| i was born and grew up in shanghai. now it's the 6th year i'm away from home. when i first came here, i was told: if you want to live a *shanghai life*, new york city is probably the only place to be in north america. from my point of view, to go back or not is more like choosing a life style.
in north america, you are most likely a middle-class. you live in a house instead of an apartment. and you have a car that you can drive around, without being stuck in the middle of the street. during the year, you fly to mexico or cuba for 1 week vacation. the social system, the employer (in most cases) and others treat you with respect. respect in a way that ppl make rules and decisions, with you in their mind (again, in most cases). on the other hand, if you are in shanghai, you might work harder to stay in the middle class range. (i restrict my comparison btw average white collars.) you eagerly follow the trend. you show you know how to live by hunting for fancy restaurants and coffee shops. you try new things because they are in. ppl appreciate you being all dressed up, rather than glare at you. most of all, the food is good, by all means =O to me, at first, i just couldn't wait to go back. but the longer i stayed here, the more i started to embrace the life style. i believe you can fall in love with shanghai at first sight. but, you see why western world is more advanced by digging deeper. in conclusion, comfortable or not, it's more of an attitude, not measurable by $$ =D |
Going Back to China?