I have a lot of clothes

 I have always had an eye towards fashion and style. In the last few weeks, though, I have been seeing clothes and fashion differently. Clothes are an easy status indicator in America. You know you think it: the in and the not in... the out, I guess. I am pretty sure there is no way I can describe this situation and still make myself look good- so here goes. 

 I have a lot of clothes. Lots. I can switch outfits and not run out for ... well longer than I will admit on this blog. This fact was never bothersome to me because the majority of people surrounding me had the same freedom of fashion. 

Today, I live in a country with a remarkable, exploding economy that has allowed people to attain comfortable living above the previous generation. Still, people earn a lot less on average here than the average American family. Therefore, I expected people here to wear the same clothes, because, well, this is still in my mind a "developing" country. Whatever that means anymore.

But I am almost ashamed to admit that I have been taken aback by my classmates' wardrobes. Oh so embarrassing to share, but I must. - My classmates generally wear the same 3 or 4 outfits to class. To wear the same thing two (or three or four or five) days in a row- totally normal. These are students from "rich" countries- Germany, UK, Finland, South Korea, Japan. 

Ok, enough musings. The fact of the matter is this: I have grown up in a country where the disposable income (money left over after major life expenses) is markably higher than every other country. Our purchasing power, as Americans, is ridiculous. I know that things are different in the US- but still, for the past 2 decades when I was alive we have been able to buy buy buy. Regardless how bad the economy gets in the US, I cannot deny the fact that I- WE- are still in the upper upper percentile of people in this world. We can afford to buy more clothes than we know what to do with. I have so much stttuuuuffffff. 

Puts my life, on this earth, right now, in perspective. 

 

All dogs... go to the mall

Dogs wear clothes here. Just thought you should know. I'm not talking the Paris Hilton hand held types. I'm saying a majority of dogs are donning some sort of fashion statement. Here, we have a lil guy with snazzy tennis shoes. Now, this sparks the question: why?

Is it just that their feet are more vulnerable that the heartier American city dogs? Or fashion at its finest? Or the city streets are so disgusting even dogs revolt to touch the filthy, excrement-ridden sidewalk? 

cutsy

"Cutsy." Posing for photos has a not so subtle "cutsy" trend. This includes curious hand gestures to elevate cute-ness for photo. I am modeling such in the picture here.

My boyfriend came to visit me, and he is modeling the Asian "handsome" pose. Yes, by simply adding a cute hand position, we are cuter in this picture. I thought it was impossible to improve, but there you go. 

Food

So, this is such a stereotypical "new food abroad" blog post, but I HAD to include this picture.

This type of food, jaozi dumplings, are quite traditional and normal. Except today- they are bright colors! They are filled with (lets see if I can remember- clockwise) meet and veggies, lotus root, shrimp and veggies, ???, and the center is cilatro and veggies. 

Be warned: they are tricky to eat. Slippery. And when you drop them, you get nice little splashes of oil/ vinegar on your clothes. We have dubbed this unfortunate and frequent occurrence as "being jaozi-ed."

Take it or leave it...

  Living in a country so unlike America (note picture at left), I pretty much stick out. And I have experienced some crazy things. 

Now, I am about 4 months from packing up and heading home to Wisconsin. But, I want to use these last few months to really enjoy East Asia- and soak up everything that I can. It's like I have a new set of eyes on the culture: I will really miss this city, even those things I previously thought were incredibly annoying. This is my list of things that I wish I could take with me when going back to the US of A. And these are the reasons... and why I will not. This is my "Take it or leave it"

1. Things are cheap here.

Take it: Clothes, food, manicure... cheap cheap. I will miss getting my nails done. This is a luxury, I will not be able to afford in America.

Leave it: You get what you pay for. If you know what I mean. 

2. Traffic laws not enforced. 

Take it: I get to swerve in and out of lanes of traffic on my bike and the cars don't even mind- they expect crazy bikers. In America, I would have a million tickets by now. 

Leave it: Pure madness. MADNESS. Every time I go anywhere, I get cut off by other people a few times. 

3. Living in a non-English speaking country

Take it: Living here, my friends and I have something like a "secret language" and no one else around us can understand us. I won't be able to talk about crazy things without worry of other people eavesdropping. 

Leave it: Do I have to explain? I can't wait for the time that I get to ask a question and then get an answer. 

4. I stick out. (blonde hair, blue eyes)

Take it: I can smile all nice and get close to whatever I want. Not exactly, but close. They love blonde Americans.

Leave it: I am excited for the day that I can eat in a restaurant and not get stared at.