As most of you know, I am an expat. I don't live in my native country. I live in China, which is a very different place than where I grew up.
This morning I was flipping through random news and Facebook posts and something caught my eye an advertisement that was selling a product that was "Made in the USA". There were comments regarding how proud people were to buy a "Made in the USA" product. I know this feeling. I have felt it too. I have been distressed looking at a bottle of Apple Juice, dismayed to read the the concentrate is from three different non-US countries. And then I moved across the world and my perspective has shifted.
We live in a global society. The global trade boom has benefited many people and, we in the US, are often treated to lower prices due to buying international products. We are able to purchase items from all over the world, from many cultures, many different art, home items or food options. We are learning a lot about other cultures as well.
Unfortunately, issues are never black and white as much as I would like them to be. My desire for this issue is that we begin to realize and accept that we are going to receive and trade global products and that's not a bad thing. The real problem is the modern day slavery of workers who are mistreated and underpaid to create cheaper products. This problem happens even with good ole' USA products. Instead of shunning products from China because they steal US jobs, we need to be willing to pay more for those products. Companies move for cost values, for getting out of pollution laws, for corporate tax laws. There isn't one clear answer but consumers drive the market. If we start demanding fair wage products then we might get somewhere.
It's easy to say "let's just buy USA" products. But then you have to be ok with not getting some kinds of fruits 365 a year, etc. We also need to keep USA companies accountable. We have lots of immigrants working jobs (This is another conversation for another time) which we support with our purchasing habits and it's up to us to become educated about the products we purchase.
The market is overwhelming. There is so many items you could purchase, just from the comfort of your couch, thanks to amazon. Suddenly, we're separated from where things come from. It takes more work to become educated and it's mainly on us. It's easy to run to Kohls, Meijer, Walgreens and pick up whatever we need without thinking about the where and how. But if we're going to commit to wanting more accountability of our products, those are the questions we need to be asking. We should not just focus on where a product is from but on the who and how as well. Then we can become truly conscientious consumers.
I am always brought back to the scene on the final pages of the Lorax book by Dr. Suess as the thneed making has ruined the forest so they move on and how I see that happening across the globe. Many companies are now talking about the move into Africa as the next place for cheap/cheaper labor and manufacturing. I just hope that some of the sins of the past will rally people to demand fair wages and business laws that protect the Earth before it's too late.
What do you think?
06 August, 2014
25 July, 2014
Grant Us Peace
There are moments of peace here in this loud busy city. My apartment complex is one. Generally walking anywhere is not. The honking, people everywhere. I realized this morning that part of my "get out of my way" complex which yes is selfish is also a defensive maneuver so that I can get where ever I need to go quickly to get out of the chaos.
I spent the first six months of living abroad trying to be happy about living abroad. It took my impromptu trip home in April for me to finally admit to myself and to others that "Living in Shanghai is not always great." In fact many days it is not fun at all. It is humbling and frustrating and occasionally beautiful. The beautiful moments usually involve times with my hubby or friends.
I finally came to terms with the expectations that I felt were on me from others-that it must be wonderful because it is exotic and living in another country. Yes, I do get to experience some pretty amazing things and eat awesome food but now I'm ok with the fact that it's also SUPER hard to live away from family and friends. How freeing it is to allow one's feelings to be what they actually are and not hide from them.
Everyday I am blessed with technology to communicate with those that I love back home. Home is not a specific location since people I love are all over the country. As my 3 week, 8 flight trip back to the US demonstrates, home is everywhere.
It's always an adjustment arriving back, not only are you sleepy but you have to remember little things like, waving down waitresses.
It is a crazy place Shanghai.
I thought I would try and share some of my daily life occurrences: the good and the bad so that you might experience China too.
For those of you that like heat, you would enjoy Shanghai. But only if you like humidity to be 50% or more. Why bother taking a shower, you're dripping after walking outside. You want to know my trick? Walking through malls? I happen to live in an area of Shanghai that's pretty ritzy and mall-filled. I can walk two whole blocks indoors. While not totally cooler, it makes a difference. Small wins.
