing. venders show up to sell toys for kids to play with (usually flying and glowing toys), and the kids all run around together while the parents visit. it's free, fun, and convenient. can't beat that. at the zoo, they let you do so much more than we could do in the US. noe got kissed by a sea lion. they got to feed the seals (and they get right up on them, too). you feed the monkeys and whatever else asks for it. don't try to pet the snapping turtles at the aquarium, though. they bite. no joke.
6. eating out. granted, i am not a big fan of chinese food as it is made in china. in fact, one of the things i've really missed is american chinese food...weird. but i have found a few restaurants that i like and we frequent pretty often. it's just so cheap! too tired to cook? let's go out. running late? let's eat out. had a good day? time to eat out. bad day? oh, let's go out to eat. the sun was shining today? terrific! let's go out. it's wednesday? must be time to go out to eat. you get the point. no more guilt over eating out.
well, there is a lot more i could go into, but i need to check on the 5 year old. she's been quiet way too long.
so here are the positives to my new residence (yes, it's another list form. i'm trying to write this while answering the endless "why" questions from my 5 year old, so it's a list or nothing!):
1. i'm kind of a big deal. no, really. i'm a freaking celebrity. people know me all around fuyang. and i don't know them. people take our pictures and gawk and flock to us. i didn't know how awesome i was until i moved to china! we were even in the newspaper, although that was more infamy than fame....i can get away with a lot simply because i'm foreign. in the US, we have a much different attitude about this. we figure that people that come to our country ought to know and abide by our rules. we get angry and shake our fists at a foreigner's audacity to behave differently in our country than we do, regardless of the fact that we are a melting pot and should, as such, be more tolerant of differences. instead, we take offense and turn up our noses. shoot, i've seen that happen to people from a different state, much less a different country. but in china, these differences make me popular! they are very curious about me and the girls, about what makes us different. it is not so much for my celebrity that i applaud, but rather the more accepting attitude. it was a pleasant surprise and it makes me like these people more than i thought i would.
2. they are so nice to my kids. any kids, really. they absolutely love children and are willing to forgive them anything! they place any children's well being about their own (with a few exceptions, of course, that that guy is a post for a different day). they want to make sure the kids aren't hungry, cold, hurt, bored, under educated, or generally unhappy. now, sometimes, as i have complained already, this leads to some interfering that i do not appreciate, but i do appreciate the attitude of willingness and love that drives them.
3. fashion...tolerance, we'll call it. in the US, there is an expectation for the following of current fashion trends. if you don't, you could very well be shunned. even out of school, you can be laughed at criticized for the way you dress or don't dress. fuyang is totally not like that. in fact, it is a constant source of amusement to see the different styles of dress on a daily basis. there is no one or two current trend that everyone tries to follow. everyone dresses in whatever way they see fit, from really dressy, down to pj's! in this sense, they are more of a melting pot than the US. it takes some pressure off when it comes to going out to dinner with people, or choosing the girls' school clothes, etc. granted, my own dress style hasn't changed since moving, but if i decided to go out in grungy pj's or something, i could without any embarrassment. i have a post of an email i sent out back when i first moved that detailed some of the fashion sights i witnessed then that i would like to share with you, but it will have to wait for another day. again...i have a 5 year old...who is being strangely quiet in another room......
4. shopping. not for food, mind you, because that is a constant source of frustration for me. but for clothes and shoes and purses. if you know where to go, you get awesome deals.
5. entertainment. i like karoake. if you didn't know before, you do now. and karoake is so freaking awesome here! on top of that, there are some really nice parks and hiking trails are everywhere! the zoo is close by and cheap, as is the safari park (that you drive through and the animals roam around you). and on every few blocks in the evenings, they have what noe has deemed "block parties". tons of people gather and there's music and dancing. venders show up to sell toys for kids to play with (usually flying and glowing toys), and the kids all run around together while the parents visit. it's free, fun, and convenient. can't beat that. at the zoo, they let you do so much more than we could do in the US. noe got kissed by a sea lion. they got to feed the seals (and they get right up on them, too). you feed the monkeys and whatever else asks for it. don't try to pet the snapping turtles at the aquarium, though. they bite. no joke.
6. eating out. granted, i am not a big fan of chinese food as it is made in china. in fact, one of the things i've really missed is american chinese food...weird. but i have found a few restaurants that i like and we frequent pretty often. it's just so cheap! too tired to cook? let's go out. running late? let's eat out. had a good day? time to eat out. bad day? oh, let's go out to eat. the sun was shining today? terrific! let's go out. it's wednesday? must be time to go out to eat. you get the point. no more guilt over eating out.
well, there is a lot more i could go into, but i need to check on the 5 year old. she's been quiet way too long.
No comments:
Post a Comment