Since I wrote about the stressful parts yesterday, today I'd like to write about the things that make me think, "Wow, China is amazing!!"
(Grains and beans are cheap in China!)
1. Kind to children. Regardless of age or gender, people are just so kind to children!! Even for a small step, people try to help carry the stroller. No, they actually do carry it! And, people talk to them so much. I don't know what it is, but there's a sense of security that the whole society is raising the children together. In Japan, I sometimes felt a bit lonely, but in China, I feel a warmth.
2. If you're traveling nearby, the bus is definitely the way to go! You can go quite far for a flat rate of 2 yuan (about 40 yen). And the buses are spacious! Plus, there are few passengers! If you search on Baidu (like Google Maps in China), you can check where the bus is, and there are electronic bulletin boards at the bus stops that update in real-time to show how many minutes until arrival. Best of all, the bus is empty, so it's super comfortable!!! Even when I go out with my little one, I don't have to fold the stroller every time like in Japan, and I don't have to worry about whether they will make noise, cry, or throw a tantrum... or basically, whether I'm bothering the people around me!!!! I haven't had to fold the stroller even once! I can just roll it right on!
Few people!3. This is also about transportation, but taxi fares are cheap!!180 yuan (about 3,600 yen) for a little over an hour (including highway tolls). Actually, for the Shanghai Wild Animal Park the other day, I took a taxi both ways. It's the same with trains, but transportation costs in China are cheap. And, just like "Taxi GO!" in Japan, everyone uses their phones to call taxis to wherever they want. "Taxi GO!" charges a pickup fee, right? I wonder how it is here... I'm not sure, but even with fees, it's cheap. It's convenient when going out a bit far with kids or when you're super tired.4. A good level of indifference.When I walk down the street, I often have my little one in a stroller. That's because there are so many motorbikes, like Uber Eats bikes in Japan!! And since they're electric, they don't make any sound! It's dangerous!! So, I keep them in the stroller, but in Japan, when you're yielding to others on the street, you always feel like you have to say "excuse me." Don't you get the image that Japanese moms are constantly apologizing to the world? No, this is just my personal impression as someone raising two kids now... but it feels like I was always apologizing in Japan, whether I was getting on a bus or walking down the street. But in China, that doesn't happen. It's like a nice level of indifference, or maybe it's that there's no sense of yielding to others, or maybe it's the "me first" attitude... If you keep yielding as a Japanese person, you'll never get anywhere, haha (￣▽￣;) So, you have to push your way through with the feeling that it's natural for you to pass. The same goes for elevators. If you don't push your way in, you will abso-lutely never get on!!! At times like that, there's no feeling of "sorry because I have a stroller," and no feeling that the people around me are annoyed. This is a new sensation for me, and I really feel liberated.5. Food delivery is cheap. There are two companies like the Uber one I mentioned earlier, and they are always operating. So, whether it's early in the morning or late at night, if you think "I want to eat something" at home, you just tap your phone, and it arrives in under 30 minutes, fast. It's super convenient. Since our sea freight hasn't arrived, we sometimes have delivery for all three meals. That's tough in its own way, though... Some places have free delivery, or it's less than 100 yen, so it's quite cheap. It's not just food delivery; you can order anything from the supermarket or anywhere else from home with just your phone, so you don't even need to leave the house!? And since I can watch Japanese TV, it doesn't feel any different from being in Japan. Thanks to that, I'm not using Chinese at all. I don't know if that's good or bad.
And so, there are so many more good things about China that I can't even narrow it down to five. But that's it for today. China is so convenient that you can survive with just a mobile phone!!
And it's super easy to raise children here! A society that is kind to children is a happy thing, isn't it (^O^) I ride the train once in a while, and people will let my child sit down, even young people who look like office workers. In Japan, people would keep their eyes glued to their phones and mind their own business, right... (I won't say everyone, but well... (｡-_-｡))
In China, things like this are truly appreciated, and I'm grateful. It touches my heart to be treated kindly in a foreign land. It got a bit long, but I wrote about the good things in China! (^_^)
There's still a long way to go! I hope to find many more good things (^O^)