Also, something I didn't know until moving here is how great our weather system is. Not as much access to weather radars. Recently, I've found a basic one on wunderground.com but just different.
When you live in a country that you don't speak the language, little moments of English tend to be glorious. Take the other day, a friend and I hot and tired from a walk outside decided to see if any channels on the TV were in English. We were in luck! We got to watch a ridiculous Selena Gomez Disney Channel movie. Something about Witness protection plan princesses. It was pretty comical but fun to watch something in English and on Cable!
Stay cool!
I spent the first six months of living abroad trying to be happy about living abroad. It took my impromptu trip home in April for me to finally admit to myself and to others that "Living in Shanghai is not always great." In fact many days it is not fun at all. It is humbling and frustrating and occasionally beautiful. The beautiful moments usually involve times with my hubby or friends.
I finally came to terms with the expectations that I felt were on me from others-that it must be wonderful because it is exotic and living in another country. Yes, I do get to experience some pretty amazing things and eat awesome food but now I'm ok with the fact that it's also SUPER hard to live away from family and friends. How freeing it is to allow one's feelings to be what they actually are and not hide from them.
Everyday I am blessed with technology to communicate with those that I love back home. Home is not a specific location since people I love are all over the country. As my 3 week, 8 flight trip back to the US demonstrates, home is everywhere.
It's always an adjustment arriving back, not only are you sleepy but you have to remember little things like, waving down waitresses.
It is a crazy place Shanghai.
I thought I would try and share some of my daily life occurrences: the good and the bad so that you might experience China too.
For those of you that like heat, you would enjoy Shanghai. But only if you like humidity to be 50% or more. Why bother taking a shower, you're dripping after walking outside. You want to know my trick? Walking through malls? I happen to live in an area of Shanghai that's pretty ritzy and mall-filled. I can walk two whole blocks indoors. While not totally cooler, it makes a difference. Small wins.
Also, something I didn't know until moving here is how great our weather system is. Not as much access to weather radars. Recently, I've found a basic one on wunderground.com but just different.
When you live in a country that you don't speak the language, little moments of English tend to be glorious. Take the other day, a friend and I hot and tired from a walk outside decided to see if any channels on the TV were in English. We were in luck! We got to watch a ridiculous Selena Gomez Disney Channel movie. Something about Witness protection plan princesses. It was pretty comical but fun to watch something in English and on Cable!
Stay cool!
19 June, 2014
Grand Shanghai
So I live in this really crazy place. Where there are millions of people and those are just the documented ones. Common courtesies that I take for granted in the US aren't present here. I don't have to worry about getting spit walking along the streets of Chicago. But I'm also involved in a culture going through huge transformations and eating incredible food. Lots of the people that I meet are kind and helpful. Today I had a tourist from Hong Kong ask me for directions, tell me I was beautiful and kiss my hand! Life is pretty strange! Recently I've been playing more of the part of a tour guide and tourist which has allowed me to see the city in new ways and explore some of the incredible history and culture that has been going on these lands for 5000+ years.
Here are some photos of my life in Shanghai:
This is the Pudong side of what is called the Bund. See the dark spire on the right? That's a brand new extremely tall building here in Shanghai. To give you some perspective the blue one (Bottle cap opener shape aka the World Financial Center) is 101 stories tall. (Check out the info: World Financial Tower or Shanghai Tower )
Our good friends came for a China adventure: Miss you Michelle and Stuart!
Here are the Shanghai Three: Shanghai Tower (Left), Jin Mao (Middle: 88 floors), and World Financial (right)
The Shanghai Three from the base of Jin Mao. They are on three touching blocks. Let's just saw I hope the swampland soil underneath them holds for a long time!!
There has been a Monet exhibit at a mall and they created Gardens in the open spaces in front of the mall. Great exhibit from Monet's personal collection (a few Renoirs!) and his own work. Awesome to see up close and personal. Thanks K11 and Monet's museum in France from orchestrating!
