As I type this post, I am sitting in a bustling coffee/teahouse. There are people all around me consuming all types and varieties of colorful beverages. Outside, window shoppers are meandering along the fairly crowded street, with bikes and mopeds jostling for real estate. The weather is reasonably nice (we always have gray skies, but today is a brighter, clearer version of gray than usual). I love the hustle and bustle of Asia!
There are times when I struggle with living in Asia. The cultural stresses, climate challenges, and culinary differences just kind of pile up and weigh me down. Today is not one of those days. As a matter of fact, this week has been a kind of personal “Asian renaissance” for me. I have been all over the city for the past week with visitors from Atlanta. It has been a time where I have been able to simple enjoy some of the quirky, fun, and different aspects of living in Asia. Here are a few:
- Big, goofy billboards (and bright, city lights) – Don’t know why, but I love gigantic, even obnoxious, billboards. Throw in high-rise buildings lined with bright, gaudy lights everywhere, and you have a visual buffet around every corner. This is the case with most sections of this city. Definitely one of the distinctive characteristics of cities in Asia and it is a fun aspect which I like.
- Lack of a fashion standard – We in America tend to care much about outward appearance. We are driven by fashion, popularity, and acceptance by the world around us in a way that is a bit obsessive. In my opinion, nowhere is this more apparent than in our sense of fashion. Celebrities start wearing their hair a certain way and the rest of us are not too far behind. College students start a trend, and it will soon reverberate throughout our entire society in big and small ways.
Here is an example “Public PJs” I snapped this week. This was taken about 5pm on a crowded sidewalk. Not so here. Though there are clearly very fashionable people here, there doesn’t seem to be a common standard of fashion where everyone falls in line behind like in the States. As a result, there are no rules. You want to wear pants with random nonsensical English words on the butt, then go ahead. Do you just want to wear your pajamas all day? No worries. . . it’s not uncommon to see grown-ups walking down the city streets in their PJs. No one judges. No one laughs. Though I have not acclimated to “public PJs” just yet, I do admire a man confident enough to pull this move off. All black in summer; all white in winter; no cultural norms to stifle your personal fashion whims. Being pretty fashion challenged myself, this is a particularly endearing part of the culture for me personally.
- Walking and public transportation culture – Though I have a car here, I love having legitimate public transportation options abounding. There are buses and cabs everywhere. This morning, I drove my moped to the subway station about 200 yards from my apartment (yes, I am lazy). Twenty minutes later, I am coming up in a different section of town, ready to meet a friend for coffee. In my old city, we walked or drove bikes everywhere. Honestly, I feel like I get my best thinking done on public transportation Whether cabs, buses, or subways, I always keep a notebook and pen with me. I listen to music, think about life, and generally work and/or thoughts on life flood my mind. This morning it was on thoughts about fear. I’ll write a few posts, I think, in the coming weeks on what I thought about on this morning’s commute. When in America, I do miss this element of the public transportation lifestyle here.
- Locals are hospitable towards foreigners – People are exceptionally nice to foreigners like me. This is actually a Confucian value that has been passed down for 1,500 years. It does get annoying from time to time when EVERYONE wants to talk to and “become friends” with you. However, I am always amazed at how open and gracious the people of this Asian country are to foreigners like myself. Definitely something we in America can learn from this place (click here for my post on Asian hospitality).
Some of the “never boring” views of this city I took the other night. . . - Life is never boring in Asia – I have always had a massive aversion to boredom. I don’t have to always be doing something exciting, but I really do get bored easily. As a matter of fact, I can be quite boring (reading, museums, serious movies, etc.), but I’m always intentionally boring when I am boring. Well, living is Asia is many, many things, but it is never boring. There is always something to surprise, stimulate, and even shock the mind as a foreigner living here. Something as seemingly mundane as going to the grocery store can quickly turn into either a hilarious story to be retold at dinner parties years later or a Greek tragedy to the level of “Othello” and everything in between. It can be maddeningly frustrating at times, but living here is never boring. I love this about my life over here.
Well, I might do another post or two like this in the coming weeks, as there is just too much to mention in this one. Just wanted to share a little of the more random things I like about life here in Asia.
