Comments on: 5 Things I Miss About China (Even though I don’t remember liking them when I lived there)

By: Sven

Sven — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 20:52:22 +0000

Yeah, that makes sense. I guess I’m just a bit of a masochist.

By: Sally

Sally — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:17:26 +0000

Hmm… yeah… no, I can’t say I miss people calling me fat AT ALL.

By: Sven

Sven — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 04:03:17 +0000

I spent six months living in China, and probably what I miss most is the brutal honesty of the Chinese people. If you think someone is pretty, you say it, if you think someone is ugly, you could certainly say that too. It doesn’t seem to matter. I remember when I first got there, people told me every day that I was very handsome, but a little bit fat (by the time I left, I was no longer a little bit fat – much more walking and much less eating). One day, after being ill and under a lot of stress for about a week and a half, my students commented that I looked much uglier than usual…then they asked why I had many red spots on my face, and “English, how to say, what are these spots”. I explained that I had pimples (or zits) because I was stressed, and they get worse when under stress. No American (except maybe a close friend or family member) would ever comment on your having more pimples than usual, and hence, looking ugly! I didn’t mind at all though, because when the pimples went away, they told me I was finally handsome again. I absolutely loved teaching there and will never forget my students, they taught me so much!

By: Juliana

Juliana — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 05:13:55 +0000

These are some interesting thing to miss from your trip to China. It gives a different look into China’s culture.
I know I wouldn’t be able to understand anything if I went to China. Here’s a funny story about others who didn’t understand everything, but recognized Bon Jovi when they heard him!
http://www.stowawaymag.com/2012/04/bon-jovi-in-china/

By: Sally

Sally — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 17:38:48 +0000

I can’t say I miss being stared at much… but I do miss the free license to stare! Ahh, those were the days!

By: Leah Travels

Leah Travels — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 23:22:24 +0000

It always takes me awhile to get used to being back in the US. I’ve never lived overseas for as long as you have, but I know after simply one month in China, I was rather used to the stares and pushing. And being able to actually read signs when I got back was disconcerting. I know exactly what you’re talking about, except on a much smaller scale. I still miss the stares.

By: Sally

Sally — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 20:51:20 +0000

Trust me. It can. It really, really can.

By: Sally

Sally — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 20:51:08 +0000

Yep, I’ve been back in the States now for over a month. Weird.

By: Sally

Sally — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 20:50:40 +0000

Oh, I’m sure the menus were huge, but seeing as I couldn’t read Chinese, I never bothered with them. Plus, most of the places I went to were little plastic-tarped numbers that didn’t have fancy stuff like menus.

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 19:33:07 +0000

It’s been over a year since I’ve been in China and I missed all of those things during the first few months back. Now I’ve adapted to the American ways but sometimes in legit Chinese restaurants or in Chinatown in NYC, I get all nostalgic.

I found the menu selection in China to be huge though. We’d go into a restaurant and they hand us book full of things to order and the kitchen was usually so small. I never understood how they were able to cook so much with so little and with such diversity.