Wouldn't be complete without a hilarious translation sign:
View from the balcony from our floor in our apartment building. Check out the clouds over Pudong!
Here are some photos of my life in Shanghai:
This is the Pudong side of what is called the Bund. See the dark spire on the right? That's a brand new extremely tall building here in Shanghai. To give you some perspective the blue one (Bottle cap opener shape aka the World Financial Center) is 101 stories tall. (Check out the info: World Financial Tower or Shanghai Tower )
Here are the Shanghai Three: Shanghai Tower (Left), Jin Mao (Middle: 88 floors), and World Financial (right)
This photo is in the Jin Mao building where one of the world's tallest hotels is the Grand Hyatt Shanghai. Certainly one of the coolest atrium spaces: (looking down 31 floors):
There has been a Monet exhibit at a mall and they created Gardens in the open spaces in front of the mall. Great exhibit from Monet's personal collection (a few Renoirs!) and his own work. Awesome to see up close and personal. Thanks K11 and Monet's museum in France from orchestrating!
View from the balcony from our floor in our apartment building. Check out the clouds over Pudong!
16 May, 2014
I'm going to buy meat!
"Hey Sarah, what are you doing tomorrow?"
"I'm going to buy meat!"
"ummmm..what?"
That conversation actually happened on Thursday. Needless to say, I was greeted with two looks of confusion-maybe looks of wondering why I had to schedule purchasing anything, let alone meat. Here's the background: here in China there are many wet markets for food purchasing. You can get fruit at many fruit stands throughout the city, vegetables in open air buildings with many stalls, the same with meat products.
(For any fan of the comedian Brian Regan, his bit about the marbled meat has been going through my head this weekend)
A friend from church offered to take me to one of these markets since I had never been before, it helped me tremendously that she speaks Mandarin. Over here, so many people speak 2, 3, or 4 languages, we are so behind in the US. Anyway, it was quite an adventure.
We arrived at the freezer section of the market. We pulled up to a 15*10 foot space, with a saw, scale, counter and giant door. The freezer, the size of my apartment, was filled with many cuts and varieties of beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and sea food. We knew the beef was good so that was our first desire. It is labeled USDA checked beef and part of me thinks it is. However, I know this country too well to believe anything at first sight. If you don't want a 3kg hunk of beef for your freezer they will cut it into whatever size pieces you want. I went with 1 cm steaks. Now, buying this beef at a market is cheaper than your expat stores but still expensive by US standards. I tried not to balk when they told me the price. I won't go there too often and we don't eat meat too often so it will last awhile. To give some perspective, it was 90RMB for a .5kg. 90RMB is roughly $14 and .5kg is 1.16 lbs. So yeah, not cheap.
The meat is frozen solid, and they put it anywhere to get it out of the way, scale, table, saw, bags. I generally am not too much of a germ person but this was making me a little squeamish. I promise to cook everything thoroughly. I suppose if I actually knew how meat was processed in the US it would make me squeamish too. Blissful ignorance--for now.
Then we ordered cod. This is how it came out and also the saw (which of course isn't cleaned between the two cuttings):
After the cod was cut and the purchase of some scallops (yum!), we headed to the other side of the complex, the part where a lot of the product is alive or recently deceased. It was overwhelming.
The flooring is metal sheets that move and budge under weight and were wet but not slimy. I tried not to think about what I was stepping on. I saw many live shrimp, crab, lobster, scallops (which I have no idea how to deal with if I bought them live), plus lots of shellfish, fish and various other sea creatures I could not name. Most of the stalls we just rooms full of fish tanks, greenish, dark and generally not clean looking like Petco. I did buy some salmon for a lot cheaper than the store so I am excited for that.
While walking inside what was basically a giant warehouse with stalls many of the people seemed to prepping the bins for something, adding water and generally waiting. And then the commotion began. Large white Styrofoam boxes were wheeled in and everyone came running. The boxes had clear tape that read Malaysian Airlines. The fresh prawns and such had arrived. Everyone ran from their stalls, grabbed a bin, ripped it open and got the prawns into the water solution they had been preparing as quickly as possible. It was chaotic but really fun to see some of the ins and outs of the a market.
