Thinking of moving to Beijing?
Check out Interactive Expat!
July 2, 2011
October 26, 2010
New Adventure, New Blog!
Check out the continuation of the Elliot Adventure at Binkies & Burp Cloths!
June 22, 2010
再见朋友, 你好宝宝! Goodbye Friend, Hello Baby!
This is it.
I've put on my reflective writing mood inducing music and am beginning what I've been putting off for awhile now, writing the last post of the China blog.
Yep, the last.
Settle in, its a long one.
As I was on the subway the other day, I suddenly thought to myself, “Wow! I can count on my hands just how many subway rides I have left to go until we leave.” Then, “Dang, I'm going to have to add money to my subway card one more time.” I was hoping to just make it to 0 RMB on our last ride Sunday, as if the last swipe as I exited the subway station was symbolic of leaving China... It was at that time it really hit me that Beijing, the place we were planning on making our home for the long-term, was in fact going to be just two years that went by way too fast.
Many people have asked us to describe what its like to live in China. To be honest, if we gave you a list it would be made up of mostly the unattractive aspects of living here. Its just about impossible not to compare one's home country and China when asked that question. To live in Beijing is to live in a huge, sprawling city with dirty areas (where we live) and clean areas (westernized/tourist parts), where the contrast between rich and poor is shocking, where western logic is rare, the weather extreme, and the people, cars and basically everything else is loud. Despite all that Beijing is one cool place to live. Its the people that make the place. And if we had to choose what we'll miss most, its the people.
We've had the privilege of meeting some incredible people here- other foreigners and Chinese alike. We hope that we can always be friends with them.
With the knowledge that we are leaving, everyone has asked us when we'll be back. And while I have learned never to say “never”, I think I can say that for now we will will be closing the China chapter of our lives. It pains me to say that and pains Jeff even more. Jeff was the one who said he never wanted to go home after being here just 3 weeks. Jeff was the one who made living in China look easy, even though he no longer eats three Zhenbings a day. While I took a bit longer to adjust, I never stopped finding things that made living here better and easier. When that happened, a voice would tell me, “See? You can do it!” And thats part of the reason I loved living here- I learned what I really need (coffee), what I can do without (expensive junk), what really matters (people) and how to put things in perspective. For example, yesterday we went to lunch at a friend's house. Ok, well, not a house. She lives in a small room in the basement of a modern apartment complex. I didn't even know that could be done before. The room has no A/C, no heat, no kitchen, no bathroom. She shares the room with one of her friends. She cooks on a hot-plate in the hallway outside her room door and uses the bathroom down a dark and dripping hallway. I don't know where she takes a shower...We ate a delicious lunch, enjoyed eachother's company and had a few laughs. Many people may feel bad for her- I did- until I realized half-way through lunch that she's happy. She has what she needs- somewhere to live, a job and good friends...She may use ear muffs when she goes to bed in the winter and live far from her family but she knows whats important and she's focused. She's happy with what she has, not with what she doesn't. Thats what China has taught me.
So, to those of you who have toyed with the idea of coming to China but are still unsure, Jeff and I have one thing to say, “make like Nike and Just Do It.”
Yes, it will be the hardest thing you've ever done. Yes, you may hate it sometimes. Yes, its guaranteed that you'll miss everything about home. And yes, its rough at times.
But its all so worth it and you'll never regret it. The best stuff here is even better than what you can imagine.
And now I leave you with some important stuff to know/consider/remember:
1)The Subway Line 13 trains have the best A/C. Line 10 has the best A/C inside the stations itself.
2)Avoid Line 1 if at all possible at all times. Its the most popular line and is crowded all the time.
3)Live where the “real people” live. Its more fun that way and cheaper too.
4)To live in China means to give up a lot of control. Go with the flow.
5)That being said, when lost- follow the huge mass of people. They're probably going where you need to.
6)When confronted with a new/challenging situation or food to try, just tell yourself “no regrets” and open up.
Thats all I can think of for now...
As the China chapter closes, another even scarier (in a good way) yet greater adventure awaits us. Elliot is coming in September. Its hard to describe exactly how it feels to have such a huge change take you by surprise but we're both glad it happened now and not when we're 40... We have no regrets that two years ago we sold our house in California, that we quit our jobs, got rid of all that we owned and now have nothing to go home to except people who love us (I'm pretty sure they still do). When friends tell us having Elliot will be the best thing thats happened to us, I believe them and now that we've had time to adjust we're both excited about having a new person in our lives. One thing we always want Elliot to know is that he did not ruin our lives or our China plans. We will tell him he was the biggest, coolest surprise we ever had and when he asks where he came from we'll say, “Africa- where only the best babies come from.”
