What I miss and don't miss....

THINGS I DON'T MISS

1.   Cleaning my own bathrooms.  In China, everyone has an "Ayi" which translated means "auntie".  An Ayi is a housecleaner, nanny, helper, whatever you want.  I just started having an Ayi, and she comes twice a week and cleans the floors, bathrooms, etc.  For less than $5.00/hr and she is here for 4 hours.  Some people have full-time Ayis, but ours is part-time.
2.   Crime.  There really is very, very little violent crime in Shanghai.  You can walk at night and be very safe.  The only crime here tends to be shop-lifting, pick-pocketing.  People have their iPhones stolen a lot here.
3.   Airplanes.  There are no airplanes or helicopters allowed overhead.  Planes must fly around China or directly into the airport.  So you never hear any planes overhead.


THINGS I MISS

1.   Bacon.  With all the pork products here, I cannot find regular breakfast, salty, smoked, delicious, heavenly bacon.  I find Canadian bacon, and a sort of formed pork pseudo-wannabe bacon.  But no real bacon.
2.   Good paper products.  Toilet paper, paper towels, paper napkins, tissues.  The paper products in China are not as cushy, fluffy and soft as in the US.  Kinda thin and coarse - ouch.
3.   Driving my own car!!!   The taxis are plentiful, but the nearest subway stop from us is about 20 minutes walk.  Non-chinese are not allowed to have drivers' licenses because they can't speak Mandarin or read the signs.  I wouldn't want to drive here anyway - very scary on the roads.  But still I really miss having the independence of my own car.
4.   Trader Joe's.  Sigh.
5.   And of course, friends and neighbors.