Living in China

Commentary By

Ben Hermans

Staff Writer

           About four years ago, I went to China for the first time.

I was told that I was going to be living in China for around three years. At first, I was kind of suspicious and scared, as well as nervous, about leaving my friends because I was worried that they wouldn’t remember me and I wouldn’t make new friends. When I got there, everything I had thought was completely wrong.

I Skyped with my friends and family at home frequently, and I made new friends very quickly.

In fact, I am still friends with almost everyone I met in China. Living in China was definitely an adventure, from meeting friends out in markets to meeting them at what is called “Pearl City”, which is a black market like the big mall in Shanghai.

Life in China is simple when I explain it. It mainly consists of the following: work as hard as you can, have fun with friends, and you are not tied down like a lot of kids are here because you can go pretty much anywhere by any means of transport. But there, I could go anywhere by walking or riding a bike.

So all around, it was a great time living in China. The questions many people ask me are, “Do you like it here or there better?” and “Would you ever go back again?”

Well I like it in both places. I like the environment of China, but I like the people in America, so I like both the same amount. And yes, I would go back in a heartbeat.

The best part about living there is that you could travel a lot. Because there is so many countries in Asia that are so close.

I got to travel to Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Hong Kong.

The way of life there is definitely different. Some of the factors are that you had someone called Bǎomǔ. That literally is translated to mean nanny.

That is kind of correct, but what they do is make dinner, clean every room of the house, do dishes, do laundry, take care of pets, be at home for the kids to come home to, to have someone there, and they also usually live there.

So that was different then here, because it is just less common to see around America when almost everyone that is there and wealthy has one.

Another interesting thing is, if you look at New York City, we think it is a huge city.

That is true, it is a big city. But you could take three New York’s in the amount of people and still not make the same amount of people in Shanghai, China.

Overall, this trip has changed me for the better. It showed me that I am treated so well while a lot of the people in China are not.

They are not as fortunate as I am and that changed my point of view. All together, this trip was educational and was a great experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat.