Top Lists

Now that we've had a bit of time in America, we're ready for Top 10 (or 5 or 8 or anything in between!) lists about China. Here goes...

Craziest Foods We Tried:

7. Fish cheeks

6. Duck blood tofu (very popular in hot pot)

5. Lamb heart [kebabs]

4. Mule [tacos]

3. Pig skin jelly

2. Pig's ear (accidental order and unpleasant discovery a few weeks ago...)

1. Duck neck

Things We Miss:

12. Massages
11. Having a washing machine in our apartment
10. Street food

9. Getting away with things we could not get away with in America (being visibly foreign does have its advantages!)

8. Low prices of basically everything

7. Hopping into cabs when we don't feel like taking the subway...and it costing $3

6. No tips. Ever.

5. Waking up to lots of emails from home (and getting rid of those pesky listserve and advertisement emails all at once)

4. Availability and cost of fresh produce

3. The ability to just pick up and travel to a new, exciting place

2. My students making me smile and laugh

1. The amount of time we get to spend together (which we still get to do until July 5th!)

Things We Do Not Miss:

10. The constant communication challenge

9. Not really knowing what's going on. Ever.

8. Pollution (people pollution, noise pollution, cigarette pollution, air pollution, etc.)

7. Creepy men at the gym

6. Walking 15+ minutes to the bus and subway

5. Fearing for our lives when crossing the street
4. Cigarettes
3. Things never going the way they are supposed to (while we're used to it...it's enough already!)
2. Subway line 1 (my commute and the most crowded, sweaty place in Beijing. Ugh.)
1. Have I mentioned pollution and cigarettes?

Things We Enjoy in America:
10. Our gorgeous apartment
9. Fast internet
8. Free use of our cell phones (for calls other than each other)
7. The variety of food at our disposal
6. New York City
5. Being able to communicate exactly what we want in a store, restaurant, etc.
4. Brunch!
3. Having social lives
2. Pedestrians have the right of way (no more "No dying in China!")
1. Seeing friends and family

While we both miss some things about China, it feels like we never left. But it's definitely good to be home :)