Happy Thanksgiving!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to share some thing that I am thankful for (and will get to see and touch and love in about three months!) outside of my family and friends, of course. You guys are number one!  I have a feeling that if I had never lived in China, I wouldn’t have noticed or appreciated these things.

1. FDA – I am sick of eating mystery meat. I mean, seriously, it’s not healthy and I think more than half of it is full of filler.
2. Western toilets – the eastern ones aren’t that bad but with lack of flushing and cleaning supplies, the western ones win hands down any day.
3. Cuisines of the world –The Chinese have yet to discover the joys of Mexican food, and their renditions of Italian food (and every other type of Western food) can really use some work.
4. Cheese- Why does this country not like it! It’s like a little piece of heaven and goes wonderfully with wine.
5. Wine –more specifically good cheap wine. The wine here is either cheap or good. Finding a wine that is both is pretty much impossible.
6. Microwave –I don’t use mine at home that often, but man, there are days where I would kill to have one here.
7. A separate shower in my bathroom – Who wants to shower standing next to the toilet? Enough said.
8. Good construction – I can’t put anything on the walls here because they are all cement. Did you know that at one point the world ran out of cement because China took it all?
9. A dryer –you would never know this, but the drier is just as equally important in maintaining your clothes as a washer is.
10. A good meal – According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the most basic human need is to fulfill hunger and thirst. I have never in my life (thank you Mom!) felt what it was like to be deprived of that need until I moved to China. Obviously, there is food here and I eat it, but the food doesn’t fully fill that need. It is very weird how depressed and unmotivated you get when you can’t get a satisfying meal. I hope to never experience this again, and I don’t wish this feeling upon anyone.
11. Unrestricted internet –I think many of us take this one for granted thanks to the US Constitution. J USA! USA!
12. A grocery store –You want butter? It’s there. You want some cereal? You have a whole aisle with every kind you could possibly imagine. Meat? Yes, just tell me how much, what kind and in what form you want it. Fruit? Yup that too, from every corners of the world, even when it’s not in season. I can go on…
13. A good school system –I now know what it’s like when the inmates run prison and I don’t like it one bit! It’s not good for the students, and its ultra degrading and frustrating for the teachers. Thank you and I heart you teachers!
14. Christmas spirit –It’s really weird to be surrounded by a bajillion people, but to have no one share your Christmasyness. No Santa songs, minimal Christmas trees, no decorations and no smiles and cheer between strangers. I never want to miss another Christmas again!

And many more…

Yes I realize that those are all a bit “preachy”, but it’s all true. We live in an amazing country and I think we take a lot of it for granted sometimes. And as the saying goes “you never know what you have until you lose it”. I may have had to go all the way to China to realize these things, but in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to share with you so you can learn from my experience too. Maybe the next time you walk into a grocery store (or do any of the other things I’ve mentioned), you will stop and think for a second, how freaking amazing that act alone truly is. There are shelves full of products full of stuff from Mexico, and Poland and China and India and the Philippines. And for those who really want it, I’m sure they can even find some Veggie Mite (why they would want to, I have no idea! Heheh). Either way, the huge assortment of available food is astonishing and it’s definitely a rarity around the world. 

And that is what I am thankful for today. Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble!