What do I miss from China? Their great food tops the list but I have to add that I really miss the challenge. Challenge is not to be confused with stress. I miss the sense of accomplishment of making it thru a day in China. Mental, physical and emotional. Driving, walking, shopping, cooking, eating, and accessing information are all so easy here. Banking in China is a challenge. Banking in the US takes 5- 10 minutes, either write a check, get cash from a ATM or hand them a credit or bank card. In China I never saw a check, or saw anyone write a check. I was paid in cash. If I needed cash from my US account I generally waited in line for 20-30 minutes at an ATM machine that might or might not work. I saw some Chinese use bank cards and credit cards in some of the bigger stores but generally China is a cash only society. In a couple of smaller cities there were hotels that could not take a credit card. Credit cards are just starting in China. This fall there were tables set up outside at ZUFE where they were peddling them to the students (I wanted to yell at all the kids getting them – don’t do it). I guess it will make things easier but will the new generation of Chinese end up in debt as many people in the US do?
Back to the sense of accomplishment remember when your favorite elementary school teacher gushed over how great you were reading your first word or adding your first set of numbers. Well when I finally figured out how to do some of the normal survival things in China I got that same feeling. When I finally found the Bank of China location where my ATM card always worked even though it was about a 2-3 mile walk, I got that same “great job Katie” rush. The first time I carried my bowl downstairs to the restaurant and ordered my fried rice in Chinese and have the cook actually understand me – I got it. Crossing the street without having a panic attack gave it to me. Catching taxicabs and being able to communicate where I wanted to go – major rush! Every time I memorized a new bus route (cause I can not read any of the locationswritten with Chinese characters) I got it again. That feeling is what I miss.
Maybe things are too easy in America and we expect everything to be easy. (Case in point – the easy button ad on TV). We as Americans complain a lot especially when compared to the Chinese. Chinese don’t appear to complain – even when things don’t go as planned – they just do it another way. When Americans get frustrated we seem to automatically react with blaming someone or something. Maybe we should direct that blaming energy into something more positive. Granted China could easily make a lot of things way more efficient and still not limit that feeling of accomplishment. They are headed that way right now with all the new foreign companies starting to work in their country. If I go back I am sure even with China becoming more efficient I will still feel that major sense of accomplishment just because of the language barrier.
Side Note- Picture above is the source of MY GREATEST sense of accomplishment - Zac