Here's some photos of the market, the last one shows the chaos of the new arrivals:
"I'm going to buy meat!"
"ummmm..what?"
That conversation actually happened on Thursday. Needless to say, I was greeted with two looks of confusion-maybe looks of wondering why I had to schedule purchasing anything, let alone meat. Here's the background: here in China there are many wet markets for food purchasing. You can get fruit at many fruit stands throughout the city, vegetables in open air buildings with many stalls, the same with meat products.
(For any fan of the comedian Brian Regan, his bit about the marbled meat has been going through my head this weekend)
A friend from church offered to take me to one of these markets since I had never been before, it helped me tremendously that she speaks Mandarin. Over here, so many people speak 2, 3, or 4 languages, we are so behind in the US. Anyway, it was quite an adventure.
We arrived at the freezer section of the market. We pulled up to a 15*10 foot space, with a saw, scale, counter and giant door. The freezer, the size of my apartment, was filled with many cuts and varieties of beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and sea food. We knew the beef was good so that was our first desire. It is labeled USDA checked beef and part of me thinks it is. However, I know this country too well to believe anything at first sight. If you don't want a 3kg hunk of beef for your freezer they will cut it into whatever size pieces you want. I went with 1 cm steaks. Now, buying this beef at a market is cheaper than your expat stores but still expensive by US standards. I tried not to balk when they told me the price. I won't go there too often and we don't eat meat too often so it will last awhile. To give some perspective, it was 90RMB for a .5kg. 90RMB is roughly $14 and .5kg is 1.16 lbs. So yeah, not cheap.
The meat is frozen solid, and they put it anywhere to get it out of the way, scale, table, saw, bags. I generally am not too much of a germ person but this was making me a little squeamish. I promise to cook everything thoroughly. I suppose if I actually knew how meat was processed in the US it would make me squeamish too. Blissful ignorance--for now.
Then we ordered cod. This is how it came out and also the saw (which of course isn't cleaned between the two cuttings):
The flooring is metal sheets that move and budge under weight and were wet but not slimy. I tried not to think about what I was stepping on. I saw many live shrimp, crab, lobster, scallops (which I have no idea how to deal with if I bought them live), plus lots of shellfish, fish and various other sea creatures I could not name. Most of the stalls we just rooms full of fish tanks, greenish, dark and generally not clean looking like Petco. I did buy some salmon for a lot cheaper than the store so I am excited for that.
While walking inside what was basically a giant warehouse with stalls many of the people seemed to prepping the bins for something, adding water and generally waiting. And then the commotion began. Large white Styrofoam boxes were wheeled in and everyone came running. The boxes had clear tape that read Malaysian Airlines. The fresh prawns and such had arrived. Everyone ran from their stalls, grabbed a bin, ripped it open and got the prawns into the water solution they had been preparing as quickly as possible. It was chaotic but really fun to see some of the ins and outs of the a market.
Here's some photos of the market, the last one shows the chaos of the new arrivals:
26 March, 2014
Fly Away, home?
I've been reading the Divergent Series this week. (I'm a fast reader). I've almost finished Allegiant and it has caused me to think a lot about work. The factions remind me a lot about the roles created in Plato's Republic. Each person has a role, benefiting the society as a whole. I live in a part of the world, in a certain economic status (and I know that I am extremely blessed to have this): that I don't have to work in order to survive, at least not while my husband works. This would be a different thought process if I was supporting the family.
I do want to work but I don't want my work to be my whole life. My whole life of 26 years, which I know, is young. There is pressure (that mainly I put on myself) to "know what I want to do" have everything figured out. I see friends who have masters or career-y jobs and think of myself of not accomplished enough. Then I recognize that I am also not going to do something I don't want to do.
I recently had the pleasure of hearing William Lishman (famous artist and bird-migratation assistant, ever seen Fly Away Home?), he was a great inspiration to me for three reasons.
