Reading Dale and Lisa's blog makes me think about all the things I would be missing if I were that far from home, but I also can't help but think of all the things I wouldn't miss as well. So I decided to make this list.
Things I wouldn't miss:
Wal-Mart. The bright lights, the crowds, the crasy people yelling at their kids. The last time I went I nearly had a break-down.
That funky smell in downtown Chattanooga during the summer. Smells like something put in the sewer to cover up the poop smell. Chances are though, China's plumbing is much worse.
Work. Seems like any American could live like a king in most other countries just by acting important and doing speaking engagements. I could be an expert on any subject as long as I'm the foreigner.
Technology. Sometimes it feels good to have no pager, no cell phone, no email, no worries.
Things I would miss:
Wal-Mart. They're just so cheap, and it's all in one place. Maybe my near breakdown is my difficulty reconciling these two conflicting views.
China Lee and Typhoon of Tokyo. I get antsy if I don't eat at both of those for over a week.
Friends and family, but I'm sure new friends and new Family are pretty awesome too.
Technology. I'm a junkie. I have dreams about flipping channels and editing video. It's very sad, but I don't think I could live very long being completely unplugged.
Posted by cmwillis at June 23, 2004 11:56 PM | TrackBackI just got back from a year in Dalian, China, one of the cities that has a Walmart. And Chinese Walmarts are MUCH nastier than the ones in the States. Bright lights, tighter crowds, and people yelling (often into their mobile phones) for no apparent reason. Plus, they're substantially more expensive than a local market. Add to that the strong smell of dried fish and open air pig parts. :-)
On a plus side, compared to American prices, the store is quite reasonable, and you can find things there that local stores don't carry.
If you were to go to a Chinese technology market, you could buy pretty much any level of computer you'd like and a pirated copy of just about any software title. You wouldn't have to give up your technology after all--just your morals. ;-)
Posted by: Jonathan at June 24, 2004 09:44 AMI was actually going to do a post about Wal-Mart in China. My dad sent a a link to their Chinese website and they now have 38 stores in China. If you don't think they wreak enough havoc in the US just wait until they put a thousand little markets out of business every time a new one opens. Most of them are in Special Economic Zones though.
Your description though: "The bright lights, the crowds, the crasy people yelling at their kids", makes for a good description of Chinese life. Sometimes not the bright lights. And good luck getting away from cell phones over here. They're just as popular, except people always answer them regardless of where they are.
Oh, and you could DEFINITELY be an expert on any subject as long as you're a foreigner. Right now we're recording oral English cassette tapes for middle school students to imitate in the years to come. It's about as tedious as working with Business students on class videos, but we're using a big recording box from the 1960's instead of 4 big Mac boxes from the 1990's.
Posted by: Dale at June 24, 2004 06:46 AM"I could be an expert on any subject as long as I'm the foreigner."
what a great line...
Posted by: bill colrus at June 24, 2004 12:27 AM