By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: Anyone else not in China, and missing it?
When I was in China, I complained all the time because I was unhappy with my life in general. =I mostly focused on the negative, and didn't realize my country was just as bad in most areas. That was stupid of me. I could've been much happier if I just accepted cultural differences. There were a lot of things to be happy about there.
Now that I'm happier, I find myself missing a lot of things about China. I miss the food, the language, many parts of the culture (not all, obviously), the freedom (seriously), the transportation (best I've seen in the world), the people, my friends, etc.
So I've decided to turn over a new leaf and not focus on anything negative at all. I think those dudes, ScotsAlan and mArtAin, have it all figured out. They've managed to make a life there without being worried about X, Y, or Z, or letting dumb things get to them.
9 years 2 weeks ago in Relationships - China
My country is great, so no.
I have to work 8 hours a day but in the meantime everything else is better. Blue skies, friendly environment, I am a normal human again, services function correctly, low people density and my partner doesn't get stared at for being foreign, most people assume that she is native.
If I want Chinese food I can get it. Public transport is lacking but most people get their license in high school and cars are cheap.
I can't exploit people easily but from an ethical standpoint this is a very good thing.
When you get back to China, we will have an ECC meet in GZ.
BHGal and Hotwater are up for it.
The venue will be the hill bar in Guangzhou.
Give us the date, and we will be there.
We will spend the first hour admiring your 10 year visa..... then go eat chicken feet 
kikikillercat:
You don't want a ten year visa!!!! why?? because you have to leave the country every 60 days......which is a pain unless you live in SZ.
I just got my first two year 90 day, so its better than the past 0ne year 90 days ive had.
I miss you too. Come visit me in Shanghai!
Hulk:
Okay if you promise to be a willing sperm recipient. We can make babies, okay?
Yes, Hulk, I'm not surprised. I'm certain that when I leave China I'll feel the same way.
If only there were things to do in China... places to go, people to meet, things to see....
My life in China is one of comparative freedom and when I go back to Australia it will be less so.
My country is great, so no.
I have to work 8 hours a day but in the meantime everything else is better. Blue skies, friendly environment, I am a normal human again, services function correctly, low people density and my partner doesn't get stared at for being foreign, most people assume that she is native.
If I want Chinese food I can get it. Public transport is lacking but most people get their license in high school and cars are cheap.
I can't exploit people easily but from an ethical standpoint this is a very good thing.
Perhaps I'm a bit lazy and boring, but it will make little difference where *I* live. I stay home, mostly stick to myself. Nobody enjoys my company more than me!
I don't really feel a need to go out and do stuff, I eat packaged snacks and cold drinks, don't cook much. There won't be much difference in my day-to-day household life, but I imagine I'll be going back to doing more meaningful and less degrading work. Perhaps harder work, but I'm perfectly willing to roll up my sleeves.
Savings and the cost of living are what affect me most directly, but I value a good community for safety and out of principle. I might miss the savings and financial simplicity of China a bit, but healthcare, rule of law and civil rights are a great compensation. Education for my kids is what I'm leaving for, and I don't hesitate for a moment to make the move.
In Germany, I'll be in less of a rush to get home on the streets, but still no motivation to loiter or hang out anywhere. There's eye candy on the Sichuanese streets that put rap videos to shame. If I were young and single, I could've enjoyed it a lot more.
Chinese have the same priorities and values of kids. I can't remember ever being judged a 'loser' because of my job back home, but on ECC there's another BS article about it, and people worry too much about what others think here.
Western society measures quality of life by the way people treat one another; their involvement in the society they live in; the amount of trust and reliability that is generated. Fair and equal treatment is an important rule-of-thumb principal.
Chinese society measures quality of life by the amount of privileges and *things* a person can gather. Society is something utilistic, only to be used when needed, and avoided otherwise. People don't care about social involvement, but in how well people can detach themselves/rise above society.
Most Chinese think very badly of their own society, but it doesn't hurt them in the way it should. They don't care to improve society through combined effort, because they don't care about others. I stick to myself mostly, but I now know that I can't separate myself from society. Trying to do so just makes APATHY the value you bring to society.
TL;DR
I will return home appreciating the good things in Western society more. Not taking them for granted, because I've seen how things can become without the little niceties, considerations and politeness. If Hulk really misses China, perhaps he just needs to be reminded of all the bad stuff. The only way to shrug it off, it by no longer caring.
i.e. degrading your own character.
Yeah, I would miss things about China. I would miss the Chaos that constantly questions my grasp on reality. I think the younger people are making China better by just being educated and learning better manners.
I guess it just depends on the person. China has three layers (like Chinese have three faces).
- The first layer is trying to prove to everyone China is a great place (especially to the outside world).
- The second layer is the layer filled with problems, bad manners, stares etc. (this layer usually runs more foreigners out)
- The third layer is filled more with curiosity and understanding. You start to realize that Chinese do want things to be better they just don't know how, they remind me so much of children try to find their way through a haze (I think the foreigners that stay in China and the Chinese that leave and come back have a major affect on this)
If you make it to layer three you will have a love/hate relationship with China, if you make it to only layer two you will hate it... and only layer one... you will love it with rose colored glasses.
kikikillercat:
I find it interesting to see a country growing and developing very quickly. Western countries, been there done that, they haven't changed in many years. I see new things in china everyday, and I learn new things as well. Less restrictions in visiting places and the whole country is wide open to explore. Endless food variations.
Reading many blogs, I think most foreigners living in china don't explore it enough beyond their work/living city and of course the 'big' attraction cities. With the many new express trains its fast and easy to go to so many places, fast and cheap. I say if anyone doesnt miss china isnt exploring enough!....
yes china has problems and not easy sometimes, but nowhere is all that and a bag of chips!
-For many people it seems the thing they liked about china best was, lets face it, women and lots of free time.
-But I never did well with women, and now that I'm getting married, I won't be able (Frankly I don't want) to get any more. Also I age, as we all do, and I think hitting on chicks when you are bad grandpa's age, is not a good look.
-And I did nothing useful with my free time, and mostly drank, watched TV shows, or played xbox360. Now I'm 30. I'm really glad I got to see the world, but I wish I had not started this dead career path of ESL. I'm happy, but it is time to get out.
Hulk:
For me, it was free time and freedom. Here, I have no freedom lol. But that's 'cause I have kids now.
