1) Having an ayi (domestic helper) - Upon repatriating, this has to be the number one thing most wives miss about living in China. I, too, am not looking forward to the day when I will have to clean my house, do my laundry, and look after my child all by myself everyday. :-) Even though I have often complained about my ayis to many of you and have gone through four of them in two years, I absolutely love having this perk. For the low, low price of $441.00 every month (for a more expensive Philippina), I have a wonderful person come in 25 hours a week to help clean and watch Morgan. Since I never believed that I wanted to be a stay-at-home-mom, having another person come in to provide me some get-away time every day is beyond priceless. Yes, I could manage to do my laundry and clean my house by myself, but I figure, why do it if someone else can do it, too? As Bob's former boss once said, I believe in specialization. My specialization is teaching. If I can get someone else to do my laundry and cleaning, why not?
2) Cheap massages - I've written before about how cheap you can get a massage in China. Actually, if you really want to do it cheap, you can get one for less than $10. Since I frequent those places that cater to expats, we pay about $25. Hands down, you can always find an hour long massage for less than half the price you pay in the US. It's one of those perks that you take for granted - every time we go, which seems far too infrequently, we ask ourselves why we don't go more often. For me, this also ties into the above item. I won't be able to just take off in the afternoon for a relaxing massage when I don't have an ayi to watch my child. :-)
3) Traveling - One of the things I love the most about living in Asia is the ability to travel to places I would otherwise never see. The flights to this part of the world are so long - about 15 hours flight time to Eastern China, over 20 to Singapore - it's not a place we would normally think about visiting for vacation, especially with children. Traveling to Western Europe, no problem. The Carribean or South American - easy (relatively speaking, of course). Plus, we will lose the all important r&r money many companies currently provide to help make living here (and traveling out of the country) easier. I've seen many amazing places - Bali, Singapore, Bintan, Japan, Thailand, etc. and will sincerely regret not having seen more. Damn, if I just hadn't had that kid, we'd have traveled more! :-)
4) Traveling with Children - now I know what you are thinking - What???? Let me explain. Traveling with children in the US is not enjoyable. I have many memories traveling alone with Morgan and going up to security with stroller, carry-ons, and baby. As I struggle to get the laptop out of the backpack, lay out my medications and soy milk for Morgan, security officials bark at me to get my baby out of the stroller and get it up on the counter. As I step to the metal detector, they yell at me to take off my shoes. After I go through, I get searched (while holding Morgan who is now crying) and told to pick up my things, all with impatient travelers behind me. I know, I know - many of my dear friends have done this with two, three or four children! But, I know you get what I mean. Traveling in the US sucks. Traveling in Asia, however, is lovely. See, in China they provide special lines for people traveling with children. Have you ever seen those long lines at immigration? Not for people with children - you get to go in a special VIP line that is short and where immigration officials are quick (and usually friendly, I might add). At security, another VIP line! Most of the time I don't even have to take Morgan out of her stroller. They just roll it though the metal detector and hand search it while Morgan sits there looking curious. While I get my laptop, medications, etc out, they are busy entertaining Morgan so I don't have to worry about her getting upset. People in Asia love children. While sometimes this can be a bit annoying and over the top, when you are traveling, by far it is a huge bonus.
Ok, I know there are more things that I'll miss when I return to the US, but right now I am stymied. I guess this means that it'll be another blog entry later. :-)
1 comment:
Melissa - I found what you wrote about traveling with Morgan in China very interesting. I had no idea there were such differences! I wish people here were more tolerant of kids, especially in airports. I've never had to take my girls on a plane, but I always feel for those moms by themselves traveling w kiddos.
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