Thanks for reading!
This post made me laugh. I have never in my life imagined someone walking around in PJs intentionally. Thanks for the evidence…it would have been hard to believe you. As per your previous post, I guess your time is coming where it will not be a big deal to walk in PJs as well and you will have to add this to your list of indicators that you have lived in Asia a long long time. You were right to say, ‘I have not acclimated to “public PJs” just yet’. Yet being the key word. Please keep us posted.
With the last 2 posts, I think you could comfortably live in Nairobi but that’s not what makes Nairobi what it is. 😀 Public transportation is in its own league I think in the entire universe and I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone who would love a quiet time to think…okay it’s not that bad.
You write well.
Just noted a few grammatical errors in my comment above. I beg to be pardoned. 😀
I didn’t notice. . . no worries!
You are correct in your observation. I don’t think I am above doing the PJ walk, but I’m just not there. Probably won’t blog about it, though, if/when it happens!
I’ll take your work on the Nairobi transportation scene. Buses get pretty crowded, but as long as you get a seat it is pretty good.
Have a great day!
One of the novels on my compulsory reading list for college admission was Dickens’ “Bleak House’ and your opening lines reminded me of his description of London, you even used the word “jostling” 🙂 Cross my heart, it’s here: http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2960365-bleak-house
As for the public PJs, I have a recurrent nightmare: I am at an important meeting at work or even in church at MY wedding! in my old PJs… :))
But, you know, in my country (Romania), if you pass by a hospital, it’s very normal to see people (hospital admitted patients) walking in the street in their PJs undisturbedly, they go to the small shops around the hospital, cross the street, go around any walking distance outside the hospital area without getting self-conscious or having passers-by look down on them or anything… 😀
I have never read “Bleak House”, so I will just take your word on that one.
Yeah, I had a similar nightmare, but it was my high school and less attire. I hate nightmares!
Great comments!
always great reading about your life & perspectives.
I saw a man in Kroger last week in his pajama pants, he looked age 25…so it’s here too.
actually we have all types of people here in Dunwoody, which i love.
Happy Day to our Dear Friend JOHN !!!!
Thanks Mrs. Clarke…hope you are having a good day!
“You want to wear pants with random nonsensical English words on the butt, then go ahead. Do you just want to wear your pajamas all day? No worries. . .”
This made me laugh so hard, WELCOME TO MY CHILDHOOD! I had an awkward sweatsuit with nonsensical English words on it for every day of the week – compliments of my grandparents in Taiwan. AND – my grandpa would pick me up from school and walk me home in HIS pajamas and blast Chinese opera from his bicycle basket. Did I forget to mention I had a bowl cut until the sixth grade?!
I guess I would’ve fit right in in Asia, but it was rough going in California. 45 minute long walk of shame every day after school for years. 🙂
Thanks for writing, needed to convulse in silent laughter at my desk at work today.
Now I’m rolling laughing…thanks for the addition/comment here! Wow, even here the kids don’t PJ it up in the streets, only their parents/grandparents! Bowl cuts are everywhere, though, so your 6th grade self would have fit right in.
Read your blog this weekend some…it’s really good. Thanks for writing with such honesty. It’s a great blog!
It’s a day later, still laughing. Hey, thanks for reading and for your kind words. I enjoy your words as well, you are a great story teller. I don’t get much Asian culture here in the South, so I’ll be living vicariously through you. Eat lots of Asian food for me today.
Thanks Sindy! You need to head down to Atlanta, there a few good places to get Chinese food.
Have a great day!
So I stumbled across this blog through one of Debra Fileta’s posts and am totally geeking out. Are you in C. . q? I lived there for about 6 months a few years ago and LOVED it. My favorite point of yours is that ‘Life is never boring in Asia’. So true!! I think life is always better with a little risk. I’m back in school now, but seriously considering moving abroad post graduation. Can I ask what brought you abroad in the first place?
Great hearing from you Karin! Yes on the city.
I would love to cover more of that, but can’t on the comments. Email me if you are interested.
Thanks and great hearing from you.
PM’ed your Facebook as I was unable to track down your email address on here. Thanks for the reply! 🙂