China: The Top 25

Now that my days in China are numbered (ahem, 11 to be exact) I’m starting to realize all of the things I’m going to miss about this place. I’ve spent a fair amount of time bitching about everything I hate over here, so it’s only right that I conclude my Shanghainese adventure with a list of things that were actually, well, quite pleasant. Enjoyable, even.

1. My precious, precious students (all 700+ of them), whom I’ll miss most of all
2. Having a purpose
3. The amazing travel opportunities
4. Being consistently pushed out of my comfort zone (even though, at the time, I don’t necessarily like it)
5. Sandwiches, bread and muffins from Western grocery store extraordinaire, City Shop
6. The power of the USD over the RMB
7. The ability to simply walk around the corner to grab something at the market
8. New friends: Josh, Becky, Helen, Elliot, Paige, Emily, Becca, Ashley, Betsy and Liz
9. Experiencing something new every single day
10. Scallion pancakes and roasted sweet potatoes
11. The “waste management” (aka trash) lady for our apartment complex. She smiles the biggest smiles whenever she sees us and always says ni hao.
12. Little voices screaming, “Hallie laoshi! Hallie laoshi!” (laoshi = teacher)
13. Cooking dinner with Buffin like the old married couple that we’ve morphed into
14. Watching movies in the bebe twin bed with Buffin
15. Talking smack to the workout video while shredding with Buffin
16. Being able to convince myself that I don’t have to be a grownup just yet because “this isn’t the real world anyway”
17. Daily text messages from Buffin about something crazy she’s just witnessed
18. Laughing with Buffin about all of the silly inside jokes we’ve formed over here to keep ourselves entertained
19. Ok, let’s just say everything about living with Buffin
20. Having a routine
21. The old man (who I’ve named Benjamin Button because he looks like a little boy) at the Shaanxi metro stop who’s always waiting at the top of the escalator to blow kisses at me. That sounds really pervy, but it’s sweet, I swear.
22. Our Chinese co-workers: Touba, Jacqui, Lily, Cissy, Angela and even Stephanie.
23. The fabric market
24. Our favorite Western restaurant, Element Fresh. They really need to open a franchise in the States.
25. Learning more about myself, for better or for worse