Trying Again...

So, I stopped posting because nobody was really reading what I was posting. Which made me feel like I was wasting my time.

But there are two reasons why I have decided to try this again. First, a lot has changed since I last posted and it would be nice to document/update people on it. Second, I have nothing to do with my life right now aside from sleep, eat and exercise. So it won't be a waste of time, since I have so much. :)




What has changed? Well, for one thing, I no longer work at Rock The World. It has definitely been interesting going from having a regular job, even though it was part-time, to not having anything. I decided to leave RTW because it seemed like a good time to transition out of the job, and also because of the second thing that has massively changed my life right now. My husband Ben has been traveling with his job and I have been going with him. And when I say traveling, I mean going to China. We were in Shenyang, China for two months at the end of last year, and we are currently in Shanghai. My very good friend, Jen, suggested I start blogging about our travels and I thought I didn't have anything better to do.

Shenyang or "The Pittsburgh of China" vs. Shanghai or "New York on Crack"

While Ben and I have been here in Shanghai, we've found it really easy to make comparisons to Shenyang. I haven't completely decided if it was a bad thing to have Shenyang be our first introduction to China, but I am definitely leaning that way. We loved Shenyang so much, because it felt like home, that everywhere else has fallen a bit short.

First, why is Shenyang the Pittsburgh of China? Well, it is an old industrial city that is trying to find its new place in the world. It has had huge pushes to reduce pollution and is currently putting in a subway. Though it is a large city for the US, it is a medium size city for  China. This means that there isn't a huge amount of tourism, just a great native Chinese population.  The food was delicious, oh Dongbei, how I miss you! Another thing that was specific to our experience, there was a medical university across the street from our hotel, and most of my Chinese friends were medical students.

Shenyang - Eating Lunch with some of my new friends

Before we came to Shanghai, many people said to us that it was like "New York on Crack". Do I agree with this classification? Maybe. I mean it is a HUGE city in a small place, 19.2 million people in 7,037 km sq(2,717 mi sq) compared to NYC 19.1 million in 17,400 km sq (6,720 mi sq), so there are tons of different people. Though the majority of the population is still Chinese, there are a lot of other influences. Unlike Shenyang, where we had a hard time finding food that wasn't Chinese or Korean, we have only eaten a few Chinese meals here in Shanghai. The city certainly doesn't close down at 10pm, especially because it is Chinese Lunar New Year right now.  I would say that it is very similar to NYC, but I don't know if there is any added stimulant to bring it to an extreme.

Shanghai - Ben's coworker took us to Qibao ancient street

The foodie side of me really loves that we can have many different kinds of food, but it also misses the great Dongbei Chinese cuisine that we grew to love in Shenyang. (We have not found Shanghai Chinese as appealing).  Also, I definitely understand the "feeling alone in a sea of people" better now. While we were in Shenyang, there were many reasons why it was easier to connect with people. Our hotel also had apartments in it which were occupied by long stay guest that we got to know and befriend; Ben was working on a project with many different people who went out together; and there was an English corner and salon were we met many different people, including a great family and a group of female medical students. All of these things combined to give us a community. Our hotel in Shanghai is rather empty right now, Ben is working alone and the only English corner that we know of is currently on hiatus because of the winter/holiday. One positive for Shanghai is that there is an actual church here. We have been going to the service every Sunday and even joined a cell group, which has helped, but the cell group is also on hold for the New Year. It has certainly been hard to not feel like I am living in a world inhabited inside my own mind with the occasional guest appearance of my husband.

With that said, China is a very diverse country, as to be expected with its size and population. We have only been to three cities and they have all been vastly different from one another. Also, you might read this and think that I am hatin', but don't take it like that. We are still having life changing and fun experiences. Life is still life.

I feel like that is more than enough for you to read for now.