SerpentZA
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Growing up in China vs. The west
🕑 Added 2020-12-28 16:19:11 +0000 UTCThis is a massive topic to cover and of course "the west" could mean a multitude of different situations, but I'm talking about the very different cultures of living and growing up, never mind education and all that, but the environment.
So to bring you up to speed, our lease was up at the apartment complex we were renting and I was fed up with feeling trapped, neighbors that would change often and some undesirables in the neighborhood calling the cops all the time to deal with their domestic issues and such, it was a very expensive apartment complex and seemed really nice at first but after Wuhan flu hit and all the extras like the swimming pool and club house and all that were shut down I really couldn't justify paying the huge rent anymore. After a frantic search we found a lovely house in a nice neighborhood, it is actually the same size as the apartment inside but is a three bedroom rather than two like the apartment and most importantly it has a nice backyard and even a lawn and fruit trees in the front garden.. I can also fit a bunch of cars on the driveway.
This is the first time in my wife's life that she has ever lived in a house, in China, if you live in a city or even a town, you're living in apartment buildings, houses and suburbs just really aren't a thing in China, it took her a while as she had a lot of fears, especially about safety, in China people feel safer when they're surrounded by noise and people, it's kind of the opposite of what most people seek out in the west.. peace and quiet at home..
Most importantly my daughter can play outside and she's loving it! Even thought I would take her for a walk after work everyday in her little stroller/tricycle thing and my wife would drive her to one of the many nice local parks, the fact remains that she was stuck indoors for most of her time in the apartment, it felt cruel, like when someone has a healthy energetic dog but only walks them around the parking lot every once in a while so as not to feel too guilty that they're locked in the apartment all the time.
Now my daughter can freely walk inside and out and do what kids do, eat dirt, play in the sun and climb on and over things (don't let my wife catch her being a normal dirty kid, she flips out), but under my supervision she can get as dirty as she wants.. I did grow up in the African bush after all.
Not to mention having an awesome neighborhood with great parks nearby to walk through after work with the family, people are friendly and kind and with no HOA (something I made sure of), the neighborhood is diverse and interesting, I could go on for hours but what I wanted to point out is that if my daughter had been born in China, she would have a very, very different upbringing, smothered by over reacting grandparents, swallowed by a sea of people and living in a tiny apartment with hundreds of other people, there are benefits to both, but watching her happily play outside in her own back yard gives me nothing but joy, I'm so glad that she can have this experience and it's all because of your support, you are the reason why my daughter has this chance at life, thank you all, you're incredibly awesome!
- Stay Awesome!
SerpentZA
Comments
Curiously, what made you decide to settle in CA. It's beautiful, though very expensive. I would be interested to see a video where you talked about why you settled there vs one of the other 48.
Super move! Indeed having access for kids to play outside is TANTAMOUNT. They will eventually play and socialize outdoors than zone out on video games or social media in condos, townhouses or apartments. In a few years when your daughter can walk farther the Los Padres National Forest reserve awaits!
