America is boring

[mchina34]

Anyone heard this one yet?

 

 

I felt that way when I got to China myself. On my last job I spoke to a contractor in Dallas who was originally from Singapore and he said the same thing.

 

 

Now my wife says:" the girls on xyz forum are saying it will be exciting the first few days, but after that it is boring".

 

 

Now I know it all depends on the person, their expectations, their interests, and maybe most importantly, where the petitioner lives.

 

 

However, in general, I can see why I thought this and others do. Our society is more structured in that you don't have e-bikes whizzing by, and buses and taxes just clipping you, even while you are in the crosswalk! The threat of getting run over in a crosswalk is next to nill, not so much because we don't have crazy drivers, but we mostly don't walk anywhere. The journey of getting anywhere in China is an event in and of itself. Whereas here we simply drive to the parking lot, go in, come out, and go home. Real cut and dry.

 

 

We also don't have karaoke bars on every corner. I know, that's such a huge loss. Or people doing Tai Chi in the parks and street corners.

 

 

 

I'm in a new a state since I made my first trip to China and no longer hold these opinions. But I wonder what some of the SO's are saying out there, especially the ones that are living in cities with little or no Asian influence, or just small town period. Or ones that are living in large cities with East Asian influence would be interesting to know tpo.

 

 

 

Anyone care to tell us what your SO has experienced, and maybe even why.

[chilton747]

Interesting thread and comments. I myself would like to her what the ladies say about this.

[jbray]

My wife thinks it's very boring... We live just outside of Atlanta...

 

Her general comments are, in America, no one walks, there aren't stores like there are in China... In many places, it seems like everyone goes out for a walk after dinner. There are people out and about until 11:00 at night... In Marietta, we are settled in for the evening at 8:00

 

In my opinnion, America is all about comfort and convenience. We've got Netflix and Video on Demand, so we don't need to go out to the cinema or oven blockbuster... So many people are buying stuff over the internet, so we don't need to shop. Banking and most bills are paid online... When you go to the supermarket, you just drive up, get what you want, and get out (In China, you take a bus/walk, have to take an escelator to the third floor, making your way through 3 floors of crowds, and tea displays, and then take another escelator back down to the first floor to get to the supermarket). In our situation, we have to force ourselves to go out. And, when we do, it's not terribly interesting. The supermarkets and malls are pretty much empty...

 

Almost every night, when we are falling asleep on our comfortable sofa's, at 8:30, my wife says, "WHEN WE WERE IN CHENGDU, THIS IS WHEN WE WOULD BE GOING OUT!!! HERE, THIS IS WHEN WE FALL ASLEEP!!!"

 

Like I said on another thread, for us, in China, Poor but happy (not bored) or in Atlanta, Rich but bored.

[egolessvegan]

My wife misses the accessibility of inexpensive public transportation to go to work, shop, go to restaurants, and visit friends as she did in Guangzhou. Also she misses her friends and family and the big mahjong games.

 

Ken

[Joanne]

America is not boring, but I miss my friends in China. (They miss me, too, according to what they say because our weekly tea party dissolved since I left.) In fact, I think NYC, where we live this summer, is too much. I would rather be in a little town/village where neighbors socialize with each other.

 

Why am I not boring? Because there are so much to do, besides CFL . For example, we spent 4 hours to bake a cake yesterday, 2 hours walking around looking for materials and baking supplies, then 2 hours bake and decorate the cake. I have stacks of books to read for pleasure.

 

Better quit here now and get back to the book about evil big government. Oops, no politics, I forgot. Sorry.

Edited July 12, 2007 by Joanne (see edit history)

[BillV 8-16-2004]

My wife now likes it here in America and yes it is quite different from China's way of life. We will still spend time in China after I retire maybe 2-3 months at a time since we have a home and property there but my wife likes it here in America and would like us to spend the majority of our time here. She feels the food here is very affordable and superior to China. Since we shop at the Asian markets and I agree the American markets are very expensive in comparison. Also she likes her job at a private college where she can walk to work and having money to help her family and redecorate our home gives her satisfaction. After supper she will always tell me we need to walk that laying down watching TV no good. So we spend time outside in the yard, working in the garden picking vegetables and fruits, sitting in our chairs watching the chickens, or just talking about our day usually until sunset. She misses her family and friends very much but she stays in contact with regularly though our calling plan, which gives her 50 hours a month.

Edited July 12, 2007 by BillV 8-16-2004 (see edit history)

[warpedbored]

My wife has said America is a little boring but she likes it that way. In China friends and family would call or drop in at all hours of the day or night and would always be wanting her to go somewhere and do something. She likes the peace and quiet of our neighborhood and quiet time to herself.

[rogerluli]

My wife thinks it's very boring... We live just outside of Atlanta...

 

Her general comments are, in America, no one walks, there aren't stores like there are in China... In many places, it seems like everyone goes out for a walk after dinner. There are people out and about until 11:00 at night... In Marietta, we are settled in for the evening at 8:00

 

In my opinnion, America is all about comfort and convenience. We've got Netflix and Video on Demand, so we don't need to go out to the cinema or oven blockbuster... So many people are buying stuff over the internet, so we don't need to shop. Banking and most bills are paid online... When you go to the supermarket, you just drive up, get what you want, and get out (In China, you take a bus/walk, have to take an escelator to the third floor, making your way through 3 floors of crowds, and tea displays, and then take another escelator back down to the first floor to get to the supermarket). In our situation, we have to force ourselves to go out. And, when we do, it's not terribly interesting. The supermarkets and malls are pretty much empty...

