Chen - Assignment 3

Almost every single summer of my life my parents take me back to China for a good 3 weeks to 2 months. It is a very different environment there, lots of things such as google and every single western social media and website is banned there. For the longest time going back to china was a punishment for me because I couldn't access anything, then I got a VPN and it was better. I still didn't really do much touristy, I just lived with my aunts and uncles and did stuff with my cousins. My parents got summer jobs in china where the flight back was paid for so it wasn't exactly a treat for me because they just left me at home and I would be doing whatever I was doing in America but stuck with my dysfunctional family in China. I did get fully immersed in the culture though, which was interesting. They live in very high density housing, but the buildings in a neighbor hood are all the same height and architecture, usually around 30 floors. It looks very tacky, but that is just my personal opinion. I also personally think China is a very dirty country, if you leave the touristy areas that are very well kept there's always mysterious puddles and substances and people spit on the ground everywhere. Even in the cities there's stray animals everywhere, nobody takes care of them, they do what they want wherever they want. The pollution is also horrible, everyone in my family buys air purifiers and puts them inside their homes because the pollution outside is just awful. The people there are also just generally more rude, in my opinion, people are always yelling at each other and everyone pushes each other around, especially on train stations. I can't even count the amount of times my mom got in the train and someone pushed me to the floor so they can get in the train, then the train door closes and leaves me at the station. Once, on a plane a man kept sneezing and coughing and didn't cover his mouth once and when I looked at him funny he said, "what are you looking at stupid kid" but in Chinese and with more vulgar language and I went back to reading my book. I have actually gotten my phone stolen once and money stolen right out of my hand in three separate occasions. People never follow traffic laws, there are so may different types of sketchy vehicles on the road that it's not safe. People jay walk everywhere, I have witnessed 3 separate hit and runs. All these experiences and more that I probably can not go into detail on a blog post have helped me be thankful for my life in America.