Leaving Shenyang 再见

Spending the last ten weeks in Shenyang is now becoming bittersweet. Next week I'll be going to Nanjing to attend Nanjing University. I'll spend the next four months enhancing my Chinese while I am there. While being in Shenyang I've really learned a lot about adapting and realizing how easy life is back in the states. As I mentioned in a previous post, it's the small things that count. While being here I have not had the simple luxuries of a microwave, laundry machine, fridge, or kitchen. Appliances which are typically always available back at home. For those of you who know me pretty well you know that I really enjoy cooking Korean food. Unfortunately, since I didn't have access to a kitchen, I resorted to eating out every night. Over the course my time in Shenyang I tried various restaurants. Around week four I found a nice Korean/Chinese fusion restaurant. I eventually became a frequent every single night and became friends with the staff. The Boss recognized me every night and so did all of the staff. Now that I think about it, I'm quite grateful that I did not have a kitchen. I formed a strong relationship with the workers here and was treated well by them. Near the end of my time in Shenyang they began giving me free dishes. I found myself talking to the staff for over thirty minutes every night. Wether my food got cold or not I truly enjoyed speaking to everyone. No one could speak any English and I believe this was the best part. I think my Chinese is quite awful, but having these conversations every night helped me more than I could ever imagine. I believe the relationships I formed from this restaurant will be one of the biggest parts of Shenyang I will miss.

I've grown accustomed to hand washing all of my laundry for ten weeks and air drying all of it as well. If you're Korean and reading this you will probably know what I'm about to say. Have you ever had that story from your parents where they always told you they carried all of their books to school, hiked miles to go to school in a blizzard, lived on a farm, "hand washed all of their clothes", and told you time and time again that you don't know how fortunate you are to be living the life you are? Well guess what! I can cross one thing off that list now! But in all seriousness, I respect the hell out of my parents for growing up in the aftermath and devastation of World War II and imperialistic rule in Korea.

Shenyang has left a strong impression on me. Opposed to other cities I've visited so far, Shenyang appears to be years behind in innovative technology, and the culture appears to be quite different as well. Although the city is lagging behind, I truly have come to love the city and region. Shenyang is located in northeast China or also know has the Dongbei (东北）. Just like the North and South is different is America, so are various regions in China. People in the Dongbei remind me of people from Texas, loud and proud. Although I've been here for just two months, I believe I'll always be reppin' the Dongbei even when I head south to Nanjing for four months.