First Impressions – China

Desi Downey is the author of the book NiHowdy, her recently published account of her six years in China as a trailing spouse. We appreciate Desi sharing her first impression of her adopted country. Scroll down for a link to purchase the book.

Neon.

Lots and lots of neon.

That is one of the first things I remember about China.

When I was presented with the opportunity to live and work in China I jumped at the chance, even though I was both terrified and thrilled. And maybe just a little bit deluded.

I thought I would throw myself into this new reality lock, stock and barrel! I would get to know the Chinese people and learn to understand them. I would talk like they talked, walk like they walked, think like they thought, dress like they dressed, dance to their music, ride a bicycle, devour their food, drink their warm beer, live like they lived and sleep on a bamboo-grass mat.

I couldn’t wait to get started.

I’d been off the plane about six minutes that first night when I realized that the natural order of things in the Far East did not carry on in quite the same manner as it did back home in the good old American Midwest.

Oh my. What had I done?

Forget the Customs guys chattering nonstop at me in a language I didn’t understand while ransacking my bags.

Forget the horror of my first encounter with the squatty potty at the airport.

Forget the fact that all the men carried purses and the women held hands.

And once outside the airport, forget the walls of people, the constant car-horn honking, the incessant bicycle-bell ringing, the smells, the mist, the fog, the noise. All that noise. There was so much noise. I’m from Nebraska. I was used to wide-open spaces and quiet. Lots and lots of quiet.

Oh my. What had I done?

I remember pink. Hot pink. Lots and lots of hot pink neon, set against a black, black Chinese sky. Eerie pink neon, wavering in that misty night sky, written in a language of characters I didn’t understand, in a foreign country that was, for me, just about as foreign as it gets. For the first time in my life, I was illiterate. I couldn’t read their signs, and I couldn’t understand their words.

Oh my. What had I done?

My romantic delusions about living and working in a foreign country were quickly shattered. This was my new reality, and I had to get real, real fast.

I did.

I lived and worked in China for six years. I lived it, loved it, thrived in it. Sometimes it was hard. Sometimes it wasn’t. All times, it was incredible.

If you choose expatriate life, choose realistically. There will be fantasy and frustration, ups and downs, trials, tribulations and triumph.

And that is all part of the charm.

Buy the Book Ni Howdy!: An American Woman’s (Mal)Adaptation to Life in the People’s Republic of China.

photo by David Chu on flickr