1) His humility. When my coworker told him he inspires her, she encouraged her to go out there an accomplish more than him.
2) His crazy random life path: he went from being a sculpter to a lover of flying to a man who helps birds migrate. It was life someone gave me a breath of fresh oxygen. "Oh! I probably won't know every path of my life at the start, who knows where I will end up." Maybe I just strive to do what I love, or inspires me now. (what that is, I'm not so sure but that's a different story).
and finally, 3) This quote: "Art is what you can get away with". How beautiful is that. So be creative, take risks, and breathe.
I'll let you know when I finally start listening to my own advice and not all the fears in my soul. One step at a time.
There are so many beautiful paths in the world it is hard for me to let go all the ones I just can't do-not because I am not able but because I am just here for one life and it's not possible. I am grateful for the opportunities though that point in the next direction that I should go. Some days I let the fear take over and some days, like today, there is a gentle peace and guidance in my heart encouraging me to grasp a little more firmly around those things that I enjoy. Like teaching. So we'll see what the future holds. I'm grateful to all those around me that encourage me, your support means the world to me.
I do want to work but I don't want my work to be my whole life. My whole life of 26 years, which I know, is young. There is pressure (that mainly I put on myself) to "know what I want to do" have everything figured out. I see friends who have masters or career-y jobs and think of myself of not accomplished enough. Then I recognize that I am also not going to do something I don't want to do.
I recently had the pleasure of hearing William Lishman (famous artist and bird-migratation assistant, ever seen Fly Away Home?), he was a great inspiration to me for three reasons.
1) His humility. When my coworker told him he inspires her, she encouraged her to go out there an accomplish more than him.
2) His crazy random life path: he went from being a sculpter to a lover of flying to a man who helps birds migrate. It was life someone gave me a breath of fresh oxygen. "Oh! I probably won't know every path of my life at the start, who knows where I will end up." Maybe I just strive to do what I love, or inspires me now. (what that is, I'm not so sure but that's a different story).
and finally, 3) This quote: "Art is what you can get away with". How beautiful is that. So be creative, take risks, and breathe.
I'll let you know when I finally start listening to my own advice and not all the fears in my soul. One step at a time.
There are so many beautiful paths in the world it is hard for me to let go all the ones I just can't do-not because I am not able but because I am just here for one life and it's not possible. I am grateful for the opportunities though that point in the next direction that I should go. Some days I let the fear take over and some days, like today, there is a gentle peace and guidance in my heart encouraging me to grasp a little more firmly around those things that I enjoy. Like teaching. So we'll see what the future holds. I'm grateful to all those around me that encourage me, your support means the world to me.
18 March, 2014
Can you see the sun?
It was the first super warm day here in Shanghai, almost 80 degrees F. Beautiful warm weather, beautiful breeze and yet, you couldn't see the sun and the pollution index skyrocketed.
So no, I won't be raising any children in this city of smog.
On the bright side, I had a surprise day off when my one lesson canceled and got to enjoy the Spring weather. Plus, all of the blooms are arriving, new leaves and lots of blossoms, the city has some beauty in it after all.
Enjoy the blossoms:
So no, I won't be raising any children in this city of smog.
On the bright side, I had a surprise day off when my one lesson canceled and got to enjoy the Spring weather. Plus, all of the blooms are arriving, new leaves and lots of blossoms, the city has some beauty in it after all.
Enjoy the blossoms:
I don't know if any of you have been watching Jimmy Fallon lately but it has been quite good. I can't compare it to his other show but I have been really enjoying it lately. My favorite part is that half of the time he is laughing so hard he can't continue, laughter is so healing.
I apologize to my friends back home that I haven't been in touch with too often. Even with the interwebs, it's amazing how hard it is to keep in touch. I promise you are in my thoughts much more often than I am able to write and I miss you all! Please don't hesitate to write me and I'm always up for a Skype chat! xoxo
10 March, 2014
Hangzhou
I've resisted writing for a long time, clinging to fears that shaken my confidence in writing etc etc. Lots of fears these days. And yet, some a friendly comment encouraged me to reach out again and just share.
