I Miss China

posted by Alan
(click on pictures to see them full sized)

Yes, we're still in Shanghai and yes, Shanghai is still part of China. By China, I mean what i call CHINA China. There are maybe 5 major cities in China that are modern, international, touristy and bustling. These are the cities that China likes to broadcast and show to the world and Shanghai may be the most prominent of all of them. The other 90% of China is underdeveloped, old school and somewhat neglected. That is where I lived from 2003 - 2005 and yes, I miss it.

There was such simplicity to life out in a small town like Xin Zheng. Its a town so small that the local Chinese people here in Shanghai have never heard of it. Life there was amazing because you adapt to the simplicity. You reach a point where you expect things not to work right, things won't be available and many things won't go as planned, but you're just ready to roll with the punches, no matter how unexpected. You lose that sense of entitlement and accept that things are out of your control.

The street I lived on in Xin Zheng vs. the street we now live on in Shanghai

Here in Shanghai, things are so modern and forward thinking, that you expect things to work the way you want them to. It's very easy to forget that you're in China here. Instead of knowing that you can't get something like cheese or ipods or doritos and being ok with it, you realize that things are available here, and we start to get consumed with desires. Accessibility breeds desire, which leads to coveting, which leads to uneccesarily complicated lives. I think it happens in any place with an abundance of wealth. I think all my New York people can understand.

I do realize that this is an internal issue and circumstances shouldn't determine character, but man, does it make it harder to maintain character. But how much is our character really worth until its proven under fire, right?

However, living in a city like Shanghai presents opportunities that you would NEVER have living in CHINA China, such as seeing Linkin Park live in concert at Shanghai Stadium. It was a short, but awesome show. I'm thoroughly impressed at how Chester Bennington can sing/scream like that for so long. I'm also impressed at how many Chinese kids know all the words to their songs.

I also get to see Usain Bolt race in person on September 20th at the 2009 Golden Grand Prix which is in Shanghai this year. $12 USD to see the fastest human being alive run for a total of about 30 seconds....totally worth it. (Its a whole track meet competition thing, but who's NOT going because of Usain Bolt?)

LINKIN PARK @ SHANGHAI STADIUM

Response to comments(by daisy):
Kristen - Thanks for the encouragement :) The locals are also amazed with Alan's eating habits. When it's time to order lunch his coworkers say, "Get this one, it has a lot of meat!" But afterwards Alan messages me, "I just ate lunch but I have to go out and get more food." 8th Wonder of the World...Alan Gong.
Glennis - I'm getting used to the idea of writing and cooking. Two things I barely did in NY! I'm getting cool tips from friends here about how to make things like sour cream and cottage cheese! We have it so easy back home! Even if we can find certain ingredients here, they're relatively expensive. Like cheese. I do love it though... Funny thing is I'm lactose intolerant in the States but not here ~ one thing I love about China: I can eat ice cream, cheese, and cheesecake whenever I want! :) YAY!
Artemis(Prime): - Did you know Alan calls you Artemis Prime? Thought you'd like to know. I think it's kind of cute :) He calls me Cobra Commander when I wear my puffy collared coat. But yea, it's good to hear from you too! If you'd like to bring yourself over here, I'd be super happy!!! hehe No luck on the baking sheet but our friend Cheryl gave me a good tip! I can foil the rack in the mini oven! YAY! So when you coming huh? ;)
Angela - Thanks for being so persistent with commenting! hehe Shanghai has a lot of foods imported from all over so it's relatively easy to find most things. BUT...it's not as cheap. It'll cost what it costs in the States. For slightly less than 1 cup (200ml) of heavy cream it's about $4USD. That's a rip off... Know how to make heavy whipping cream without buying the prepackaged stuff in the supermarket??? If you know, tell me :p p.s. I have updates about my job in my next blog! Are you done with culinary?
Cheryl - Thank you for the tips! I can use whatever you can give me... Cooking here is like thinking outside of the box or problem solving. It's quite rewarding when I figure out or find out how to get around making "homestyle" cooking :)