Last things
My stay in China is (sadly) coming to its end. I’ve arranged a ride to the airport for Thursday, and have started to think about packing…I may need to think about where the nearest FedEx office is, as I’m not sure my suitcase will handle all of my purchases…Anyway, I thought now might be a good time to answer one of the questions I’ve gotten: what do I miss from home?
Well, I of course miss my family and friends, and I miss being able to just pick up the phone and call then whenever, without having to subtract 13 hours in my head to decide if they’ll be awake or not. I’m looking forward to seeing you all soon!!
I miss going to Church. I thought about trying to go here, and if I had more time I’d definitely work on finding a church, but I don’t know how to go about finding one, and with my current vocabulary I don’t think I would be able to understand much of what was said anyway. I know God goes with me everywhere, and this is an awesome comfort, but I do miss the fellowship and music of the church. Thanks to everyone who’s been praying for me!!
I also really miss convenient internet access. The host fam has a computer with internet, but it’s old and slow. It’s only a little slower than the internet at the internet cafés, however; I’m not sure, but I think the problem is that there are only 3 or 4 internet providers in China for a pretty big number of users—the system just gets bogged down. And then there’s the censoring by the Commies…I actually can’t see my own blog—thanks to the fam back in Huntsville for posting what I send them. I also can’t get to the other blogs and news sites that I regularly read, which really frustrates me. I’ve had to resign myself to badly translated CCTV, occasionally CNN, and old Economist and Newsweek magazines. An interesting side note, though, I’ve actually been able to watch some of the Chinese TV; the sitcoms are terrible, but the vocabulary is easy enough that I can catch a lot of what is said, and the character subtitles help as well.
And, other silly things…I miss the washing machine and dryer at home. The host fam has a washing machine, but first you have to hand wash everything, then you put the clothes in the machine to rinse and spin, then you hang everything up to dry. It’s a fun time. This last load came out smelling pretty clean, though, so I guess I’ve gotten the hang of it. And as much as I love red bean ice cream, I miss real chocolate. The Chinese are pretty good at custard and have some very tasty desserts, but for some reason chocolate just isn’t the same. Add that to the list of reasons why fat Chinese people are hard to find…What else…oh, I miss my car, and the independence that comes with it. Although I will say that the subway’s easy, taxis are very convenient, and even if I had a car here the traffic is so crazy I’d be almost afraid to drive, even if there were the possibility of finding a parking space.
So really, I can’t complain. It makes me laugh that the State Department considers China a hardship post…Beijing on an American salary would allow pretty luxurious living. Beijing on a student’s budget is pretty nice. And the experience was, without a doubt, worth hand washing my clothes and missing the latest news from the blogosphere.
Well, I of course miss my family and friends, and I miss being able to just pick up the phone and call then whenever, without having to subtract 13 hours in my head to decide if they’ll be awake or not. I’m looking forward to seeing you all soon!!
I miss going to Church. I thought about trying to go here, and if I had more time I’d definitely work on finding a church, but I don’t know how to go about finding one, and with my current vocabulary I don’t think I would be able to understand much of what was said anyway. I know God goes with me everywhere, and this is an awesome comfort, but I do miss the fellowship and music of the church. Thanks to everyone who’s been praying for me!!
I also really miss convenient internet access. The host fam has a computer with internet, but it’s old and slow. It’s only a little slower than the internet at the internet cafés, however; I’m not sure, but I think the problem is that there are only 3 or 4 internet providers in China for a pretty big number of users—the system just gets bogged down. And then there’s the censoring by the Commies…I actually can’t see my own blog—thanks to the fam back in Huntsville for posting what I send them. I also can’t get to the other blogs and news sites that I regularly read, which really frustrates me. I’ve had to resign myself to badly translated CCTV, occasionally CNN, and old Economist and Newsweek magazines. An interesting side note, though, I’ve actually been able to watch some of the Chinese TV; the sitcoms are terrible, but the vocabulary is easy enough that I can catch a lot of what is said, and the character subtitles help as well.
And, other silly things…I miss the washing machine and dryer at home. The host fam has a washing machine, but first you have to hand wash everything, then you put the clothes in the machine to rinse and spin, then you hang everything up to dry. It’s a fun time. This last load came out smelling pretty clean, though, so I guess I’ve gotten the hang of it. And as much as I love red bean ice cream, I miss real chocolate. The Chinese are pretty good at custard and have some very tasty desserts, but for some reason chocolate just isn’t the same. Add that to the list of reasons why fat Chinese people are hard to find…What else…oh, I miss my car, and the independence that comes with it. Although I will say that the subway’s easy, taxis are very convenient, and even if I had a car here the traffic is so crazy I’d be almost afraid to drive, even if there were the possibility of finding a parking space.
So really, I can’t complain. It makes me laugh that the State Department considers China a hardship post…Beijing on an American salary would allow pretty luxurious living. Beijing on a student’s budget is pretty nice. And the experience was, without a doubt, worth hand washing my clothes and missing the latest news from the blogosphere.
posted by Mike and Jean Anne at 9:26 PM
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