As a foreigner living in a strange land we expect so much and look forward to a more fulfilling, adventurous and brighter future than we could have hope for if we had been living back in our respective countries. I think I speak for all foreigners when I conclude that life in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning, China is as dead as life on Pluto...there is nothing, zilch, nada, rien to do in Shenyang. Not only is life a bore but then it is made worse by locals and the weather, almost like these two elements were combined to make every foreigners life a living hell.
take for example:
1) Taxis: during the winter the drivers never bother to turn on the heater until they are asked to and in most cases you practically have to beg. And when they do, the window goes down, but in their favor, a lot of these taxi drivers are smokers and have smoked almost as much as they have been alive.
2) Sharing taxis! I hate sharing taxis! Here's the thing, you stop a cab, get into the backseat, give the taxi driver the address and after adjusting your handbag or briefcase next to you, you close your eyes and settle down for a long 'relaxing' ride back home, when all of a sudden you feel the cold harsh wind slap across your face. wtf?! the door is open, the f**king driver is about to pick up another stranger!! You fume but have no choice, in their local dialect the driver says, the new passenger is going the same route as you, but it doesn't end there, he stops and picks up another one!! Great, you're sharing a taxi with two other strangers and guess what?? No discount, they still insist you pay the full fare, so you get discomfort and upset and the driver kills three birds with one stone!
3) I cannot and will never be able to get over how terribly cold and hostile Shenyang weather is. No matter how much inner clothes i wear, the wind still manages to locate to tiniest holes in my jeans/pants seeps into my skin until it gets to the bones! And because I've got really really tight skinnys, once i put ém on, my inner wear and my jeans, i think i musta gained like at least 10 pounds.
4) When i lived in Beijing, i'd often complain about the stares i got from the locals then i moved to Shenyang...now i almost feel like staying in my dorm and not coming out ever! They stare at everything! from your hair all the way down to your feet, they wanna know the texture of your hair, how do you groom it, how your skin feels, is this the first time your wearing jeans... it's frustrating because you think, living in a remote village in Nigeria you're surrounded by simple minded folks, then you move to Shenyang and those simple minded folks back in the village, are really not as dumb as you thought...at least in comparison to these ones.
5) The only fun part about Shenyang, is clubbing, that is if you're into that kinda thing. But the worst part about clubbing is that you see the same faces every single weekend, nothing changes, not their clothes, not their drinks (maybe only their names on occasions) but it's the same faces. At 12 midnight your head out with your friends to Hottown, where its mostly techno/house music, which isn't my type of thing, but i do that for my friends. The club i look forward to is Sunnys' not because of the familiar faces but the music, the Rn'b, the rap, the raggaton, people squashed together and moving simultaneously to the music...thats the only thing i can smile about...
...and i've got 3 more years of THIS to look forward to :(
take for example:
1) Taxis: during the winter the drivers never bother to turn on the heater until they are asked to and in most cases you practically have to beg. And when they do, the window goes down, but in their favor, a lot of these taxi drivers are smokers and have smoked almost as much as they have been alive.
2) Sharing taxis! I hate sharing taxis! Here's the thing, you stop a cab, get into the backseat, give the taxi driver the address and after adjusting your handbag or briefcase next to you, you close your eyes and settle down for a long 'relaxing' ride back home, when all of a sudden you feel the cold harsh wind slap across your face. wtf?! the door is open, the f**king driver is about to pick up another stranger!! You fume but have no choice, in their local dialect the driver says, the new passenger is going the same route as you, but it doesn't end there, he stops and picks up another one!! Great, you're sharing a taxi with two other strangers and guess what?? No discount, they still insist you pay the full fare, so you get discomfort and upset and the driver kills three birds with one stone!
3) I cannot and will never be able to get over how terribly cold and hostile Shenyang weather is. No matter how much inner clothes i wear, the wind still manages to locate to tiniest holes in my jeans/pants seeps into my skin until it gets to the bones! And because I've got really really tight skinnys, once i put ém on, my inner wear and my jeans, i think i musta gained like at least 10 pounds.
4) When i lived in Beijing, i'd often complain about the stares i got from the locals then i moved to Shenyang...now i almost feel like staying in my dorm and not coming out ever! They stare at everything! from your hair all the way down to your feet, they wanna know the texture of your hair, how do you groom it, how your skin feels, is this the first time your wearing jeans... it's frustrating because you think, living in a remote village in Nigeria you're surrounded by simple minded folks, then you move to Shenyang and those simple minded folks back in the village, are really not as dumb as you thought...at least in comparison to these ones.
5) The only fun part about Shenyang, is clubbing, that is if you're into that kinda thing. But the worst part about clubbing is that you see the same faces every single weekend, nothing changes, not their clothes, not their drinks (maybe only their names on occasions) but it's the same faces. At 12 midnight your head out with your friends to Hottown, where its mostly techno/house music, which isn't my type of thing, but i do that for my friends. The club i look forward to is Sunnys' not because of the familiar faces but the music, the Rn'b, the rap, the raggaton, people squashed together and moving simultaneously to the music...thats the only thing i can smile about...
...and i've got 3 more years of THIS to look forward to :(
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