10 Reasons I Love Being an Expat (in China)

Here goes:

1. mouth-watering dumplings on every corner
2. lots of exposure to non-American writers (examples: Patrick Gale, Xiaolu Guo, Jennifer Cox, Yu Hua)
3. living in an international community (yes, yes, I know, possible in NYC or Chicago, but not easy to find a community as mixed as ours...Tully's playgroups are like mini-United Nations conferences)
4. learning to speak Chinese (slowly...painfully sometimes...but still, learning)
5. okay, I admit it...I love having an ayi...a woman who comes into my home, cares for my daughter, cleans my apartment, does my laundry, cooks dinner during the week, and irons my husband's underwear (for a very affordable fee)
6. proximity to Thailand, Bali, and other exotic locales
7. proximity to my daughter's homeland (Vietnam)
8. being dumped into a culture so different from my own that I have to question my assumptions about the world
9. getting to live in China at a point when it is changing/developing at a dizzying pace
10. story, story, story (I am a writer, after all.)

Comments

[Teresa]

What a great list. The mention of dumplings is making my mouth water.

I am Taiwanese but was born in the U.S. I speak very basic Mandarin, have visited Taiwan and Japan, but have never been to mainland China. I really like reading your updates and writing about China!

An ayi sounds wonderful. I have daycare + cleaning lady, but I still have to do laundry and cook. *sigh* My husband's underwear remains wrinkled. :)