Why Shenyang makes me happy

This week's Foreign Service Blog Round-Up is about what makes you happy in your current post. I've been thinking about this a lot the last few days, since returning home from more than a MONTH back in the USA.

I was ready and happy to come home. I missed Kevin and I missed my home, but I'll have to be honest: I didn't miss Shenyang that much. Shenyang is basically the Detroit of China. Sure, it's a big, important city (top ten largest in China with 8 million people), but it's nowhere you'd go just for fun. There are no tourists in Shenyang. It's really cold in the winter, really dirty, and really polluted. The other expats you meet here are with companies like BMW, Michelin, Bombardier, and Rolls-Royce. It's very industrial here, and like I said, the Detroit of China.

HOWEVER

When Kevin was bidding for his posts, there was a list full of exotic locations like Paris, Vatican City, Cairo, Athens, and Juarez (ha ha ha!). Those didn't make our top list, but Shenyang was at-or-near the top for both of us. And I'm very happy we got this post. Let me list some reasons why.

~ I get to practice my Chinese everywhere we go, because most people don't speak English and even if they do, they prefer speaking Chinese. My Chinese has gotten much better-- to the point where even talking to a hotel concierge in Beijing, I lost patience with his accented English and just talked to him in Chinese.

~ My girls are learning Chinese.

~ I love some "only in China" foods like drinkable yogurts, tangy green Xinjiang raisins, lamb kebabs, and ice cream floats at McDonald's. Our Ayi makes some awesome liang cai (Chinese salad, essentially). It has shredded cucumbers, green peppers, carrots, cilantro, tofu bamboo, and a sesame dressing.

~ We have a wonderful housekeeper. I'm loving that my house is clean-- well, cleaner (I still live here, after all)-- and I love that it leaves me more time to play with my kids. But what struck me the most after our month-long vacation is that it's fun to have another person love your children. Ayi LOVES Naomi, and she was so excited to see her when we got back that she came by on a Saturday to visit with Naomi. She exclaims about how much she's grown, how tan she is (which is a bad thing in China, but whatever), how she's grown more teeth, and how she can stand on her own. It's fun to be able to share those with other people.

~ Wherever we go, I kind of feel like Brad and Angelina with their posse of kids. People talk about us as we walk by, elbowing their friends to come look at the beautiful little foreign dolls. They smack their lips to get the babies' attention, and the old ladies come and tell me to dress them warmer. The younger generation all stop to take pictures on their cell phones. I think half the population of Shenyang must have their pictures as cell phone wall paper by now. Everywhere we go, people exclaim about how beautiful they are, and look at those eyes! It does a momma's pride good.

~ People tell me I'm amazing for taking care of two whole kids all by myself. It's twice as many as the average Chinese person has.

~ Before we went to Hawaii, I got a couple sundresses and Kevin's aloha shirt tailor made. It cost about $20 each. I need to take full advantage of this before we leave.

~ I actually like the weather. I mean, sure, it's hovering around 0 degrees Fahrenheit these days, but the spring, summer, and fall are very pleasant.

~ We live upstairs from H&M.

~ Ikea is a 10 minute drive away.

~ I don't have hundreds of friends, but I do have several good ones. I'd rather have several good friends than hundreds of acquaintances anyway. We have a small consulate community, a tiny church group, and a few neighbors with kids the same ages as mine. We have fun whenever we get together.

~ Our apartment serves breakfast every morning.

~ I can walk for 5 minutes and find a grocery store (even with imported goods) in 3 directions.

Okay, so Shenyang's no beach vacation. I doubt anyone could accuse it of being glamorous. But for what it is and what it has, we're very happy here.