It's the middle of March here in Shanghai China. I've missed the craziest Chicago winter since I've been alive and instead dealt with pollution, rain and crazy traffic. (Even after a few months of living here the traffic still rattles my nerves).
We took an incredible vacation to New Zealand at the beginning of February. My soul got to breath again. We relaxed, took in amazing culture and scenery. (photos posted soon, promise)
Just this past weekend, we managed to get away for a night. Spent $80 on train tickets and $30 on a pretty nice hostel twin room. Easy. We barely made our train. Picture Patrick and I running, full speed through a train station totally out of shape. Probably looked ridiculous. We made it with 30 seconds to spare. Whew, I'm tired just thinking about the running.
Anyway, the train ride to Hangzhou is pretty quick when you take one of China's awesome high speed trains (over 300 kms/hr-yeah that fast!). China definitely has the train system worked out-and it's a huge country.We should figure it out in the US.
Anyway, Hangzhou is famous for the "West Lake" a small but pretty lake with a well done park area and walkway around the lake. It is a small city, only the size of the Chicago Met. Area. (8 million or so). So small. It's amazing how quiet it was on the South end of the lake. We arrived late in the evening but managed to take a relaxing walk around the south end of the lake. Everything is well lit, so walking at night isn't scary and it was quite peaceful. I don't find that quiet here in Shanghai. and know we will not live here in Shanghai forever because of that. There are parks, and the Bund, but there is so much noise, noise noise. and lights. Every building in Shanghai has lights on it at night, often they are moving, glowing or creating pictures. Here's photo proof:
Something that we noticed about Sydney is that the buildings are relatively dark at night. Just to compare.
Anyway, this Saturday we we climbed a newly built Pagoda. It is built on an ancient site, the old pagoda from the 12 century collapsed in 1924. Even though it was rainy and cold, the mist over the lake was quite beautiful. My soul needs to see that beauty. Something about living in the city makes it difficult to see that beauty. Enjoy these photos from the weekend:
Enjoy the view! Til next time...
It's the middle of March here in Shanghai China. I've missed the craziest Chicago winter since I've been alive and instead dealt with pollution, rain and crazy traffic. (Even after a few months of living here the traffic still rattles my nerves).
We took an incredible vacation to New Zealand at the beginning of February. My soul got to breath again. We relaxed, took in amazing culture and scenery. (photos posted soon, promise)
Just this past weekend, we managed to get away for a night. Spent $80 on train tickets and $30 on a pretty nice hostel twin room. Easy. We barely made our train. Picture Patrick and I running, full speed through a train station totally out of shape. Probably looked ridiculous. We made it with 30 seconds to spare. Whew, I'm tired just thinking about the running.
Anyway, the train ride to Hangzhou is pretty quick when you take one of China's awesome high speed trains (over 300 kms/hr-yeah that fast!). China definitely has the train system worked out-and it's a huge country.We should figure it out in the US.
Anyway, Hangzhou is famous for the "West Lake" a small but pretty lake with a well done park area and walkway around the lake. It is a small city, only the size of the Chicago Met. Area. (8 million or so). So small. It's amazing how quiet it was on the South end of the lake. We arrived late in the evening but managed to take a relaxing walk around the south end of the lake. Everything is well lit, so walking at night isn't scary and it was quite peaceful. I don't find that quiet here in Shanghai. and know we will not live here in Shanghai forever because of that. There are parks, and the Bund, but there is so much noise, noise noise. and lights. Every building in Shanghai has lights on it at night, often they are moving, glowing or creating pictures. Here's photo proof:
Something that we noticed about Sydney is that the buildings are relatively dark at night. Just to compare.
Anyway, this Saturday we we climbed a newly built Pagoda. It is built on an ancient site, the old pagoda from the 12 century collapsed in 1924. Even though it was rainy and cold, the mist over the lake was quite beautiful. My soul needs to see that beauty. Something about living in the city makes it difficult to see that beauty. Enjoy these photos from the weekend:
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