So here we come. Back to California with the 2 bags we left with and a little person on the way.
I've put on my reflective writing mood inducing music and am beginning what I've been putting off for awhile now, writing the last post of the China blog.
Yep, the last.
Settle in, its a long one.
As I was on the subway the other day, I suddenly thought to myself, “Wow! I can count on my hands just how many subway rides I have left to go until we leave.” Then, “Dang, I'm going to have to add money to my subway card one more time.” I was hoping to just make it to 0 RMB on our last ride Sunday, as if the last swipe as I exited the subway station was symbolic of leaving China... It was at that time it really hit me that Beijing, the place we were planning on making our home for the long-term, was in fact going to be just two years that went by way too fast.
Many people have asked us to describe what its like to live in China. To be honest, if we gave you a list it would be made up of mostly the unattractive aspects of living here. Its just about impossible not to compare one's home country and China when asked that question. To live in Beijing is to live in a huge, sprawling city with dirty areas (where we live) and clean areas (westernized/tourist parts), where the contrast between rich and poor is shocking, where western logic is rare, the weather extreme, and the people, cars and basically everything else is loud. Despite all that Beijing is one cool place to live. Its the people that make the place. And if we had to choose what we'll miss most, its the people.
We've had the privilege of meeting some incredible people here- other foreigners and Chinese alike. We hope that we can always be friends with them.
With the knowledge that we are leaving, everyone has asked us when we'll be back. And while I have learned never to say “never”, I think I can say that for now we will will be closing the China chapter of our lives. It pains me to say that and pains Jeff even more. Jeff was the one who said he never wanted to go home after being here just 3 weeks. Jeff was the one who made living in China look easy, even though he no longer eats three Zhenbings a day. While I took a bit longer to adjust, I never stopped finding things that made living here better and easier. When that happened, a voice would tell me, “See? You can do it!” And thats part of the reason I loved living here- I learned what I really need (coffee), what I can do without (expensive junk), what really matters (people) and how to put things in perspective. For example, yesterday we went to lunch at a friend's house. Ok, well, not a house. She lives in a small room in the basement of a modern apartment complex. I didn't even know that could be done before. The room has no A/C, no heat, no kitchen, no bathroom. She shares the room with one of her friends. She cooks on a hot-plate in the hallway outside her room door and uses the bathroom down a dark and dripping hallway. I don't know where she takes a shower...We ate a delicious lunch, enjoyed eachother's company and had a few laughs. Many people may feel bad for her- I did- until I realized half-way through lunch that she's happy. She has what she needs- somewhere to live, a job and good friends...She may use ear muffs when she goes to bed in the winter and live far from her family but she knows whats important and she's focused. She's happy with what she has, not with what she doesn't. Thats what China has taught me.
So, to those of you who have toyed with the idea of coming to China but are still unsure, Jeff and I have one thing to say, “make like Nike and Just Do It.”
Yes, it will be the hardest thing you've ever done. Yes, you may hate it sometimes. Yes, its guaranteed that you'll miss everything about home. And yes, its rough at times.
But its all so worth it and you'll never regret it. The best stuff here is even better than what you can imagine.
And now I leave you with some important stuff to know/consider/remember:
1)The Subway Line 13 trains have the best A/C. Line 10 has the best A/C inside the stations itself.
2)Avoid Line 1 if at all possible at all times. Its the most popular line and is crowded all the time.
3)Live where the “real people” live. Its more fun that way and cheaper too.
4)To live in China means to give up a lot of control. Go with the flow.
5)That being said, when lost- follow the huge mass of people. They're probably going where you need to.
6)When confronted with a new/challenging situation or food to try, just tell yourself “no regrets” and open up.
Thats all I can think of for now...
As the China chapter closes, another even scarier (in a good way) yet greater adventure awaits us. Elliot is coming in September. Its hard to describe exactly how it feels to have such a huge change take you by surprise but we're both glad it happened now and not when we're 40... We have no regrets that two years ago we sold our house in California, that we quit our jobs, got rid of all that we owned and now have nothing to go home to except people who love us (I'm pretty sure they still do). When friends tell us having Elliot will be the best thing thats happened to us, I believe them and now that we've had time to adjust we're both excited about having a new person in our lives. One thing we always want Elliot to know is that he did not ruin our lives or our China plans. We will tell him he was the biggest, coolest surprise we ever had and when he asks where he came from we'll say, “Africa- where only the best babies come from.”
So here we come. Back to California with the 2 bags we left with and a little person on the way.
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