 

Almost every night, when we are falling asleep on our comfortable sofa's, at 8:30, my wife says, "WHEN WE WERE IN CHENGDU, THIS IS WHEN WE WOULD BE GOING OUT!!! HERE, THIS IS WHEN WE FALL ASLEEP!!!"

 

Like I said on another thread, for us, in China, Poor but happy (not bored) or in Atlanta, Rich but bored.

 

Ditto for my wife...AMERICA IS BORING... And I agree...

[IllinoisDave]

As one who's SO is not here yet, I'm finding this thread very interesting. I hope to hear more.

 

Boredom is right at the top of my list of concerns for when Christine gets here. She grew up in Shanghai and has lived in Shenzhen for over 15 years so my little ole town is gonna to be a pretty drastic change for her.

 

And even though she's said that she doesn't want to live in any more big cities, I'm still worried that she'll get bored. Hopefully she'll meet new people and can find a job that interests her.

 

I just hope that if she is bored, she tells me and doesn't internalize it. I would hate to find out years later that she was bored and didn't say anything.

[BillV 8-16-2004]

As one who's SO is not here yet, I'm finding this thread very interesting. I hope to hear more.

 

Boredom is right at the top of my list of concerns for when Christine gets here. She grew up in Shanghai and has lived in Shenzhen for over 15 years so my little ole town is gonna to be a pretty drastic change for her.

 

And even though she's said that she doesn't want to live in any more big cities, I'm still worried that she'll get bored. Hopefully she'll meet new people and can find a job that interests her.

 

I just hope that if she is bored, she tells me and doesn't internalize it. I would hate to find out years later that she was bored and didn't say anything.

The biggest reason my wife isn't bored is that she found a job not long after arriving and has been there over a year now. She is not happy when she isn't working and gets bored, plus the fact that she socializes at work with teachers, students and co-workers has really helped her acclimate to America. She has made some good friends who visit us and call her on the phone and her conversational skills have really improved.

Edited July 12, 2007 by BillV 8-16-2004 (see edit history)

[NewDay2006]

I can't relate to this post as my wife is not here yet. But it is very interesting just the same and is food for thought for the ones who are waiting for lao po to come to the states.

[tsap seui]

Being another new guy without his woman ever seeing Uncle Samville yet I too find this thread interesting.

 

My girlfriend comes from a small Chinese town of only 1.3 million and I've asked her a few times how she thinks she'll like a town of 2,500... she just laughs for a response and says "small people and boring very okay".

 

In her hometown she rides buses or steps to the curb for a few seconds for a taxi....the only buses here are orange and only run 9 months of the year, plus, she may have to wait a few years before a taxi pulls up.

 

Here in the rural mountains a traffic jam is two cars at a stop sign, I guess I could always take her down to 495 (the DC Beltway) where I grew up, for excitement...nah, that place is a parkin' lot full of pissed off people throwin' each other the finger and pointing guns at each other, but she could hear the exciting sound of horns blowing.

 

I hope she likes serenity, the beauty of picture post card views and sunsets as seen from the back of a Springer Soft tail Harley on twisty mountain roads, and doesn't miss the claustophobic crush of 10,000 people in each city block. I've promised her she won't have people walking up to her and snapping her picture with their cell phones as we walk down the street and she won't have every single person in a restaurant stopping eating and turning to stare at her when we walk in.

 

Yeah, America is boring, but that's why Gawd invented 747's and 777's, so we can get out of Dullsville from time to time,

 

tsap seui

[mchina34]

As one who's SO is not here yet, I'm finding this thread very interesting. I hope to hear more.

 

Boredom is right at the top of my list of concerns for when Christine gets here. She grew up in Shanghai and has lived in Shenzhen for over 15 years so my little ole town is gonna to be a pretty drastic change for her.

 

And even though she's said that she doesn't want to live in any more big cities, I'm still worried that she'll get bored. Hopefully she'll meet new people and can find a job that interests her.

 

I just hope that if she is bored, she tells me and doesn't internalize it. I would hate to find out years later that she was bored and didn't say anything.

The biggest reason my wife isn't bored is that she found a job not long after arriving and has been there over a year now. She is not happy when she isn't working and gets bored, plus the fact that she socializes at work with teachers, students and co-workers has really helped her acclimate to America. She has made some good friends who visit us and call her on the phone and her conversational skills have really improved.

 

 

good point. i was going to ask people to state whether or not their wife works(to see if there's any correlation between boredom and house wife) though that is still only one slice of the boredom pie.

Edited July 12, 2007 by mchina34 (see edit history)

[tonado]

It depends where you live and how many friends and relatives you have in the area. My wife likes America life but she complains that she always too busy.

[izus]

its all in your attitude....

if you wanna be depressed about life in the US of A...

im sorry to tell you but you aint gonna be happy anywhere.

The cow always sticks his head through the fence for better grass.

and you got the freshest grass in the world right now in the States.

 

i mean if your girl is currently living in BeiJing and she moves to a place with one traffic light and one store in a town of about 300...

this is just not going to be an easy transition, ontop of everything else she will endure for leaving everything she has ever known.....be ready.